Political Irony

In a completely self-serving interview in the National Ledger, conservative columnist Robert Novak admits that — despite his mantra that he was “just a simple reporter reporting the facts” — he did have an agenda that he pushed. So his “mantra” is a lie — no big surprise.

But the really stunning part of the interview is when he responds to a question about his infamous outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, and whether he would do it again.

In his response, he lies about the reasons he outed her:

Journalistically, I thought it was an important story because it explained why the CIA would send Joe Wilson — a former Clinton White House aide with no track record in intelligence and no experience in Niger — on a fact-finding mission to Africa.

Of course, Wilson, who is Plame’s husband, did have a track record in intelligence and experience in Niger — he was a foreign service officer and was the Senior Director of African Affairs during the Clinton administration.

Novak then says that he didn’t hurt Valerie Plame whatsoever. Despite the fact that he destroyed Plame’s career as a covert CIA agent, and put her in fear for her life and the life of her family, by revealing her secret identity. Not only that, but by revealing the identity of Plame — who was working to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of Iran — Novak hurt the security of the US, and — in the words of a senior intelligence officer — made it more difficult for other CIA covert agents to recruit sources.

Worst of all, Novak reveals that he is acting for his own personal gain, to gain personal advantage against his critics:

I’d go full speed ahead because of the hateful and beastly way in which my left-wing critics in the press and Congress tried to make a political affair out of it and tried to ruin me. My response now is this: The hell with you. They didn’t ruin me. I have my faith, my family, and a good life. A lot of people love me — or like me. So they failed. I would do the same thing over again.

So Novak freely admits that he damaged the security of the US for personal reasons. He shows absolutely no remorse and says he would do it again.

My only question is, does Novak actually know the definition of the word “treason”?