BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?

Subject: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Bobert
Date: 22 May 02 - 10:15 PM

Yeah, tonight we learn that the body of Chandra Levy has been found in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.. What do you think?

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Genie
Date: 22 May 02 - 10:34 PM

I think we don't have enough information to have an educated opinion.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: khandu
Date: 22 May 02 - 11:29 PM

The plot thickens. However, this does not change the thoughts I have had from the beginning...Condit ain't on the up and up about all this.

BTW, Condit doesn't look like Harrison Ford, he looks like William Macy.

khandu

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 02 - 12:08 AM

If only he were as smart as William Macy, he might have saved himself a lot of grief. Heaven help anyone who comes up against the Levy family.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 May 02 - 12:10 AM

I think that in all likelihood Condit had nothing to do with her death, if only because I think we are all capable of cheating on our spouses but most of us would find it difficult indeed to kill. So on the odds alone I'd say, not likely.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: michaelr
Date: 23 May 02 - 01:56 AM

Sage - what's so formidable about the Levy family?

Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 23 May 02 - 08:15 AM

William Macy's evil cousin, perhaps...

As for what I think about it, I think Chandra is dead, and there is a family that now has closure in the worst way and needs to grieve *again*, as, without a body, they were still holding out hopes that she was alive somewhere.

As for Condit, I don't know how involved he was, I only know that he lied and obstructed justice...so someone please tell me why he is not up on charges for it?

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: PeteBoom
Date: 23 May 02 - 08:27 AM

I doubt that Condit was involved. Last I knew, there were two other interns went missing about the same time as Chandra Levy. All three lived in the same general area, all three rather resembled each other physically.

My step-daughter was living a few blocks from where they lived at the time.

Levy made the national press because of the possible connections with Condit. The other two are not even mentioned in the national press - I suspect because doing so would take the fun out of slamming a House Member.

Ah well. Poor girls and their families.

Pete

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 May 02 - 09:29 AM

They said they found bones, and clothes. They don't say if the clothes were on the bones or not... and if scattered around a hillside, could she have taken an honest header off an honest cliff? If that's even possible it's going to turn into Did she fall or was she pushed anyway. I'm just glad, if that's the mot juste, for the family - it's better to KNOW than to fear and hope at the same time. I remember the one day between the bombing and them identifying Daddy's body as being FAR worse than any of the nigh-unto 20 years since.

No charges because no evidence, is my guess.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: SharonA
Date: 23 May 02 - 10:23 AM

They say they also found a Walkman near the remains, and that the clothes were jogging clothes. Wonder if it can be verified that the Walkman was hers, and not planted there to make it appear as if she fell.

CNN also says she was found in a "very inaccessible" area of Rock Creek Park (by a dog belonging to a guy looking for turtles). "The area where the remains were found was 'rugged terrain' on a steep incline" and was covered by "up to a foot of leaves and underbrush". No indication as to whether this "terrain" was below a jogging path from which she might have fallen. Here's the article from which I pulled those quotes: http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/23/levy.body/index.html

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 02 - 10:56 AM

Michaelr,

The Levy family managed to maintain a high-pitched national dialog in their search for Chandra while, as another on this thread pointed out, other interns also went missing. Were it not for airliners slammed into skyscrapers it might have stayed in the headlines. If the Levy's had tried to tie Chandra's disappearance into a Green River kind of missing person story, it wouldn't have stayed in the headlines. Condit was their straw man. As was also pointed out here, most people who cheat on their spouses manage to do so without committing murder in the process. Condit was a convenient figure for that family to latch onto and rail about--when in my personal opinion the money and publicity would be better directed at investigating the string of missing young-women-with-similar-features interns.

