The Man of Virtues Has a Vice (Bill Bennett gambles)

Newsweek ^ | 1/2/03 | Jonathan Alter and Joshua Green

[Callahan]

May 2 — In his best-selling anthology, “The Book of Virtues,” William J. Bennett writes: “We should know that too much of anything, even a good thing, may prove to be our undoing…[We] need to set definite boundaries on our appetites.”

DOES BENNETT? The popular author, lecturer and Republican Party activist speaks out, often indignantly, about almost every moral issue except one-gambling. It’s not hard to see why. According to casino documents, Bennett is a “preferred customer” in at least four venues in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, betting millions of dollars over the last decade. His games of choice: video poker and slot machines, some at $500 a pull. With a revolving line of credit of at least $200,000 at each casino, Bennett, former drug czar and Secretary of Education under Presidents Reagan and Bush, doesn’t have to bring money when he shows up at a casino.

(link for full article)

[The Wizard]

if it's his money, who gives a damn.....he's got enough of it...

[meema]

I hope he gets some help...how sick.
Let's see. He didn't talk about the demon of alcohol either, did he?
He's been getting on my nerves the last couple of years. Pompous and arogant.

[BrooklynGOP]

You got a point there.

[Mr. Mojo]

Whoever leaked this will probably never work in a casino again.

And if this happened 25 years ago (or before), the guy's carcass would either be sitting on the bottom of Lake Tahoe with a 500 lb weight attached to his ankles or out roasting in the middle of the Nevada desert somewhere.

[CA Conservative]

Trying to achieve money by chance is a very immoral activity.

Can you provide some basis for this claim, other than your own personal belief system? If your position is founded in a religious perspective, can you provide a scriptural reference? As I said to another person, personal morality is just that - personal. Condemning another person for failiing to live up to your personal moral code is wrong.

[mabelkitty]

*rolling eyes*

I'm sorry, but I can't respect someone who won't try the tables at least once.

I'm really disappointed in him. I thought he'd at least be a black-jack player.

I can't say that I'll think of him in the same way again.

If you tell me he drinks Coronas while he gambles, I will be crushed.

[The Wizard]

shame on me....I missed the name....if I had seen Alter I wouldn't have even read further

[zoyd]

I thought gambling was legal.

That's not the point. Bennett is a moralist. Bennett should be the first one to understand the devastation that gambling can inflict on the 'innocent' family members who suffer because of the gambler's addiction. It's curious that alcohol is legal in every state, but gambling is not, but yet people on this board are trying to say that gambling isn't immoral or that it doesn't have negative consequences on society, and indeed, that moralists should have no qualms about spending their free time in an institution that bankrupts and destroys families.

Oh, the lengths people will go, to excuse one of their own...

[The Wizard]

Gambling is not immoral....destroying your life and your family's life is immoral

[mabelkitty]

Know what's fun www.simslots.com

Also, Las Vegas Adviser ROCKS!

[CA Conservative]

I could care less if he gambles. What I object to is his telling me that smoking a joint in the privacy of my own home or having sex before marriage is somehow "immoral." The hypocrisy reeks off that schmuck.

Smoking pot is illegal. Gambling is not, at least in Atlantic City and Vegas.

Premarital sex is condemned by all three of the major religions, and there are scriptural references to back it up. So even if you disagree, you can hardly accuse Bennett of trying to impose his personal moral code on anyone by saying that premarital sex is immoral.

[AFreeBird]

I know he makes a lot of money but throwing your money away in Las Vegas isn't the smartest thing in the world.

Your statement has merit if he always loses money. There is also the chance he wins on occasion too. I've seen a number of people at the blackjack tables with piles of chips in front of them, and I watched them make those piles.

Yes its a game of chance, but skill and intelligence does factor into the equation as well.

Geez, all this talk about Bennet playing video poker and slots being imoral, and we just got done cheering a man playing the highest stakes poker in the world:

W - against the UN, France, Germany, Russia, & of course So-Damn-Insane.

The next round has other players lining up for the challenge: Syria, Iran, and N. Korea.

In politics; gambling is a fact of life, so what if a player wants to play for a little less statkes, such as money.

[mabelkitty]

Read one of his books first.

[Callahan]

Being a "high roller" in Vegas just means that you pay way too much money for a nice hotel room and a little VIP treatment. I'd love to see some casino employees stand up and say "Hey, this guy put my kids through college." I read some poster on DU actually sticking up for Bill. He said he heard Bennett was a big tipper who was well like by the casino employees for his overall courtesy as a guest.

[hchutch]

I don't see what the big deal is.

So Bennett is at a casino. Big deal. He ought to go to games where he has a better chance, though. If I hit Vegas, I'd avoid the slots and the video poker machines.

[Mustang]

"...Who cares? It's *his* money..."

Exacto Mundo! If one has the extra buck$ to do so...more power to'em. As Clint Eastwood once said: "A man gott'a know his limitations"...as to the "notion" that gambling is "evil" ..I say, "Bravo Sierra"...(not directed toward you).

Vegas, New Orleans and several cruise ship vacations have always been profitable. Sometimes one wins...other times one loses...but I'm still in the black.

Mustang sends from "Malpaso" News.

[DManA]

Pretty decent man has a serious personal problem. Just make's me sad. Hope he recognizes his problem and gets help.

[zoyd]

$ 8 million is a lot of money, any way I count it.

[CA Conservative]

If he is going to bring up morality, judging others, he better be ready to get his own, especially if he is unable to control his appetites.

Can you cite evidence that he can't control his appetites? The article says pretty plainly that he doesn't gamble "the milk money", meaning he doesn't gamble so much that he cannot provide for his family.

[kesg]

That's my whole point. This hit piece is a throwback to the Clinton years and, even worse, the Clinton style of political "discourse" -- long on sophomoric debate stunts, gamesmanship, and ad hominem, but short on serious rational discussion of political issues. My view is that the country became much more serious about politics after 9/11, with only one of the many results being the Republican victories in the last election.