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bos1 Donating Member (997 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 12:36 AM
Original message
Bennett cancels school visit, feels the heat.
The News Record - News
Issue: 10/3/05

Bennett cancels visit amid tension
By Michael Rovito

Radio talk show host and former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett on Sunday canceled his campus appearance amid controversy over comments he made on his radio show last week.

The event, which the University of Cincinnati College Democrats planned to protest, was to take place Tuesday evening.

Bennett, who served under President Ronald Regan, said last week on Bill Bennett's Morning in America, that "you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down."

Since the show, Bennett has received national media attention after high-level Democrats spoke in outrage on the comments.

In a letter obtained by The News Record, Bennett said the controversy over his remarks would have clouded the message of his planned speech, "Politics, War and Culture."

"The current controversy that has arisen around comments I made on my radio show, based on a willful distortion of what I said, will take away from the serious discussion I want to engage in with the student and community at the University of Cincinnati," Bennett said in his letter.

Since his comment Bennett has denied that he is a racist, saying on ABC News that he was speaking in regard to a hypothesis that falling crime rates are related to increased abortion rates.

Kevin Welch, chairman of the College Republicans, said they will be working with the university of reschedule the event.

"We're disappointed that we had to cancel it, but we remain committed to rescheduling," Welch said.

Erich Sreckfuss, president of the College Democrats, said the group will still hold a protest on whichever day Bennett comes to campus. Streckfuss also said the way the event was canceled disappointed his group.

"We're glad that Bennett will not have a forum at the University of Cincinnati," Streckfuss said. "However, it's unfortunate that he cancelled on the College Republicans and they didn't cancel on their own."

Streckfuss said Friday that Bennett's comments qualify him as someone whose ideas are counter to the mission of UC.

"We definitely feel that his comments do not reflect the attitudes of the University of Cincinnati and have no place here," he said

One major element of the issue between the UC Democrats and Bennett's appearance was the university's promotion of the event on its Web site, which links to the College Republican's site, Streckfuss said.

The university, however, is not taking any position.

"Just because we bring someone in who's controversial, doesn't mean we support his views," said UC Spokesman Greg Hand.

Hand went on to say that students tend to like controversial speakers who come to campus because they can disagree with them.

The College Republicans, according to Chairman Kevin Welch, also support free speech but are seeing the issue differently from those who have been outraged by Bennett.

"They're welcome to exercise their first amendment right to free speech," Welch said, referring to the Democrats protest. "But we're welcome to too."

Bennett's visit was being funded by a parent of a UC student who wished to remain anonymous.

The parent was fronting money because of a concern over the type of speaker typically brought to UC.

Because of the abundance of left wing speakers invited to campus and a severe lack of conservative Republicans, the parent is giving their own personal money to back the event.


http://www.newsrecord.org/media/paper693/news/2005/10/03/News/Bennett.Cancels.Visit.Amid.Tension-1006557.shtml

-------------

Get active in this! See http://firebennett.cjb.net
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Torgo Johnson Donating Member (797 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 12:42 AM
Response to Original message
1. What a chickenshit
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Voltaire99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 12:49 AM
Response to Original message
2. Hound this racist dirtbag from every public forum.
No public platforms for genocidalists, please.

Let him address the College Republicans at, say, the HQ of a pro-Bush corporation like Best Buy.
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VegasWolf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 12:47 PM
Response to Reply #2
16. He can always speak at Bobby Jones University. nt
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Kire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 12:52 AM
Response to Original message
3. Great!
The guy is gonna get a beat down.

Also, welcome to DU, bos1, but four paragraphs and a link to the story is DU policy.
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sonicx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 01:01 AM
Response to Original message
4. you might wanna cut your article to 4/5 paragraphs
or this will be closed.

just a friendly tip. :)
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bos1 Donating Member (997 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 12:45 PM
Response to Reply #4
15. too late to edit! moderator?
Sorry, I didn't know the policy. But thanks for all the replies and get active! http://firebennett.cjb.net
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Erika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 01:24 AM
Response to Original message
5. Willful distortion? BS
Edited on Mon Oct-03-05 01:27 AM by Erika
Bennett chose to link Blacks to crimes and gave a voice to justification of abortions among Black women. He, indeed, is a racist.
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salin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 04:25 AM
Response to Original message
6. er, something seems to be omitted in this statement from the article
so I added it in - in parentheses:

Because of the abundance of left wing speakers invited to campus and a severe lack of conservative Republicans{who will speak for free or for reasonable/affordable rates}, the parent is giving their own personal money to back the event.
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benfranklin1776 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 05:08 AM
Response to Reply #6
7. Good edit.
I would only add another glaring omission to it, also in parentheses. The criticism that only "left wing" speakers is a standard Rethug lie spin point that these "poor persecuted" conservatives always bleat about. :puke:

Because of the (alleged) abundance of left wing speakers invited to campus and a severe lack of conservative Republicans{who will speak for free or for reasonable/affordable rates}, the parent is giving their own personal money to back the event.
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alarcojon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 07:05 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. Last I checked, Hannity was asking for $70,000 per speech
and a private jet!
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Hobarticus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 07:07 AM
Response to Original message
9. What's more shocking is the College Repugs devotion to this scumbag...
You'd think that being the 'next generation' of crooks and liars, they'd show some public disdain for his blatant racism. Instead, it's just business as usual. Gotta reschedule, just a minor inconvenience.
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Tom Joad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 11:30 AM
Response to Original message
10. Bennet forced to postpone speech
Full story: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/10/03/national/a072827D64.DTL

Former Education Secretary William Bennett has postponed an appearance at the University of Cincinnati because of what he called a "willful distortion" of his remarks about aborting black babies.
<snip>

He said later his point was that abortion should not be opposed for economic reasons because "immoral policies are wrong because they are wrong, not because of an economic calculation."

Kevin Welch, chairman of UC College Republicans, said Bennett's appearance would be rescheduled for sometime in November.



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liberal N proud Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 11:30 AM
Response to Reply #10
11. What he said after he suggest the abortion of babies does not
matter.
The point is he had the mind that even thought of it in the first place.
It lends proof to the mind behind the idiot
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brainshrub Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 11:33 AM
Response to Reply #10
12. Bennet's problem: That isn't what he said.
Edited on Mon Oct-03-05 11:34 AM by brainshrub
I know this had been hashed over repeatedly, but lets look at what he said:

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


The issue isn't that he thinks that abortion is wrong, it's that he thinks that blacks are the ones who commit most crime.
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bos1 Donating Member (997 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 12:48 PM
Response to Reply #12
17. Right! and not only that
but he believes it is because they are black, not other reasons. Just saying abortion means he thinks it's genetic, not socioeconomic. And if he doesn't think that, why hasn't he apologized or clarified?
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katinmn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 11:35 AM
Response to Original message
13. The UC spokesperson better get a grip on reality
"Just because we bring someone in who's controversial, doesn't mean we support his views," said UC Spokesman Greg Hand.
----------

Potential funders opposed to racism and racists will rightfully stop giving money to the university if it asserts that hate statements like Bennet's are merely "controversial."
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gratuitous Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Oct-03-05 12:22 PM
Response to Original message
14. Wouldn't you like to know who was paying Bennett's fee?
I'm sure it's got to be in the five figures. Now, what poor, persecuted figure who has dozens of thousands of dollars laying around that he doesn't know what else to do with, was covering Mr. Morality's visit to UC to reassure the next generation of robber baron larvae that it is just fine to piss on anyone in a lower income bracket?
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