Bill Bennett: Gambling Hit Pieces Won't Silence Me

NewsMax.com | 7/31/03 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[kattracks]

Conservative ethicist Bill Bennett emerged from a self imposed two month silence on Tuesday to announce that he wasn't going to let inaccurate stories about his gambling habits planted by "people who were trying to take me out" drive him from public life.

"I'm back and I will be more outspoken than ever," Bennett told nationally syndicated radio host Sean Hannity, after accepting full responsibility for the betting brouhaha.

"What I did that was wrong was that in the last few years I started to play big money, really big money. Maybe not too much in terms of what I was making, but too much in terms of who I am. And I was not being a good example."

The leading conservative spokesman revealed that his habit had become an issue at home, telling Hannity, "It got excessive. Mrs. Bennett got on me. She was right. And this story hit and it was all out there for everyone to see."

Bennett said he was faced with the choice of either changing his behavior or changing his standards. "So, in this case, the excessive gambling is over," he pledged.

He noted, however, that there was an agenda driving the gambling story that went beyond legitimate journalism, observing, "Some of these people were trying to take me out, saying, 'You're gone, man, you're out of public life.' And I don't not accept that."

He complained also that whoever leaked his gambling records to the Newsweek and the Washington Monthly had violated his privacy.

"[My gambling] wasn't a secret. But you do not expect your financial records, whether it's at a bank, a casino or anyplace, to be displayed all over the place."

The former Bush administration drug czar added, "Las Vegas has an ad out on TV and the radio, saying, 'What happens here, stays here.' Well, not in my case. That was really a rotten thing to do."

A spokesman for Caesar's Boardwalk in Atlantic City - one of the casinos named by Newsweek and the Washington Monthly - told NewsMax in May that they take every precaution to preserve the privacy of high rollers, and that the release of Bennett's records was the subject of an internal investigation.

The two publications that hyped the gambling scandal said they were relying on "40 pages of internal casino documents." But the target of the twin hit pieces said they got more than a few factual details wrong.

"A lot of what they put out was inaccurate - about losing $8 million and all that. There's no way that happened."

Bennett said the sources of the illicitly obtained records "released information to reporters that was wrong about totals, about wins and losses. It was really an attempt to do me in."

He stressed that he wasn't swearing off all wagering, telling Hannity, "Since there will be people doing the micrometer on me, I just want to be clear. I do want to be able to bet the [Buffalo] Bills in the Super Bowl."

When Hannity closed the interview by praising Bennett for taking responsibility for the imbroglio, the ethicist quipped, "You can bet on it."

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Media Bias

[L.N. Smithee]

As long as his name is no longer on it.

Well, if it hurts your head too much to know that the guy isn't a candidate for sainthood, maybe you just oughta throw it away.

[Happy2BMe]

"I see swaggart bawling on stage "I have sinned!" and turn the channel."

Actually, comparing Bennet to Swaggart is overkill.

Bennet is not in the ministry, and should not be held to the same moral standards as a minister.

Ministers are falling out of the ministry like fleas off a dog's back in recent years - it's just too hard to hold high moral standards in a society full of rotting moral decay.

Homosexuality, adultery, fornication, graft, libel, lying, gambling, pornography, and many more sins common to man have become all but normal (and acceptable) behavior in our society.

To speak out against them is not just unpopular, it can get not just get your image, reputation, and career ruined but it can literllay get you killed in some places.

Face it, this nation is in a tail spin straight to hell.

[Diverdogz]

Well, how about some of his initial statements such as

////Reached by NEWSWEEK, Bennett acknowledged he gambles but not that he has ended up behind. “Over 10 years, I’d say I’ve come out pretty close to even,” Bennett says, though he wouldn’t discuss any specific figures. ////


http://www.msnbc.com/news/908430.asp

////Some of Bennett’s losses have been substantial. According to one casino source, on July 12 of last year, Bennett lost $340,000 at Caesars in Atlantic City, and on April 5 and 6 of 2003 he lost more than $500,000 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Some casino estimates put his total losses over the past decade at more than $8 million.////

////But during the 18-month period, the documents show, there were only a few occasions when Bennett turned in chips—worth about $30,000 or $40,000—at the end of an evening. Most of the time, he drew down his line of credit, often substantially./////

He wagered millions of dollars on video poker and slot machines, claims he didn't lose money when all the evidence and a near mathmatical certainty would suggest otherwise...., I'd call his absurd statement a lie.

