MASTER OF MORALITY BECOMES THE FOCUS OF NEW TALE HIMSELF

In Bill Bennett's World, the Lesson Seems to Be "Virtue for Thee, Not for Me."

Bennett has been the man waving the flag at the top of Mount Morality
for some years now. And while he's been there, he's actually
accomplished some good, notably with "The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of
Great Moral Stories." One of the striking things about the lessons of
morality, it should be noted, is practically none of them are new. The
old tales and old morals are still with us for a reason, and the reason
is humanity has been around a good while and the hard lessons of
morality remain constant.

Bennett has used these old lessons to push a hard line on personal
ethics and responsibility as Secretary of Education under Ronald
Reagan and as drug czar under George H.W. Bush.

Bill Bennett has made a good living from "The Book of Virtues" and
other titles like "Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on
Terrorism," "The Broken Heart: Revising the Moral Collapse of the
American Family" and "The Death of Outrage: Bill Clinton and the
Assault on American Ideals."

A good enough living, in fact, that research by Newsweek and The
Washington Monthly magazines show it has helped Bennett become quite
the gambler, a "preferred customer" at a number of casinos. The
Washington Monthly puts his losses at $8 million. Just last month, he
dropped better than $500,000 in Las Vegas.

For his part, Bennett says he's pretty much broken even over the last
10 years.

Fact is, this is America and Bill can do whatever he wants that is
legal with his money, and gambling is legal in a lot of places. We're
not decrying gambling. Bennett's personal business is his own. But
Bennett doesn't always extend that luxury to others.

It brings to mind another old morality tale, the one about people in
glass houses shouldn't be chucking stones.

This might make a fitting chapter for the next book of virtues.