Pubdate: Thu, 8 May 2003 Source: Tribune Review (Pittsburgh, PA) Copyright: 2003 Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Contact: http://triblive.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/460 Author: Dimitri Vassilaros, Tribune-Review Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/William+Bennett ( William Bennett ) SURE BET: BENNETT'S A HYPOCRITE If Bill Bennett is slouching toward Gomorrah, he has a layover in Las Vegas. Bennett, the former drug czar and author of "The Book of Virtues," has lost up to $8 million gambling in the past decade, according to published reports. He says he does not have a gambling problem. Can you say "denial"? Bennett's wife says he gambles only three or four times a year and that he is not addicted. Can you say "enabler"? There is one more word to say about the former drug czar who advised drug users to just say no: hypocrite. Bennett declined an interview request, but his office at the public policy organization Empower America in Washington, D.C., offered the following statement from him: "A number of stories in the media have reported that I have engaged in high-stakes gambling over the past decade. It is true that I have gambled large sums of money. I have complied with all the laws on reporting wins and losses. Nevertheless, I have done too much gambling, and this is not an example I wish to set. Therefore, my gambling days are over." He also said in the published reports, presumably with a straight face, that he almost breaks even playing the high-stakes slots. It sounds as though the Travel Channel has a new topic for yet another special on Las Vegas. Bennett might not be able to stop gambling without help. "It is not always about money. When you gamble more than you should, you lose time, money and a sense of value," a spokesman for the Pittsburgh chapter of Gamblers Anonymous says. "Even if you can afford to pay what you are losing, it sounds as if it has become too important. It is hard to lose so much money. It takes work." The 24-hour Gamblers Anonymous hot line: (412) 281-7484. Even if I habitually used marijuana, but did not play with the milk money, did not put my family at risk and did not owe anyone anything, I would be no different than the former drug czar when he gambles -- except I could be arrested, convicted and incarcerated. "Bill Bennett seems to be saying that if you are rich enough, it's OK to engage in vices. But for the rest of us, tough luck," says Keith Stroup, executive director of NORML, a national organization founded in 1970 to reform marijuana laws. He agrees with Bennett's victimless crime argument. Still, Stroup believes Bennett is a hypocrite. "He talks in several books about the dangers of vices. He speaks as if they are essentially sinful, yet he justifies his own conduct that most of us might find offensive." Except perhaps, the owners of Bennett's favorite slots in Vegas. The published reports state that Bennett had not personally moralized about gambling, but Empower America opposes the extension of casino gambling in the states. Virtually every moralizing Republican seems to be strangely quiet about Bennett's betting. Sen. Rick Santorum, a Penn Hills Republican, might be expected to have serious concerns about the devastating effect gambling can have on traditional family values -- much like he believes gay couples can have. A spokeswoman from his office declined to comment. The senator might have been a bit more chatty about this victimless crime if the high roller had been Bill Clinton. Conservatives must believe some nonvictims are more equal than others. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake