Some of Novak's Fellow Columnists Don't Buy Plame Explanation

[sabra]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002840568

Some of Novak's Fellow Columnists Don't Buy Plame Explanation

NEW YORK Robert Novak received a lot of criticism and some support when he outed CIA operative Valerie Plame in his column of July 14, 2003. But what do people think about Novak's actions since then?

...

"I wonder whether Mr. Novak has an editor," said National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) President Mike Argento. "In his column, he writes that he decided not to give up his sources and then, a few sentences later, he writes that he gave them up when questioned by Fitzgerald. Which is it? I know he says Fitzgerald knew who his sources were, but still, he named them."

The York (Pa.) Daily Record columnist added: "To maintain credibility with readers, columnists have to write honest columns. It's not our job to be an errand boy for politicians seeking vengeance against enemies. It used to be that confidential sources sought to blow the whistle against abuses of power. Now, at least in this instance, they're used to abuse power and to allow those in power to assault enemies without leaving evidence."

Argento said he thinks Novak's July 12 column was "a failed attempt to restore whatever credibility he had before the episode began. He seeks to have it both ways -- to appear to be a champion of a free press and to appear to have cooperated with authorities. I'm not buying it."

[MADem]

1. He seeks to have it both ways

Actually, I think he's trying to pull a fast one, and hopes now that all is said and done that people will TAKE it that way.

What he really sought was to keep his crippled, tired, sick-wife, broken-hip ass OUT OF JAIL. That was his primary, really, his ONLY goal.

And he would have Monica'd Fitz on the steps of the Supreme Court if that is what it would have taken. There was NO WAY that boy was gonna do time, NO WAY.

He sang like Pavarotti, with or without inducement.

[Catherine Vincent]

2. "...crippled, tired, sick-wife, broken-hip ass OUT OF JAIL"

LOL! (at your description and not at his misfortunes).

[MADem]

6. Well, you can see all that etched on his face

He just started crumbling the minute the crap hit the fan.

He went from snarky, vicious, superior asshole to whining old man harrumphing "BULLSHIT!!!" on CNN in what seemed like a brief moment!

[kskiska]

8. It was also the money.

He pretty much admitted how he considered how much it would cost him to keep his mouth shut, and probably wouldn't win anyway. On Crossfire, Begala constantly ribbed him on how much money he had. Apparently, he's a tightwad, and didn't want to spend it on lawyers.

[Missy Vixen]

5. I think I need to lie down now

>And he would have Monica'd Fitz on the steps of the Supreme Court if that is what it would have taken.<

Poor Patrick.

The mind boggles.

Julie

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. Gives new meaning

to the idea of playing the her-monica.

[npincus]

3. how can he get away with "Traitor Aldrich Ames outed her first" BS?

oh really? Were she "outed" wouldn't Brewster Jennings' operations have ceased? By saying Plame was already "outed"- isn't that an acknowledgement of her covert status?

That old shitbag has been given a pass in the MSM-- just like the fact that the sitting VP of the US is being sued by the Wilsons has gotten such short shrift in the MSM. Clinton couldn't get a f*cking haircut in Air Force One without declaring it a SCANDAL.

What a f*cking joke.

[Blutodog]

4. The Haircut

Really! This is without a doubt the most corrupt administration in US history but you'd never know it. It's almost as if GOP corruption is a given so why bother reporting on it. if a demo had had even 1 of the monor scandals in this admin. we'd be hearing about it 24/7. Now if a demo. is corrupt it just shows they all do it right? A demo get's caught stealing a loaf of bread and that's the moral equivalence of Billions pilfered for a War for profit? It's sickening.

[Sherman A1]

7. The response of a 2 year old

It's not my fault, I didn't do it.

[gratuitous]

9. Which explanation aren't they buying?

That the Plame outing was forced upon him by evil-doers in the White House? Or that he got the information on Plame from Who's Who? Or that it was a "throwaway" sentence in the middle of a column about something else entirely? Or . . . ?

Because if you don't like any of those explanations, I'm sure that Mr. Novak can come up with a few more.

[Biernuts]

12. His statement - the only data point he claims to have gotten from

Wilson's Who's Who Bio was her name. He looked that up after his primary source disclosed her CIA association and role in Wilson's trip.

The Agency connction was from his officially unnamed primary source, unofficially reported to be Dep Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

"One by one last week, a parade of current and former senior officials, including the CIA's George Tenet and national-security adviser Stephen Hadley, denied being the source. A conspicuous exception was former deputy secretary of State Richard Armitage, whose office would only say, "We're not commenting." He was one of a handful of top officials who had access to the information. He is an old source and friend of Woodward's, and he fits Novak's description of his source as "not a partisan gunslinger."

Newsweek, Nov 28, 2005, <http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10117465/site/newsweek/>


"Joe Wilson's wife's role in instituting her husband's mission was revealed to me in the middle of a long interview with an official who I have previously said was not a political gunslinger."

HEOL, July 12, 2006, <http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=15988>

[BrklynLiberal]

10. I heard him on "Meet The Press" and he did not make any sense at all.

He reminded me very much of a 3-year-old trying to explain his way out of being caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"But Mommy,the cookie jar jumped onto my hand. Really!"

[stepnw1f]

11. An Old Mean Pathetic Sniveling Man

He sold his soul for what?