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On May 15, 2008, Novak wrote a column celebrating and reviewing his 45 year career as a reporter and columnist. Novak noted that, presently, his column is the "nation's longest-running current syndicated political column." <ref></ref> Novak also stated it was his intention to continue to report and write his column and to "die in the saddle without retiring." On May 15, 2008, Novak wrote a column celebrating and reviewing his 45 year career as a reporter and columnist. Novak noted that, presently, his column is the "nation's longest-running current syndicated political column." <ref></ref> Novak also stated it was his intention to continue to report and write his column and to "die in the saddle without retiring."


===Hit and Run driving=== ===Traffic citation===
On ] ], Novak received a citation from police for "failing to yield a right of way" to a pedestrian, who was hit by Novak's car in slow-moving traffic. Novak drove approximately one block from the scene before being flagged down by an cyclist who had witnessed the accident and subsequently called the police. Novak said that he was unaware that an collision had occurred until being informed by eyewitnesses. The pedestrian was taken to ] and was treated for "minor injuries".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072301624.html | title=Novak Cited for Hitting Pedestrian | author=Paul Duggan | work=] | publsiher=] | date=] | accessdate=2008-07-25 }}</ref>
Long known for his black Corvette convertible and aggressive driving style, Novak was cited by police in Washington, D.C. on July 23, 2008 after he hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk and drove away. According to '']'' , Novak was stopped a block away by a bicyclist who witnessed the incident and chased Novak down, stopping his bicycle in front of Novak's car and calling police on his cell phone.

Novak reportedly stated that he did not see the pedestrian and "really didn't have any idea it happened" though witnesses said the victim was sprawled across the windshield of Novak's car after being struck and said Novak moved into another lane and appeared to attempt to flee the scene before the bicyclist (a law firm partner) chased him down and refused to move from in front of Novak's car until police arrived.

The man Novak hit, Don Lilkinquist, was treated at George Washington University Hospital for minor injuries, according to D.C. Fire and EMS. According to the police, Novak was cited for failing to yield the right of way. However, he was not charged for leaving the scene of an accident.<ref>, '']'', ], ].</ref>


== See also == == See also ==

Revision as of 10:26, 25 July 2008

Robert David Sanders "Bob" Novak (born February 26, 1931) is a conservative American political commentator and journalist who writes the longest-running current U.S. syndicated political column (45 years, as of February 2008). Over his 45 year career, Bob Novak has become well-known as a columnist (writing Inside Report since 1963) and as a television personality (appearing on many shows for CNN, most notably on three former programs, The Capital Gang, Crossfire, and Evans, Novak, Hunt, and Shields). His memoirs, entitled Prince of Darkness: Fifty Years Reporting in Washington, were published in July 2007 by Crown Forum, a division of Random House. "Prince of Darkness" was a nickname given to Novak by his friend, the reporter John Lindsay, "because thought for a young man I took a very dim view of the prospects for our civilization." Novak said in an interview.

Early years

Novak was born into a Jewish family in Joliet, Illinois. His only journalism career began when he was still a high school student, as a writer for the Joliet Herald-News, his hometown newspaper.

After high school, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (U of I) from 1948-1952. While attending U of I, he became a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. He continued gaining journalism experience as a sports writer for the Daily Illini, the student newspaper at U of I. However, his disappointment at not being named Sports Editor his senior year caused him to quit the DI and go to work for the local community newspaper, The Champaign-Urbana Courier, where he was also a sportswriter. After four years at U of I, Novak was one course short of graduating, and when he left the university to become a full-time journalist, he did so without a degree. (Some forty years later, the University of Illinois saw fit to award Novak sufficient credits from his career in journalism to qualify him for a degree, and he finally became an Illinois alumnus.)

During the Korean War, Novak served in the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of lieutenant. After the war, he joined the Associated Press and became a political correspondent in Indianapolis. In 1957, Novak was transferred to Washington, D.C. where he reported on Congress; he left the AP to join the D.C. bureau of The Wall Street Journal in 1958, covering the Senate, and in 1961 becoming their chief congressional correspondent.

