World Net Daily ... In country singer Kenny Rogers' song "The Gambler," we receive a lesson courtesy of a professional poker player, but applicable to other walks of life as well. Rogers croons, "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em" – the lesson being to know when to retreat and when to attack.

This is a critical lesson for politicians too. For an experienced politician failing to grasp it when human decency and compassion demand retreat, it is inexcusable. Yet six years ago this happened, revealing a most damning character flaw in Joe Biden. For those who find Biden's most recent tale about how he, alone, as a young lifeguard faced down a gang leader named "Corn Pop" and his three associates a bit hard to swallow, plenty of witnesses saw this exchange.

The relevant background is this:

A mass shooting at the Washington D.C., Navy Yard on Sept. 16, 2013, had left 12 victims dead and four others wounded, two very severely. One of the two severely wounded was Jennifer Bennett, 54. The shooter, armed with a shotgun, had encountered her on a stairwell and shot her from 10 feet away in the left arm and chest. Bennett's amazing story of her subsequent escape and survival is told in her book "Standing Still In a Culture of Mass Shootings," about which this author wrote last week.

mmediately after the shooting, the media attempted to gain access to surviving wounded victims any way they could. Bennett, however, preferred no media contact as medical personnel fought to repair her body. With all the national headlines the mass shooting generated, accessing the wounded was a coup for the media, as well as for any politician managing to do so.

Among those trying was Vice President Biden. When Bennett rejected a request from Biden's office for such a visit, she was visited by Biden's military aide, a U.S. Army colonel. Following a 20-minute conversation with the colonel about leadership, the aide made a pitch for Bennett to meet with Biden. Bennett reluctantly agreed, but only on condition of no publicity.

Two days after the shooting, Biden entered Bennett's hospital room, with her family members and medical staff present. The small room only allowed for a chair for Biden to be placed in front of a recliner in which Bennett sat. After shaking hands with Bennett and sitting down, Biden asked her to describe what happened. 

Bennett did so but, as she shared how she believed her faith had not only given her tremendous peace of mind when she encountered the shooter but also protected her, Biden clearly became uncomfortable. 

Bennett told how, with other survivors on the building's rooftop, she led them in prayer – which remarkably included prayers for the shooter and his mother – as they awaited rescue.

When Bennett finished sharing her story, the room was stunned by Biden's utterly outrageous and uncalled-for response. He rudely quipped, "I too have a faith, but I don't proselytize my faith the way you do."

Whatever Biden's spiritual beliefs were, it was incomprehensible he would respond in such a manner. Bennett had nearly been killed two days earlier and was still not yet out of danger, as shotgun pellets remained in her torso. She had only shared how her faith played such a role in removing all fear of death because Biden specifically queried what had happened.

Family members in the room, knowing Bennett as one whose faith you do not disrespect, held their collective breath awaiting her retort. They were not surprised when she reprimanded Biden for accusing her of proselytizing. She then added, "Well, sir, people of real faith know at a time such as this, God tells us to call out to him."

Biden, in true narcissistic form, lamented, "You don't need to lecture me" before turning the conversation to him and how he had survived almost dying on three occasions, the loss of his wife and daughter and the illness of his son.

Bennett later wrote about Biden, "These facts would have been appreciated and honored, but it was the 'showmanship, tone, and tenor' of the response that made the people in the room tense and offended me. He had to make sure I, whom he had come to visit, understood what he had experienced was, in his opinion, much more than I had experienced."

Exhibiting the same peace of mind Bennett experienced upon encountering her shooter and recognizing the discomfort of all present created by Biden's self-righteous tirade, she sought to end the discussion by giving credit where credit was due. She graciously acknowledged her lifesavers to Biden saying, "I am well because of Dr. Orlowski and her staff, specifically the nurses have taken great care of me. All have been people of faith who have prayed with me and have helped me be well."

Unbelievably, unwilling to allow Bennett the last word, Biden then hit her below the belt with a political punch, "Well, that's why we all need universal health care." He then stood up, shook Bennett's hand, said, "We clearly have a difference of point of view," turned and abruptly walked away.

As he headed toward a room to another shooting victim, he muttered, "Well, that didn't go well," apparently dumbfounded that Bennett would have rejected his "sage" counsel.

Bennett, fittingly, describes Biden in her book, using a quote attributable to Jane Austen, that his "ill-character was that of an uncharitable man." Unlike the experienced gambler who knows when to hold 'em and fold 'em, Biden – the experienced politician – had absolutely no appreciation for this.

It was totally inexcusable for him to go on the offensive and treat Bennett as he did. Supposedly coming to see her as a simple goodwill gesture, Biden instead, as Bennett also wrote, "arrived with arrogance and an ungracious heart."

There is another important message Bennett delivered in her book in the wake of what politicians like Biden said to her that has been reinforced more recently on the anniversary of Sept. 11 by a man whose mother died in the attack.

Bennett counsels that politicians need be more sensitive to the families of those who lost loved ones, focusing on healing rather than politicizing. Nicholas Haros Jr., who lost his mother on Sept. 11, has spoken at New York City memorial ceremonies, sending out blunt messages to politicians. This year he criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) for her inexcusable description of Sept. 11 as "some people did something." 

Last year his message, just as blunt, underscored what Bennett advises: "Stop using the bones and ashes of our loved ones as props in your political theater. Their lives, sacrifices and death are worth so much more. Let's not trivialize them. … It hurts."

Biden's exchange with Bennett was despicable. While a continuing lengthy list of his campaign gaffes may or may not be excused by critics, his dialogue with Bennett is totally inexcusable. It is most revealing of a man not only lacking compassion, but lacking a soul.