A VIRTUOUS HYPOCRITE?

Bill Bennett served as secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan
and drug czar under the first President George Bush, but he is best known as
author of The Book of Virtues and in frequent TV and press interviews as a
passionate defender of traditional American values.

When President Bill Clinton was being impeached for lying about his liaison
with Monica Lewinsky, Bennett stood strong for sexual orthodoxy, marriage
fidelity and telling the truth. Bennett has crusaded against homosexual
marriages, has defended tough anti-drug laws, and has helped rally Americans
for the war on terrorism.

But today, in wake of published reports of Bennett's heavy gambling, his
role as the nation's foremost moral conservative is, unsurprisingly, under
heavy fire. Bennett claims he's come out about even over the years playing
video poker and slot machines, but casino documents indicate he's lost $8
million.

The Washington Monthly reports it this way: Bennett has "made millions
lecturing people on morality - and blown it on gambling." Couldn't a
virtuous man have found a better use for his money than that?

A casino spokesman said the industry has a name for people like Bennett.
"They're called losers."

In fairness, Bennett says he's never wagered the milk money - he lost only
what he could afford - and his wife backs him up. He denies he's addicted,
and after having the whistle blown on him he says he's through with
gambling.

But the primary issue is the perception of hypocrisy. Was the man who
lectured the nation on what's naughty and nice being virtuous when he
gambled away millions of dollars and said he came out even?

Bennett, who's never made a secret of the fact he liked to gamble a lot,
says he doesn't see legal gambling as a vice. He compares it to drinking -
"If you can't handle it, don't do it."

That's fine, but many people, especially the kind who admire Bennett's
staunch commitment to traditional values, would disagree with him about
gambling not being a vice. They believe it is. They also wonder about
another of Bennett's virtuous messages - his call for self-restraint and
personal responsibility.

And certainly Bennett must know that for Americans who don't have the kind
of money he had to throw away, gambling can lead to some very un-virtuous
behavior - bankruptcy, divorce, spousal abuse, child neglect, suicide. As a
role model for virtue, wasn't Bennett hypocritical?

The answer is, probably yes. He's surely lost some credibility, even though
he says he now knows to fold 'em - permanently. Conservatives are much
harsher on their heroes with feet of clay than are liberals.

But say what you will about Bennett's gambling - he's still a much stronger
spokesman for morality than a president who lies about having extramarital
sex in the Oval Office, a man of God who's fathered a child in an illicit
love affair, or a Democrat congressman who looked the other way while his
male roommate turned their apartment into a homosexual bordello.