For Immediate Release (February 22, 1999) Condit Named to Intelligence Committee
Washington, DC- Rep. Gary A. Condit (CA) announced today that he has been appointed to a position on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“This is an opportunity for me to serve our country in a capacity that doesn't get headlines or grab attention but is nonetheless one of the most important committees in the Congress,” Condit said. (from Condit's congressional website)
I do love a good story. I've been telling stories to my children since my oldest (who is now 25) was a toddler. My girls, ages 9 and 11, love it when story time comes around. I have always enjoyed a good story teller as well. A mentor of mine and wonderful teller of tales was a radio and newspaper journalist, who became editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph and went on to become president of a small, private college and a syndicated columnist for the Freedom Newspapers under the great libertarian, R.C. Hoiles.
Bob (Robert LeFevre was his name) would regale me with stories of journalists missing the mark, failing to catch the importance of a story, gladhanding government agents in the hopes of currying favor, and getting a tiny tidbit of slanted news before the next journalist in line grabbed a morsel. I always found it amazing how journalists let vested interests become their vested interest, how journalists spin and twist just the way government agencies want.
An interesting consideration comes up with the Condit-Levy affair which seems to escape the media and various commentators. I find this very odd, and it reminds me of stories Bob would tell me about his fellow journalists. According to all reports, Representative Gary Condit, Blue Dog (conservative) Democrat, has been accused of having an affair with an intern, Chandra Levy, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
I give you the following outline for contemplation. Perhaps it leans too far toward conspiratorial theory, but it does seem to provide an explanation of the events. Consider:
(1) Condit is a member of the House Intelligence Committee with access to a wide range of black box agencies like the CIA, NSA, etc. and their secrets. The disagreements, debates, interest group battles in this committee will, most likely, never become public. But we know they exist. Here are institutions with unknown and unidentified multi-billion dollar budgets overseen by a committee of seasoned (meaning bought and paid for) politicians. Vested interests are on every side, in every direction, with no opportunity for public overview. This powerful committee is at the very center of the secrets held by the federal government, holding the purse-strings of each clandestine agency.
“At issue here are the security interests of the United States in their most basic and concrete forms,” Condit said. “There are very sensitive issues of immediate and long term national security, and I look forward to playing a constructive role in addressing these issues.” (ibid.)
(2) Perhaps Condit was on the wrong side of an issue within the committee. How could his vote be gained or lost? How best could Condit's decision-making power on the committee be controlled? Blackmail? Does Condit have some little secret, some Achilles heel?
Condit's appointment from House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt is for the duration of the 106th Congress. Condit is eligible to serve a maximum of three consecutive two-year terms on the committee. (ibid.)
(3) The disappearance of Chandra Levy leads one to speculate that it might have been professionally orchestrated. Who, or what agencies, have the greatest experience in murder and cover-ups? Hmmm? Could it be that some agency wanted to get information on a member of the Intelligence Committee for leverage on some favored program? Was it a botched pickup for purposes of interrogation and eventual blackmail? Would nervous agents, in a panic, have decided to “clean up” their mistake?
“We can not afford to be lax in our vigilance.” (ibid.)
(4) Could this “disappearance” have been effected at the behest of Congressman Condit? This is doubtful. Condit would be the last person in DC to have made this decision, as it would be all too clear that every finger would be pointed at him. His connection with Levy was probably the scuttlebutt in offices throughout DC and, if not, was certainly filed in numerous unnamed and unnamable government agencies throughout Byzantine, DC.
It has the makings of a fine story, doesn't it? Alas, my imagination takes this scenario only so far. Perhaps others will fill in the details – long after Condit's career is thoroughly destroyed.
Qui Bono? Who benefits from the destruction of his career? We may never know. Which brings us to my final point.
(5) Have the mass media become such sheep that public questions about something other than Condit's private sex life are ignored? The Washington Post, the New York Times, CBS, NBC, CNN, and other major media outlets and their inbred cliques of journalists love obsessing on the sex lives of the fallen, whether Democrats or Republicans. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, go Molly Ivins and E.J. Dionne, as the drool slides down their aging chins, onto the flat screens of their computers and into their columns.
We will never hear any substantive concerns from the likes of these. The managers of the news win with sex. Connie Chung's interview with Condit on ABC's Primetime topped the weekly ratings race with 23.7 million viewers.
This part of the story is the sad conclusion, for not all good stories have a happy ending. Certainly not for Condit. Certainly not for Levy. Certainly not for the consumers of news.
September 10, 2001
