William Bennett: you could abort every black baby

[Ivan Seeking]

William Bennett: "...you could abort every black baby..."

"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.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/30/bennett.comments/

What more need be said? Oh yes, how about slimebag?

Another great mind brought to you by the Republicans.

 

[El Hombre Invisible]

Interesting idea. If we extended the solution to white babies too we may be onto something. Hmmmm...

 

[El Hombre Invisible]

I love the way Bennet thinks he hasn't done something wrong because he's not 'advocating' such a course of action... like the fact that he even thought of it isn't worrying in itself. It's like when Michael Jackson stressed he wasn't really going to chuck his baby off the balcony, so it was okay that he dangled it over the edge. Weird people. Weird times.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I remember when a seasoned Democratic insider went off on Bennett one day on Face the Nation...I think it was... I don't remember for sure who it was any longer, but I remember that David Gergen as well as other high level pros were regulars, and this guy was of that caliber or nearly so. But he just lost it and called Bennett a pompous ass. Bennett responded by announcing that this would be his last appearance on the show.

 

[Tarheel]

They played the audio clip of this statement yesterday on Howard Stern and my mouth about hit the floor.
This guy is insane.

Howard made a point that seemed rather insightful.
He said that with all these Right wing conservative shows now, that they must all try to one up each other.
Thats why you got Rush calling people "Neighger's" and "Spearchuckers" and now this guy talking about aborting black babies.

Oh how I love the "christians" of America.

 

[Huckleberry]

Ok, I'm convinced this guy knows absolutely nothing about Sociology. What qualifications are necessary to become a Secretary of Education in this country?

I'm sure he looked at statistics on violent crimes and ethnicity of prisoners in this country and came to the erronious conclusion that race is the determining factor. Poverty is more likely the motivation and a lack of education may be a part of the cause. If William Bennet was better at his job then perhaps those statistics he heard about would be different. This guy obviously doesn't want to put the effort into doing his job well if he is even making suggestions like this.

I'm amazed that this is the solution he chose to voice in public. In his position there is no room for racist remarks to the press, even in jest. I hope he catches a lot of heat from the other Republicans for this and I wouldn't mind if he was replaced by an individual that is actually concerned for the people he is in office to help.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yes, obviously he didn't mean that we should do abort all black babies, but the fact that his mind even went there is what I think people find so offensive. There is a shocking callousness about it all, which in general is what has always offended me when I have listened to him over the years.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Actually, according to Bennett's own words this may be worse that I thought. In order to defend himself he states, "we took an idea and threw it out there...and decided that it was reprehensible". Okay, so he did actually entertain the idea.

 

[deckart]

Was this guy drunk? That is pretty outrageous.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Going back in time to another great fella who worked with Bennett under Reagan, James Watt.

"I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple. And we have talent."

He resigned eighteen days later.

 

[SOS2008]

Civil rights activists, etc. have called for an apology. Looks like the GOP isn't do well with minority groups these days. What gets me is you would think someone associated with education would be a little more enlightened then that.

 

[Pengwuino]

"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.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/30/bennett.comments/

What more need be said? Oh yes, how about slimebag?

Oh man... this guy must be a closet democrat if he says horrible things and tries to sidestep it by saying that in the end, it shouldn't be done. I mean... well... we all watched the news over the years and heard the dozens of democrats who've had to retract dumbass statements like this guy will (or better...)

 

[SOS2008]

Oh man... this guy must be a closet democrat if he says horrible things and tries to sidestep it by saying that in the end, it shouldn't be done. I mean... well... we all watched the news over the years and heard the dozens of democrats who've had to retract dumbass statements like this guy will (or better...)

Oh man, we all know civil rights has been part of the Dem's platform forever.

 

[Pengwuino]

Oh man, we all know civil rights has been part of the Dem's platform forever.

Yah. More Jim Crow laws... ah yes, they had civil rights as a platform for a long time...

 

[Archon]

Oh man... this guy must be a closet democrat if he says horrible things and tries to sidestep it by saying that in the end, it shouldn't be done. I mean... well... we all watched the news over the years and heard the dozens of democrats who've had to retract dumbass statements like this guy will (or better...)

It's amazing to me that you're trying to turn this into an attack on the Democratic Party. Good Lord...