In 1963, he teamed up with Rowland Evans to create the "Evans-Novak Political Report," which continued until Evans died of cancer in 2001. Novak's column is syndicated by the Chicago Sun-Times. His columns often contain original reporting in addition to analysis and opinion.

Novak is one of many reporters mentioned in Timothy Crouse's seminal non-fiction book about reporters covering the 1972 U.S. presidential campaign, The Boys on the Bus.

Personal life

Novak's wife Geraldine was a secretary for President Lyndon Johnson. Their daughter, Zelda, worked for Ronald Reagan's Presidential campaign. They have a son Alex, who works as an editor at Regnery Publishing.

On July 23, 2008, Novak was cited and fined for hitting a 86 year-old pedestrian with his car in Washington, D.C. The extent of the man's injuries may be worse than first thought, and Novak was fined $50 for failing to yield the right of way. Novak drove on after the accident until he was stopped by a bicyclist. Novak said he had not known he had hit the man,this despite the fact that the bicyclist stated that the man "rolled off the windshield" of Novak's car.

Political and religious views

Novak was for years a registered Democrat despite the right-leaning persona he often portrays in the press. He held more centrist views in his early career; indeed, he supported the Democratic presidential candidacies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, of whom he was a friend.

Today, Novak tends toward low-tax, small-government conservative views, but his disagreements with mainstream Republicans and neoconservatives — specifically his opposition to the Iraq War — have earned him the label of being a "paleoconservative." In July 2007 Novak expressed support for Ron Paul's bid for the presidency. However with the re-surgence of John McCain as a viable candidate on the Republican side, his positions have appeared more to the liberal bent of the political spectrum.

Born Jewish, Novak converted to Catholicism in 1996, after meeting Peter Vaghi, whom he had known before Fr. Vaghi switched from politics to the priesthood.

CIA leak scandal

Main articles: CIA leak scandal and CIA leak scandal timeline

In 2003, he identified Valerie Plame as a CIA "operative" in his column. Novak reported the information was provided to him by two "senior administration officials." These were eventually revealed to be Richard Armitage, with Novak assuming Karl Rove's comments as confirmation. During 2005, there were questions in the press regarding the apparent absence of focus on Novak by the special prosecutor Fitzgerald and the grand jury, specifically questions suggesting he may have already testified about his sources despite insisting publicly that he would not do so. On July 12, 2006, Novak published a column at Human Events stating:

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has informed my attorneys that, after two and one-half years, his investigation of the CIA leak case concerning matters directly relating to me has been concluded. That frees me to reveal my role in the federal inquiry that, at the request of Fitzgerald, I have kept secret. I have cooperated in the investigation while trying to protect journalistic privileges under the First Amendment and shield sources who have not revealed themselves. I have been subpoenaed by and testified to a federal grand jury. Published reports that I took the Fifth Amendment, made a plea bargain with the prosecutors or was a prosecutorial target were all untrue.

When Richard Armitage admitted to being a source, Novak wrote an op-ed column describing Armitage's self-disclosure as "deceptive."

Killian documents

Main articles: Killian documents, George W. Bush military service controversy

Critics complain that Novak was inconsistent when he insisted that it would violate journalistic ethics to reveal the source of the Plame leak, but later called on CBS to reveal the source of the memos that were part of the larger news story dealing with the president's alleged evasion of National Guard service. Other pundits have insisted that the CBS sources lost their right to confidentiality after the memos were shown to be forgeries.

Swift Boat Veterans

In August 2004, after other journalists had reported on it, Novak admitted that his son, Alex Novak, is the Director of Marketing for the Swift Boat Veterans' publisher, Regnery Publishing. At the time he said that he didn't "think it relevant." Two months later Salon.com reported that Regnery's owner is also the publisher of Novak's own US$297 (annual rate) newsletter and that Novak is on the board of a foundation whose chief holdings are the stock of Regnery's parent company.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Novak has been accused of anti-Israel bias by several pro Israel organizations.. In his syndicated column, Novak has blamed Israel for the plight and mass exodus of Palestinian Christians. He has also met with Hamas Education Minister Naser al-Shaer. Based on this meeting, Novak claimed that Hamas supports a two-state solution. Novak praised former president Jimmy Carter in asserting that there is "apartheid" in Israel. Conversely he added in justification of massive 'retaliatory' strikes that actions of the Palestinian Authority "tend to support Israel's claim that the PLO has become permeated by thugs and adventurers".

