Goodbye, Novak. Don't let the gate of hell hit your ass on the way in.
One of the worst men in America died today, and it just goes to show, no matter how bad things are, they could always be worse.
With all the complaints about Rush Limbaugh spreading ridiculous lies and slanders and Lou Dobbs helping to mainstream them, we have at least not had Robert Novak mainstreaming them further in shrieking columns and fiery CNN appearances. He's been sidelined for some time with brain cancer.
This is a terrible misfortune for anybody, and I'm not ordinarily insensitive (I have a friend battling with it right this minute), but I'm also not a hypocrite. Novak was a liar, a coward, a bitter and vicious man, and a force for bad in our society. Not only will I not miss him one bit, but I haven't missed him one bit (or given him a single thought) during the time he has been alive but off the scene. I should probably have been thanking my Lord and Maker every single day for Novak's illness.
Fittingly, the first sign of it may have been a hit and run accident he had (he was driving a black Corvette convertible; 'nuff said). It was one of the last stories about him. The previous big one was of course that he revealed the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame, exposing her to potential assassination, to punish her husband Joe Wilson for revealing that the Bush administration lied about Saddam Hussein's supposed efforts to obtain uranium in Nigeria.
Unlike other reporters in the Plame incident and other Bush administration scandals who were indicted for not revealing their sources, Novak apparently revealed his instantly (laying to rest any lingering rumors that he might be an actual journalist). The details of the car incident are fascinating:
“I didn’t know I hit him. I feel terrible,” a shaken Novak told reporters from Politico and WJLA as he was returning to his car. "He's not dead, that's the main thing." Novak said he was a block away from 18th and K streets Northwest, where the accident occurred, when a bicyclist stopped him and said, "You hit someone." He said he was cited for failing to yield the right of way. The bicyclist was David Bono, a partner at Harkins Cunningham, who was on his usual bike commute to work at 1700 K St. N.W. when he witnessed the accident. As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said a "black Corvette convertible with top closed plowed into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed onto the windshield.” Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. “The car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” Bono said. He said he chased Novak half a block down K Street., finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blared and commuters finally went into reverse to allow Novak to pull over. Bono said that throughout, Novak "keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.” He said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a Washington celebrity but could not precisely place him. Finally, Bono said, Novak put his head out the window of his car and motioned him over. Bono said he told him that you can't hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: “I didn’t see him there.” A concierge at 1700 K Street said that she saw a bicyclist yelling and walked outside to see what the commotion was about. "This guy hit somebody and he won't stop so I'm going to stay here until the police come," Aleta Petty quoted Bono as saying, as he stood in K Street, blocking traffic. D.C. police confirmed that there was an accident at 18th and K streets NW at approximately 10 a.m. involving a black Corvette convertible and that the driver was a white male. The intersection is in the hub of Washington’s business district and is filled with pedestrians who work in the law firms and lobby shops that line the corridor. Novak, 77, has earned a reputation around the capital as an aggressive driver, easily identified in his convertible sports car. Click here to see the Politico story and to watch video of Novak answering questions about the incident. In 2001, he cursed at a pedestrian on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th streets Northwest for allegedly jaywalking. “’Learn to read the signs, [bodily orifice]!’ Novak snapped before speeding away,” according to an item in The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column. Novak explained to the paper: "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that." Two years later, the same column reported that Novak had gone to a racing school in Florida. "I've wanted to be a racecar driver all my life, and anyone who has watched me drive can tell you that,” Novak said.
Washington is a place, apparently, where a well connected hit and run driver who didn't see a pedestrian "splayed onto his windshield" can be cited only for failing to yield the right of way. As a boon to Washington pedestrians, American citizens, and anybody in the world with a shred of decency, Mr. Novak (who puffed up with pride when anybody called him the Prince of Darkness) has departed this vale of tears. Maybe fewer of them will be shed now that he's gone. My only regret is that I have no strawberries to go with my champagne.
With all the complaints about Rush Limbaugh spreading ridiculous lies and slanders and Lou Dobbs helping to mainstream them, we have at least not had Robert Novak mainstreaming them further in shrieking columns and fiery CNN appearances. He's been sidelined for some time with brain cancer.
This is a terrible misfortune for anybody, and I'm not ordinarily insensitive (I have a friend battling with it right this minute), but I'm also not a hypocrite. Novak was a liar, a coward, a bitter and vicious man, and a force for bad in our society. Not only will I not miss him one bit, but I haven't missed him one bit (or given him a single thought) during the time he has been alive but off the scene. I should probably have been thanking my Lord and Maker every single day for Novak's illness.
Fittingly, the first sign of it may have been a hit and run accident he had (he was driving a black Corvette convertible; 'nuff said). It was one of the last stories about him. The previous big one was of course that he revealed the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame, exposing her to potential assassination, to punish her husband Joe Wilson for revealing that the Bush administration lied about Saddam Hussein's supposed efforts to obtain uranium in Nigeria.
Unlike other reporters in the Plame incident and other Bush administration scandals who were indicted for not revealing their sources, Novak apparently revealed his instantly (laying to rest any lingering rumors that he might be an actual journalist). The details of the car incident are fascinating:
“I didn’t know I hit him. I feel terrible,” a shaken Novak told reporters from Politico and WJLA as he was returning to his car. "He's not dead, that's the main thing." Novak said he was a block away from 18th and K streets Northwest, where the accident occurred, when a bicyclist stopped him and said, "You hit someone." He said he was cited for failing to yield the right of way. The bicyclist was David Bono, a partner at Harkins Cunningham, who was on his usual bike commute to work at 1700 K St. N.W. when he witnessed the accident. As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said a "black Corvette convertible with top closed plowed into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed onto the windshield.” Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. “The car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” Bono said. He said he chased Novak half a block down K Street., finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blared and commuters finally went into reverse to allow Novak to pull over. Bono said that throughout, Novak "keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.” He said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a Washington celebrity but could not precisely place him. Finally, Bono said, Novak put his head out the window of his car and motioned him over. Bono said he told him that you can't hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: “I didn’t see him there.” A concierge at 1700 K Street said that she saw a bicyclist yelling and walked outside to see what the commotion was about. "This guy hit somebody and he won't stop so I'm going to stay here until the police come," Aleta Petty quoted Bono as saying, as he stood in K Street, blocking traffic. D.C. police confirmed that there was an accident at 18th and K streets NW at approximately 10 a.m. involving a black Corvette convertible and that the driver was a white male. The intersection is in the hub of Washington’s business district and is filled with pedestrians who work in the law firms and lobby shops that line the corridor. Novak, 77, has earned a reputation around the capital as an aggressive driver, easily identified in his convertible sports car. Click here to see the Politico story and to watch video of Novak answering questions about the incident. In 2001, he cursed at a pedestrian on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th streets Northwest for allegedly jaywalking. “’Learn to read the signs, [bodily orifice]!’ Novak snapped before speeding away,” according to an item in The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column. Novak explained to the paper: "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that." Two years later, the same column reported that Novak had gone to a racing school in Florida. "I've wanted to be a racecar driver all my life, and anyone who has watched me drive can tell you that,” Novak said.
Washington is a place, apparently, where a well connected hit and run driver who didn't see a pedestrian "splayed onto his windshield" can be cited only for failing to yield the right of way. As a boon to Washington pedestrians, American citizens, and anybody in the world with a shred of decency, Mr. Novak (who puffed up with pride when anybody called him the Prince of Darkness) has departed this vale of tears. Maybe fewer of them will be shed now that he's gone. My only regret is that I have no strawberries to go with my champagne.