Ed Wood "The Right Stuff" Published May 28, 2003

William Bennett: Villain or victim?


There's something about the whole William Bennett story that just doesn't smell right. Last week the Washington Monthly and Newsweek magazines broke the story that William Bennett, former Secretary of Education in the Reagan administration, and Drug Czar in the Bush #1 administration, is a compulsive gambler and a compulsive loser. An $8 million loser, according to these two articles!

First of all, where did they get their information? They claim access to over 40 pages of "internal casino documents," presumably from a number of such facilities. Anyone visiting Vegas, or any other major gambling center, knows that these guys fiercely guard the confidentiality of their patrons. They have to. The Las Vegas Tourist Bureau is currently running a TV commercial with the headline, "What Happens Here, Stays Here!" If they revealed the identity and gambling practices of their patrons, especially their high-rolling and high profile patrons such as Bennett, they would be out of business in a matter of days. Just try taking a picture inside a casino and your camera is immediately seized and your film destroyed. These guys play for keeps! So they are going to reveal to the news media 40 pages of confidential gambling practices of a public figure like William Bennett? I don't think so.

Bennett admits visiting casinos, but denies the allegation of multi-million dollar losses. "Over 10 years I'd say I've come out pretty close to even. I adhere to the law, I don't play the 'milk money,' and I don't owe anyone anything."

So what's the beef? Bennett was participating in a perfectly legal form of human behavior. Maybe not too smart, but legal. State governments are racing private industry to get into the gambling act. Even our Bible Belt state of Tennessee is poised on the brink of establishing its own gambling facilities on every street corner and in every filling station across our countryside. And the anticipated take of hundreds of millions of dollars from Tennessee workers makes Bennett's paltry sum of $8 million seem like peanuts.

So why the hit on Bennett? Is it because he was one of President Clinton's most outspoken critics? Is it because he is a founder of the conservative organization, Empower America? Is it because there are those who want to discredit the author of such books as, The Moral Compass, The Book of Virtues, The Death of Outrage and the standards of morality these books exemplify? Whatever the reason, these "news" articles are an obvious media hatchet job on Bennett.

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Ed Wood is a resident of Sparta, TN. His column is published each Wednesday in the Crossville Chronicle. He can be contacted at edwd@blomand.net