Bill Bennett/Jerry Kilgore Values

As we all know by now, the above quote is by William Bennett -- Education Secretary under President Reagan and Drug Czar under President "HW" Bush.  In addition, Bennett is the author of the right-wing moralizing manual, the much-parodied "Book of Virtues,? a bestselling screed which Bennett used, in part, to finance his own multi-million-dollar gambling habit.  This past Wednesday, the virtuous Bennett was busy on his radio show, "Morning in America," suggesting - in the words of Michelle D. Bernard of the conservative Independent Women's Forum - the "hypothetical genocide of black children as a way to reduce crime."  Specifically, Bennett was musing (a "thought experiment about public policy," he says) on the concept put forth in a recent best-seller, "Freakonomics", that crime rates  go down when abortion rates goes up.  Which is where we get to Bennett's innocent "thought experiment" whereby aborting every black baby -- moral issues aside, of course -- would cause crime rates to plummet  Not that Bennett would ever contemplate such a thing, except as a "hypothetical."  Sort of like Jerry Kilgore and his "hypothetical" answer in the debate a few weeks ago to the "hypothetical" question of abortion?

In fairness, Bennett DID proceed to explain that aborting all black babies would be ?... a morally reprehensible thing to do."  However, he then re-emphasized his original point, "but your crime rate would go down [if you aborted the black babies]"  In concluding his remarks, Bennett attempted to weasel out of them by claiming that "these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."  Yeah, they're tricky alright, Bill;  especially when they're uttered by rich, conservative white Republicans like yourself about black people who don't believe you have their best interests at heart.  And they're even MORE tricky in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which exposed pervasive and insidious racial and class issues in this country for all to see.  All who are not blind, that is.

Coincidentally (?), Bennett's "hypothetical genocide" comments come just weeks after Barbara Bush?s own callous remarks, that things were actually "working very well" for the overwhelmingly African American Katrina refugees huddled in the Houston Astrodome.  Yeah, Barbara, we're sure those folks are doing just GREAT after losing homes, jobs, even friends and family members.  Not to mention the living hell they'd endured for days.  Must be easy for you to think that when you own two multi-milion-dollar mansions,  in Houston and Kennebunkport (where, last time I checked, there weren't many poor or black people for you to worry your "beautiful mind" about).

The point is, the words of George W. Bush' s mother and George H.W. Bush's hypocritical former Drug Czar demonstrate the utter ignorance, heartlessness and moral bankruptcy of the entire "conservative" political philosophy.  For instance, let's take the conservative concept that poor people are lazy and deserve exactly what they get -- just as rich people are virtuous and are rewarded by God for their hard work. 

Of course, as most of us know - and as Jesus Christ preached - poverty and riches have little if anything to do with virtue or "hard work."  Actually, it's probably the opposite correlation if you consider the millions of poor people forced to work two minimum wage jobs with no benefits just to put food on the table.  In fact, we?d bet a wad of Bill Bennett's gambling money that poor people in this country work much harder than George W. Bush ever has.  But, of course, Dubya remains "virtuous" in the conservative worldview, despite the fact that his life has been a string of miserable failures, alcoholism, and evasion of responsibility bailed out by his Daddy's rich and powerful friends when things got too tough.  Yeah, that's virtue and hard work alright!

The bottom line is that Bill Bennett simply said out loud what many, if not most, right-wingers believe in their heart of hearts.  Namely, that black people inherently commit more crimes and deserve whatever punishment society metes out to them, and that poor people are inherently deserving of the squalor and deprivation in which they find themselves.  Not suprrisingly given this belief system, conservatives naturally blame the victims of poverty and crime for their own predicaments, even while simultaneously pursuing hard-hearted policies that contribute to the poverty and crime in the first place.  How convenient.

For instance, the right-wing response to crime in poor communities is simply to lock 'em all and throw away the key.  They push these policies, of course, without ever addressing the root causes of crime: like rich suburbanites fueling the thriving inner city drug trade, like disjointed communities where children have no authority figures, like schools in disarray, like teen pregnancy, like AIDS, etc., etc.  Perhaps Bill Bennett's next "hypothetical" suggestion will be to abort all those white suburban babies before they grow up to be drug addicts and customers fueling the inner-city drug trade?  Whoops, better not give Bennett any more ideas!