Animal fighting

In 2002, Novak's attitudes towards animal welfare came under scrutiny when he stated in an interview that he attended a cockfight in Puerto Rico and "relished it tremendously", adding that the United States has "too damn many" anti-cruelty statutes. He also expressed his avid support of dog fighting and bullfighting.

Amnesty, Abortion and Acid

On April 25, 1972, George McGovern won the Massachusetts primary and Novak phoned Democratic politicians around the country, who agreed with his assessment that blue-collar workers voting for McGovern did not understand what he really stood for. On April 27, 1972 Novak reported in a column that an unnamed Democratic senator had talked to him about McGovern. "The people don’t know McGovern is for amnesty, abortion and legalization of pot," the Senator said. "Once middle America - Catholic middle America, in particular - finds this out, he’s dead." The label stuck and McGovern became known as the candidate of "amnesty, abortion and acid."

Novak was accused of manufacturing the quote. To rebut the criticism, Novak took the senator to lunch after the campaign and asked whether he could identify him as the source. The senator said he would not allow his identity to be revealed. "Oh, he had to run for re-election", said Novak. The McGovernites would kill him if they knew he had said that." Novak added.

On July 15, 2007, Novak disclosed on Meet the Press that the unnamed senator was Thomas Eagleton. Political analyst Bob Shrum says that Eagleton would never have been selected as McGovern's running mate if it had been known at the time that Eagleton was the source of the quote. "Boy, do I wish he would have let you publish his name. Then he never would have been picked as vice president," said Shrum. "Because the two things, the two things that happened to George McGovern—two of the things that happened to him—were the label you put on him, number one, and number two, the Eagleton disaster. We had a messy convention, but he could have, I think in the end, carried eight or 10 states, remained politically viable. And Eagleton was one of the great train wrecks of all time."

Eagleton died March 4, 2007, "relieving me of the need to conceal his identity," Novak wrote. Some of Eagleton’s former aides are angry Eagleton never authorized his name to be attached to a quote that makes Eagleton look duplicitous. Asked about the story, Novak acknowledged that disclosing Eagleton’s identity was "a judgment on my part." If there’s any disagreement, Eagleton could settle it with him in heaven "or wherever we end up," Novak added.

Clinton-Obama column

In November 2007, Novak, often now portrayed as a Republican establishment columnist, claimed "Agents of Sen. Hillary Clinton are spreading the word in Democratic circles that she has scandalous information about her principal opponent for the party's presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama, but has decided not to use it." Obama responded by stating, "She of all people, having complained so often about 'the politics of personal destruction,' should move quickly to either stand by or renounce these tactics." Clinton's campaign replied, "A Republican-leaning journalist runs a blind item designed to set Democrats against one another. Experienced Democrats see this for what it is. Others get distracted and thrown off their games. We have no idea what Mr. Novak's item is about and reject it totally."

Departure from CNN and recent work

On August 4, 2005, Novak walked off the set during a live broadcast of the CNN show "Inside Politics," on which he appeared along with Democratic strategist and analyst James Carville (with whom Novak had debated for years on Crossfire). During a heated discussion about Florida Republican Representative Katherine Harris' just-announced 2006 bid for U.S. Senate, Novak uttered a swear word; and as anchor Ed Henry was asking Carville a question, Novak threw off his microphone and stormed off the set. Critics later charged that Novak had done so to avoid discussing recent developments in the Valerie Plame affair on air. In response to the incident, CNN suspended Novak for one day and apologized to its viewers, calling the outburst "inexcusable and unacceptable."

Novak retired from CNN after 25 years on December 23, stating that his relationship with the network lasted "longer than most marriages." Novak also said he had "no complaints" about CNN. Fox News had confirmed one week earlier that Novak had signed a contract to do unspecified work for the network. Novak stated that he still would have left CNN even if he had not been kicked off in the August incident and did not go to Fox News due to the fact that the network was more friendly to his point of view. "In 25 years I was never censored by CNN and I said some fairly outrageous things and some very conservative things. I don't want to give the impression that they were muzzling me and I had to go to a place that wouldn't muzzle me," Novak said.

