Conservative columnist Robert Novak has died

[lou2099]

Another public figure on the Grim Reaper's 2009 list, checked off.

Conservative columnist Robert Novak has died
Battled brain cancer; best known as longtime co-host of CNN's 'Crossfire'

WASHINGTON - Conservative columnist and TV commentator Robert Novak died Tuesday morning after a battle with brain cancer. He was 78.

Novak had returned to his home after being hospitalized for two weeks last month. His brain tumor was discovered in July 2008.

“He was someone who loved being a journalist, loved journalism and loved his country and loved his family," Novak’s wife, Geraldine, told the Chicago Sun-Times, where Novak had worked as a columnist since 1966.

Novak, editor of the Evans-Novak Political Report, is perhaps best known as the longtime co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," where he jousted with liberal co-hosts from 1980 to 2005, when he left to join Fox News as an occasional contributor.

While he became known as a staunch conservative, he differed with conservatives on many issues, expressing doubts about invading Afghanistan and frequently criticizing the war in Iraq.

"He was a Washington institution who could turn an idea into the most discussed story around kitchen tables, congressional offices, the White House, and everywhere in between," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a statement.

He announced his newspaper retirement in August 2008, telling the Sun Times that his prognosis was "dire."

A week earlier, he struck a pedestrian with his car in downtown Washington. Novak kept going until he was stopped by a bicyclist, who said the man was splayed on Novak’s windshield.

CIA leak scandal
Novak was criticized by some when he revealed the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame. His 2003 column came out eight days after Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, said the Bush administration had twisted prewar intelligence to exaggerate the threat posed by Iraq.

Novak said that column began "a long and difficult episode" in his career.

Citing two Bush administration officials, Novak revealed Plame worked for the CIA on weapons of mass destruction. That blew her cover as a CIA operative and led to the investigation of who leaked that information, and eventually to the conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff. Libby's prison sentence was later commuted by President George W. Bush.

Novak later said that former Deputy State Department Secretary Richard Armitage first revealed Plame's job and that Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove, and CIA spokesman Bill Harlow confirmed it.


Proud of 'Prince of Darkness' moniker
In his 2007 memoir, "The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington," Novak wrote of his career: "I had a terrific time fulfilling all my youthful dreams and at the same time making life miserable for hypocritical, posturing politicians and, I hope, performing a service for my country."


Actually Novak had been dubbed the "prince of darkness" by a journalist friend early in his career, and he embraced the moniker. He wrote in that memoir that he became proud of the label derived from his "unsmiling pessimism about the prospects for America and Western civilization."

Novak wrote in his book about often giving politicians the choice of being a source or a target, a strategy that often produced scoops for his column.

Born and raised in Joliet, Ill., Novak began his career in journalism in high school as a sports stringer for the Joliet Herald-News, then worked at the Champaign-Urbana Courier while attending the University of Illinois.

Novak had been diagnosed with cancer at least three times previously. He underwent surgery in 2003 to remove a cancerous growth on his kidney and was under medical observation for a possible recurrence.

A son of Jewish parents, he converted to Catholicism at age 67 after attending Catholic services for several years.

Novak is survived by his wife Geraldine, who was a secretary for President Lyndon Johnson, their daughter and a son, Alex.


The Associated Press contributed to this report.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32461900/ns/politics-more_politics/



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[Superman]

"If you can't say something nice, Don't say anything at all"



....

 

[Marlboro Man]

In Heaven, you get to out all the undercover CIA agents you want, and get rewarded with lollipops and ice cream for doing so... unfortunately for Novak, that's not where he's going.

 

[Kelly]

He made political news controversial.....that's for sure.

 

[SentinelMind]

"If you can't say something nice, Don't say anything at all"



....

Compassionate liberalism. You can't pay any respects because you disagree with his politics.

 

[Marlboro Man]

He doesn't deserve respect for what he did with Valerie Plame.

 

[Franklin Richards]

I heard Benedict Arnold died at some point too.

 

[BlackestNight]

Compassionate liberalism. You can't pay any respects because you disagree with his politics.

