Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

"In the 1990's, leaders of the conservative Christian Coalition joined with other religious leaders to create the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, called gambling 'a cancer on the American body politic' that was 'stealing food from the mouths of children.'"

Ugh! So Bill was "Stealing food from the mouths of children." How disgusting!

Of course, these friends of Bennett were reluctant to directly criticize him after these revelations.

In fact, gambling is the least of Bennett-the-virtuous' vices. Indeed, he has made a very comfortable living and drawn a loyal, powerful following by preaching the virtues of such fun-loving things as bigotry, hatred, despotism, war-mongering, and dogmatic religious fanaticism all while working breathlessly to undermine the Constitution's separation of church and state and holding his tongue on selected issues of greed and corruption. Now gambling doesn't sound like such a big deal after all. Does it?

To make the situation crystal clear, however, we must look at the real Bill Bennett, the one that has flaunted his hatred and hypocrisy in front of an uncaring public for the last several decades.

First, we start with a highlight in Bill Bennett's life -- the day that Clinton was forced to admit his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Indeed, he made a name for himself with non-conservatives as he led the charge against Bill Clinton's philandering. It seemed that the only problem Bennett didn't have with Clinton was that Bennett's own family was getting rich off Clinton's escapades. You see, Bill's brother, Bob, made a killing DEFENDING Clinton. Oh the outrage! Right?

Come on now, let's cut Billy some slack, after all, he is a "good Christian". How do I know? Because he told me so. And just to prove it, let's take a little look at Bennett's favorite measure of morality:

The Seven Deadly Sins

I) Pride - the vice vs. Humility - the virtue against which it sins: Overweening pride, arrogance, haughtiness: This is the nature of a moralizer, a person who's very being exists only to judge others and binge on the self-promotion of perceived moral supremacy. Bennett is Proud.

II) Envy - the vice vs. Love - the virtue against which it sins: Envy is the desire for what others have or the resentment of the good others receive. Perhaps Bennett is truly envious of those who embrace their freedom of expression, freedom from dogmatic suppression and freedom to live as they see fit. Perhaps his subconscious mind is attempting to break through his twisted thoughts and press upon him the idea that morality is a relative thing -- that his definition might not be someone else's definition. That people inevitably make mistakes and should not be condemned to Hell (certainly not by the likes of him) for such transgressions. So perhaps Bennett is merely venting his envious extremism with a touch of 'immorality' to prevent his self-inflated head from exploding. In the end, though, envy is a tough thing to document unless admitted. Therefore, instead of document, I'll stand ready to speculate. Prove me wrong. Bennett is Envious.

III) Wrath/Anger - the vice vs. Kindness - the virtue against which it sins: Kindness means taking the tender approach, with patience and compassion. Anger is often our first reaction to the problems of others or impatience with the perceived faults of others. Bennett has documented his wrath in his book, "The Death of Outrage". One needs only listen to Bennett for a moment to sense the rage that uncontrollably boils within. Bennett is wrathful.

As an example of how Bennett has sinned against kindness, we can look back at his days as George Bush Sr.'s 'Drug czar':

"The Bennett office was characterized by widespread use of the bully pulpit to issue harsh moral condemnations of users of illegal drugs, little distinction between marijuana and drugs like heroin and cocaine and an emphasis on punishment over rehabilitation. ...Bennett also made a decision to stop the longtime practice of representing drug use as a health matter, arguing that doing so made drug users too sympathetic."

Not surprisingly, when Bush Jr. appointed John P. Walters, who served with Bennett when he was in the Bush Sr.'s Administration, as the new US Drug Czar, the UN removed the US from the Drug Committee.

Next, Bennett, along with such conservative ideologues as William Kristol, Robert Kagan and Richard Perle, founded the right-wing "Project for the New American Century."

In a document authored several years ago, the Project pondered that what was needed to assure US global power was "some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor" (Hello 9-11). The document noted that, while the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides immediate justification for intervention, "the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein".

