Countdown to Crawford: Novak owes $50 for hitting pedestrian

As far as the blogosphere is concerned, Robert Novak is suffering through a very embarrassing week, and it's still only Wednesday.  Novak hasn't been too popular ever since he revealed the identity of a CIA agent in 2003.  And then on July 22, Top of The Ticket wrote that the conservative political columnist got "snookered" recently by the McCain campaign.

In addition, a July 23 Countdown to Crawford post, "Bob Novak hits pedestrian," has received more than 50  comments so far.  The title is self-explanatory, but what really outraged readers is the fact that Novak neglected to notice that he hit someone with his Corvette until witnesses kindly pointed it out to him.  The victim only suffered "minor injuries" and Novak's punishment is a $50 citation.  While the law is letting him off easy, he still has to endure the wrath of angry Countdown to Crawford readers. 

Mim asked the likely question on everyone's mind: "How driving a Corvette, could you possibly not know, that you had hit a person."

Jo wrote: "He got only a $50.00 fine for HITTING A HUMAN BEING?? I had to pay $200.00 because I was two weeks late on my registration."

bill wrote: "This guy is far too old to have a drivers license. If it were up to me he’d be strapped in a golf cart with McCain."

Herlimer Jones made one of the lowest blows as of yet: "There are people whose appearance and demeanor unfortunately is a reflection of the ugliness and sordidness of their character. Robert Novak appears to be one of these people. One can only hope that he disappears from the public eye soon."

While the majority of readers were harsh, David stepped in to defend Novak: "How is this even a story? As soon as he realized what happened, he stopped. The pedestrian is fine, and Novak paid his fine. Could this be something to do with Mr. Novak's political leanings? I am a liberal, but I don't like bias or hypocrisy in reporting from any source."

steve wrote: "Sure hope the car was ok. I love corvettes!"

Let's hope Steve was just being sarcastic.

-- Amy Silverstein

Photo credit:  Joshua Roberts /Reuters

Comments

[John Parkhurst]

I have no opinion on Novak. I do like Corvettes. I do not like this non-newsworthy event that is a waste of your time - and mine.

No, I don't know why I'm responding either.

[Becky]

a partner in a DC law firm who SAW IT said there is no way Novak did not know. WHy is he getting a pass? How can someone be "splayed" across your windshield and you don;t know??? HE IS SO LYING! In the momenjt of truth, he ran. "Important thing is he's not dead." He thought he might have killed the guy and RAN.

[amjad]

$50.00 fine for hit & run.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It must be a joke.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[heimat]

Bill, Ted Kennedy is older than McCain, if anyone should be strapped into a golf cart.

[Emily Stewart]

From:
Head of State
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/07/mission-to-18th-and-k.html

Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Mission to 18th and K

The decision of a 66 year old pedestrian to splay himself across the innocent windshield of columnist Robert Novak's Corvette convertible on July 23, 2008 was made routinely, at a low level of intellectual consideration and attention, without the columnist's knowledge. Remarkably, this produced a firestorm of media attention that has yet to subside.

Witnesses' reports that Novak drove directly into the pedestrian, who was crossing on the "Walk" signal, that the pedestrian was splayed across the windshield involuntarily, as a result of being struck by Novak's vehicle, and that Novak then drove away from the scene of the hit-and-run until a witness on a bicycle chased Novak, having to repeatedly block his vehicle to prevent Novak's attempts to escape from the scene were highly unlikely, regarded by the columnist as less than definitive, and it is doubtful that Novak ever saw him. Certainly officers on 18th Street did not, before they arrived at the downtown address, attributing Novak's behavior to "reckless driving" and issuing a $50 citation.

That witness reports relied on the statements of a bicycle riding, knapsack wearing, possibly liberal and environmentalist lawyer made Novak's mission, moments earlier, the basis of unhinged Democratic accusations of "hitting a 66-year old man who was legally crossing the street" and "driving away after an accident victim was spread across the hood of your car", though these accusations were apparently forgotten by the time Novak was faced with reporters at the scene, and in response to their questions, tersely spoke.

Reluctance by the pedestrian to admit a mistake has led Democrats increasingly closer to saying that Novak dissembled about his actions when driving through the crosswalk. Even after a belated interview with TMZ, in which, in a quasi-apology rich with the dark irony for which he is noted, he stated that he was distracted while driving by "listening to NPR," finger-pointing at the events in the intersection continued. Messages between the Politico, Think Progress hashed over the quotes from witnesses, while more rational blogs speculated that the accident had been a set-up by liberal operatives, who hoped to draw attention from statements by John McCain praising the surge.

