Posted on 07/29/2003 9:32:08 AM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
Morals czar William Bennett is considering filing lawsuits against Las Vegas casino companies that may have leaked documents detailing his gambling habits.
Bennett, the architect and leading advocate of Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign, was outed in the May issue of The Washington Monthly magazine as a gambler who has wagered -- and lost -- millions over the past decade at Bellagio and Caesars Atlantic City.
During a 60-minute interview with Tim Russert on CNCB this weekend, the former education secretary complained his privacy rights had been "deliberately damaged" while also mocking Las Vegas' latest national marketing campaigns.
"By the way, there's a commercial on that people may have seen about Las Vegas, that 'What happens here stays here.' Well, not in my case. Some people there were trying to do me great harm," Bennett said.
The "What happens here" ad campaign is part of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's latest marketing campaign to boost tourism to the city.
He argued the magazine report stemmed from the release of "some documents" by the casinos themselves which was not legal and violated his privacy rights.
He alleges documents were selectively leaked to create a false impression that he had a gaming problem.
While Bennett did not dispute the legitimacy of the documents and said he had no problem with the reporters who have written stories on his gambling, he told Russert the release of the information was not legal and he is looking into the possibility of legal action against the casinos.
On Monday, Bennett declined to comment further on the possibility of legal action against the casino companies.
Spokesmen for Park Place Entertainment Corp. , owner of the Caesars Atlantic City, and MGM Mirage, which operates Bellagio, declined comment.
Industry insiders have said details in The Washington Monthly article suggest the data about Bennett's gambling habits might actually have come from documents produced by Central Credit, a subsidiary of First Data Corp. of Greenwood Village, Colo.
Central Credit, which has denied being a source of the documents, is the gaming industry equivalent of credit reporting agency TRW. It allows member casinos to run credit checks on debts, marker activity and repayment habits of casino customers.
Industry experts and civil liberties attorneys doubt Bennett has a cause of action.
Las Vegas professor and casino gambling expert Bill Thompson said Bennett's privacy rights "were violated. I think he has a beef, but I don't know if he has a legal argument."
Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said "It might be good policy, but in the absence of some policy or contract, it does not appear there is a cause of action," he said.
I thought the common practice on FR was reading an article, then discussing the basic premise of the article, at length. You should start a VIRTUES thread, if you cannot handle comments that respond to the legal issues raised by the disclosure of Mr. Bennett's personal information. That way, you will be able to argue more effectively about virtues, ONLY. When the rest of us are discussing the article at the top of the thread.
Have you heard him talking about the evils of gambling? If not, he's no hypocrit.
You think the legal issues are irrelevant. They appear to be only relevant to you, when you say that his pursuing legal action against the casinos is reminiscent of Bill Clinton. Which is it? Is it relevant or not?
"How Clintonian of him to now sue the casinos that revealed his deception."Search4Truth
This wouldn't show that Bennett is not a hypocrite. It would just show that he's not a total moron. He can happily go through the litany of the other people's pleasures, weaknesses, vices, whatever, and then cry and moan about American freedom, he just happened to skip over his own.
My, that's quite the handy little excuse.
In a little book this slimy lizard authored, entitled The Broken Hearth: Reversing the Moral Collapse of the American Family, he discusses how we must relearn to "enter judgments on a whole range of behaviors and attitudes." About how "wealth and luxury ... often make it harder to deny the quest for instant gratification" because "the more we attain, the more we want."
Would anyone expect that a man who said that would also be one who routinely "goes through (or 'cycles') several hundred thousand dollars in an evening" (his own description) in Vegas or Atlantic city?
Scum. Nothing but self-aggrandizing scum.
I don't think he condemned gambling, but he's had problems with Self Discipline.
"It was a high level, was a lot of money," he said, and "counting up, has made a difference in our lives."
Don't all people have to struggle with these issues? More disposable income, more choices, more temptations.
Wouldn't someone who has struggled with those temptations be a better source of advice than a celibate monk who has taken a vow of poverty and silence? The monk may be more virtuous, but I doubt he would be able to say much on the subject at hand, right?
Of course they do. And Mr. Bennet has the additional burden of rank hypocrisy. It must be a heavy burden for him. I wonder if he's lost any $50K/pop speaking engagements?
Wouldn't someone who has struggled with those temptations be a better source of advice than a celibate monk who has taken a vow of poverty and silence? The monk may be more virtuous, but I doubt he would be able to say much on the subject at hand, right?
And what, pray tell, would that have to do in the least with Bennett? He's in no moral position to discuss any vice because he not only won't admit his own, he goes to great lengths to dismiss them, employing arguments that in the past have utterly destroyed his own anti-drug position.
That having been said, Mr. Bennett may have grounds for suing the casino if they disclosed credit information, tax records, or something else legally considered confidenial.
So, in other words, no one ever listens to Bennett, to begin with. He has no influence.
I flew out to Del Mar this past weekend and oooooooh gambled. I lost about $30. Do you think I should stop, or can I go up to Saratoga on Saturday?
ML/NJ
To most of the folks who ask it, probably yes.
Would Jesus sit at a pig roast? Would Jesus go out dancing on Friday night? And what would He do on the first day of the seventh month?
ML/NJ
How did Bennett's gambling losses compare to the taxes he payed over the same time period?
ML/NJ
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