Something on Dictionopolis, the kingdom of words

On Daily Kos, Armando has a smart post about an unfortunate, though perhaps minor phenomenon: Lefties defending, at least in part, Bill Bennett's recent statement about aborting black babies bringing down the crime rate. Al Franken was doing this a little bit on his show yesterday (I watch the Sundance Channel version), and Armando's found examples of Matt Yglesias and Brad DeLong doing the same.

DeLong simply misses the point - arguing that Bennett was not calling for such a measure. I don't think anyone sensible thought he was. Of course the real issue was the correlation of African Americans with criminal propensities.

My thing is, I simply don't believe the spin that Bennett was using Swiftian satire to make a point. I think in William Bennett's mind, crime=black and vice versa. Like most of those who believe similarly, he's smart enough not to say such things around people most of the time, but here he slipped, and there was a microphone in front of him at the time.

But let's say I'm wrong. After, all, I don't know the man. Let's say some of Bill Bennett's most cherished friends are black people. Still, as Armando writes,

Bennett's choice of examples was unfortunate, apt to cause consterntion and hurt among African-Americans...[and]...insensitive...The timing of their tone deafness also is worth noting. We have spent a month discussing the racial component of the government response to Hurricane Katrina. And a racial divide has been revealed.

This is a lose/lose situation for Bennett, and I would not be quick to defend him. At best, he is an insensitive crumb, at worst, a virulent racist. Either way, he deserves no more than scorn.