The Company That Rick Perry Keeps

For the last several weeks, we have been taking a look at the ultra-right-wing with whom Gov. Rick Perry is partnering for his upcoming "The Response" prayer rally and now, via the Texas Freedom Network, we get some rather revealing information about another one of the event's endorsers: Pastor Stephen Broden.

In 2010, Broden ran for Congress as a Republican vying to win a seat to represent a district in Dallas  and, during the campaign, was asked by WFAA-TV Channel 8 to defend a litany of controversial statements he had made, including his view that the prospect of violently overthrowing the US government was an option that must always remain on the table ... and Broden stood by that view:

In the interview, Brad Watson, political reporter for WFAA-TV (Channel 8), asked Broden about a tea party event last year in Fort Worth in which he described the nation's government as tyrannical.

"We have a constitutional remedy," Broden said then. "And the Framers say if that don't work, revolution."

Watson asked if his definition of revolution included violent overthrow of the government. In a prolonged back-and-forth, Broden at first declined to explicitly address insurrection, saying the first way to deal with a repressive government is to "alter it or abolish it."

"If the government is not producing the results or has become destructive to the ends of our liberties, we have a right to get rid of that government and to get rid of it by any means necessary," Broden said, adding the nation was founded on a violent revolt against Britain's King George III.

Watson asked if violence would be in option in 2010, under the current government.

"The option is on the table. I don't think that we should remove anything from the table as it relates to our liberties and our freedoms," Broden said, without elaborating. "However, it is not the first option."