No, it doesn't. Most of the book is about a president lying to the country and under oath, and in the chapter on Mr. Clinton's sexual infidelity, Bennett makes it clear that even adultery does not necessarily render a person unfit for leadership. He repeatedly notes that in assessing character and trustworthiness, context is king. It is within the context of a lifetime of infidelities, smearing the reputations of women who spoke of their affairs with him, groping a woman who sought his help in the Oval Office, using state troopers when governor of Arkansas to procure women, and lying, that Bennett criticized President Clinton. Bennett even defended past presidents (of both parties) who had extramarital affairs as individuals worthy of holding the nation's highest office.

But none of that matters to those who wish to label Bennett a hypocrite for gambling. What matters is that he is a conservative, advocates virtue, judged President Clinton guilty and gambled too much.

It is surely much easier to be a liberal in our times. You aren't judged.

But society is paying a terrible price for the quick dismissal of conservatives caught sinning. Fewer and fewer people will provide moral leadership, and fewer people will teach character development because the price of having one's private sins exposed is devastating. Bill Bennett's many books on virtue and character education are immensely valuable to America. Even in my most cynical moments, I do not believe that all liberals would like that work nullified.

But there is also a challenge to conservatives, especially religious conservatives who may likewise be tempted to dismiss Bill Bennett. They need to consider two matters.

First, even if you believe gambling is a sin, there are gradations of sin. While all sin may be "rebellion against God," God surely regards some sins (murder, for example) as worse than others (gambling, for example). That's why He isolated Ten Commandments above all others. So even those who believe that Bill Bennett has sinned can put his sin into moral and religious perspective.

Second, Bill Bennett has helped many people sin less. That he has sinned (if indeed he did) in no way alters that fact. It only makes it obvious that he knows how much we all have to struggle with temptations, and that actually makes him a better advocate of virtue and character.

That is why Bill Bennett still deserves to be read and heard. By conservatives as well as by liberals. By sinners as well as by saints.