AUTHOR OF BOOK ON VIRTUES SKIPPED CHAPTER ON GAMBLING

``In self-discipline one makes a `disciple' of oneself. One is one's own
teacher, trainer, coach and `disciplinarian.' It is an odd sort of
relationship, paradoxical in its own way, and many of us don't handle it
very well.'' - -- William J. Bennett, from The Book of Virtues

William J. Bennett -- erudite, orotund and eminently opinionated -- has for
decades been a fixture on the talking-heads circuit, where he lectures
tirelessly about the negative impact on American society of a loss of
self-control and a softening of moral character.

I like the guy. His innate intelligence generally overwhelms his inclination
to be stern, preachy and nanny-ish. At the end of his performances I've
often come away thinking, ``There's a lot of merit in what the man has to
say.''

So what are we to make of revelations of the past 48 hours, in which we
learn that Mr. Bennett, whose books and lectures urge the rest of us to
follow his moral compass, frequently finds his compass directing him to the
heavy-hitters' tables at Las Vegas and Atlantic City, where he is alleged to
have dropped nearly $8 million over the past few years?

This from a guy who earned the money that he was betting by writing
best-selling books whose premise is that the rest of us lack self-discipline
and that we're ruining the nation.

Yikes. Here's a fellow who argues that much of our social plight is caused
by people who cannot control themselves in their taste for alcohol and
narcotics -- he was George Bush the Elder's drug czar -- and we learn that
he falls to pieces when face-to-face with the bright lights and the
zap-crackle of a $500-a-pull Las Vegas slot machine.

Bennett is not exactly a hypocrite on the issue. He has long admitted to a
taste for gambling and that he's an ardent poker player. But he never let on
that he was as ardent as Newsweek and The Washington Monthly magazines
reveal. They claim to have documents that show that Bennett dropped $8
million in Vegas and Atlantic City over the past decade, and that in one
two-month period he wired $1.4 million to a single casino to cover his
losses.

Funny. I don't recall seeing a chapter in ``The Book of Virtues'' that
explains the virtue of pumping $1,000 chips into Bellagio's slot machines
in the wee small hours of the morning.

Besides the slots, Bennett admitted that he favors video poker -- which, in
the gaming world, and in states that have acted to ban the machines, is
known as ``the crack cocaine of gambling.'' The game requires no skill, only
a deep compulsion. Serious gamblers avoid it; serious addicts love it.

It is an odd choice of relaxation for a man who has made his fortune by
commenting on others' lack of restraint.

Bennett countered that he has won a lot of money, too, and that the magazine
articles don't give him credit for that. He said he donated some of his
winnings to charity and was scrupulous about paying taxes on the rest. All
in all, he claims he has pretty much broken even at the casinos. (I've never
met a gambler who claimed otherwise.)

That's fine. Gambling in those towns is legal, after all, and Bill Bennett
certainly is an adult who can make his own choices. But alcohol is legal,
too, as are some pharmaceuticals. It's the abuse of them that causes
problems -- the lack of self-discipline, to borrow a favorite Bennett
phrase.

If Bennett is telling the truth, that he has won as much as he's lost -- and
the man has a reputation for honesty -- it means he has had nearly $16
million in play at the casinos over the past 10 years.

Legal or not, that's hardly a resume item one would expect from a fellow who
makes his living by ginning up morality lectures in which the rest of us are
at fault for our vice, sin and the lack of self-control.

As Bennett points out in the quotation atop this column, self-discipline is
``an odd sort of relationship,'' and that ``many of us don't handle it very
well.''

Truly spoken. Perhaps he'll atone by showing up this morning on ``Meet the
Press'' and giving himself a good spanking.

But as an occasional bettor -- though certainly not in Bennett's league --
I'm offering odds of 8 to 5 that it won't happen. Anybody want a piece of
that action?