# Bob Novak dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861 "2009-08-18T17:01:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/1 "2009-08-18T17:01:28Z")
[Brain tumor](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081801761.html?hpid=topnews) Didn’t se it posted yet. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/2 "2009-08-18T17:21:47Z")
I wonder how Jon Stewart will treat this… ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/3 "2009-08-18T17:49:46Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I wonder how Jon Stewart will treat this… Can another Douchebag of Liberty medal be awarded posthumously? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/4 "2009-08-18T17:59:44Z")
I was kind of hoping he’d have a [Lee Atwater](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Atwater) style deathbed conversion. Not that it would have made his outing of Valerie Plame any less contemptible, but it might indicate that he had, at long last, some sense of decency. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/5 "2009-08-18T18:10:02Z")
The SDMB is already responding with [its usual classiness](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=528561). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/6 "2009-08-18T19:05:52Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I was kind of hoping he’d have a [Lee Atwater](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Atwater) style deathbed conversion. Not that it would have made his outing of Valerie Plame any less contemptible, but it might indicate that he had, at long last, some sense of decency. What kind of conversion? He became a Catholic a decade back, right about the time I did. That’s enough converting for anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/7 "2009-08-18T19:08:49Z")
Novak is dead. He will be… um… disposed of in a timely manner compliant with law. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/8 "2009-08-18T19:11:13Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > What kind of conversion? He became a Catholic a decade back, right about the time I did. That’s enough converting for anyone. Ah. All-consuming guilt is understood, then? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/9 "2009-08-18T19:25:48Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The SDMB is already responding with [its usual classiness](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=528561). You mean as classy as destroying the career of a dedicated CIA officer who had spent it keeping real nukes out of the hands of genuine terrorist states to serve a corrupt administration’s desire to cover up their bullshit about keeping pretend nukes out of the hands of a tin-pot dictator? That kind of classy? I was trying to be nice. Gloves off. Fucker should have died in prison. \*“I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors.” \*George H. W. Bush > [@Mr.Moto](#): > > What kind of conversion? He became a Catholic a decade back, right about the time I did. That’s enough converting for anyone. Not the religious conversion part, more the “Oh God, I was such a jerk.” part. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/10 "2009-08-18T19:46:46Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Not the religious conversion part, more the “Oh God, I was such a jerk.” part. Fine, but those actions by Atwater were a product of his own conversion to Catholicism in 1990, some months before his death. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/11 "2009-08-18T20:01:33Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > You mean as classy as destroying the career of a dedicated CIA officer who had spent it keeping real nukes out of the hands of genuine terrorist states to serve a corrupt administration’s desire to cover up their bullshit about keeping pretend nukes out of the hands of a tin-pot dictator? That kind of classy? No, classy as in not spitting on someone’s grave because he repeated cocktail party gossip in print (and belonged to the other party). Actually, we need those kinds of threads every so often. Then we can contrast the way conservatives react when a liberal dies with the foam-spitting venom the Usual Suspects use when a conservative dies. > [@](#): > > I was trying to be nice. Gloves off. Fucker should have died in prison. How impressive. Try a little harder. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/12 "2009-08-18T21:30:55Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, classy as in not spitting on someone’s grave because he repeated cocktail party gossip in print (and belonged to the other party). Ah, the “cocktail party gossip” canard. Cite for any proof that her CIA employment was known to anyone in the press before the Bush administration outed her. The CIA might fail at some things, but keeping the identity of people secret is generally something they’re very good at doing. Novak was Cheney’s mouthpiece. > [@](#): > > Actually, we need those kinds of threads every so often. Then we can contrast the way conservatives react when a liberal dies with the foam-spitting venom the Usual Suspects use when a conservative dies. > How impressive. Try a little harder. I don’t have any hip-deep waders to go through your previous posts to find examples from you. Others who have been engaged in Shodan-watching activities will surely provide. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/13 "2009-08-19T00:45:18Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, classy as in not spitting on someone’s grave because he repeated cocktail party gossip in print (and belonged to the other party). It is clear by now that outfits like World Net Daily and the Washington (Moonie) Times did lie about that. Fitzgerald never found evidence of anything coming out from those cocktail parties. The part that amused me during past discussions was how many conservatives just ignored the fact that no one had come forward (after 2 years had passed) to say that they were the ones that told the press about Plame being outed. I concluded then that it was just bullshit. It seems that the right wing press never posted a correction, but it does not matter, to this day many conservatives seem to be happy that right wing sources lied to them. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/14 "2009-08-19T01:03:19Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, classy as in not spitting on someone’s grave because he repeated cocktail party gossip in print (and belonged to the other party). Oh, what a load of nonsense. The real identity and cover story for a CIA operative are not cocktail party gossip. > [@Shodan](#): > > Actually, we need those kinds of threads every so often. Then we can contrast the way conservatives react when a liberal dies with the foam-spitting venom the Usual Suspects use when a conservative dies. What, you mean the exact same way, except with the _tu quoque_s that seem to be your entire reason for posting in any thread remotely related to politics. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-dead/506861/15 "2009-08-19T12:51:16Z")
I didn’t get to see The Daily Show last night, so if they covered this, I hope they went in a relatively classy direction. I can’t say much about Bob Novak and I’d have to struggle if I wanted to say anything good. I will say that I’m still amazed about the ‘acid, abortion and amnesty’ comment. In case people aren’t familiar with this, during the 1972 presidential campaign, Novak quoted an unnamed Democratic source who said George McGovern was bound to lose the election because he was in favor of amnesty for people who avoided the draft, and supported legalizing abortion and marijuana. The source was speaking on background, and Novak didn’t disclose who he was. It was an enormously damaging quote to McGovern in the campaign. Finally, two years ago, Novak revealed who’d said it: Thomas Eagleton… _who later became McGovern’s running mate_. Had Novak never gotten that quote, or had he revealed his source - not that he should have - McGovern certainly could have chosen a different VP, and given how damaging both the quote and Eagleton’s mental health history were, it could have changed the election.