This should have been on the front page. But you see, I don’t know authority figures like Plato Cacheris, the high-profile criminal defense attorney who handled the Robert Hanssen spy case. Or Billy Martin, the attorney for the parents of Chandra Levy, who was also the attorney for Marcia Lewis, mother of Monica Lewinsky. Wait a while, yet. Don’t make that very obvious connection, don’t draw that parallel as yet. Unless, of course, your pleasure in life lies in seeking sensationalism vicariously in other people’s life circumstances.

The world was relatively quiet yesterday – no casualties in the Mideast, Macedonians were taking a break from civil unrest, there were no racial riots in the United Kingdom, no school shootings.

And as I searched for a topic to write about, I found the Chandra Levy-Gary Condit rigmarole was the cynosure of the media’s myriad eyes. And, just like everyone else, I had some questions for which I started seeking answers. Not the least among which was “I wonder if Anne Marie Smith’s book will sell as well as “Monica’s Story” did.

Did you know that, apart from this United Airlines flight attendant who allegedly had an affair with Congressman Condit, there are reports that at least five other women “came forward to help the Chandra Levy investigation” by wanting to talk about their affair with Condit? Talk about striking while the iron is hot.

Moving on to Congressman Condit himself – and his army of attorneys, aides and other assorted staff. For two months, this mob in Modesto, Calif., insisted, cried itself hoarse, decried, denounced and denied all rumors and reports about Condit having any romantic or sexual relationships with Chandra Levy.

This week, Condit finally told police that he did have “sexual relations with that woman.” My obvious question here is “Why?”

Condit’s attorney, Lowell (he’s not a smart, overpaid lawyer for nothing) obviously had this smart non-answer to the “Why?” question.

He said “I’m not a smart, overpaid lawyer for nothing if you think I’m going to answer that question straight.”

No, actually what he said was that whether Condit had an affair with Chandra Levy or not, whether he denied it, whether he has admitted to it, is not and should not be the focus of this whole investigation.

Incidentally, some more American taxpayers’ money is going to go down the drain in hiring lawyers to represent representatives and fuel the media frenzy for laundering public figures’ private lives in public.

When Washington D.C. Police Chief Ramsey was asked if anybody else’s house was searched, he replied, “No, we just happened to find the keys to Rep. Condit’s house when were doing our routine neighborhood beat in Modesto and so we went in had a look around.

He’s got a pretty nice joint. I doubt any of the other ninety-nine people we’ve spoken to so far is so careless as to leave their house keys around. Or if they have such nice homes. I’m going to talk to their real estate agent to see if the Condits will move out because of this scandal so I can buy their house cheap.”

Chief Ramsey also did say that Condit was not a suspect, was not the focus of the case, and was cooperative. Either he’s been talking to Condit’s attorney or he read Wolf Blitzer’s interview with Lowell today on CNN.com.

As to the focus of the investigation, the cynosure of all eyes on whom nobody has laid eyes for over two months now – no, not Bill Clinton, I’m talking about Chandra Levy – what of her?

It remains a mystery, a missing person’s case, not yet a crime with any usual or unusual suspects. One thing is clear, though. The FBI confirmed that after tracing an e-mail she sent from her apartment in Washington D.C. on May 1, it was actually not on April 29 that she disappeared.

This brings up the last troubling question. Where do we stand about internet privacy and reading other people’s e-mails? I suggest all of you who feel strongly about this shoot off an e-mail – on second thoughts, take up pen and paper to your congressman, whosoever he or she may be. Except possibly, Rep. Gary Condit.

Narayan Devanathan is a graduate student in journalism and mass communication from Hyderabad, India.