William Bennett Lost $8 Million Gambling

[Berzerker]

The man who wrote (or compiled I should say) "The Book of Virtues" is a big time gambler and moralising conservatives are defending him? Well, it's his money and his life! Yeah, and it's my money and my life if I want use drugs, look at porn, get drunk, solicit prostitutes, or engage in a variety of "vices". But gambling is legal they say. What does the legal status of an act have to do with morality? Sure, and enslaving other people was once legal too and it was illegal to help runaway slaves. If this was not Bennett, but, say, Bill Clinton who gambled away $8 million, would these apologists react the same way by defending him?

[Imran Siddiqui]

When did he ever say that gambling was immoral?

[Lefty Scaevola]

Originally posted by Berzerker
If this was not Bennett, but, say, Bill Clinton who gambled away $8 million, would these apologists react the same way by defending him?

It would likely depend not on who the loser is, but if they were among the winners.

[The Mad Monk]

Haven't we already had this thread, or am I confusing forums again?

[Berzerker]

Imran -

When did he ever say that gambling was immoral?

He didn't that I know of, and? How convenient! Hey, you people are immoral because of your vices, but I won't include my vice of choice in my condemnation of you. My comments were directed at his conservative defenders. But, Bennett claims drug use, prostitution, and a number of "vices" are immoral, not because he can prove the accusation when dealing with a person who engages in these "vices" only; no, he says they are immoral because of what some who engage in these vices do to others.

It's the drug user who becomes addicted and steals to fuel the addiction. It's the married man who wrecks his marriage by soliciting prostitutes or his addiction to porn. It's the drunk that kills someone on the road. Many people engage in "vices" without hurting others, but he condemns them all anyway. When Bennett came out in opposition to the Nevada referendum on pot, he said more people will die in traffic accidents, i.e., pot smokers who don't drive under the influence are immoral and should be punished because of those who do. So why not hold Bennett accountable by his own standard? It's not that he can afford to gamble away millions, it's that others have bankrupted their families by gambling away the family assets. If all the other people who engage in "vices" are immoral and need to be punished because some of them hurt others, then Bennett, using his own standard, is immoral because some gamblers do hurt others.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Hey, you people are immoral because of your vices, but I won't include my vice of choice in my condemnation of you.

Well, people in our society do not generally consider gambling immoral. Which is why it is open to every state and not totally banned (btw, the lottery is a form of gambling).

And I don't think that what he thinks is immoral are those things that harm others. Rather they are those vices which society has felt fit to condemn over the years.

[Dis]

hey Bill O Reilly was right.

There are people dying to gloat over this.

I hope you feel good about demonizing this guy. In case it isn't obvious, most americans don't feel gambling is wrong anymore. There is a reason nearly every state has some form of gambling now.

I'm not defending the guy of course. I don't like people who are preachy on how I should live my life.

comparing gambling and slavery. If you cannot see how absurd that is, I cannot help you. You are doomed.

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Berzerker
The man who wrote (or compiled I should say) "The Book of Virtues" is a big time gambler and moralising conservatives are defending him? Well, it's his money and his life! Yeah, and it's my money and my life if I want use drugs, look at porn, get drunk, solicit prostitutes, or engage in a variety of "vices". But gambling is legal they say. What does the legal status of an act have to do with morality? Sure, and enslaving other people was once legal too and it was illegal to help runaway slaves. If this was not Bennett, but, say, Bill Clinton who gambled away $8 million, would these apologists react the same way by defending him?

Bennet is a Catholic, in which religion gambling is not a sin so long as you don't endanger your ability to provide for your family.

[Dis]

oh that was the guy who came to my state against the pot initiative?

Is Benneett the drug czar? Well in that case feel free to bash him, I will not defend him.

I was hoping pot would be legal in my state

but really it was doomed to fail even without his comments.

[asleepathewheel]

Its funny how one day its not a vice or a problem, but the next day he comes out and says that he's never going to do it again.



I don't care if he gambles, but the fact that he bows so quickly to public pressure is telling. Though his wife publicly told him never to do it again, so she must have seen a problem in it.

[Ming]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
Haven't we already had this thread, or am I confusing forums again?

Nahhh... you aren't confused.
We've already had this discussion before