Just to follow up on an item Atrios raised the other day, please note Bob Novak’s comments on CNN on Friday, when he urged 60 Minutes journalists to reveal their private, confidential sources. The context was a discussion over the National Guard documents that have surfaced and offer additional evidence that the president failed to meet his military obligations during Vietnam.
“CBS, which broke the story, should reveal where it got the documents, to be blunt, who forged these documents…. [A]ll CBS has to say is where do these documents come from.”
CBS, I should note, continues to stand behind the legitimacy of the Guard documents. But forget that minor detail for a moment.
Bob Novak, who identified an undercover CIA agent’s identity — after the CIA asked him not to — wants to talk about other reporters’ responsibility to divulge confidential sources?
Can someone explain to me how this man even has a job in professional journalism? Partisan hack? Check. Frequently wrong? Check. Conflict-of-interest ethics problems? Check.
And yet, Bob Novak collects paychecks from some of the most respected news outlets in the nation. It defies comprehension.
Update: Not content with his lunacy on Friday, Novak repeated this line of attack on Saturday.
HUNT: Robert Novak, you’re saying CBS should reveal its source?
NOVAK: Yes.
HUNT: You do? You think reports ought to reveal sources?
NOVAK: No, no. Wait a minute.
HUNT: I’m just asking.
NOVAK: I’m just saying in that case.
HUNT: Oh.
NOVAK: I think — I think it’s very important. If this is a phony document, the American — the people should know about it.
Suspicious documents? Very important. Undercover CIA agents? No biggie.