kausfiles special: Political commentary and more.

Warning: Chandrogynous Zone!

Mickey Kaus
Posted Sunday, July 15, 2001, at 7:46 PM ET

Kausfiles' goal is to have no unpublished thoughts on the Chandra Levy story. Here goes:

1) The Hill newspaper is reporting, and the Levys' attorney Billy Martin has seemingly confirmed, that Rep. Gary Condit asked Chandra Levy not to carry ID with her when they got together. That could explain why she might have left her driver's license behind in her apartment. But mightn't she still take her purse without the ID? When might a young woman go out without her purse? One answer: When she's going for a ride on a motorcycle! ...

2) According to Michael Isikoff's Newsweek account, in Condit's last police interview he told investigators he "couldn't recall" whether or not he was "intimate" with Chandra Levy the last time he saw her. There's something that would make any girl happy! But do you believe it? Even men with as ... er, crowded a schedule as Condit's tend to remember that sort of detail. For a few weeks, anyway!

3) Why did so many Clinton defenders--e.g., Julian Epstein, Paul Begala, Mark Geragos--so readily go on television to defend Condit? Sure, TV chat-show producers may have instinctively turned to them upon hearing the words "adulterer," "intern," and "grand jury." But is that the ecological niche Democrats want to occupy? ... The most egregious example is Epstein, who works for the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee. His bosses could presumably tell him to stop going on TV, something congressional staffers don't ordinarily get to do anyway. But he's been everywhere--Larry King Live (three times), Geraldo (three times), Crossfire, etc. ... If Condit's guilty, why associate him with the Democrats--and with Clinton? If Condit's innocent, that truth will eventually come out without Epstein's help. ...

4) The CW (conventional wisdom) holds that Condit's already been damaged badly by his behavior in the Levy case. But the very seriousness of what's been insinuated in the press--that he had something to do with Chandra Levy's disappearance--suggests that if he turns out to be a Richard Jewell, the wave of public sympathy and media self-flagellation will be so great he might come out of it as popular as ever. And with national name recognition! ...