Novak, prognosis 'dire,' retires

Syndicated columnist Robert Novak announced his immediate retirement today, telling the Chicago Sun-Times that his prognosis from a brain tumor is "dire."

"The details are being worked out with the doctors this week, but the tentative plan is for radiation and chemotherapy," Novak told the newspaper.

Novak, 77, was cited last month for hitting a homeless pedestrian while driving in downtown Washington in his black Corvette. Chased down a block away by a bicylcist, Novak said he had no idea he had hit the man.

He was also the first journalist to reveal the identity of former CIA operative Valerie Plame. Novak's column on Plame in 2003 unleashed a federal investigation that brought down I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, and seriously damaged the reputation of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and White House political maestro Karl Rove for leaking her name to other journalists. The sanctioned leak was an attempt to discredit Plame's husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson, a public critic of the war in Iraq.

For more than 50 years, Novak has been part of the fabric of Washington journalism and politics. He teamed up with Rowland Evans in 1963 to write a column that was first distributed by Publishers Newspaper Syndicate on May 15, 1963, and after Evans retired, he kept going solo. He was co-host of CNN's Crossfire for 25 years before leaving in 2005 -- after storming off the set -- to work as a commentator on Fox News.

When he first was diagnosed with a brain tumor last week, Novak issued a statement saying he would be "suspending my journalistic work for an indefinite but, God willing, not too lengthy period."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images

Comments

[Hamm Berger]

So sorry to hear about this. He has done so much to improve the lives of so many--especially after Edward Kennedy's diagnosis. Guess no good deed goes unpunished.

[dennis]

Let's pray for Robert Novak and may God's peace be with him.

[McOld is Well Old]

It s been clear for awhile his brain is decayed

[Paul Bogdanich]

"He has done so much to improve the lives of so many--"

Yeah, name fiven not directly related to him? Sorry to hear about the man's illness as infirmity is always regrettable.

[jerry applebaum]

Hope what he has is catching and that he had lunch with Queen Graham and Lord Lieberman recently.
Why am I not sad we will not be hearing from Knoak any time soon?
NOVAK WITH DIRE BRAIN TUMOR!! I MIGHT JUST BELIEVE IN GOD.

[HB]

once in a great while someone who is not innocent dies.. Novak was a traitor and an enabler for the republican criminal enterprises..not to mention an embarassment and a gangarous pustule on the fourth estate.. It is my hope that he suffer greatly for his crimes against humanity.. he most certainly is not going to heaven.

[Rich]

Glad to see him go, but under better circumstances.

too bad perhaps it is his time to say goodbye

[shawn]

I think your editor did a poor job; I think you need to fix your syntax.
"Novak's column on Plame in 2003 unleashed a federal investigation that brought down..." indicates that Novak's writings actually accomplished this task. It did not. Novak passed on info; nothing more than a stooge for the cause. And everyone involved was let off the hook by Bush Jr a couple years later. So, Novak accomplished only the destruction of the career of Plame. It's a shame that someone so educated can be on the opposite side of morality.

[dennis2]

It's difficult to comment honestly on this man's predicament, particularly when his behavior and views have done such damage to the nation's spiritual fiber. His legacy will be one of pushing a mean-spirited, ME FIRST agenda, hyping corporate greed, using innuendo and racist codes to slander and degrade, hewing to a philosophy that less-advantaged people are by default morally tainted, and, of course, helping push a vicious Rovian political agenda even as he claimed to be a "journalist"... But saying that, he's facing liife's great equalizer now. There's always something in witnessing mortality that encourages forgiveness, even toward one whose life seemed little more than an ongoing effort to get even. Never thought I'd say it about Novak, but I wish the poor soul peace.

[Dan W]

He has done so much to improve the lives of so many-->>>

Are you his secretary? He was as viscous as they come. Sorry to hear about his illness. It will not be a pretty ending.

[Thomas Mc]

Nazis burn in Hell, and get no sympathy from me.

[Robert]

Noteworthy How Novak "Improved the Life of Valerie Plame"?

Also of note, how Novak was key in IRAQ WAR Chorus, which enabled an Illegal Unprovoked War, who was compensated with exclusive Administration Leaks, which he passed on to Washington Post and Printed as resulting from his work and investigation?