Hmmm. So they wanted "some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor"? Hey! An idea obviously jam-packed with high-flying morals. Good job Bill.

Bennett also forced his way into US foreign policy by insisting that the Administration invade Iraq! On Sept. 20, 2001, forty highly influential neoconservatives sent an open letter to the White House instructing Bush on how the 'war on terror' must be conducted. The letter was signed by Bennett, Podhoretz, Kirkpatrick, Perle, Kristol, and Krauthammer and was an ultimatum that put the signers' support for Bush on the line. To retain the signers' support, Bush was told, he must target Hezbollah for destruction, retaliate against Syria and Iran if they refuse to sever ties to Hezbollah, and overthrow Saddam. Any failure to attack Iraq, the signers warned Bush, 'will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism.'"

Little doubt Bennett conjured max levels of moral character to see this one through.

IV) Sloth - the vice vs. Zeal - the virtue against which it sins: Hmmm. If there is any sin for which it is difficult to condemn Bennett, it might be sloth. Bennett works very hard and his work is certainly focused on his goals. So I might give him this one and merely point out that he could certainly rid his life of sloth in the physiology department. It seems that, as noted in the "Gluttony" section below, Bennett has a bit of an obesity problem. Perhaps his eating malaise could be offset by getting off his fat ass once in a while and walking to the casino rather than having someone else cart his lardliness from place to place. Bennett is fat.

V) Avarice/Greed - the vice vs. Generosity - the virtue against which it sins: Although Bennett proudly charges upwards of $50,000 per speech, apparently that is not enough. The addictive behavior that he chose was gambling. Weren't his millions enough. Sure, some will claim that gambling in and of itself is a means of entertainment. Few would attempt to deny, however, that the excitement generated from gambling resides purely from the possibility of a substantial, financial payoff. Bennett is Greedy.

VI) Gluttony - the vice vs. Faith and Temperance - the virtues against which it sins: Temperance accepts the natural limits of pleasures and preserves this natural balance. This not only pertains to food, but to any overindulgence. Indeed, gluttony and greed are somewhat synonymous. But just to be fair, since I've already addressed Bennett's financial greed, here we'll simply note that he's grossly overweight as well. Bennett...still fat.

For another take, here is what Michelangelo Signorile of the New York Press has to say about the gluttonous one:

"Bennett relishes in telling us how immoral we are, implying that we must lead the supposedly solemn and sinless life that he does. He takes particular delight in slamming gays, and earlier this year he floated the all-gays-are-pedophiles canard, calling for the Catholic Church to ban homosexual priests in order to solve its problems. But Bennett also shows no mercy for... single mothers, people who work in Hollywood, feminists, and that old standby, Bill Clinton. Meanwhile, Bennett has clearly been scarfing down obscene numbers of lobster tails and French pastries every chance he gets, while millions of poor people in the world - people he devoutly claims to care about - starve to death... It is heart-unhealthy porkers like Bennett, lining their arteries with cholesterol like it was peanut butter being spread on raisin-nut bread, who are making our insurance premiums go through the roof and are costing us taxpayers a lot of our hard-earned money!"

VII) Lust - the vice vs. Self Control - the virtue against which it sins: Self control is certainly not Bennett's strong point. In fact, addiction, whether to gambling, drugs, or anything else, is defined by it's required lack of self-control. Lust should not be confused merely with sexual desire. Indeed, its reach extends to all areas of want. Bennett has been at the mercy of a gambling addiction to the tune of at least $8 million. Of course, that lack of self-control has not only cost the sermonizing blowhard his money, but also his ability to make more through further moralizing. It has cost him a once perceived loyal following and hopefully, it has cost him his pride. Bennett has no self control.

What becomes exceedingly clear is that you can't really indulge in one deadly sin without tasting at least a morsel of each of the others. So Bennett doesn't even try. He proudly prances along the smorgasbord of sin with his (purple?) teletubby-like figure, envying others' personal freedoms, raging against everything that he secretly desires of or for himself, growing fat? and then rich? and then fatter yet again.