Poor Bill Bennett

[MJE]

Rev. J. Peterson, Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, Bill Cosby and other Americans who are black invite a discussion on race and they are called Uncle Toms. Americans who are white invite a discussion on race and they are called racists. What the current culture and liberal policies have done to the black culture and community is a disgrace. Research Bill Bennetts endorsment of policies and his “agenda” for public schools and you will find a person who has the utmost respect and empathy for the poor inner city population. The poor inner city families have an allie in B.Bennett.

 

[MommaKat]

MJE:

Rev. J. Peterson, Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, Bill Cosby and other Americans who are black invite a discussion on race and they are called Uncle Toms. Americans who are white invite a discussion on race and they are called racists. What the current culture and liberal policies have done to the black culture and community is a disgrace. Research Bill Bennetts endorsment of policies and his “agenda” for public schools and you will find a person who has the utmost respect and empathy for the poor inner city population. The poor inner city families have an allie in B.Bennett.

AMEN

 

[Thekla]

gilliam:

From what I can tell, he was simply stating the facts of the matter and trying to make a point that you wouldn’t want to eliminate a certain type of people to produce a desired result (lowering prison populations). I think you are making more out of this than is there.

http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/incarceration/images/figure1.1.gif
State and Federal Inmates by Race

No, I think he’s making more out of it. It’s a simple enough thing to apologize when you offend someone. As I said before, it doesn’t require intent.

And your chart means what to you exactly? Why choose this chart instead of the one that shows the percentage of state and federal inmates who are men versus those who are women? Why choose skin color?

 

[Lucania]

Thekla:

No, I think he’s making more out of it. It’s a simple enough thing to apologize when you offend someone. As I said before, it doesn’t require intent.

And your chart means what to you exactly? Why choose this chart instead of the one that shows the percentage of state and federal inmates who are men versus those who are women? Why choose skin color?

Because race is being discussed in relation to crime and not sex? Just a crazy guess

 

[Mot_Juste]

Thekla:

No, I object to his use of race as some sort of measure for criminality. I mean, I find it telling that Mr. Bennet went to the issue of race instead of economic background or gender.

With respect, Thekla, you are missing the point. Bill Bennett’s caller proposed an argument against abortion based on “utility” instead of morality. The caller made the dubious point that less abortions would mean more tax payers and a better economy. Bennett’s sole point was to show that “utility” arguments can be turned around on you. He did this by deliberately making the most disgusting pro-abortion argument that he could think of on the spur of the moment.

Bennett’s point was that if you’re going to argue from utility, instead of morality, then you leave yourself open to the next batch of research that comes along that “proves” that some morally disgusting policy would be economically or socially beneficial.

To make that point Bennett HAD to make up a disgusting position. He didn’t have to pick race. He could have picked gender and said that since studies indicate that men make more money than women, society would be better off if more little girls were aborted. That would have been a disgusting statement, and therefore he’d be in just as much hot water as he is today.

 

[Thekla]

Mot Juste:

To make that point Bennett HAD to make up a disgusting position. He didn’t have to pick race. He could have picked gender and said that since studies indicate that men make more money than women, society would be better off if more little girls were aborted. That would have been a disgusting statement, and therefore he’d be in just as much hot water as he is today.

I agree that he made a disgusting statement, but the point is that he did choose race and in the process insulted people. The hot water that he is in is of his own making. What I don’t understand is why he can’t recognize that his comments were deeply offensive and simply apologize for them?

 

[Gabriel_Gale]

Thekla:

I agree that he made a disgusting statement, but the point is that he did choose race and in the process insulted people. The hot water that he is in is of his own making. What I don’t understand is why he can’t recognize that his comments were deeply offensive and simply apologize for them?

I’ve never been a big fan of the “I apologize if I offended you apology.” Offending someone is one of the new psuedo-sins of our therapeutic culture.

It’s an etiquette apology.

 

[Jennie]

Bill Bennett was not an advocate of the first part of his statement. Hence, it was followed by, “that would be impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do”.

Everyone has to be so “politically correct” now days. What ever happened to freedom of speech???

These were mere words folks. Words that he doesn’t even advocate. They were spoken for the purpose of giving the caller a disgusting example by using the callers logic.

For those of you that are offended by racism, why don’t you take up your arguments with the abortionist in Arkansas that is actually doing what the left is implying that Bennett merely said.

If you think that aborting black babies in effort to reduce crime is poor logic, impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible, so does Bill Bennett. He should be applauded for his statements.

 

[didymus]

cargopilot:

Bill Bennett is a Catholic and I can assure everyone he is not for abortion or a racist. His thoughts were taken out of context and widely misunderstood. I would encourage anyone to go back, and read the entire transcript. In reality, like it or not, if the scenario he described happened, crime would go down, a lot.

Well, I’m sure lots of people are Catholic who take positions no one on these boards would agree with – Sens. Kerry and Kennedy for statrers. The fact that Bennett is Catholic doesn’t automatically mean anything one way or another.

His remarks reveal him to be a racist. The caller was talking about abortion and Social Security. He is the one who introduced the topic of race and crime into the discussion. It is true that African-Americans commit crimes out of proportion to their numbers but the same was true of the Irish when we were at the bottom of the heap.

As a black professor said on Fox News the other night, we are ignoring the elephant in the room. We are afraid to face the fact that blacks commit more crimes than any other group. He pointed out that the population of blacks makes up 10% of the US total, but 50% of the Federal prision population is black. What does that suggest? Are the police framing that many blacks? No, blacks commit more crimes. It’s just that simple

.

