Apr 21, 2015 1 min read

In a presidential campaign that is sure to include plenty of hyperbolic rhetoric, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz already set the bar pretty high.

The Republican 2016 hopeful wrote in a fundraising email message to supporters last week that, as president, he would support the Second Amendment because it, among other things, serves “as the ultimate check against government tyranny – for the protection of liberty.”

In other words, Cruz seems to believe we all should be armed so we could overthrow the government.

But don’t we have this thing called a ballot box that allows us, without a shot fired, to vote out officeholders we don’t like, and chart a new course?

This sort of talk was too much for South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a fellow Republican, who pointed out “we tried (armed rebellion) once in South Carolina. I wouldn’t go down that road again.”

And one would assume, if Cruz moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., his enthusiasm for such talk will be significantly more subdued.