To be fair, Novak was a *****ebag of a person....

 

[Kelly]

Well, in this case.....it is obvious that it will be along partisan lines....that's cool....just keep it respectful to your fellow posters....

 

[Schlosser85]

Compassionate liberalism. You can't pay any respects because you disagree with his politics.

I've never seen why someone who was a scumbag all his life and seemingly proud of being an unabashed scumbag should suddenly deserve our deepest respect just because he died.

Everyone dies, it doesn't make bad people suddenly good people.

 

[Kurosawa]

I never agreed with his politics one bit, and what he did to Valerie Plame was pretty despicable. But I am growing to agree with his pessimism, although for obviously completely different reasons.

 

[Kelly]

I've never seen why someone who was a scumbag all his life and seemingly proud of being an unabashed scumbag should suddenly deserve our deepest respect just because he died.

Everyone dies, it doesn't make bad people suddenly good people.

I'm not sure if this is in reply to my post, but if it is....please re-read my post...

I wasn't speaking of him, I was speaking of respect for your fellow posters. What normally happens in situations like this is...

Poster A: I liked the guy, and actually agreed with alot he said....
Poster B: You're an idiot...

That is pretty simplified version of what has happened in the past, but at some point in threads of this nature, that happens......and I went ahead and did my usual respect post ahead of time, because honestly I'm not in much of a mood to have that type of posting happening.

So, I don't necessarily respect his reporting, but I do respect the opinion of those that might.....

 

[Franklin Richards]

How can you respect the reporting of a traitor?



I mean... am I wrong?... didn't he commit an act of treason?

 

[Schlosser85]

I'm not sure if this is in reply to my post, but if it is....please re-read my post...

Wasn't responding to your post...

 

[Marlboro Man]

How can you respect the reporting of a traitor?



I mean... am I wrong?... didn't he commit an act of treason?

Yeah, he committed treason, but he was never prosecuted because the Bush justice department agreed with outing her. Remember, you can only commit treason if you're a liberal.

 

[hippie_hunter]

It's sad that he died, but the guy was kind of a *****e. I think it would be a tad bit more disrespectful to sugarcoat someone when they pass away.

 

[Schlosser85]

Yeah, he committed treason, but he was never prosecuted because the Bush justice department agreed with outing her.

He was never prosecuted because he did it on their behalf.

 

[Kelly]

How can you respect the reporting of a traitor?



I mean... am I wrong?... didn't he commit an act of treason?

Don't really know...but if some do, they have every right to that opinion.....

And as was posted, he wasn't prosecuted.....so ***** about that rather than the poster's opinion.....

 

[Marlboro Man]

Novak also spent a good part of the 1970s making up vicious lies about Democrat politicians and then attributing those lies in the form of quotes from "unnamed politicians."

And then once a prominent politician died, he would come out a few months later and say the dead guy said such and such quote in the 1970s.

What a great journalist.

 

[Kelly]

Novak also spent a good part of the 1970s making up vicious lies about Democrat politicians and then attributing those lies in the form of quotes from "unnamed politicians."

And then once a prominent politician died, he would come out a few months later and say the dead guy said such and such quote in the 1970s.

What a great journalist.

Yep....


Glad that doesn't happen today....

 

[Marlboro Man]

I'm sure it happens today. That doesn't excuse Novak's past behavior though.

 

[bullets]

It's sad that he died, but the guy was kind of a *****e. I think it would be a tad bit more disrespectful to sugarcoat someone when they pass away.

I usually wait a week before I start trash talking someone that dies. Unless they are a ruthless criminal or something.

 

[Marlboro Man]

He was a criminal though. He just wasn't prosecuted for it, because it was a federal offense and the guys in control of the justice department were conservatives who egged him on.

 

[VampElvis]

I've never seen why someone who was a scumbag all his life and seemingly proud of being an unabashed scumbag should suddenly deserve our deepest respect just because he died.

Yeah, that's why you'll never see me lament the passing of ole Killer in the Senate

 

[StorminNorman]

I am disappointed by the foolishness of most of the comments in this thread.

Bob Novak was one of the best reporters in American political history.