Bill Clinton: “Well, I think a lot of them have had experiences in their life which profoundly alienate them from the American…”

“Well, I think a lot of them have had experiences in their life which profoundly alienate them from the American Government. And I would remind you that suspicion of government and the desire to limit government power is at the core of what created the United States in the first place. The whole Constitution is written to limit the power of government. The Bill of Rights limits the power of the Federal Government to move against individuals. The separation of powers limits the power of any branch of Government. They check each other, the executive, legislative, and judicial. The division of authority between the Federal and the State and local governments limits the power of government in that way. Our whole system was set up basically to try to guard against the abuses of government power which the original Americans have lived under, under monarchies. And we know that there--that we have--from time to time, governments make mistakes. And our government, not only at the Federal level but State government and local government, does occasionally abuse its authority. We know that. People are people everywhere. And people in government authority make mistakes. Every one of us, including the President, can cite an example where he or she believes the Government oversteps its bounds, from something as innocent as being rude to a citizen in a Social Security line or who's trying to get information about taxes or trying to deal with an EPA regulation, to something as terrible as an unjustified arrest or an unjustified prosecution. Everybody can cite an example. There are no perfect people in the world. But we have a Constitution and a system that gives people the right of redress. And what I think about those folks is, I don't know what at all their life experiences have been; I know that in our country they have more freedom to speak, to organize, and to bear arms, and especially to bear arms, than they would have in virtually any other democracy on the face of the Earth. So I would say to them that you have these freedoms. And if you don't like the way things are going, you can participate in elections. You can call in on talk shows. You can be part of forums. You can file lawsuits. You can do all kinds of things that are perfectly legal. You also have the right in our country to go meet on the weekend and talk about your feelings and express your feelings and do target practice and all these other things. But you do not have the right to break the law. And you certainly do not have the right to commit violence. There is a line over which people shouldn't step, and we have to draw the line clear and bright. Ms. Montgomery. Do you have the right to say you're willing to use violence if you feel threatened by your Government?”