[palmer]

The point is that getting thrills at a cheap motel and getting them at an expensive one are pretty much the same thing. The focus on gambling has everyone missing the point.

High rolling is confluence of a large number of deadly sins. The most obvious sin is Vanity. There is probably some Envy of the other high rollers. Gluttony is a given and Lust for having one's a$$ kissed. Greed is a side effect to sustain the habit and there is probably some Sloth in being waiting on 24x7.

With that many sins, it's hard to claim any virtue.

[mdmathis6]

I take it you have reached the level of exaltedness that you know who and who can not speak with moral authority?

I heard the testimony of a recovered alcohaulic who had been a successful business man who nearly lost his family and home because of drink. He got into a drunken religious arguement with another drunk. He described the other drunk as suddenly standing up and delivering a Salvation message that would put Billy Graham to shame. The encounter left him sober and he gave his heart to Jesus Christ and lost all desire for drink. He was so completely changed that his wife came back to him and he was able to recover his former financial status. He has offered much to the Kingdom since.

As for the other sermonizing drunk, the amazing thing is he had remained a drunkard the last time the the recovered alcoholic had checked.

My point is Bennett is speaking age old truths about virtues that no one on the left likes to hear, or that matter conservatives who don't like their own petty vices punctured. It is a fallacy that an imperfect man nullifies truth when he speaks it.

When a "conservative" emperor (of virtue) is suddenly confronted with the notion that he has no clothes and has become a laughing stock for his vanity, his first act is to acknowledge his foolishness and to put his clothes back on...that is if he has any hope of recovering any sense of authority and respect in the eyes of the populace.

A "liberal" emperor when confronted with his nakedness will brazenly command by force that all shall be as naked as him under penalty of fines under his PC hate law anti discrimination against naked people inititiatives.! Since it was a child that saw thru the nakedness in the first place, the child will be forceably re-educated by the "caring" councilors at the NAMBLA Camp for Wrong thinking and Wrongly taught Children. His parents will be executed.

Bennett will have to undergo some slings and arrows but he will be stronger than ever for it. God will sometimes publically humiliate his own children to do corrective spiritual surgery on some trouble-some aspect of their natures...then he sets them upright again..stronger than ever! But God will hold us responsible for the truths Bennett espouses despite his "gambling" issue.

Truth and Virtue are ideas larger than the men espousing them, even if the men espousing them sometimes fall short of their moral influences. They are after all road-maps away from immorality and a guide to that which is perfect...and thru-out our lives we know that as long as we live...we never quite "get there yet", as I suspect Bennett has him-self discovered!

[L.N. Smithee]

But I don't see where he has suffered any extreme moral lapse, and we conservatives fall into the trap that the amoralistic liberals love to see us fall into when we start to "eat our own".

Amen, brother! What drives me nuts about this whole phony controversy is that two supposed "news" reporters spent a considerable amount of time trying to nail Bennett, and this is the best they could do. Does anybody seriously think they were only checking to see if Bennett lost too much dough playing video poker, or were they asking if he got a room, and had (ahem) company?

While "Rev." Jesse Jackson was advising Clinton about how to handle the revelation of BJs in the Oval Office, he brought his mistress to the WH while she was carrying his bastard daughter! But no, Bennett's the real hypocrite because he plays too much slots! Did either of those reporters give a rat's about problem gambling before they found out they could point a finger at Bennett?

Don't get me wrong -- I have been among the first in the pool when it came to bashing Trent Lott and Michael Savage for their diarrhea-of-the-mouth episodes, but that is because they said things that were undeniably reprehensible. I would have taken Bennett to task IF he had been preaching against the dangers of gambling, but he never has, and no one, to my knowledge, has ever faulted him for not doing so. He's NOT a "hypocrite." People have been projecting their own values and opinions onto him when they had no right to.

[Dante3]

What's the problem? I don't ever recall Bennett preaching against gambling. While I presonally never gamble and have no interest in gambling, I'm not shocked or offended if someone does gamble.

I'm far more concerned that my personal financial records might be made public. Not that I have anything to hide -- it is just a matter of privacy.

[Rodney King]

Did you think he was perfect before, and this shattered your image of him?

No I didn't think he was perfect before. And I wouldn't say that my image of him is "shattered" I still think he's and OK guy.

Which part of the book is invalidated because of what we now know?

