A Texas judge has warned that President Obama’s re-election would lead to a United Nations occupation of the country and a violent civil war.

Lubbock County Judge Tom Head, a Republican, was arguing in favor of a 1.7 cent tax hike when he suddenly took a sharp right turn into insanity. Lubbock’s Fox 34 News reports:

Judge Head said he and the county must be prepared for many contingencies, [and] one that he particularly fears, is if President Obama is reelected.

“He’s going to try to hand over the sovereignty of the United States to the UN, and what is going to happen when that happens?,” Head asked.

“I’m thinking the worst. Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe. And we’re not just talking a few riots here and demonstrations, we’re talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms and get rid of the guy.

“Now what’s going to happen if we do that, if the public decides to do that? He’s going to send in U.N. troops. I don’t want ’em in Lubbock County. OK. So I’m going to stand in front of their armored personnel carrier and say ‘you’re not coming in here’.

“And the sheriff, I’ve already asked him, I said ‘you gonna back me’ he said, ‘yeah, I’ll back you’. Well, I don’t want a bunch of rookies back there. I want trained, equipped, seasoned veteran officers to back me.”

Video of Head’s bizzare rant is below.

When pressed to explain himself, Head said “my remarks yesterday, worst case scenario in my opinion, and how do you prepare for it. Do I think those are going to happen, probably not.” How reassuring.

There are so many factual problems with Head’s rant that they’re not even worth addressing. Instead, the more pressing question here is how a loon like Head was ever elected as a judge in the first place.

First, it’s worth noting that Head’s unhinged fear of the United Nations is not abnormal in Texas politics; right wing Senate candidate Ted Cruz and 12-term congressman Ron Paul have both become national figures despite buying in to equally insane conspiracy theories.

As National Memo Editor-in-Chief Joe Conason rightly points out, the Republican party is churning out extremely unqualified candidates at an alarming rate. Combine that with the explosion of special interest money in judicial elections, and it’s fair to wonder whether crazies like Tom Head could soon become the new normal on the bench.