Novak is third in most appearances on NBC's Meet the Press, behind David Broder of the Washington Post and the late May Craig of the Portland Times-Herald. He has been a "Fox News contributor" since 2006 and continues to write his opinion column for the Chicago Sun-Times.

On May 15, 2008, Novak wrote a column celebrating and reviewing his 45 year career as a reporter and columnist. Novak noted that, presently, his column is the "nation's longest-running current syndicated political column." Novak also stated it was his intention to continue to report and write his column and to "die in the saddle without retiring."

Traffic citation

On July 23 2008, Novak received a citation from police for "failing to yield a right of way" to a pedestrian, who was hit by Novak's car in slow-moving traffic. Novak drove approximately one block from the scene before being flagged down by an cyclist who had witnessed the accident and subsequently called the police. Novak said that he was unaware that an collision had occurred until being informed by eyewitnesses. The pedestrian was taken to George Washington University Hospital and was treated for "minor injuries".

See also

References

  2. Solomon, Deborah (2007-07-15). "Questions for Robert Novak: The Plame Game". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
  4. ABC 7 News (2008-07-23). "Source: Novak's Victim Worse Than First Thought". ABC 7 News. Retrieved 2008-07-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. Duggan, Paul (2008-07-23). "Columnist Bob Novak Strikes Pedestrian in Downtown D.C." Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  6. SilentPatriot (2008-07-23). "Novak hits pedestrian with Corvette, keeps driving". Crooks and Liars. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  7. Rhoads, Mark (2006-09-11). "Illinois Hall of Fame: Robert Novak". Illinois Review. Retrieved 2006-09-18.
  8. Novak, Robert D. (2007-07-31). "Armitage's Leak". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-06-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. Pfeiffer, Eric (2007-07-31). "Novak likes the idea of President Paul". Washington Times. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  10. Carol D. Leonnig and Amy Goldstein (2007-01-25). "Ex-CIA Official Testifies About Libby's Calls". Retrieved 2007-01-26.
  11. Novak, Robert (2006-07-12). "My Role in the Valerie Plame Leak Story". Retrieved 2006-09-08.
  12. Novak, Robert (2006-09-14). "Armitage's Leak". Retrieved 2006-09-14.
  13. Jacoby, Mary (2004-10-01). "The Operative". Retrieved 2006-09-08.
  14. Why Won’t Prominent Republicans Criticize Novak for Anti-Israel Writings? National Jewish Democratic Council
  15. Carter's Clarity: End 'Occupation' New York Post 11/05/2007
  16. Myths & Facts - Israel and Lebanon
  17. "Should cockfighting be outlawed in Oklahoma?". CNN. 2002-11-26. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  18. ^ Meet the Press Transcript for July 15, 2007. "Interview with Robert Novak
  19. ^ Kansas City Star. "With another disclosure, Novak bedevils the dead" by Steve Kraske. July 28, 2007. The original story is a dead link. An archival copy is available here.
  20. Columbia Tribune. "A slice of history: Biographers of the late U.S. Sen. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri will find some vivid anecdotes when they comb through his large collection of journals, letters and transcripts housed in Columbia" by Terry Ganey. August 19, 2007
  21. "Clinton camp fires back over column". Reuters. November 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. Index of his columns from www.suntimes.com. - Accessed July, 4 2007.
  24. Paul Duggan (2008-07-24). "Novak Cited for Hitting Pedestrian". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-07-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |publsiher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)

External links

Notes

  • A full transcript of the broadcast can be viewed here
  • A video of the incident can be seen here.
  • Bauder, David, "CNN suspends Novak after he walks off set." Associated Press. August 5, 2005.
  • "Robert Novak apologizes for outburst." CNN. August 6, 2005.
  • The Democratic National Committee issued a press release, viewable here.
  • Steinberg, Jacques. "Novak walks off live CNN program." New York Times. August 5, 2005.
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