One of the greatest obituaries I have ever read -- and I have read a surprising number for someone my age -- is still Hunter S. Thompson's obituary for Richard Nixon. Titled "He Was a Crook," it begins:
MEMO FROM THE NATIONAL AFFAIRS DESK DATE: MAY 1, 1994 FROM: DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON SUBJECT: THE DEATH OF RICHARD NIXON: NOTES ON THE PASSING OF AN AMERICAN MONSTER.... HE WAS A LIAR AND A QUITTER, AND HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BURIED AT SEA.... BUT HE WAS, AFTER ALL, THE PRESIDENT.
This is how I feel upon the death of Robert Novak. Not that he was a monster, necessarily -- though that argument could be made -- but that now is not the time to begin making apologies. Death seems always to be the moment when it becomes OK to gloss over the worst parts of a person's life. That's unfair, not just to those affected by the worst parts of the dead man's character, but also to the dead man himself. Robert Novak did things. He believed in them. They were bad. That should not be forgotten.It hasn't been, if the coverage is any clue. Even the New York Times, admittedly a competitor to Novak's Chicago Sun-Times, couldn't resist a pretty hard kick at the end of its obituary. So -- am I particularly heartless today? No. He had a family, and I'm sure they loved him, and I am sorry for their loss. I'm also sure that, had we been acquainted, well, Mr. Thompson again said it best:
Nixon had the unique ability to make his enemies seem honorable, and we developed a keen sense of fraternity. Some of my best friends have hated Nixon all their lives. My mother hates Nixon, my son hates Nixon, I hate Nixon, and this hatred has brought us together.
Nixon laughed when I told him this. "Don't worry," he said, "I, too, am a family man, and we feel the same way about you."
Robert Novak championed causes I don't believe in. He helmed political shows and created a style of punditry that helped make our cable TV discourse the shouting, deplorable mess it is today. He outed a C.I.A. agent and he should have gone to jail. Nixon laughed when I told him this. "Don't worry," he said, "I, too, am a family man, and we feel the same way about you."
Slate makes a kinder case:
Although Novak's incessant championing of supply-side economics and his conservative persona on CNN's Crossfire and Capital Gang typecast him as purveyor of right-wing brain vomit, Novak's politics were more nuanced than those of the average Fox News Channel commentator. He was a dove on both Iraq wars and expressed misgivings about the Afghanistan invasion. He supported liberal immigration, called for a global economy, and backed free trade. He gave Gerald Ford hell during his presidency, later calling him "ill equipped for the job" in his book, and he carved out a critical-of-Israel position that sharply deviated from the conservative line.
Bravo. But who is worse -- the man who supports a president because he deeply believes in his cause, or one who supports him in spite of major differences on issues like war and trade? I think it is the man who sells his support for access. I think it is the man who goes for the scoop over the truth.I think it is Robert Novak. Thompson:
These are harsh words for a man only recently canonized by President Clinton and my old friend George McGovern -- but I have written worse things about Nixon, many times, and the record will show that I kicked him repeatedly long before he went down. I beat him like a mad dog with mange every time I got a chance, and I am proud of it. He was scum.
Adios, Mr. Novak. Though you will be missed, it will not be by me.TIP:
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Catherine Forsythe
Writer to the Stars
Emily Holleman
Iron Skillet
Leslie Harpole
old new lefty
Salon.com
Comments
Rated
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“That should not be misunderstood. I certainly am not advocating civil disobedience, must less insurrection or rebellion. What I am advocating is to not expect too much from government and be wary of it power, even the power of a democratic government in a free country.
“Ours is one of the mildest, most benevolent governments in the world. But it too has the power to take your wealth and forfeit your life. ... A government that can give you everything can take everything away.” Robert Novak. R.I.P.
well done lady.
Novak was an asshole. The fact that he was a consistent asshole does not detract from his basic penile-encephalopathy. I won't dance on his grave, but I'm sure as hell not sorry he's gone.
But where's the fun in that, when it comes to a nasty piece of work like Mr. Novak? No way am I going to soften my opinion of that rabid political hack now that he's dead. He did enough damage to last long after we, mercifully, forget about him.
(I apologize. Calling him a rabid political hack is an insult to rabid political hacks.)
zuma: ha! That made me laugh.
Now I concede everything changed with the Plame felony, but that was only one example of behavior that had grown increasingly erratic, by his own standards as well as ours. Brain tumors don't appear overnight, nor do they wait until recognizable to have their effects. So I ask you Saturn, can you be certain more recent transgressions like his intelligence crimes were not owing to his brain condition? I can't. Remember: dead is for a long time; It should not be wished on anyone except for true, irredeemable villains...like Nixon.
And I wrote in December that people should've left him alone once that was diagnosed, too -- I have total sympathy for the mental effects it may have had. I'm not sure I believe that Plamegate was part of that -- the Plame column ran in 2003, and he wasn't diagnosed until 2008 -- but his more recent interviews, yes, sure, I'm perfectly willing to challenge his record without those on it.
Now if washington would just grow balls....
Wonderful post, Saturn, thanks.
RIP Novak, you've won this round.
With all that said, I never liked the guy. Good post on your part and I appreciate that you stuck your neck out a little and just said what many are thinking. And I’ve enjoyed the comments too. Now back to that damned day job of mine.
Because you idiot, he didn't do anything wrong on the "Plame thing." When are you morons going to smarten up?
I was no Novak fan. And while I am not mourning his passing neither am I celebrating it.
