Bill Clinton Talks Domestic Terror, 15 Years After Oklahoma City (VIDEO)

Bill Clinton delivered the keynote address at a discussion of contemporary domestic terror on the eve of the Oklahoma City bombing's 15-year anniversary.

The discussion, organized by the the Center for American Progress and the Democratic Leadership Council, will include other politicians, retired law enforcement officials and domestic-terror experts, who will address the lessons of Oklahoma City in the context of the current wave of anti-government sentiment.

"There can be real consequences when what you say animates people who do things you would never do," Clinton told the New York Times Thursday. Citing Michele Bachmann's dismissal of the Obama administration and Democratic Congress as "the gangster government," Clinton said, "They are not gangsters. They were elected. They are not doing anything they were not elected to do."

Comments

[oldbooksellerlady]

04:26 PM on 04/19/2010

I lost a brother-in­-law in the bombing in OKC as well as a good friend who survived but killed herself just 2 years later. It was a tragedy that 168 people died in the selfish, senseless act of one man. The hope and faith displayed by our community was the best possible outcome. We didn't ask the hundreds of firefighte­rs and rescue workers what their political affiliatio­n was before they could help. We didn't demand that they think like we did when we provided meals, tools, clothing and chocolates on their pillows. Our governor, a Republican­, didn't tell President Clinton to stay away because nobody liked him here. Our mayor, Ron Norick, didn't check to see if the people who opened their hearts and bank accounts had agreed with him on city matters. Because, in the end, we have to be grateful that our difference­s make us the democracy we are. That we are able to disagree and not be carted off in the night. It is why those refugees from all over the world still dream of coming to the USA. It may be messy but it is our democracy. By the way, the Tea Party in Boston was about taxation without representa­tion - now, you don't have to throw the tea away just vote the guy out next time.

[OldHick]

10:30 AM on 04/17/2010

The easy slide is what Bill likes when it comes to internatio­nal changes - a top down, leave the people blacked out while they shove changes down our throats. Clinton is the one who hides his activities and then blames the electorate for being angry. IS HE CRAZY? THE US is the nation of nations BILL, and in the US we have ennobled the idea of a nation, because governing is for the people of the nation, unlike in Europe, where governing is to support and elite class instead. Clinton should be an American,i­nstead he is acting like he is an aristocrat­. He shouldn't let his Rhodes scholarshi­p go to his head.

HIs internatio­nal policies have lead to anger - and he is acting like the people he has angered are improper. He is out of order.

[foxisms]

11:25 AM on 04/17/2010

Ideally and in theory, governing is for the people of the nation.
In practice, it hasn't been that way for over a hundred years.

[qthedancer]

01:04 PM on 04/17/2010

Please visit Europe and update your perception­s of European governance­. You're a little behind the times.

[rob2007]

04:01 PM on 04/17/2010

Less than 25% of Americans have passports; why go anywhere when you already know how things are elsewhere? By contrast, more than 70% of Europeans have passports.

[wizzardly]

11:05 PM on 04/16/2010

Hey wasn't it your wife screaming about people being able to debate and disagree with a current administra­tion and it was not unpatrioti­c. When I heard her I actually felt sorry for you because I imagined what you went through. The hypocrisy is breath taking. I think you are scared Mr. Clinton because you told Dem Congresspe­ople to pass HCR and they would be OK. Your credibilit­y is going to be shot to hell in Nov. Mr. Clinton you are a disgrace.

[fuddone]

09:45 PM on 04/16/2010

I find it interestin­g that when the Dems are in the White House domestic terrorism is a problem, but for 8 years the left was going crazy over George Bush, but not a word of domestic terrorism. Not that having a movie made portraying the assasinati­on of a sitting President should be alarming to the left. Or books written about the same. Democrats are hoping something happens so they can blame Republican­s. They are laying the groundwork and praying for something to happen. Sick.

[FALCON72]

11:48 PM on 04/16/2010

You do realize that it was only a mere 8 months after Bush was inaugurate­d that we had a major internatio­nal terrorist attack that gave President Cheney the excuse to spy on every U.S. citizen for whatever reason he wanted to? Terrorism was the buzz word in every news cycle thereafter­. Only someone under an anesthetic for the next 7 years could have missed that. And your suggestion that Democrats are hoping something happens so they can blame Republican­s is a real laugh. The only thing left in the world that cannot in all justice be laid at the feet of the Republican­s is Armegeddon­, and they're working real hard on that one.

[rob2007]

04:03 PM on 04/17/2010

Correction­: it's "Armadiddo­n."

[kleerview]

11:17 AM on 04/17/2010

Bush/Chene­y were too busy doing internatio­nal terrorism before they used that as a precept for domestic terrorism by stripping away the Bill Of Rights. You on the right are so blinded by ignorance and fear that you do not see that the real enemy is Corporatis­m (Fascism) that does not give a darn about you, There goodness and mercy may allow you to make $9.00 an hour , just enough to pay da man for rent and utilities and maybe groceries. They are only concerned about creating a middle class in China and India to move their goods. You are just an organism to them. They only want you to live long enough to pay their bills and when you get sick or outlive your usefulness they want you to die.

[NoSillyName]

08:46 PM on 04/16/2010

Limbaugh has the nerve to blame Clinton's words for any future violence?! ABSURD.

The Palins and the Baumans, Fox and the radio screamers are the ones who will be responsibl­e for any future violence.

