# Bob Novak suspended by CNN after storming off set. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673 "2005-08-05T03:53:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/21 "2005-08-05T13:19:52Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > Carville creeps me out. He’s like an evil plastic muppet. _“Jeez, did someone open the Ark of the Covenent?!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/22 "2005-08-05T13:21:28Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Wow. The **Ragin’ Cajun** attempts an honest debate, then talks all over the response. Nothing new. Seen it before. Oh yes, that’s what occasions comments here. That one of the bloodhounds doesn’t engage in reasoned, mannered debate, and not that the bloodhound on the other side, who doesn’t engage in reasoned, mannered debate ever, is a monumental pussy and ran crying off to momma when someone called him on his shit. :rolleyes: –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/23 "2005-08-05T13:34:30Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > Carville creeps me out. He’s like an evil plastic muppet. Heh. His own wife calls him a snakehead. Of course, I have to imagine that Mary Matalin calling one a snakehead IS a term of endearment… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/24 "2005-08-05T13:46:19Z")
I’m wondering if CNN brass said “Hallelujah!” when Novak did this as he finally did something that voided his contract and let them fire him. While most major electronic media don’t have “contract void if signator leaks the name of a CIA operative in a separate media venue” clauses for their employees, most do have “NO DEAD AIR” commandments that this could conceivably violate and allow his firing. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/25 "2005-08-05T15:16:17Z")
> [@middleman](#): > > _“Jeez, did someone open the Ark of the Covenent?!”_ I _always_ think of that when I see Carville. One of my favorite Family Guy bits. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/26 "2005-08-05T15:30:13Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I _always_ think of that when I see Carville. One of my favorite Family Guy bits. I’ve seen both him and Bob Novak in person a couple times and, IRL, Carville is _much_ handsomer. He’s just got squinty eyes, but that’s because he’s always smiling. He’s so animated it’s hard not to smile at his antics. Novak, OTOH, is like a three-toed sloth. I saw him at a restaurant once and it was like he’d oozed across the table. **shudder** That said, he shifted ass quick enough the time he jaywalked in front of my car and almost got hisself killed. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/27 "2005-08-05T16:23:06Z")
I would hardly call that storming off. I thought he was just going to the bathroom. But then again he always has an expression that he just realized that he had some bad meat at lunch. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/28 "2005-08-05T17:27:07Z")
I think it may have been a setup deal. It didn’t appear to me either Carville or the moderator reacted much and Novak didn’t seem that mad two seconds before he left either. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/29 "2005-08-05T17:38:06Z")
[HIJACK]I’ve read that in addition to being an impossible-to-work-for prick, _Candid Camera_ host [Allen Funt](http://www.candidcamera.com/images/scans/allen.jpg) was a legendary womanizer- does anybody know what teenaged Allen was doing 9 months before Novak [http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2004/DA\_fall04/Smyth/Robert\_Novak.jpg](http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2004/DA_fall04/Smyth/Robert_Novak.jpg) was born?[/HIJACK] ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/30 "2005-08-05T17:53:17Z")
Well, I, for one, expect the FCC to give Novak the same amount of hell they gave Janet Jackson, et. al., for their breach of decency standards. Really, saying “bullshit” on national television like that. Won’t someone think of the children? 😃 Put me in the camp with those who think Novak realizes that he is about to be thrown under the bus by his “buddies” and is slowly cracking under the strain. ---
**Author:** ![Hammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bc79bd/32.png) [@Hammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hammer)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/31 "2005-08-05T17:59:18Z")
I never have liked Novac as a conservative commentator. He’s always made my skin crawl, so if this gets him canned then great. I’ve always found Carville pretty entertaining, though I usually disagree with his positions. And it did seem to me to be run of the mill stuff that Novak would normly just deal with by lifting his nose a little higher. ---
**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 5, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/32 "2005-08-05T18:02:48Z")
CNN is not subject to the FCC. The FCC only regulates Broadcast channels, not cable. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/33 "2005-08-05T20:12:54Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > unbleeped profanity On the bright side, Bernie Goldberg can now add him to “100 _More_ People Who Are Screwing Up America,” for this crude assault on civility and good manners. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/34 "2005-08-05T20:55:46Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > I’ve seen both him and Bob Novak in person a couple times and, IRL, Carville is _much_ handsomer. He’s just got squinty eyes, but that’s because he’s always smiling. He’s so animated it’s hard not to smile at his antics. Novak, OTOH, is like a three-toed sloth. I saw him at a restaurant once and it was like he’d oozed across the table. **shudder** > > That said, he shifted ass quick enough the time he jaywalked in front of my car and almost got hisself killed. > > –Cliffy Didn’t you almost hit Mort Kondracke with your car once as well? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/35 "2005-08-05T21:24:06Z")
> [@middleman](#): > > Didn’t you almost hit Mort Kondracke with your car once as well? Oh, my God! **Cliffy** ’s the Capital Gang Killer! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/36 "2005-08-05T21:35:45Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Oh, my God! **Cliffy** ’s the Capital Gang Killer! Can we give him a medal for that or something? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/37 "2005-08-05T22:04:45Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Can we give him a medal for that or something? Only if we can verify hits on Buchanan and Hunt. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/38 "2005-08-05T22:19:26Z")
> [@aahala](#): > > I think it may have been a setup deal. It didn’t appear to me either Carville or the moderator reacted much and Novak didn’t seem that mad two seconds before he left either. I dunno; it just seemed to me like the other two remembered they were on live and needed to keep the show going. And Carville’s used to pissing people off, so that probably didn’t come as too much of a shock to him. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/39 "2005-08-05T22:41:36Z")
Wow. I figured mine to be the minority opinion around here, but I didn’t think it would be this lopsided. It was bullshit. Novak asks Carville to let him finish; Carville uses that as an opportunity to make a personal (and professional) insult regarding a completely different matter. Normally that’s par for the course with these “debate” segments, but this was over the line. It’s a serious matter. It’s sure to be touchy subject for Novak, personally. Since it’s regarding an ongoing investigation, Novak probably couldn’t defend himself even he wanted to. And even absent all that, it’s an incredibly cheap shot. Novak overreacted, but only by TV standards. Anyone who said that in real life would have to worry about getting punched. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673/40 "2005-08-05T22:46:16Z")
**VarlosZ** is right! The mean old Mr. Carville shouldn’t have hurt little Bobby’s feelings like that. That Carville is a poopy pants. You should have seen Little Bobby when he got back to his room, clutching his teddy bear and blubbering. His cries of “Why didn’t Jimmy let me finish?” will stay with me to my dying day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-novak-suspended-by-cnn-after-storming-off-set/315673.md?page=3)