With calls for Rep. Gary Condit's resignation coming from many fronts in the wake of Chandra Levy's disappearance, a new chapter has been penned in the sadly ongoing saga.
The new authors of this tract are none other than the editors of the Modesto Bee, the largest newspaper in Condit's district.
Though not the first time that the Bee has made intimations towards Condit's resignation, last Friday's editorial was arguably the most inflammatory and pointed.
Following a nationally televised interview with ABC's Connie Chung, Condit was again admonished by the Bee for his early silences and "weasellike performance" in the interview.
While Condit's silence is despicable, the question nonetheless remains as to what extent the media can coerce answers and affect changes such as resignations in the federal government.
After all, Condit has committed no crime and is no longer under police investigation.
And while Levy's disappearance is unfortunate and saddening, has the role of the media caused the case to overshadow other, equally unfortunate and saddening disappearances, specifically in Washington, D.C.?
There are hundreds of disappearances in the nation's capital every year. So what makes this case news?
In a simple answer, the news makes it news.
From the beginning, this case has been driven by the media. Every investigation, every new search, every question asked has been at the behest of the public eye.
Asking for a resignation only seemed the next logical step.
Though the right of the fourth estate to provide a magnified voice for the public, it seems a paltry and degrading policy to continue this exercise thusly.
For if Condit is to be replaced, it should be by the individual voters, not by an acclamation of the press.
And while the 30 protesters outside his office do constitute a collection of voters, they are by no means a majority, insofar as his 500,000 other constituents have not been individually sought out by pollsters.
Condit denies a sexual relationship with Levy. He denies killing her. And as the police sort through the details, it appears that at least the latter is true.
We may never know, as Washington, D.C., Police Chief Charles Ramsey has emphasized.
And so the demonization of Congressman Gary Condit shall continue, deservedly or not.
While he has not been the most forthright and upstanding member of the legislative community for the past year, he was nonetheless cleared from any and all wrongdoing - except in the Bee.
He will not be liked. And he will most likely not be re-elected. To declare public opinion is the right of kings, and King Media has taken its right.
Whether Condit engaged in an affair with Levy is immaterial at this point, though you would never know it. That has sadly become the focus of the news instead of whether this young woman will be found.
And the answer coming from the media is that she is dead. And that she is dead because she had an affair with Condit; as if somehow the two are a revolving corollary and nobody ever disappears in Washington, nobody ever gets killed, nobody ever has alleged affairs with congressmen.
Chandra Levy is gone. She may never come back. The news is in the tragedy of this event - not in the excoriation of an innocent man.
Copyright Daily Nebraskan Online
