Last week on his radio show, William Bennett (he of the impeachable virtues) said that one sure way to cut the crime rate would be to abort all black pregnancies. He then said that such a thing would be wrong because abortion is wrong. His point, apparently, was that "easy" solutions to societal problems aren't always workable.

After the predictable shitstorm (including a denunciation by the Prez), Bennett apologized while standing by his premise and his right under the First Amendment to conduct "thought experiments." What he didn't do was apologize for the ignorance of his comments.

Here's the deal: He's right. If you aborted every black pregnancy, you would reduce the crime rate. What he failed to mention is that the same is true if you aborted every white pregnancy. Or every Hispanic pregnancy. Or all pregnancies. The equation "fewer people=less crime" is generally accepted as true.

Here's the other deal: He said those things on purpose. He wanted to give his radio show a higher profile, and the best way to do that is to say something stupid, take your licks and then roar back against the PC police.

But explicitly playing the race card--something Bennett has often criticized black leaders for doing--can be dicey. Code words are fine, but coming right out and calling a...well, you know. Conservative audiences don't like to be reminded that they, too, harbor a little racism in the recesses of their souls. By only talking about black people, Bennett implied that black folks are the most responsible for crime in this country. And while it is true that a black person is more likely to have a criminal record or reside in jail than a white person, I'm not sure you can argue that skin color is the determining factor. Perhaps income level is the real reason. Or maybe its something else. I'm not sure anyone can say with certainty. But to make the claim that skin color is decisive when it comes to crime is, without question, racist.

That Bennett also borrowed from the "Fun with Eugenics" textbooks of a century ago is also telling. He's just reciting the racist beliefs of rich white people from days gone by. Does Bennett actually believe that our nation would be better off without black people? Does he believe that black people are "bringing down" our country? It sounds like it. The whole thing is weird.

This little incident just might be the ultimate expression of neoconservatism. Old school conservatives believed in defending individuals from the tyranny of the state. Neoconservatives believe in using the tyranny of the state to enforce their own vision of societal norms--a repudiation of Barry Goldwater and, to a sizable extent, Ronald Reagan.

It's just another example of the thinking behind the Terry Schiavo fiasco, the Iraq War, the mess in New Orleans...wait, you don't see the connection? Follow me.

Most folks cringed when they saw the bizarre political dance around Terry Schiavo's hospital bed. No matter what you think about euthanasia, the last thing just about anyone wants is the government making decisions about the end of life. Even an estranged spouse is a better judge of your life than some bureaucrat flanked by flunkies and file cabinets.

Many people believed that removing Saddam Hussein from power would make our nation safer. "Safety" (as defined by the neocons) is desirable for our society, and so it was appropriate to use the power of our nation in order to enforce it. Turns out they were wrong about everything. Our inappropriate use of power weakened relationships with our friends, and the removal of Saddam Hussein has made Iraq the biggest terrorist training ground in the world. We are not safer (by any definition) than we were before the war. But hey, we all make mistakes, right?

Same with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. There are plenty of folks in the government who would gladly let New Orleans or any other city (black, white, green...doesn't matter) fail in order to prove their theory that government cannot provide for the people. Never mind that this is true only because the government has decided it should be true. So these folks used the power of government inaction to prove that people shouldn't count on their government to help them in times of ultimate crisis. You want to claim the Prez and his pals didn't fail intentionally? Really. Then why was "Brownie" running FEMA?

True conservatives believe in small government. Neoconservatives believe in a government just as large (if not larger) than most liberals. They just want the money spent on them (tax cuts, pork for corporations, etc.) and not the poor schlubs who might actually need some help.

Oh, and Bennett? Maybe his mother should have had an abortion. That would have reduced the air pollution rate, at the very least.

Jon Worley isn't a neo anything.