Novak's mission was created in his early crusading efforts to reform pedestrian behavior, using the clear, honest, visionary prose for which he has long been known. In 2001, he reportedly cursed at a jaywalker only blocks from the White House, on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th Streets, intoning the command heard round the world, "Learn to read the signs, [bodily orifice]!" Stating further in an interview that "I really hate jaywalkers...I despise them...the only other option is to run them over...", Democratic operatives unfairly concluded that Novak's compassionate calling to urban reform in fact represented a mission to splay.

That's where Bono came in. Carrying the dual monikers of a sixties counterculture radical and a 21st century shades-wearing, debt-relieving, globe-trotting liberal firebrand, the bicyclist "witness" came to notice when, cruising lightly, almost as if windsurfing, he wheeled up on his no-doubt-French-made cycle to the window of Novak's Corvette (built entirely in the U.S.A.) and "hit the window with (his) fist." Bono claimed that he stated to Novak that "you can't just hit a pedestrian and drive away." He then placed his bicycle in front of Novak's car, apparently assuming that he had the force and authority to block Novak's further egress.

Bono is not a representative of District of Columbia Traffic Agency. However, his wife, Shaunee Moon (Littletree) Bono is an agency operative on liberalization of jaywalking policy. Two senior Traffic Agency officials told me that Bono's wife suggested sending him to 18th and K to intercept Novak's Corvette. The Agency states that its counterjaywalking officials chose Bono and asked Moon (Littletree) Bono to contact him. "I will not discuss any matters regarding my wife", said Bono, when I interviewed him, "Particularly when I am splayed across the hood of your car."

During the run-up to the 18th and K intercept (near the offices where he served), Bono had made oral reports to friends that "accidents are not that likely", and that "you are more likely to be injured slipping in the shower than crossing the street; after all, in the street, there are traffic signals." Notably, Bono's oral statements did not include mention of the possibility of pedestrians voluntarily launching themselves onto moving automobiles. The report of the Agency's interview with Bono remains classified.

After Novak stated that "He's not dead, that's the main thing," Bono declined any further interviews. "The story was never me," said Bono, "it was always the guy who drove directly into a 66-year old man crossing at a walk signal, who flew across his windshield, and then driving away, until repeatedly stopped by witnesses." The story, actually, is whether a covert jaywalking inducement policy, launched by an Agency operative, and executed by the spouse of that operative, should remain covert. I, for one, say no--in the Agency's, the streets' and the public interest.

Cite:
Head of State
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/07/mission-to-18th-and-k.html

[MB]

The cyclist who stopped him claimed that the pedestrian was splayed across Novak's windsheild. So, my guess is that he knew and didn't care. He did once say that he hated jaywalkers.

[Rex]

Well at least he didn't drown anyone.
But yet you people love Ted don't you?
He actually killed some one.

Any calls from the left for him to disappear?

[kenshin]

i guess he's no longer a "compassionate" conservative. read what cbs had to say:

Novak, 77, has earned a reputation around the capital as an aggressive driver, easily identified in his convertible sports car.

In 2001, he cursed at a pedestrian on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th streets Northwest for allegedly jaywalking.

“’Learn to read the signs, [bodily orifice]!’ Novak snapped before speeding away,” according to an item in The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column.

Novak explained to the paper: "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."

Two years later, the same column reported that Novak had gone to a racing school in Florida.

"I've wanted to be a racecar driver all my life, and anyone who has watched me drive can tell you that,” Novak said.

[Dave B]

Since when is the demeanor of the suspect a key factor in whether or not to charge someone with hit-and-run?

Given Mr. Novak's age and reported history of aggressive driving and reported contempt for pedestrians, a $50 fine is an outrage. The man was in a crosswalk. The notion that he didn't sense that he'd hit someone is, on its face, reason enough to suspend his license pending a re-examination by the DMV.

This ought to be a felony.

[Saxxon Domela]

Rex,
There is also a very lovely lady who failed to stop at a stop sign resulting in the death of her boyfriend and girlfriend. When you go there, the blade cuts two ways.

In this case, Novak should have been charged with hit and run.

[Richard P. McDonough]

Novak should be drawn and quartered on general principles. For this...just like a Cheney shill to run somebody over and feign lack of knowledge..I trust the lawyer, the doorman who saw it and the victim sue the pants off of the scurrilous broadcaster.