Perhaps it's been glossed over because it appears almost like a footnote on Jeff Crouere's website, or perhaps we haven't really thought about the implications of the story. According to Crouere, Vitter, when asked if he would be willing to speak to Vincent Bruno, said he would not and called Bruno a "thug and a liar." What we didn't know, what we couldn't have known, is what occured the very next day. Crouere writes: Bruno responded later on in the day with a threat of a lawsuit and claimed that he would depose Vitter on the Cortez matter. The threat of legal action prompted a quick response and the next day Vitter sent a certified letter to my house and to Bruno’s house officially apologizing for his comments about Bruno that were made on the program. . Bruno accepted the apology, so the matter was dropped. However, of course, it resurfaced with the recent news of Vitter’s involvement with the “D.C. Madam,” and now new allegations about his involvement with prostitutes in New Orleans, including one named “Wendy Cortez.”
Vitter, when faced with the real threat of being deposed for (ostensibly) a defamation lawsuit, quickly recanted and apologized. It should go without saying: Innocent people do not send certified letters apologizing for their comments. Obviously, at the time, the apology was all Bruno desired. The apology not only validates that Vitter was wrong for calling Bruno a "thug and a liar;" it also likely demonstrates that Vitter knew Bruno's lies were actually facts and that, had he been deposed, the facts would have come out, and the bomb would have exploded. Now, when one goes back and places this in the necesary context, it shows the calculated efforts of Vitter and his team of insiders to keep this story out of the mainstream media. Curiously, though, despite the claims made by Bollinger and despite the public allegations made against Vitter by fellow Republicans as far back as 2002, Roger Villere, the chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party, says that he doesn't "think" these allegations were ever brought to him. It certainly seems improbable, though. Boysie Bollinger says insiders "discussed" the facts and knew the "bomb could go off." Obviously, there's no bigger insider than the chairman of the party, and given the importance of the elections and the divisions in the party, one must take Villere's comments to either mean that he's not really in control of the party apparatus or he has an incredibly bad memory. Does Roger Villere remember how David and Wendy Vitter had to go into marriage counseling? David Vitter wasn't (and isn't) a minor player in the Louisiana Republican Party; he was, and still remains, the most important elected Republican offical in the State of Louisiana, the principal force behind the Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority. They were building a machine around Vitter. Unfortunately, though, the machine was attached to a detonator, a detonator first discovered by fellow Republicans. But those who spoke up early on were silenced and minimized; the decision had already been made: The party was going with Vitter, despite the time bomb. Which is why, today, when one reads comments that feign surprise or ignorance by those who sheltered these allegations from the mainstream media for over five years, it's fascinating to hear Boysie Bollinger say, "We discussed this exact fact, that this bomb could go off." A rare glimpse into the truth in the aftermath of the explosion. |
Boysie Bollinger
