Most people understand that perfection is not of this world. You just keep working at it. If you’re peddling virtue, you can’t very well indulge in a vice.

Those who excuse William Bennett’s gambling problem as his own or spin that it’s some silly political game of “gotcha” do a good man a disservice. Addicts of all kinds — those consumed by alcohol or drugs or the ones who seek sex in all the wrong places — know there’s a period of denial after the great fall and then comes the hard truth:

Any addiction not only can damage you, physically, spiritually, even financially, but it also hurts those you love.

I would like to believe that was Bennett’s motivation when he finally promised that his gambling days are over. He came clean only after being outed by Newsweek and Washington Monthly. They reported that the former education secretary, drug czar and respected conservative author of “The Book of Virtues” gambled millions of dollars over the past decade, losing some $8 million.

At first Bennett became defensive when confronted with those figures — just as one would expect from someone in denial.

“I’ve gambled all my life, and it’s never been a moral issue with me. I liked church bingo when I was growing up,” Bennett, a Catholic, told the two magazines.

I cringed at his equating church bingo with high-stakes gambling in which he had $200,000 lines of credit at several casinos. You know how much good work the Catholic Church or any nonprofit could do with that kind of money?

For the record, the Catholic Catechism states, “Games of chance or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for one’s needs and those of others. The passion of gambling risks becoming an enslavement.”

Fortunately, a couple of days after the gambling reports, Bennett recognized his enslavement to a game that had become a vice. He acknowledged that he had gambled “large sums” on video poker and slot machines at casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. He paid his taxes accordingly, win or lose.

Legal or not, though, he had to know it wasn’t right. He wasn’t playing an occasional game of chance. He was a high-stakes player, and as such, he admitted he was setting a bad example. If you’re peddling virtue — and I’ve always appreciated that he did — you can’t very well indulge in a vice.

I’ve always respected Bennett because he wasn’t afraid to take a stand, to put individual behavior into societal context. Freedom isn’t only about individual rights. There must be a strong relationship between responsibility and liberty.

Bennett’s critics will surely question the motivation for his mea culpa. Was it simply a political response to save face among his conservative brethren?

Maybe, but it strikes me that if Bill Clinton would have immediately “fessed up” when asked about “that woman,” even if it had been a politically motivated response, the nation would have been better for it. Certainly, we would have been spared the Starr Chamber’s excesses.

Had Clinton admitted immediately that he had an inappropriate relationship with the intern, people would have been rightfully appalled, but, in the long run, the majority would have moved on. Americans are like that. Despite a puritanical streak, they’re a forgiving lot.

Most people understand that perfection is not of this world. You just keep working at it, some better than others.

Even now that Bennett has said he will stop gambling, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s caught at it again. Not because of some sinister plot to lie about his intentions. No, simply because he’s human, and even the most virtuous among us have inner demons to battle.

Myriam Marquez is an editorial page columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. Her e-mail address is mmarquez@orlandosentinel.com.