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Robert Novak died today of brain cancer.

Novak will perhaps be best remembered -- if at all -- as one of the most compulsive professional liars to have wormed his way inside the Beltway, and that's saying something. And when it came to the interference he ran to protect the Bush-Cheney administration -- culminating in his central role in the Valerie Plame affair -- and his resulting efforts to cover his tracks, it even had historic proportions. Novak himself had constantly lied about this role, and was fond of accusing the people uncovering his tracks of lying. (See Marcy's authoritative work on Novak for more.)

Unsurprisingly, his friends are now eager to make us all forget this. Tim Carney's remembrance omits any mention of it whatsoever. And then there was Fred Barnes on Fox this morning, who simply followed in his friend's footsteps and flatly lied about the Plame case:

Barnes: Bob -- you know, Bob was unruffled by the whole thing. He had to get a lawyer, but, ah, you know, it was no problem to him.

Of course, it turned out that he was the first one to hear from anybody in the Bush administration about Valerie Plame, uhm, being a part, and her husband, you know, helping her husband get this, go to this trip to Africa, and then say that President Bush had -- what President Bush had said about Saddam Hussein seeking uranium in Africa was wrong.

They're still discussing it. It turns out that President Bush was right.

But anyway, Bob was caught up in this scandal, he'd heard about it first, and reported it in his column, and then was perfectly comfortable being the center of attention in a legal case that went on for years and years.

WTF? It's long been an established fact that Novak's reportage was wrong, and in fact was just a propaganda-driven smear on behalf of the Bush administration, since Plame in fact had nothing to do with Joe Wilson getting the Niger assignment. (George Tenet himself explained: "Mid-level officials in CPD [The CIA’s Directorate of Operations Counterproliferation Division] decided on their own initiative to [ask Joe Wilson to look into the Niger issue because] he'd helped them on a project once before, and he'd be easy to contact because his wife worked in CPD.")

And since when has it "turned out" that "Bush was right" about the Niger yellowcake? Not only was the report on which he based the claim he made in the State of the Union built from set of hoax documents, but the White House ignored warnings that this was likely the case. Moreover, there has been no subsequent evidence to suggest that Saddam indeed sought yellowcake from Niger.

Ah, but such things as facts and truthfulness matter little to people like Robert Novak and Fred Barnes. All they care about is covering their tracks. Lying is what they do, right up to their final breaths.

On the WaPo Q&A

Clearwater, Fla.: What is your opinion about Bob Woodward's comments last year about the Valerie Plame case ... When "all of the facts come out in this case, it's going to be laughable because the consequences are not that great."

David S. Broder: Subsequent events do not appear to be supporting that forecast.

(h/t Michael)

Andrea Mitchell throws in the towel on Plame

or

(Please don't ask me about the Valerie Plame case anymore, I'm begging you.)

Andrea appeared on the Imus show this morning and gave a nice report about the paid propaganda that is going on in the Iraqi newspapers and who is involved. When Imus, asked her about Bob Woodward, she said:

Imus: What else is going on-how's Woodward doing, is he going to get off?

Mitchell: Why I don't know, it's just a mess for everyone involved...

Imus: It is?

Mitchell:...but I think Iraq is really what people are focused on here in Washington...

It is a mess when you can't keep your story straight. I didn't realize Don's question was dealing with Washington at all. She reminded me of the right wingers that just want the Valerie Plame story to go away. I'm surprised she just didn't say "9/11."

Oliphant: "What has happened to our business?"
Tom Oliphant on with Imus yesterday, really took a shot at his industry: (loose transcript)
Imus: "The Woodward thing has kinda disappeared-isn't it?" Tom: "Yes, but now we have another one."

Imus: What's this? Tom: "Now we have the reporter from TIME magazine-(Viveca) who has gone on leave-

Imus: "Oh,, tell me about this."

Tom: "Yes, what is the matter with my business? I mean, you shouldn't ask me that question. I mean this is the- every. every other week it seems there's another reporter who on the one hand is playing insider footsie with participants in this scandal and then not telling either the readers, the customers, or the editors about what you've done and it just mystifies me. Umm-except for the observation that some in, in my business really do seem to relish this role or this fictitious role of insider-ahhh-and, and in the process we forget what we're supposed to do-write what people say in our notebook-and type it up and give it to the boss."

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Tom gets it and is very frustrated at how members of the press have been so deeply involved in the Valerie Plame case. For anyone to still defend Viveca Novak over leaking information to her friend-Rove's attorney-is ludicrous.

What does Digby have to say:

" Although Corn expends a great deal of energy lighting up the straw man, I haven't seen anyone accusing her of being a right wing operative. It's not her politics that are at issue. It's her ethics. "Pushing back" shouldn't include exposing her colleague Matt Cooper's source to a third party-- Lawrence O'Donnell knew and kept it secret for months because he didn't want to be subpoenaed and God knows how many other people knew it and passed it on to other privileged insiders or kept it to themselves for selfish reasons. Can't reporters like Corn understand why we poor hapless rubes out here in the hinterlands (not to mention the Justice department) find their shrieking for the last year and half about the sanctity of the confidential source just a little bit self-serving? "...read on"

Indictments Imminent in the Valerie Plame?

The D.C. Rumor mill is thrumming with whispers that 22 indictments are about to be handed down on the outed-CIA agent Valerie Plame case. The last time the wires buzzed this loud — that Tom DeLay would be indicted and would step down from his leadership post in the House — the scuttlebutters got it right...

Calling Karl Rove. Is Christmas coming early?

Meanwhile : The five felony counts in the indictment charge David H. Safavian with obstructing Senate and executive branch investigations into whether he aided Abramoff in efforts to acquire property controlled by the General Services Administration around the nation's capital.

(Update): Raw Story: Has Rove already been told?...read on

Rumor Mill

A source close to the Plame case is saying that Fitzgerald met alone with Judge Hogan yesterday, presumably to ask for an extension of the Grand Jury.

How to get Tim Russert to talk

Here's my latest on the Huffington Post: "URGENT MEMO to all future Meet The Press guests: How to get Tim Russert to talk about the Plame Case."

Debunking

Larry Johnson was on with Blitzer and had to do a little debunking of the right wing smears in the Valerie Plame case.

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The WitList: GOP Looks Toward Future, Prison

The Moderate Voice: If there is an indictment of one or more high White House officials in the Plame case will they be allowed to hold their jobs? Or will a new definition be issued (that says "no one convicted")?

Another Partisan Fanatic: Grand Jury foreman defends DeLay indictment.

Global News Matrix: Army cancels probe of ''war dead for porn'' scandal ",0] ); D(["ce"]); D(["ms","eb0a"] ); //--> Army cancels probe of ''war dead for porn'' scandal

On Hard Ball Friday, Woodward turned into anapologist and defended Novak in the Valeri Plame case while discussingJudith Miller. He says the case is a sham and Novak didn't know she wasan "operative," a code word to shield Novak and anyone else from anywrong doing. He specifically said that Novak ALWAYS uses the word"operative" to refer to anybody and everybody.

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Woodard also uses the word "intent" as a defense ofNovak which will expand to any government official that leaked theinformation. (We all know Robert's intent except Woodard apparently)

Talking Points Memo talks about Novak's role as the leaker:" A close look at the wording Novak used in his column and a careful reviewof previous Novak columns over the years shows he only ever uses theword 'operative' to refer to covert agents. And that's the word he usedto refer to Plame. So Novak knew she was covert. And that prettyclearly means his sources knew too. How else would he have found out?"

At TPMCafe,Josh uncovers the bogus claim about Robert Novak's use of the term"operative" and asks the question "why is Woodward shilling for him?"