Friday, May 9
Although I realize that the William Bennett "news" is old, I need to make up for lost time on the blog. This article by Radley Balko from theagitator.com discusses conservatives' treatment of Bennett from an interesting perspective. He characterizes it as a lost opportunity to blame the eroding morality of the social elite ala Daniel Henninger's WSJ "No Guardrails" editorial. Balko writes:
William Bennett is unquestionably an "elite." He's a former Drug Czar, a former secretary of education, a best-selling author, an A-list pundit, and a top-dollar draw on the lecture circuit. And he spent the kind of time and money at the casinos that would (and does) reap unquestionably devastating results were it imitated by people from society's not-so-elite. Here, it would seem, is the ultimate test for cultural conservatives to prove that "No Guardrails" isn't a partisan excuse to snipe at Hollywood and academic liberals, but rather is a serious commentary on the importance of elitist example-setting. They failed.
I'm not sure I even subscribe to the concept of "elitist example-setting" or even "elitism."
- posted by Anonymous @ 1:53 PM
