Page 1 of 1

Bennett's remarks stirs outrage

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:46 pm
by Phlegm
Bennett hypothesized that crime rate is down because abortion rate of blacks are up. Now everyone is pissed at him. From Associated Press:


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.”

Reid, D-Nev., said he was “appalled by Mr. Bennett’s remarks” and called on him “to issue an immediate apology not only to African Americans but to the nation.”

Rep. Raum Emanuel, D-Ill., said in a statement, “At the very time our country yearns for national unity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, these comments reflect a spirit of hate and division.”

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 9:25 pm
by Ouchyfish
I read somewhere that a black woman was given 500 bucks from crime stoppers for having an abortion.

Rep. Raum Emanuel, D-Ill., said in a statement, “At the very time our country yearns for national unity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, these comments reflect a spirit of hate and division.”


Them fuckers brought that hate on themselves. Everyone felt sorry for the greedy fucks until they started acting like Somalian stooges.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 6:42 am
by Adivina
“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.


Holy shit, what was he thinking when he said that on national television? I mean, even if he believes it, you can't say that without reprecussions.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 9:24 am
by Langston
AdivinaDarkfyre wrote:
“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.


Holy shit, what was he thinking when he said that on national television? I mean, even if he believes it, you can't say that without reprecussions.


Yeah, forget the fact that it's true... can't be saying Truth on tv now, can ya?

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 9:47 am
by Ouchyfish
Not if it doesn't paint blacks as saints. Even if it's true, don't you dare say anything remotely negative against them.

Liberals will crucify you for it.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 9:54 am
by Zanchief
You are advocating genocide then?

Aborting all babies aside from Asians would reduce crime. Would it be a stupid thing to say? Hell yes.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 10:16 am
by Ouchyfish
Zanchief wrote:You are advocating genocide then?

Aborting all babies aside from Asians would reduce crime. Would it be a stupid thing to say? Hell yes.


You can't however dispute the validity of the claim. Yes, it sounds rediculous, but still there is truth to it.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 10:29 am
by Gidan
OMG and you know what, if you aborted every white baby you would have just as good a chance of lowering crime. His statement is idiotic at best.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 10:59 am
by mofish
There is also truth to the statement that putting every muslim in a death camp and shoving them into ovens will reduce terrorism. Leave it to the fine individuals of the NT to try to defend such a psychotic, evil statement.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 11:13 am
by DangerPaul
If you were to wipe out all US citizens south of Kansas you could lower the crime rate as well. People are reading entirely too much into his comment.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 11:34 am
by Minrott
Not necessarilly. If the crime rate in Kansas is, lets just say, 5%, and nation wide it's 8%, wiping out Kansas would raise the nationwide crime rate, because more non-criminals than criminals would be removed from the scope of the figures. Now wiping out Illinois, that shows promise.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 11:42 am
by DangerPaul
DangerPaul wrote:If you were to wipe out all US citizens south of Kansas you could lower the crime rate as well. People are reading entirely too much into his comment.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:57 pm
by Minrott
Oh good point. I concur. Do you concur?

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 1:20 pm
by DangerPaul
I concur

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 1:29 pm
by Ouchyfish
DangerPaul wrote:
DangerPaul wrote:If you were to wipe out all US citizens south of Kansas you could lower the crime rate as well. People are reading entirely too much into his comment.


Holy shit I'm calling the movers today.

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 6:37 pm
by Jeddas
All he was doing was making a dramatic point to show that certain things that had been suggested to reduce crime are no more proper than his hypothetical.

Everyones having a fucking cow over nothing.

Re: Bennett's remarks stirs outrage

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 9:08 pm
by Martrae
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.”
.”


Yeah, he's really recommending mass murder and genocide.

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:03 am
by Scoota McGee
Here's the thing. He was on a radio talk show "Bill Bennett’s Morning in America". A caller had the idea that if no one had had any abortions in the past 30 years, the additional income generated would have preserved the solvency of Social Security. Bennett responded by pointing out that was an abuse of statistics... like if you said killing all black babies would lower crime.

Read the whole thing in context before you start heating up the racist brand.

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 your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. 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.