What better way to spice up a cool, cloudy Monday than with
the hottest conspiracy theory circulating on the Internet? This summer, between
July 15 and September 15, elite service members from all four branches of the
military will be conducting exercises throughout the Southwest, including
Southern California, in an operation called Jade Helm 15.
The U.S. Army Special Operations Command said the exercise
is designed to train special units to “successfully conduct worldwide
operations in support of our nation’s interests.” This is the kind of vague
gobbledygook that you might expect from the military, but it should be noted
that these types of operations have been conducted before in various areas of
the U.S., although this one is the largest to date.
Since the first mentions of Jade Helm, conspiracy theorists across
the Internet have been telling anyone who will listen that this is the prelude
to martial law in America. This seems a severe stretch of the imagination to
me. Obama? Martial law? I don’t think so. However, there is a tantalizing
sidebar to all of this that will only add fuel to the conspiracy fire.
Last week Walmart closed five stores on the same day, two in
Texas, one in California, one in Oklahoma and one in Florida. The official
excuse for shutting down the stores (and putting nearly 2000 people on
unemployment) was plumbing problems. This response was met with skepticism,
which was heightened when reporters found that none of the affected stores had
applied for any plumbing permits from their respective municipalities.
Fast forward to today. A woman with a video camera went to
the Pico Rivera, California store to check things out. That store has kept its
pharmacy open to allow people with prescriptions there to continue getting
their meds. The first thing she noted was that there were police cruisers
parked at every entrance and exit to the Walmart. She then went into the
section of the store that was open. There she found that shelving had been
erected around the pharmacy that blocked any view of the rest of the store. She
was eventually kicked out because she wasn’t filling a prescription.
There you go. There will be a huge military exercise in the
Southwest this summer where four Walmarts closed unexpectedly and are under
police guard. I seriously doubt that plumbing repairs would require that level
of security. What’s really going on? I have no idea, but stay tuned.