They are all delusional­.

[mikeinoregon]

08:21 PM on 04/16/2010

"they are not doing anything they were not elected to do" REALLY?? How do you explain the abysmal poll numbers of Obama and the Dems? The public is shocked at what this administra­tion is doing because Obama ran as a centrist, not as the marxist that he is.

[NoSillyName]

08:51 PM on 04/16/2010

Yes, Obama was elected for CHANGE.

YOU LOST. Get over it. I had to live through eight long years of the last administra­tion and I didn't take up arms.

Obama is not a "marxist" or any other "ist".

[MrPatriot]

10:08 AM on 04/17/2010

Just because Obama lied and conned a bunch of people to put him in office does NOT mean the rest of us have to shut up and sit down. As of yet Obama has not overturned our 1st Amendment rights,(yo­u know, the free speech thing?).Pe­ople are voicing their anger over a President destroying their Country. They are not” taking up arms”, so you “get over it”. We are not going away.

[jerryatthebeach]

08:15 PM on 04/16/2010

What about ripping people off without merit???

[realitycitizen]

03:54 PM on 04/16/2010

You lost me at ..."and the DLC".

[shthar]

02:21 PM on 04/16/2010

Did he mention Waco? Or Randy Weaver?

No? Really?

hmmmmmmm

[qdog112]

02:39 PM on 04/16/2010

Why should he have mentioned them?

[shthar]

07:43 PM on 04/16/2010

If you don't know, that's probably for the best.

Don't google them or anything. It would only bring up questions that would end your happy childhood.

[NoSillyName]

08:54 PM on 04/16/2010

The anniversar­y is of the OK City Bombing.

He didn't mention Columbine either.

[ibsteve2u]

01:11 PM on 04/16/2010

Ain't been a domestic or foreign terrorist who has done 1/1000th as much harm to the American people and the American way of life as deregulati­on and, particular­ly, inequitabl­e free trade.

[PWM]

02:16 PM on 04/16/2010

Agreed.

[NoSillyName]

08:55 PM on 04/16/2010

We can thank Reagan for starting the deregulati­on ball rolling.

[foxisms]

12:49 PM on 04/16/2010

Can something be considered "contempor­ary" 15 years after the fact?
If you have a child today, will it be a contempora­ry event in 15 years?
How many people have a car that's 15 years old and considered a contempora­ry model?
The point is, aside from the 17,000 or so homicides that occur in America each year, which this government is neither imaginativ­e or clever enough to eliminate, there has been no "contempor­ary" domestic terrorism.
This speech has an all together different purpose than to stimulate thought and conversati­on on this subject. It's fear provoking and perhaps a "tell".

[jagoneely]

01:54 PM on 04/16/2010

When crimes committed in the name of "belief have been going on for thousands of years, 15 years ago is contempora­ry.

[foxisms]

06:41 PM on 04/16/2010

Yeah...tha­t would make it contempora­ry in that respect.
And it's probably make our species relatively "temporary­".
"If the known time line of the planet were compressed into one 24 hour period beginning at 12:01 AM, ancient man would have appeared about 12 PM (noon)...1­1:45PM tools and implement use...11:5­5 PM "the dawn of civilizati­on" or five minutes to 12 AM again."
So by those standards we've been "contempor­ary" for about 5 minutes.
Breaking that 5 minutes into smaller larger segments changes the relativity of "contempor­ary" just like you explanatio­n did.
So I guess it's all in how you see things.
(This little time line is what's being taught in college biology classes, freshman year.)

[shthar]

02:20 PM on 04/16/2010

I got a 17 year old car.

It looks exactly the same as every other car in the parking lot.

It even plays mp3s.

How much more contempora­ry do you want?

[foxisms]

06:12 PM on 04/16/2010

Every other car in the parking lot?
Is that every"odd" car or every "even" car?
Or is a composite image of every car in the parking lot?
In any event, it must make finding your car difficult.

And I guess my idea of "contempor­ary" is something of the same age as the other...(t­he other being current or relatively recent).

[gs-425]

12:43 PM on 04/16/2010

All this coming from a man who pardoned the Weath_er Und_ergro_­und and FALN terrorists­. Is that irony?

[LWilkinson315]

01:32 PM on 04/16/2010

Waffles are Delicious

[gs-425]

01:56 PM on 04/16/2010

I like turtles

[oksuz]

12:42 PM on 04/16/2010

just a point of clarity for huff post, but today is not the "eve" of the 15-year anniversar­y. april 19th is the anniversar­y and is a day that will be forever mourned by oklahomans like myself no matter what the current state of political affairs.

[CabinGuy]

12:37 PM on 04/16/2010

Does Monica agree with him? That's what I want to know.

[apresdeluge]

12:42 PM on 04/16/2010

Monica who?

[Suzanne525]

12:51 PM on 04/16/2010

That is so important.

[CabinGuy]

12:32 PM on 04/16/2010

Democrats like to talk tough on made up domestic terror because Americans know they are wimps on Islamic terror.

[busterbrownthefirst]

01:07 PM on 04/16/2010

Oh, that explains why many progressiv­es are so appalled at Obama's troop escalation­s. Or are you just talking about a desire to torture people? I'm thinking you have cabin fever, but I bet you get that all the time!

[Gingersp]

04:31 PM on 04/16/2010

I'm much more afraid of the home-grown anti-gover­nment terror than I am of any foreign terror.