Nothing particular. I just don't like or value stupid people. Blowing 8 million bucks is stupid, and knowing that about him makes me think less of him and his opinions in general. The book of virtues is great, but it's not just a collection of stories. It's a collection of storeis put together by Bill Bennett.

[mdmathis6]

see my post at 45...It is a fallacy that truth is nullified when an imperfect man speaks it!

[palmer]

I take it you have reached the level of exaltedness that you know who and who can not speak with moral authority?

I assume you and many others on this forum are well acquainted with virtue. Unfortunately you and many others do not seem to know much about vice, particularly high rolling. I could suggest putting up a $250,000 line of credit and sending the limo over at 2:00. Barring that, try this thought experiment: you are the center of the universe, everyone waits on you hand and foot, makes sure you feel the best you can possibly feel at all times.

It's obvious Bennett has discovered nothing since Humility is the only antidote to his overdose of Vanity.

[Bluntpoint]

Recognizing "moral" weakness for what it is, is not turning against conservative principles.

I wish the best for Bennett. That said, he did what he did and "I" see it as hypocritical.

[Rodney King]

But I don't see where he has suffered any extreme moral lapse, and we conservatives fall into the trap that the amoralistic liberals love to see us fall into when we start to "eat our own".

I don't think he has suffered any extreme moral lapse either. However, I judge people by all sorts of things... their language, their habits, behviors, etc. The simple fact is that knowing that this person pissed away 8 million dollars on something affects my judgement of his judgement.

[randita]

Your Post 45 was a well reasoned commentary. Thank you.

I'm sure I will continue to agree with Bennett in most areas of his moral crusade.

But his admission of failure does not appear at this stage to include repentance--turning away entirely from the activity that tempts you.

He seems to think that it was only the excess of gambling that was his problem and that if he just lightens up on it, all will be well. IMO, that's like an alcoholic deciding to only have 2 drinks a day or a liar deciding to lie only 2 times a day.

The Bible says that if your right arm causes you to sin, cut it off or if one of your eyes causes you to sin, pluck it out. Bennett's deceiving himself to think that he can continue to gamble at a lesser rate and all will be well. I think he is deceiving himself.

Just as I wouldn't give money to a friend I knew was using it to gamble or buy alcohol, I don't feel inclined to purchase Bennett's books with the knowledge that he will be using some of the royalties to gamble.

[Rodney King]

All missing the point again. Bennett is not addicted to gambling, he is addicted to having his a$$ kissed.

No way. He's addicted to gambling. 8 million dollars. If he was just addicted to getting his but kissed, he could do that on a lot less than 8 million bucks.

[L.N. Smithee]

He wagered millions of dollars on video poker and slot machines, claims he didn't lose money when all the evidence and a near mathmatical certainty would suggest otherwise...., I'd call his absurd statement a lie.

He didn't say he didn't lose money, he said “Over 10 years, I’d say I’ve come out pretty close to even.”

He also said: "A lot of what they put out was inaccurate - about losing $8 million and all that. There's no way that happened."

You can call it a lie if you want. First Amendment, yada yada yada. You can call it hypocrisy, too. Everyone seems to want to redefine words to fit their agenda nowadays.

[palmer]

Here's another thought experiment: walk into Vegas hotel with $25,000. Ok, now walk into the same hotel with $250,000.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Of course, he may end up recouping a lot of it over the litigation over what looks to be a major set of violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

[mdmathis6]

Vice is a descriptive for many of the failings we can be "trapped" or "squeezed" by! Not just gambling!

Gambling can be a vice if one is "trapped" by it. Time will tell us if Bennett has truly escaped it.

[Cheapskate]

mabye he should be forcedby the media to take instruction From Algore. He knows all about toppin and succoringthe other evil weed.

[L.N. Smithee]

High rolling is confluence of a large number of deadly sins. The most obvious sin is Vanity. There is probably some Envy of the other high rollers. Gluttony is a given and Lust for having one's a$$ kissed. Greed is a side effect to sustain the habit and there is probably some Sloth in being waiting on 24x7.

...It's obvious Bennett has discovered nothing since Humility is the only antidote to his overdose of Vanity.

Whewwwww....

Well, now that Bennett has failed to meet your high standards, may you ought to write a book, and fill the vacuum left by his former fans.

I have the perfect title: Sitting Atop My Horse, You All Look Like Ants.