Bennett Defends Radio Remarks

Bennett Defends Radio Remarks: "Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, in a statement typical of a parade of similar comments from Democrats, denounced the remarks and called on Bennett to apologize. 'Bill Bennett's hateful, inflammatory remarks regarding African Americans are simply inexcusable,' he said. '. . . Are these the values of the Republican Party and its conservative allies?'

The White House and other Republicans made haste to say that the answer to Dean's question is no. Asked President Bush's reaction to Bennett's remarks, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, 'The president believes the comments were not appropriate.'

Similarly, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, who has been reaching out to African Americans and other minorities, called Bennett's comments 'regrettable and inappropriate.' But Mehlman also lashed out at liberals whom he accused of engaging in racially divisive rhetoric when it suits their interests: 'What's much worse is the hypocrisy . . . from the left.'

The combative Bennett, whose syndicated radio show airs on the Salem Radio Network, offered no apologies. He explained that his comments came in response to a caller who suggested that Social Security would be in better financial shape if abortion were illegal, leaving more people to pay into the system. Bennett cautioned against making such far-reaching arguments and drove home his point by offering what he called 'a noxious hypothetical analogy' to reducing crime by aborting black children."