wow people can say ANYTHING on radio

William Bennett, formerly secretary of education under ronald reagan, had this to say:

"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."

how crazy is that???????

 

Well what I draw from this is that the NAACP definatly don't control Clear Channel.

 

some people are just fucking morons and shouldn't be loosed on the general population

 

I kinda like John McCain. We'll just make him a POW...

 

As soon as I saw this in the e-papers, I knew I would see it here, accompanied by outrage. True, it is a risky thing to say because of so many who are more than ready to jump on top of nothing. But the man went on to say that such a thing was reprehensible which, I note, has not been mentioned here.

For those who give a shit, here's what he said, or at least, the article from AP: source

WASHINGTON - Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats on Thursday demanded that former Education Secretary William Bennett apologize for remarks on his radio program linking the crime rate and the abortion of black babies.

Bennett responded that the comments, made Wednesday on his “Morning in America” show, had been mischaracterized and that his point was that the idea of supporting abortion to reduce crime was “morally reprehensible.”

The author of “The Book of Virtues,” answering a caller’s question, 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,” Bennett said.

He went on to call that “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.”

On his show Thursday, Bennett, who opposes abortion, said he was “pointing out that abortion should not be opposed for economic reasons any more than racism ... should be supported or opposed for economic reasons. Immoral policies are wrong because they are wrong, not because of an economic calculation.”

I'm not a Bennett appologist. Far from it. But if you want to vilify someone for what they said, then listen to everything they said.

 

well by what you've written 'luvndrumn' it seems to me all he is saying is that 'blacks' are responsible for crime but he doesnt support killing them...

 

perhaps hes been buying too many tshirthell tshirts

 

My thinking is that he was basing what he said on the statistic that more blacks are incarcerated in the US penal system than any other race. Therefore, statistically speaking, if there were no black babies, no more blacks would be incarcerated, ergo, crime would drop. The same could be said about any other race that is incarcerated. He, unfortunately, chose blacks. Certainly not the smartest thing he's ever said, but if we all were to appologise for saying stupid things, we wouldn't be doing much else.

 

Funny, 'Xac', but I don't see where he said that. "Reduce crime", he said, not eliminate it.

 

why do people say things like that that are completly bad math.........

 

omg i wouldntlike to be him now - i bet he is in shite

 

harry reids a mormon if it makes you feel any better, only reason we'll keep reelecting him is because he has power and we're nevada.......


2 votes and 3.....

 

Geez, that's absolutely horrific. Makes me sick.

 

i can ALMOST see where he went wrong, i think he took offense at the comment that the increase in abortions (something which he's against) has delivered a positive, that being the reduction in crime. perhaps he wanted to inflame those who would say such a thing, typically of the left, who would vehemently object to such a correlation between black conviction rates and population levels?

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/30/D8CUNCQO1.html

White House Condemns Bennett's Remarks
Sep 30 1:31 PM US/Eastern


WASHINGTON


The White House on Friday criticized former Education Secretary William Bennett for remarks linking the crime rate and the abortion of black babies.

"The president believes the comments were not appropriate," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.

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."

He went on to call that "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."

Responding later to criticism, Bennett said his comments had been mischaracterized and that his point was that the idea of supporting abortion to reduce crime was "morally reprehensible."

Bennett was education secretary under President Reagan and director of drug control policy when Bush's father was president.

 

Sounds like America is finally going towards being a country where free speech and stating your opinion is actually allowed.

 

While it's true he didnt say elminate crime he must have chosen 'blacks' for a reason and on the whole he must believe that they are responisble for the majority of crime other wise aborting black babies wouldn't reduce crime rate per capita.

 

im more pro free speech than i am anti racism. i'd rather black people were allowed to say all white people are evil slave owners, than see blacks get arrested for a racist comment and vice versa.

 

Yeah i do know what you mean, i disagree with what he said but not the fact he is allowed to say it.

 

I 100% believe that he should be able to say that, because I believe in free speech. However, that doesn't make him sound like any less of an asshole. People should be limited to what they say by their own moral convictions and concern for other people, not some government agency. And if someone says something that offends you, tough, get some thicker skin and value your right to say whatever the hell you want too.