No Mas Novak -- Part II

Published Aug 05 2005, 02:03 PM by webteam

The plot sickens one day after Bob Novak staged his infamous live-TV walkoff from CNN's "Inside Politics" yesterday while uttering what is being called a "barnyard epithet?" (What is that anyway?) Here's the CNN transcript. Transcript

Today's New York Times, among others, reports that the cable news network has asked the volatile right-wing pundit to take a time out. New York Times.

The Wonkette's blog catches up to some of the day's chatter about the incident. Wonkette . And Slate's Mickey Kaus has more about the idea that Novak took his powder before "Inside Politics" moderator Ed Henry could ask him any uncomfortable questions about his role in the Valerie Plame case.Kausfiles.

Three points worth making about this incident. 1) There can be no doubt that James Carville, who got Novak to blow his stack, is the best and most effective rhetorical warrior and needler that the Dems have. 2) Novak may well have a shorter fuse than usual because of all the pressure building on him to come clean about his role in the Valerie Plame outing. And 3) Starting Monday, "Inside Politics" is a casualty of CNN's new afternoon lineup, which will feature Wolf Blitzer hosting "The Situation Room." (See the 8/4 Media Log entry "Blitzed by Wolf.") Let's hope that, as Blitzer promises, the political "foodfights" for which the cable news outlets are famous will become a thing of the past with the new CNN lineup and focus on hard news.