It's as though there has been some kind of spontaneous chorus of "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" which has erupted with a presumption that Novak was some kind of leader of a flock of flying monkeys defacating evil on all of us poor munchkins like a flock of pigeons on a statue.
I don't feel the need to exclaim "Yay" over this event just like I didn't when Nixon resigned or when he died even though both of these individuals represented a viewpoint and approach which I find reprehensible. In my experience it has been the so-called "neo-cons" who gloat rather than those who classify themselves on the "liberal" side.
For anybody still reading, I apologize if this has offended or alienated you.
I hate to think of anyone I like and respect saying "Yay." when noting a death of someone they disagreed with, never mind someone they don't know.
It seems beneath you, and beneath a lot of the commenters, to be dancing on his grave.
Many people have made points about Novak - for and against - really eloquently. His life is up for grabs.
His death is not.
Rated
Scrape him over the coals as much as you want - I'm educated by every comment - but leave his death out of it!
I personally, would hate to see anyone from his probably wide ranging group of family and friends read comments like that.
And the many other comments that are calling names and making big pronouncements about his evil life and words.
He was a journalist, for cricks sake.
How about saturn takes the "yay!" out of the title, people talk about their hate through criticizing his work, and we leave all the references to hell isn't good enough for him back there, in the previous comments.
Becuase I'm losing faith in OS, seeing how quickly people like to jump on to trashing someone ( I'm not talking about any posts that offered analysis) and saying "Rot In Hell.".
We shouldn't be cheering the deaths of people just because they are curmudgeons we happen to disagree with. Where would that leave H.L. Mencken and Evelyn Waugh? Everything you would say about Novak--he was mean, he was vindictive, he was cowardly, he was ugly, he was troll like, he was given to rants-- could be said about shadenfreud party you all are having with his memory.
I particularly loved the last line of this post. I won't miss that sack of spider puke either.
I swear, I never liked his work and never completely trusted him, now but he's being treated as though he slept in a coffin of dirt during the days and sucked the blood out of innocent children at night. Oh, wait, that's Cheney, but he's still alive so I can't say anything mean.
Most of you have truly gone off the deep end, puking your anger out over a dead body and writing some things that are so awful that I hope when you die no one writes or says the same things. You know who you are... grow up and move on.
Take it up with prosecutor Fitzgerald.
Robert Novak is Dead: Yay.
Robert Novak Is Dead: Yay.
Yay. How is his death better for everyone. He was a tyrant who kept people from exercising their basic rights? He made sure that his goal in life was to torture people and make their lives miserable?
Or maybe he was a fragile, fucked up human being who deserves a little bit better than the OS death squad!
because he has just been sent to Hell, crucified, shot and sent to other unsavory deaths here, at this point.
WTF - stop the rhetoric.
it's making me sick.
Loved all the Thompson excerpts. Rated.
There is a lesson here for the US. I wonder if it is "the chickens always come home to roost" or is it "injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere" or both?
He is not guilty of every single thing that zen Haitian talks about.
he's probably guilty of a lot of things, but, y'know, is it neccesary to say things like "I would spit on his grave' to make your point?
Isn't that sort of awful?
And also belaboring the point?
I don't want anyone to die. Especially with "Yay!" as an epitaph.
I have. Multiple times. Robert Novak was an alumnus of my alma mater. We often did events where we would get a bunch of alumni together to discuss political issues. We'd have panelists like Dan Balz, Roger Simon, Hal Bruno, and Novak.
I got to meet and know Novak at a much deeper than the typical grip and grin level through those events. And while I disagreed with pretty much everything that Novak believed in -- well, we did cheer for the same alma mater so no, that's not true -- I have to say that he was a pretty good guy.
We had an event where we discussed among other things, social security. I got up and addressed the panel and said that I had no problem with older folks getting their social security but I wanted to be sure that folks like me would get ours, too. Novak came to me after the event, when he could have just walked out the door, and chatted with me.
That's the Bob Novak I'll remember. Yes, he was wrong to out Valerie Plame. And no, I'll never agree with him that invading Iraq was right.
But as a person, not a political pundit, he seemed just fine.
I think it's GREAT to hear everything everyone has to say, but "I spit on his grave.." etc. demeans the dialogue.
he maybe was a decent guy, he maybe was a seriously flawed human being, he was instrumental in some shitty stuff, and he should be discussed at length.
I know you know, but I just want everyone to back off from those sweeping generaliztions that feel good when you type it but look silly in the light of day.
Call me emo, but I'm still going to stand up for his family and friends, who don't need to see anything like the title of this blog.
I guess I don't say "yay!". ever, when someone dies.
And believe me, I have had reason to celebrate death, but a concious person never makes that a part of their consciousness.
There is never any 'Yay!" in death.
Thanks for listening, Saturn, Nana and everyone. I know I have hijacked the blog, and I hope you understand why. Thanks.
A poisoned mind has consequences.
nanatehay
August 19, 2009 09:26 PM
Actually Bob Novak was against invading Iraq.
Teddy Kennedy is about to die. Yay. Soon Michael Phelps will be unchallenged among the world's great swimmers.
How does that feel?
Hypocrisy reigns as always.
As much as he tried to avoid it, Novak now joins the majority of us - those whose deaths (and lives) will only be remembered by our families and friends. I think even the Slate article predicted that there would be no book collections of Novak's columns published.
So I guess I'm a more bemused by this death than anything. I've always wondered what he really thought his legacy would be?
When Novak had the column with Evans, it was known throughout DC as "Errors and No Facts". Just so you know.
I think nanatehay's comments above nicely sum up my thoughts, too. Thanks for those.