California’s US House Representative from Modesto, Gary Condit, passed his polygraph with flying colors. Condit speaketh truth. Condit hath no knowledge of Washington intern/congressional sex toy, Chandra Levy’s disappearance. The test was administered by a retired FBI agent with vast experience in polygraph testing.
There’s only a mountain of questions behind the test. Among them:
Who, besides a Congressman, can “negotiate” the terms of a polygraph?
Who, besides a Congressman, can exclude the police in the administration of a polygraph?
Who, besides a Congressman, can have a polygraph administered in comfortable private settings?
The answer to the first question is “nobody”. The second response is “only a Congressman”. The third response is the same.
The Levy case is quickly moving from being a missing persons investigation to being a homicide investigation. Congressman Condit should at least humor his constituents and the rest of the country by pretending that he’s getting a grilling from the police.
This raises another question: what are polygraph questioning sessions like? Would the American public approve of some of the tactics used by investigators to put fear in the subject and produce the desired results?
The answer is clearly negative.
Many police practices exist that would be subject to reform if they were to go public. Is this Congressman Condit’s leverage? Would he instigate a situation where he is harassed by police? In such a scenario, he could embarrass the police and take away certain police powers by simply starting the debate.
Mere mortals need to fear the police. If they come to your door for questioning, you cannot and should not start talking about your rights. Mere mortals certainly don’t have the option to “go to the negotiating table” with police.
This country can only hope that “negotiation” is intended for police to protect certain investigative powers. Unfortunately, that is much less likely than the simple fact that while men may be created equally, they certainly don’t stay equal once the clock starts.
There is a standard for Congressman Condit and a standard for you and your rancid, peasant kind.