What's so despicable thing about Bill Bennett and his conservative brethren is that their knee-jerk reaction is always the harshest, most judgmental, and most counterproductive of all possible options.  Thus, Bennett suggests ("hypothetically," of course!) getting rid of black babies - or locking them up in large numbers as soon as they are old enough -- instead of doing the hard work needed to EDUCATE them and  to create an economy that gives them hope for their futures.  Sad to say, but many of Bill Bennett's ilk have  simply written off poor black people, condemning their children to a life of crime and poverty while at the same time coddling rich white people with huge tax breaks, corporate welfare, and other handouts from the hopper of Big Government, Conservative Style.  Conservativism.

All this, at at time when 38 percent of the nation?s children - about 29 million - live in poverty, when there aren?t enough jobs that pay a decent wage, when 44 million Americans struggle without health insurance (and just about everyone else struggles with rapidly rising health care costs), when public education and early childhood programs are under-funded while ever-increasing tuition costs put college increasingly out of reach for many families.  Then, the same "compassionate conservatives," with Bill Bennett being just the latest and best example, turn around and slam the victims of this situation.  In short, Republicans CAUSE the very problem they then turn around and COMPLAIN about.  Hypocrisy.

No doubt, Hurricane Katrina and now Bill Bennett's comments should constitute a powerful wake-up call for America about a reactionary Republican Party that couldn't care less about the plight of the poor people, and that harbors a just-beneath-the-surface racism and classism which rears its ugly head at times like Hurricane Katrina.  The question is, will the scales fall from peoples' eyes before these "compassioate conservatives" do any more damage?

Here in Virginia, DeLay/Robertson/Bennett/Bush Republican Jerry Kilgore fits the "(non) compassionate conservative" mold to a "t."  Thus, Jerry W. doesn?t want the estate tax to burden the over-burdened super-rich in Virginia.  Jerry W. doesn't approve of the education funds and children?s health funds that Mark Warner and Tim Kaine used to dramatically expand pre-school, health insurance, and quality teachers to thousands of underprivileged children in Virginia.  And Jerry W. answers "no" when asked whether or not Hurricane Katrina made him think about the gulf between haves and have-nots in this country.  Compassionate conservativism, just like George W.

Meanwhile, as with the rest of his ilk, Jerry W. disrespects poor black people, denigrates their communities and even resorts to racist code language in his relentlessly negative, nasty, divisive campaign for Governor.  Also, as with the rest of his ilk, Jerry W. Kilgore offers nothing to the non-rich, no vision for a future that lives up to America's great promise of equal opportunity for ALL its citizens.  To the contrary, it is crystal clear the Jerry W. Kilgores of the world do not see you or hear you unless you happen to be affluent (and preferably white, non Hispanic of course). 

Throughout his career and throught this campaign, Jerry W. Kilgore has displayed his callousness.  For example, Jerry (probably) doesn?t hate disabled people; but he DOES feel that their disability shouldn?t be a burden on the community through the Americans with Disabilities Act.  So if an Iraq War Veteran who has given his legs for his country now requires wheelchair access so he can go back to work, "compassionate conservatives" like Jerry Kilgore apparently oppose "burdening" the business community with this costly problem.  At the same time, of course, we all know that Jerry Kilgore and others like him claim to ?support the troops."  Yeah, right.

Similarly, we doubt that Jerry Kilgore hates women.  However, his "compasionate conservatism" says that abortion is so morally reprehensible that a 12-year-old girl raped by her father should be given only a week to report the crime, lest she be forced to bear her father's baby.  Compassion. 

So really what we see here with the Bill Bennetts and Jerry W. Kilgores of the world  is a complete and utter lack of understanding, let alone "compassion" or "Christian values," for other people - especially if they happen to be of a different skin color or economic status.  Instead, the kneejerk response is to get rid of them all.  Shunt them aside.  Ignore them.  Imprison them. Abort them.  Just make them go away!

Those are William Bennett values.  Those are George W. Bush values.  Those are Tom DeLay values. Those are Jerry W. Kilgore values.  Those are not American values.  Which is exactly why we Democrats strongly reject what Bennett, Bush, DeLay and Kilgore represent.  And which is exactly why we support the positive, inclusive, "uniter not divider" ticket of Tim Kaine, Leslie Byrne, and Creigh Deeds.  On November 8, the choice is clear: vote "TLC" for a better future and no more phony "compassionate conservativism."

Note: This piece was co-authored by Teddy, Dan and Lowell

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