 

[ron damon]

Yeah, go ahead and pile onto the poor man for making a stupid comment. Show no mercy!

 

[SOS2008]

It's amazing to me that you're trying to turn this into an attack on the Democratic Party. Good Lord...

Either he thinks Jim Crow is a Democrat, or he is being a troll. (Hint - Jim Crow is not a person at all.)

 

[Archon]

Either he thinks Jim Crow is a Democrat, or he is being a troll. (Hint - Jim Crow is not a person at all.)

To be fair, the Democratic Party wasn't always pro-Civil Rights. Just look at the Southern Democrats after the Civil War. But I can't recall watching the news during the 1860s...

Now, if you look at the more recent history of Civil Rights...uh...Pengwuino, where have you been living if you think the Democratic Party (of the United States, just in case...) was generally in favor of Jim Crow laws during the 1960s?

 

[Pengwuino]

To be fair, the Democratic Party wasn't always pro-Civil Rights. Just look at the Southern Democrats after the Civil War. But I can't recall watching the news during the 1860s...

Now, if you look at the more recent history of Civil Rights...uh...Pengwuino, where have you been living if you think the Democratic Party (of the United States, just in case...) was generally in favor of Jim Crow laws during the 1960s?

So wait... were the 1860's before or after "forever"... you know, the time frame SOS pointed out... And I guess I must have been mistaken. If SOS doesn't know what Jim Crow means, I must have meant something else... She knows everything

I'm pretty amazed that whenever a democrat foolishly compares Bush to Hitler or the police to brownshirts, no one says a word yet this gets its own thread (not that this doesn't deserve one). Did somebody saaaaaaaaaay McBias.

Holy hell I am hungry... and now i want mcdonalds... look what you jerks made me do!

 

[faust9]

So wait... were the 1860's before or after "forever"... you know, the time frame SOS pointed out... And I guess I must have been mistaken. If SOS doesn't know what Jim Crow means, I must have meant something else... She knows everything

I'm pretty amazed that whenever a democrat foolishly compares Bush to Hitler or the police to brownshirts, no one says a word yet this gets its own thread (not that this doesn't deserve one). Did somebody saaaaaaaaaay McBias.

Holy hell I am hungry... and now i want mcdonalds... look what you jerks made me do!

Wow, you really are all about trolling huh.

 

[Huckleberry]

Why do political parties have to get into everything?

This is about one man and a callous and ignorant comment that he made. This man happens to be a Republican, but that doesn't make all republicans callous and ignorant people like himself. Isn't this how prejudices start in the first place?

I doubt the Republican party will support this comment, and the guy probably just cut a few strings with his supporters. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll resign.

 

[deckart]

Why do political parties have to get into everything?

This is about one man and a callous and ignorant comment that he made. This man happens to be a Republican, but that doesn't make all republicans callous and ignorant people like himself. Isn't this how prejudices start in the first place?

I doubt the Republican party will support this comment, and the guy probably just cut a few strings with his supporters. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll resign.

Why did you have to go and make sense? They were having a lot of fun and you had to come in and squash it.

 

[Huckleberry]

Am I the troll now?

 

[1123581321]

but he is right, the more people you kill, the more the crime rate goes down...

some people...

 

[edward]

Why do political parties have to get into everything?

Everything tends to involve political parties on political forums.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Why do political parties have to get into everything?

This is about one man and a callous and ignorant comment that he made. This man happens to be a Republican, but that doesn't make all republicans callous and ignorant people like himself. Isn't this how prejudices start in the first place?

I doubt the Republican party will support this comment, and the guy probably just cut a few strings with his supporters. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll resign.

It speaks to the sort of leaders the Republicans choose. Bennett has been a vocal and omnipresent leading conservative for decades. Why should he be given special status now? He is not just one man. He has held several high offices under Republican guard.

 

[loseyourname]

Actually, according to Bennett's own words this may be worse that I thought. In order to defend himself he states, "we took an idea and threw it out there...and decided that it was reprehensible". Okay, so he did actually entertain the idea.

The man has been vocally pro-life for a long time. He never entertained the idea of aborting all black children to reduce crime. The guy made an insensitive statement. It was stupid and will ruin whatever is left of his career. Let's be fair, though. He wasn't suggesting we do this; he was ridiculing the pro-choice argument that we should keep abortion legal because if we didn't, the crime rate would go up due to unwanted children. Take the race out and the same statement is being made: Let's just abort all the kids who might grow up to be criminals and the crime rate will go down.