Maybe 50% of the Federal prison population is black because the Federal sentencing guidelines treat possession of crack cocaine the same as pure powder coke. It’s like not making a distinction between 3.2 beer and Bacardi 151.
Also, cops and prosecutors will always find it easier to go after street dealers and neighborhood-level distributors who are represented by overworked public defenders than after the higher-ups.

Now, what can we, as a nation do about it? Obviously, throwing billions of dollars at it doesn’t work. No, the fix is going to have to come from within the black community. The black community is going to have to revitalize the family unit, in order to raise children that will be productive members of society. Any race, who’s children are primarily fatherless, who’s siblings are from many different fathers and born of children who have no education are doomed. In general, the only roll models they have are gangstas and thugs. Just watch some rap videos to see who black youth admires.

I agree that “throwing” billions of dollars at the problem isn’t the solution. But that doesn’t absolve us from doing anything.
First of all, welfare programs have helped milions of families survive and move out of poverty. Unfortunately, programs like AFDC also had the effect of helping destroy the family by driving fathers out. For decades our welfare policy was to pay for fatherless families and that’s what we got.

Before any of this can get better, many, many blacks are going to have to realize that THEY are the problem, and THEY are the solution. God and family values is the answer.

Perhaps you mean they have to find the solutions to their own problems?
To point and say THEY are the problem sounds like the perhaps unconscious attitude that got Bill Bennett into his current difficulties.

 

[walstan]

Some of you lot crack me up, the guy uses an argument to show the ridiculousness of another statement, the sort of argument that is commonly used in Seminaries and theological workshops to deliniate good from bad theology and you jump all over him, totally ignoring his statement refuting his belief in such ideas!!

I would suggest that some of you need a few lessons in basic Moral Theology. In this area you CANNOT discuss any form of morality WITHOUT discussing or using the opposite of what you believe as a contra point to your argument.

What I suspect we are looking at here is less of Mr. Bennetts hangups and more of some of the posters. smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/10/10_5_2.gif

 

[Edwin1961]

walstan:

Some of you lot crack me up, the guy uses an argument to show the ridiculousness of another statement, the sort of argument that is commonly used in Seminaries and theological workshops to deliniate good from bad theology and you jump all over him, totally ignoring his statement refuting his belief in such ideas!!

I would suggest that some of you need a few lessons in basic Moral Theology. In this area you CANNOT discuss any form of morality WITHOUT discussing or using the opposite of what you believe as a contra point to your argument.

What I suspect we are looking at here is less of Mr. Bennetts hangups and more of some of the posters. smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/10/10_5_2.gif

We live in a world that is based on ‘sound-bites’ and that is ALL everyone (The Media) wants to hear. NO ONE wants to put actual
THOUGHT or analysis into compairsons to make a point.

Bill Bennett is a VERY intelligent man and in this ‘fast food characterisitic world’, someone like Dr. Bennett will be cut down to ‘just get to the point’. Dr. Bennett is anohter VICTIM of a media gone Mad!

I support Dr. Bennett’s remakrs 100%!

 

[Lucania]

Edwin1961:

We live in a world that is based on ‘sound-bites’ and that is ALL everyone (The Media) wants to hear. NO ONE wants to put actual
THOUGHT or analysis into compairsons to make a point.

Bill Bennett is a VERY intelligent man and in this ‘fast food characterisitic world’, someone like Dr. Bennett will be cut down to ‘just get to the point’. Dr. Bennett is anohter VICTIM of a media gone Mad!

I support Dr. Bennett’s remakrs 100%!

DITTO!

 

[jman507]

Thekla:

Thank you for looking up the definition. Mr. Bennett clearly fostered “the belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability…” What is in Mr. Bennett’s heart? I can only look at words and actions.
.

No, he didn’t clearly foster the belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability. One can only jump to that conclusion, but if the crime rate is higher than the national average there could be any number of reasons. But if one can jump to that conclusion, by that same logic anyone who supports affermative action is a racist.

 

[Mot_Juste]

Thekla:

I agree that he made a disgusting statement, but the point is that he did choose race and in the process insulted people. The hot water that he is in is of his own making. What I don’t understand is why he can’t recognize that his comments were deeply offensive and simply apologize for them?

There are two different issues here, and I think that is making it difficult to discuss things.

The first issue is abortion and the “black genocide” that many people belief Planned Parenthood is perpetuating on African Americans and other minorities. In arguing against abortion, Bennett made reference to the black genocide.

The second issue is the relationship between race and crime in America. Statistics indicate a linkage, but it is politically incorrect to mention it. It’s the elephant in the room that no one is supposed to talk about.

Bennett could have made his point about abortion without mentioning race. In hindsight, he probably should have, because it is just too difficult to discuss two controversial issues at the same time. But now that the can of worms has been opened, I think Bennett’s going to use the opportunity to fight against the race/crime taboo.

It doesn’t help anyone if there are certain topics that cannot be discussed in public.

There is, unfortunately, a statistical linkage between race and crime. Recognizing that fact does not make you a racist. And it does no good to kill the messenger.

 

[PLAL]

First off, I think Bennett needs to be much more careful when making statements.

Second, I was listening to the Teri O’Brien Show on 890AM Radio in Chicago this afternoon when a caller on the show made a good point by stating…

**It’s very interesting how the liberal media attacks the right when Bennett uses the example of “aborting 5 out of 5 black babies in this country” to make a point in his statement about crime. **

But where is the liberal media when someone actually makes it their livelyhood to make sure 3 out of every 5 black babies are aborted every day for the last 32 years like Planned Parenthood???