I don't blame them for their desperate attempt to find their daughter. I attribute their acts as the product of a news system that has created and panders to an audience of millions who will only pay attention if there are soap opera-like histrionics involved. Under other circumstances, I expect Condit is your average effective nice guy who was getting a bit on the side. No one comes out of this media circus without stinking of it.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: M.Ted
Date: 23 May 02 - 01:05 PM

From the local news here, the one reporter says her unidentified sources say that she was found in a shallow grave(meaning no accident)--with her jewelry(meaning not a robbery), and with clothing intact(not, well, you know what--) and that the location was in a gully--add to that the fact that she looked her future grave site up on the internet before she went there )meaning that it was arranged, rather than an accident, and someone she knew rather than a random stranger)--

The disturbing thing here is that we have been told all along that the map of this very area was on her computer(making it the first place to look for her) and that the police had combed the area, shoulder to shoulder, and scoured it with tracking dogs--(one local reporter who covered the search of Rock Creek Park has said that the operation was sloppy and perfunctory)---making it look like the police didn't want to find her--

It also seems interesting that this discovery happened only after Condit was defeated, and only after Chandra's parents brought her back into the headlines on the anniversary of her disappearance--

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 May 02 - 01:18 PM

Oh, Conspiracy!

Sorry, M. Ted. I just thought I'd beat Guest to it.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: GUEST
Date: 23 May 02 - 01:27 PM

She is reported to have jogged regularly in the area, so why wouldn't she have looked up the trails online?

I'm guessing she was sexually assaulted and murdered while jogging in the area, and don't think Condit had anything to do with it. Which would make the whole case even sadder than it already is. While I don't condone him having an affair with an intern, I think his family has been emotionally harmed by all this too. And Condit lost his job, and possibly all hopes of a career.

Very, very sad.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 May 02 - 01:38 PM

The new generation of news people, talk show people and their bosses want headlines, not truth.
One other comment- there was never any charge against Condit for obstructing justice. Condit became a victim of the news media.
Whether there is a connection with the other two disapearances will not be known until the police release more information.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 23 May 02 - 02:16 PM

I don't know whether or not Condit had anything to do with Ms. Levy's disappearance; probably not, I would guess. But he wasn't a "victim" of anything other than his own stupidity and arrogance. When a young woman is missing and there are fears for her safety, you cut out the BS and tell the cops the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If you evade, avoid, and keep secrets for as long as possible under such circumstances, you show yourself to be infinitely more concerned about your career than about a young woman's life. My heart goes out to the Levy's, but I don't have any sympathy for Condit.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: M.Ted
Date: 23 May 02 - 03:04 PM

To clarify, the unidentified source says she wasn't sexually assaulted--

As to conspiracies--my point is simply to reiterate the Levy's issue--that, despite all the publicity, the DC cops weren't trying very hard to investigate Chandra's disappearance--to phrase it another way, the body didn't show up until after the congressman was out of the race-and his fate no longer impacted the balance of power in the House of Representatives--

There are other theories of course, one being that she was an Israeli intelligence recruit who got into trouble, and the investigation into her death was suppressed for security reasons--

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: michaelr
Date: 23 May 02 - 03:16 PM

Whistlestop - I agree with your reading of the issue. Condit should have come clean. If he had tried to appear honest and cooperative, he may have been able to salvage his career; as it is, good riddance to another big-haired shyster.

Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 02 - 03:47 PM

WhistleStop: If Condit knew that he didn't have anything to do with Levy's disappearance, and if he was trying to preserve his family in the same way the Levy's were trying to preserve theirs, I think you have to admit that there are more shades of gray than you're allowing for.

Hindsight isn't always 20/20. Political affiliations are intruding into this disappearance and death discussion. And in this particular investigation, it hasn't yet been time for the fat lady to sing.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: GUEST,Just Amy
Date: 23 May 02 - 04:36 PM

CNN at this site: http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/23/levy.body/index.html

Mentions the two other women and everything we have discussed here.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 May 02 - 04:41 PM

As near as I could tell from Washington Post reports at the time, Condit was cooperating, but was also trying to prevent invasion of his privacy, and was following his lawyer's advice on this. The media with their incessant barrage are the real culprits (of course along with his political enemies) in his downfall.
M Ted, I can almost see the blockbuster best-seller(s) that is(are) going to come out of this. Makes me wish I was a novelist. I will probably read them (when they come out in paperback).

