A hefty majority thinks I’m being too tolerant. I’m going to think some of this over today and get back to you. Here’s an email that suggests I simply don’t know that much about big-time gambling (which is true; I’ve never been in a casino in my life) and that this makes a difference:
Bill Bennett, for once, for the very first time, you’ve got it all wrong. I can’t believe somebody as intelligent as you would be so far off target. Just because Bill Clinton was an unprincipled, disreputable person doesn’t mean you should go to bat for Bill Bennett. Mr. Bennett has- a very serious problem on his hands and, if nothing else, by his conduct and his associations he’ll never be able to serve in government again, and shouldn’t be allowed to. And if he goes around giving lectures on virtue again, he should be laughed out of town. Not a single personnel security adjudicator anywhere in the civil service would give Bennett a security clearance, even at the confidential level. By any measure, he’s unsuitable for federal service–in any capacity. This is a man who was the chief advisor on drug enforcement to the President of the United States and he’s carrying around a world class gambling habit and you don’t see anything wrong or out of line about it? There is a monumental Jones on Bennett’s back that surpasses the sickness that afflicted Pete Rose in his most out-of-control periods. I can’t believe your naivete. Do you know any professional gamblers? Do you know what kind of shady people we’re talking about here? Do you know what it’s like to be in heavy hock to them? Do you know what FBI agents would say about a man who walks out of a Vegas casino down $1.4 million? They would say this man is in deep trouble and desperately needs help. And they would say such a man should not be advising Presidents on drug enforcement. He shouldn’t be advising Presidents on anything. He shouldn’t be allowed in the company of Presidents. I’d certainly never let him in on advance inside information about a big planned drug bust, not ever again. Gambling at the Bennett level is not bean bag. The connection between drug dealing and organized gambling is clear and people who are in one pursuit are always – always! – linked to the other. You’ve led a sheltered life if you think betting hundreds of thousands of dollars on one evening in a crummy gaming hall is just one man’s altogether acceptable way to find relaxation after a tough day at the office. Such behavior is sickness, it is high-risk, it is self-destructive, it is suicidal and it is no way for an adviser to Presidents to behave. Big-shot operatives in the Republican Party shouldn’t behave like that either. This is an astonishing development and my recommendation to you is not to break your pick for this guy. My sense is that we’ve just begun to learn about his life in the casinos. Clinton was bad, Bennett is bad too, for different reasons. If the Republicans try to make hay of this, don’t blame them. Blame the man with the habit.
My problem with this is that I don’t particularly like “blaming” people with habits. But, as I said, I’ll think about this some more. For those of you who think I was tougher on Bill Clinton, you’re wrong. I strongly defended his sexual privacy. I just had an issue with sexual harrassment and the law. More feedback on the Letters Page.
The Dish 