The stuff libertarian dreams are made of

Atlantic City Mayor Goes Missing

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Under federal investigation for embellishing his Army service in Vietnam, a groggy-sounding Mayor Robert Levy called in sick at City Hall, climbed into his city-issued Dodge Durango and seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth.

A spokesman issued a 36-word statement saying the mayor was going on indefinite medical leave. That was a week and a half ago. Aides say he is in a hospital, but they won’t say where, why or for how long.

The mystery and the gathering scandal over Levy’s military record have worried civic leaders in this seaside resort, which has a long history of corruption, with four of the last eight mayors busted on graft charges and one-third of last year’s nine-member City Council in prison or under house arrest.

As author and radio talk host Tammy Bruce remarked, “Now if every politician in Washington, DC would take [Levy’s] lead, we’d have something to smile about.”