My Word for July 31, 2001

It's time to read between the lines in these heart wrenching appearances by Dr. and Mrs. Levy, the parents of Chandra Levy.

Whenever a mother uses the word slut about her daughter, it tends to jump out at you.

If the mother of a Washington intern says she told her daughter to not be Monica Lewinsky, it tends to jump out at you.

When the parents of Chandra Levy today began talking about how their daughter was in love with congressman Condit, and how they didn't want her to get hurt because they knew others had been hurt, it grabs your attention.

In fact, the Levys want to refocus your attention because they know you get bored when there is nothing new.

Dr. and Mrs. Levy are desperately hoping their daughter is alive somewhere being held against her will, when the rest of the world is talking about a probable murder.

Meanwhile, the D.C. cops are getting to the point where they say nothing here, back to you Walter ... meaning they could be giving up.

So the Levys play another card to keep the public's attention, and today's was a doozey: We told her not to be Monica. She is not a slut. She was in love with a bad guy.

The Levys are getting expert media advice, much better than the advice congressman Condit is getting.

He's going around refusing to answer questions, and they are headed out to the cameras for the noon eastern live shot, playing another card each day.

Will any of this work to help find their daughter? Obviously, nobody knows. But it's the only thing they know to do.

They can't ask spy satellites to move over the D.C.-Virginia area to look for hot spots that could be a body. They can't marshal an army of cops to comb the woods.

All they can do is talk, and play one card at a time.

It could be a long wait, and if they are going to keep the search for Chandra alive, they have to conserve cards as well as play them.

The Levy story is the big story, and we're going to do it even if they retreat into their house and say nothing. But, I applaud the family's determination to do everything they can.

Just watch. The Levys are going to ratchet this story up until their daughter is found.

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