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: GUEST,DW at work
Date: 23 May 02 - 06:16 PM

Don't all the crime reporters say it's more likely that if you're murdered, it's a member of your own family rather than a stranger who did it?

Hey honey, how about we both go for a romantic walk in the woods, and maybe get a little, you know, 'al fresco'. Down there looks a good spot, whoops, did you slip?

DW

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 23 May 02 - 06:34 PM

If the scuttlebutt is that she was not sexually molested--and I don't know how they could tell that at this late date--the next question is whether she was pregnant.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: GUEST
Date: 23 May 02 - 06:35 PM

Women who are attacked by strangers, oddly enough, are also most often attacked in their homes. However, the second most likely place for women to be attacked by a stranger is somewhere along their normal daily routes. Jogging/walking in remote areas is NEVER a safe idea for a woman in the US, sad to say.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Big Mick
Date: 23 May 02 - 11:52 PM

The report on NPR today indicated that while she was a fitness buff, she was NOT a jogger.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 May 02 - 12:14 AM

Mick,

The CNN report says "A physical fitness buff, she was known to jog in the park.

I was assaulted in the NYC park I worked in many years ago--what a horrible experience. I had changed from my uniform into street clothes to go home, and the kid didn't know I worked there. After that, I made sure that I wore the uniform coming and going. I spotted him weeks later, and reported it, and my boss, bless his heart, changed out of his uniform and found the kid and trailed him in plain clothes until a NYC police officer was nearby and could arrest him. We only had citation authority at that time. And I realize again and again, with each news report, how very lucky I was to live to tell about it.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Big Mick
Date: 24 May 02 - 12:24 AM

I will be curious to see how this comes out. Apparently we have conflicting information. They were quite specific on NPR. They indicated that she was a fitness buff, but not a jogger.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: GUEST
Date: 24 May 02 - 08:38 AM

Yes, it does seem to be conflicting information (ie whether she regularly jogged in the park). However, considering the evidence on her computer shows she had been to the park's website just prior to her disappearance, does suggest she may have gone for a walk in the park. Remember, this is a huge park in middle of a big city that is used just for that purpose by thousands of locals everyday. It doesn't seem terribly sinister to me.

I have relatives who live in the area. Few of them ever believed the Condit connection. Rather, they all presumed that if she had been in the park, she was likely one of the women who gets assaulted with a fair amount of frequency in that park, and was unfortunate enough to be one of the few who may have been murdered there. It happens just that way in parks all across the US many times a year. It seems to me that her disappearance is much more consistent with that scenario, than with a sensationalized love affair with a congressman who had her kidnapped and murdered.

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 24 May 02 - 01:11 PM

Actually intended for another "commentary," and a little bit difficult to get to, but:

Go to Crowson's View

Click on "more photos" and then click "next" one time for a view of "Madame Hindsight."

Sorry - I couldn't find a way to go direct.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Wolfgang
Date: 27 May 02 - 07:15 AM

Stilly River Sage: If Condit knew that he didn't have anything to do with Levy's disappearance...

He couldn't know that, could he, at that time for she could have comitted suicide with her relation to him being one reason, for instance. That's why he should have told the police at once as several have said here.

Police usually don't ask bluntly when people are missing "do you have murdered XY?" but "do you know of anything which can shed light upon the disappearance of XY?" It is not his task to judge whether the information about an affaire is relevant or not.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: Is that your final answer, Congressman?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 02 - 01:56 PM

Wolfgang,

As I said, he knew that he didn't murder her, and he had to decide how to act to protect his family. By all accounts, she didn't sound suicidal, and her affair with Condit was known about and open for discussion in her family, unusual as that seems. And again, if she didn't seem suicidal to him, and since he would be in a position to know if this was the case, why stick his neck out?

This said, I don't think he handled himself or the situation well. He made himself a target, like Gary Hart did, in how he handled the press. Despite being an elected official, he didn't belong in that peculiarly American "public figure" status that meant he had to reveal all to the highly speculative press. The Levy family almost single-handedly propelled him there. With leaks the way they are, revealing what he knew to the police was tantamount to going straight to the press. It was a tough position to be in.

SRS