Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has well-deserved reputation for verbal gaffes, usually originating from the fact that he is a clueless, pampered movie star in real life.

Here’s a new one, in which the governor was asked how he felt about the Minutemen movement:

“I support any time that a civilian wants to go and do the job that law enforcement cannot do,” Schwarzenegger said in response to a question.

“I’m for that. I’m not for any harassment. I’m not for anyone carrying weapons. I’m not for any of that.

“But I have, for instance, in my house — for years and years and years — I’ve hired private security to take care of my house, because I felt that the police could not really cover every single house and protect the children and families.”

Maybe it’s acceptable in Austria for citizens to take the law into their own hands but here in America we’ve seen this phenomenon escalate into mob violence, riots and lynching. And while wealthy movie stars can hire rent-a-cops to protect their gigantoid McMansions, the rest of us are left to depend on law enforcement paid from the public rolls.