[JPDakota]

OK, I'm not easily offended, which is good because I have an Asian husband and an AA daughter, but what William Bennett said on his talk show was WAY out of bounds.
Bennett, on his radio show, “Morning in America,” was answering a caller’s question when he took issue with the hypothesis put forth in a recent book that one reason crime is down is that abortion is up. “But I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down,” said Bennett, author of “The Book of Virtues.”
Man, this guy used to be our Education Secretary.

[Sunshine Mom]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congressional Democrats blasted former Education Secretary William Bennett on Thursday for saying that aborting "every black baby in this country" would reduce the crime rate, and demanded their Republican counterparts do the same.

"This is precisely the kind of insensitive, hurtful and ignorant rhetoric that Americans have grown tired of," said Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Illinois.

Bennett, who held prominent posts in the administrations of former presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, told a caller to his syndicated radio talk show Wednesday: "If you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down.

"That would be an impossibly ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down," he said.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, called on President Bush to condemn the comments by Bennett, who was anti-drug chief in Bush's father's administration.

"What could possibly have possessed Secretary Bennett to say those words, especially at this time?" Pelosi asked. "What could he possibly have been thinking? This is what is so alarming about his words."

Bennett stood by his comments Thursday night.

"I was putting forward a hypothetical proposition. Put that forward. Examined it. And then said about it that it's morally reprehensible. To recommend abortion of an entire group of people in order to lower your crime rate is morally reprehensible. But this is what happens when you argue that the ends can justify the means," he told CNN.

"I'm not racist, and I'll put my record up against theirs," referring to Pelosi and other critics. "I've been a champion of the real civil rights issue of our times -- equal educational opportunities for kids."

"We've got to have candor and talk about these things while we reject wild hypotheses," Bennett said.

"I don't think people have the right to be angry, if they look at the whole thing. But if they get a selective part of my comment, I can see why they would be angry. If somebody thought I was advocating that, they ought to be angry. I would be angry."

As if skin color has ANYTHING to do with propensity to commit crime of a baby. Maybe he should spend some time thinking of the causes of poverty, lack of educational opportunities for minorities ...

This is not much different that advocating that all african american males be lined up and shot as a way to reduce crime.

[mckenna]

speechless????????????????????????????????

[MMC66]

What's really scary is he is standing by his comment and refusing to apologize. In a CNN article he even said that the people who "misinterpreted" his comment owe HIM an apology . I'm thinking of moving to Canada.

Martha

[coco46]

Don't move, Martha...let's ship HIM off to Antarctica instead.

[JPDakota]

Let's ship him somewhere, that's for sure! Misrepresented? People should apologize to him? Geez! What the man said was tantamount to genocide. I don't care if his next sentence did say the thought was morally reprehensible. The very fact that he had the idea in his head makes me sick.

[spaypets]

Ack! What's worse is he doesn't see that his comment says black people are criminals.

I dunno, most of the people in jail in my state are white.

[hopefully4]

My grandfather always said that one of life's great mysteries is how there could be more horses' a#### than horses. What makes me sad is that this ignorant person isn't some KKK nutjob, but someone who has held a position of power in our national government. Is this guy so idiotic that he thinks that aside from the abortion controversy, his comment is not offensive?
Sorry I didn't contribute anything useful, but had to vent about that.

[Shoshana]

That has to be one of the most blatantly racist, offensive comments I have ever heard. I'm disgusted, but grateful I haven't wasted any money to read his virtues.

[angelkisses0102]

Mr Bennett~

'Not Nice.' (with a very stern shake of the finger.)

Signed,
Alex, age 2

[LisaCA]

this from a self-proclaimed "christian" and a "good republican"-ugh. Not only does he have a serious gambling issue (moral issue for him and many christians) but now we find out he really thinks blacks do more crime than whites-nice. Pile this up with Katrina, the comments that came from it (wolf blitzer's "they're so poor and so black", the "looting" vs "finding" labels, the rumors about raping and killing) and you wonder why blacks are less than rosy about the race relations picture here in America.

Just because we're paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get us.

[JPDakota]

In my opinion, if he wants to talk about crime:
poverty causes crime
lack of educational opportunity causes crime
lack of economic opportunity causes crime
the welfare state causes crime
the color of skin? uh, no.

[Faulkner99]

People like him really do make me sick. He's so self-righteous. Rather than actually address the issue he resorts to a preposterous hypothetical that is beyond insensitive. Why not address the fact that HYPOCRITICAL MEN like him who should step up to the plate and take on the child welfare issues in this country simply don't, and then later moan and whine about the crime rate. "Sorry, we don't want any hand in raising those children."

I just had this discussion with a friend today. Some of the radicals in the Pro-"Life" movement are really bugging me lately. I think they should re-name their group "Pro-White-Healthy-Babies-In-Utero", because "Life" isn't really what they are promoting. They could also use "Pro Life Until You're Born, Then You're On Your Own Sucker" as their new name.

There's half a million kids in foster care in this country, many of whom are eligible to be adopted. Why don't a-holes like this step up and do their part?

[foxl]

WHAT????????????????????????????????????????

Straight to the MOON!

[JPDakota]

OK, you guys are probably tired of me by now, but I'll leave you with one final comment -
I came home from work this afternoon, looked at my innocent, helpless 3 month old AA daughter and said to myself, "So, little one, your lot has already been cast. You are already a criminal."
My anger runs deep this evening.