 

[ron damon]

At some point or another America will have to grow out of racial hyper-sensibility. It's ludicrous. And Bill Bennett will continue to have credibility with those who value interesting viewpoints despite the occasional stupid comment.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The man has been vocally pro-life for a long time. He never entertained the idea of aborting all black children to reduce crime. The guy made an insensitive statement. It was stupid and will ruin whatever is left of his career. Let's be fair, though. He wasn't suggesting we do this; he was ridiculing the pro-choice argument that we should keep abortion legal because if we didn't, the crime rate would go up due to unwanted children. Take the race out and the same statement is being made: Let's just abort all the kids who might grow up to be criminals and the crime rate will go down.

I realize that he wasn't promoting the idea but his words are no less outrageous. Just like his old buddy James Watt, it shows a callous disregard and a lack of respect. Or do you mean to defend "throwing the idea out for consideration"?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It suggests that us whites have a right to consider this an option.

 

[faust9]

I realize that he wasn't promoting the idea but his words are no less outrageous. Just like his old buddy James Watt, it shows a callous disregard and a lack of respect. Or do you mean to defend "throwing the idea out for consideration"?

It also suggests he values the lives of black people less. I can't imagine him say such a thing about white people. No matter how off hand it was the fact remains that ANY sensible person would have the common sense to not say such a thing.

 

[edward]

This all came about on a call-in segment of Bennets pro-life radio program.
Even after reading the dialog I don't get how he came up with the aborting of black babies.

From the September 28 broadcast of Salem Radio Network's Bill Bennett's Morning in America:

CALLER: I noticed the national media, you know, they talk a lot about the loss of revenue, or the inability of the government to fund Social Security, and I was curious, and I've read articles in recent months here, that the abortions that have happened since Roe v. Wade, the lost revenue from the people who have been aborted in the last 30-something years, could fund Social Security as we know it today. And the media just doesn't -- never touches this at all.

BENNETT: Assuming they're all productive citizens?

CALLER: Assuming that they are. Even if only a portion of them were, it would be an enormous amount of revenue.

BENNETT: Maybe, maybe, but we don't know what the costs would be, too. I think as -- abortion disproportionately occur among single women? No.

CALLER: I don't know the exact statistics, but quite a bit are, yeah.

BENNETT: All right, well, I mean, I just don't know. I would not argue for the pro-life position based on this, because you don't know. I mean, it cuts both -- you know, one of the arguments in this book Freakonomics that they make is that the declining crime rate, you know, they deal with this hypothesis, that one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. Well --

CALLER: Well, I don't think that statistic is accurate.

BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were yopurpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.ur sole That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

 

[SOS2008]

To be fair, the Democratic Party wasn't always pro-Civil Rights. Just look at the Southern Democrats after the Civil War. But I can't recall watching the news during the 1860s...

Now, if you look at the more recent history of Civil Rights...uh...Pengwuino, where have you been living if you think the Democratic Party (of the United States, just in case...) was generally in favor of Jim Crow laws during the 1960s?

I used the word "forever" knowing it was exaggeration but it was meant to be part of the sarcasm.

What LYN posted is the "truth that lies inbetween." However, comments like that are "politically incorrect" at any time, but after recent fiascos such as the Mexican postage stamp, then Katrina, a public figure should know not to make a comment like that. What is this, end your career month?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I heard that Bennett did apologize.

Big deal.

 

[cronxeh]

This all came about on a call-in segment of Bennets pro-life radio program.
Even after reading the dialog I don't get how he came up with the aborting of black babies.

You know this may sound a bit outlandish.. but I don't see anything bad with what he said in that quote

The discussion was about statistics, and he was absolutely correct when he pointed out that if you aborted every black baby in the country, your crime statistics would change drastically. People use those arguments in everyday life when they talk about CO2 emissions, and since when is it all of a sudden immoral to talk about human lives - oh wait, that's right it involves the races this time. See if people were logical all the time rather than emotional and impulse driven, they'd see this guy is not offensive at all.

Heck if he used Hispanics he'd probably still get his point across

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