This week was the calm before the storm: they’ve reopened the case, possibly because there may be DNA evidence on a pair of pants, and possibly because it looks bad when there’s even a suggestion that the rich and powerful can count on sexual assault allegations… going away.  Meanwhile, via Instapundit, Politico is reporting that the story is going mainstream in the national media.  Hillbuzz notes that, more importantly, it’s hitting entertainment sources like EW and People.  Why is that more important? Let them explain:

Here’s something we keep telling just about every conservative we ever meet, but none of them seem to listen:  the entertainment industry matters because more people read People, Entertainment Weekly, Perez Hilton, Deadline Hollywood Daily, Aint It Cool News, Dark Horizons, and other entertainment sites than read many of the political sites combined.

Which is true. I’ll add to that this observation: the media has a story that they love to tell whenever they can. I call it “The God That Failed,” and it’s the story of how a man (it’s invariably a man) whom all thought different and above temptation turns out to all too frail, all too human – and all too prone to tragic crimes*.  It’s the inevitable end to any person held up as an example of a man-god by the media, in fact: some get it sooner, some get it later, but it happens to all of them in the end.

As to whether the guy is actually guilty… absent DNA evidence on the slacks I don’t see how this gets above he said/she said.  Although I will note that if this happened it’s unlikely to be the only time that it’s happened; if more people come forward to report incidents where Gore acted inappropriately I don’t see how he comes out of this with his reputation intact.  Actually, as it stands I don’t see how he comes out of this with reputation intact anyway.

Moe Lane

*And whose careful, meticulous recounting of said crimes by the news media will prove to be most profitable edifying.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.