Texas Pastor Says Government Could Be Overthrown by Guns

With eight days left before the Nov. 2 Mid-Term congressional elections, the political scene in some quarters is looking like the looney bin.

In Texas, for example, a fringe Republican House argues the armed overthrow of the government is "on the table."

"Our nation was founded on violence," Stephen Broden told an interviewer on WFAA-TV in Dallas. Broden is seeking to unseat Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson in Texas's 30th District,

The Huffington Post reports Broden said, "The option is on the table. I don't think that we should ever remove anything from the table as it relates to our liberties and our freedoms."

He later clarified that armed revolution is "not the first option."

Public references to violent overthrow of the government have been limited to a handful of mostly fringe candidates this cycle. The exception is Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate who is running a neck-and-neck race against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada.

Angle told an interviewer in January that Americans might seek "Second Amendment remedies" to their problems with government.

Angle and other tea-party-backed candidates cite a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1787 that contained the famous line, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Days before Broden's comments, an audience member at a GOP rally in New York said of Democratic Rep. Scott Murphy, "I'd trust him with my bullet," The Post reported.

The comment came at a campaign event for 20th District GOP nominee Chris Gibson.

Gibson asked the crowd whether they "trust a guy like [Murphy] with your guns?" prompting one attendee to yell, "I trust him with my bullet!"

In both the Texas and New York incidents, Republican Party or campaign officials moved to distance themselves from the controversial statements.

According to the Dallas Morning News, local Republicans quickly denounced Broden's remarks, while a spokesman for Gibson told Politico.com the New York candidate did not hear the audience member's shout about Murphy.

"Chris would obviously never condone any violence of any kind," spokesman Dan Odescalchi said. "In this country we settle differences at the ballot box."

And that's precisely what voters will do Nov. 2, despite the presence of some hyper-ventilating candidates on both side of the aisle.

Will the Democrats continue to keep the House and the Senate?

This corner thinks so - but it will be close.

What do you think?

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