[Rob Sterling]

Nice that you took the time to slip a politically-motivated falsehood into your post about the gravely ill Novak. To wit, "The sanctioned leak was an attempt to discredit Plame's husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson, a public critic of the war in Iraq." Are you speaking of Richard Armitage's leak about Valerie Plame's job? Because Armitage was Novak's source.

[ignatzh]

Couldn't happen to a more deserving vicious old lizard.

[xbjllb]

Wow. So much polite and caring concern for a most annoying obsequious RoveGOP tool gadfly who didn't give a second thought to our own intelligence agents that might have been harmed or assassinated when he outed Valerie Plame as a gossip tidbit.

Some in the intelligence community, some who possibly lost loved ones, would probably say more accurately that such a horrrific lingering death was simply too good for such a person and showed that sometimes karma can be more merciful than deserved.

Some in the media and some just plain citizens not in the intelligence community might say the same.

If they had the guts.

[Will Lyster]

The kind of rude comments here are uncalled for. You people don't think about who you are hurting by your scathing comments about a man - a fellow human being who is dying. I despise Ted Kennedy's politics, but I am truly sorry for him and his family at this time.

You should think about what you would do if your spouse or family member you love was in the same predicament.

Not one of us agrees with everything another believes in, however some civility is called for during one's last days. How selfish and immature these comments are.

[kent2]

All--

Getting a chuckle watching the libs commenting on this story do what what they do best in ANY situation regarding anyone who they disagree with, no matter how serious their personal situation: snivel and be ugly (hearing a libby calling ANYONE else "mean spirited" is hilarious).

Look at the bright side-- at least "Libdom" will be going into this Fall's election with one less "diseased propagandist" (translation: Novak doesn't click his heels and tow the liberal party line blindly).

What the left always forgets is that when you hitch your star to a f***ed up philosophy that has never worked, is not working, and will never work (and your party leadership KNOWS it doesn't work-- all they want to do is win elections), you can expect to constantly be kicked to the curb and beaten senseless anytime someone is "mean spirited" enough to use logic and reality to debate your policies. It doesn't matter how much you orchestrate the media, ram political correctness down everyone's throat, or try to interrupt and shout down others...when you're wrong you're wrong.

Oh yes: Godspeed and best wishes to Bob Novak-- AND Teddy Kennedy.

K.

[Rob]

Robert Novak abandoned his religion, and abandoned his early political philosophy. Over the years, he has helped do damage to our country by steadfastly adhering to the "rich gets richer while the poor gets poorer" Republican dogma. I guess what goes around really does come around. They say that one can still atone for one's sins right up to the moment of passing. Novak has a lot to atone for.

[Chris]

Numerous responses have included the incorrect conclusion that Novak championed the Iraq War. Novak did not support the Iraq war. In fact, he was one of the well-known conservatives who consistently opposed invasion. His role in the Valerie Plame-Joe Wilson incident was as a journalist reporting a leak from a highly placed source at the State Dept. That person was not Karl Rove; it was Richard Amitage who also opposed the Iraqi invasion.

Sorry but sometimes facts can be stubborn things. For those who throw around words like war-monger and Nazi, relax. Take your medications. Breathe in and out.

[S.W.F.]

no loss.

[Andre]

This is in response to those who say we are being too harsh on Mr. Novak during his last days. Those I reply... get over it.

The sooner he goes the less likely that his Goebbels style of propaganda will infect the political body of this nation. The less likely that we will be engaged in another phony war. The less likely that innocent civilians will become "collateral damage". The less likely political operatives will use him as a chance to falsely dis-credit a truth telling source.

You see, these debates are no longer 'what-ifs'. The years of Conservative Republican rule (and corruption) stand as the source for which empirical judgements can be made. And he was clearly one of the sources of damage. He will not be missed in this (shredded) democracy.

[Crazy Veteran]

I'm sorry to hear of his condition but WOW, karma sucks doesn't it.

[knwmn]

When you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all, especially at a time like this.

[indygrammy]

While I certainly don't condone what Mr. Novak did in the past, I hope he can live out the rest of his days in peace. He has a big fight ahead of him and I wish him the best. Some of the aforementioned comments are unbelieveably cruel. A fellow human being is fighting for his life. Show some compassion.