Yesterday’s headlines: Where are they now?

Instant obscurity: It’s the most common side effect of instant
notoriety. The proverbial fifteen minutes of fame people get from
“breaking” news stories can be a harsh or rewarding experience. It can
close doors or open them; it can end careers or launch new ones. But one
thing is certain — grab it while you can because it won’t last long.

That’s because soon enough the public tires of your story. After
hearing your name mentioned a thousand times a day for weeks, they begin
to shut you out, turn you away and turn you off. In America, our
attention span is little more than seconds most of the time, and we
expect our news reporters to follow us as we “move on” to the next
bombshell, the next scandal. So they do.

Every so often, however, “inquiring minds” like to know: Whatever
happened to so-and-so? How did so-and-so’s court battle
turn out? What is so-and-so doing these days?

WorldNetDaily has tracked down some of the “most formerly famous”
people of the past few years and researched the events surrounding them
today:

• Monica Lewinsky: When the news about her affairs with
  President Clinton began to die off, Lewinsky changed directions. After
  writing a book, Monica’s Story, about her life before — and experiences with — Clinton failed to sell,
  she decided to open an Internet boutique called The Real Monica,
  Inc. There she sells personally designed handbags, purses and other accessories. In the meantime, her
  most recent television
  appearance was Nov. 30 with Barbara Walters on ABC, where she was asked the vitally
  important question: Will she, as a New York resident, vote for Hillary
  Clinton if she runs for the senate? According to the Associated Press,
  Ms. Lewinsky is dating “but is not in love,” and her book garnered the
  No. 12 spot on Mad Magazine’s Top 20 Dumbest People, Events and
  Things of 1999.

• Newt Gingrich: Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich,
  architect of the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, has also been
  embroiled in a sex scandal since abandoning his speakership at the close
  of the 1998 legislative session. Gingrich, who has reportedly courted
  House Agricultural Committee aide Callista Bisek, 33, “for years,” also
  filed for divorce from his second wife Marianne, whom he married Aug. 8,
  1981. Marianne’s lawyer, Victoria Toensing of Washington, won the right
  to question Bisek during divorce proceedings; in fact, the court has
  ordered that Bisek provide Mrs. Gingrich with requested documents that
  might “shed some light” on the Newt-Callista relationship. Other than
  that, Gingrich has been laying low; he told reporters Nov. 29 that he
  believes Texas Gov. George W. Bush will win the GOP presidential
  nomination — as well as the White House — and that Republicans will
  retain control of Congress. Other than that, Gingrich has been hired by
  Fox to serve as a political commentator, and sources say you can expect
  to see more of him as the 2000 presidential race heats up next year.

• JonBenet Ramsey murder: Though no one has been convicted
  of killing JonBenet Ramsey, the latest information is that lab work is
  continuing on the case. According to news reports, Connecticut scientist
  Dr. Henry Lee “spent Thanksgiving looking over physical evidence.”
  Though Lee won’t discuss what he’s examining, the Associated Press
  reported that “it is from the crime scene.” Attorney Craig Silverman
  says this fits the Ramsey investigation pattern, and he told AP that
  “this analysis should have been done years ago, but officials
  investigating the case don’t seem to have a sense of urgency.”

• Dan Rostenkowski: Once the powerful Democratic chairman of
  the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, “Rosty” plead guilty in
  April 1996 to two counts of mail fraud after being indicted on 17 counts
  of embezzling and misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars of
  government money in the operation of his congressional office. Released
  from a Salvation Army halfway house Oct. 13, 1998, after serving 17
  months in a minimum-security prison camp in Wisconsin, Rostenkowski
  remains under two years probation. Before entering prison and after
  leaving Congress — where the Illinoisan was elected to 18 consecutive
  terms — he had begun a consulting business. Rostenkowski’s latest
  public appearance was at a
  tax seminar for the Congress Project, hosted by the Woodrow Wilson
  International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

• Filegate figure Craig Livingstone: Last seen in the
  company of Judicial Watch founder
  Larry Klayman, under deposition for his role in the FBI “Filegate”
  scandal (Aug. 19, 1999).