Tim Blair

Novak is easily my least favorite pundit. So smug and yet so wrong - and that's regardless of what you think of his politics. Releasing the name of Joe Wilson's wife for no reason other than because he had the info puts him at the same level as Page Six.

That's a great story and picture of President Bush and Mike McNaughton. A good story. Sad to say, there is no doubt that's why it didn't make the news.

Wow! What a story (Bush running with McNaughton). It is the antithesis of every shit, miserable bit of lefty negativity that makes the media a lopsided waste of time.

"Publicity stunt", the dreary robots of the anti-liberation set will mutter under their breaths. What a dark and bleak world they live in, full of imagined oppression and chardonnay that's just 'too wooded, darling'.

Remind me again, what was Kerry doing for his wounded comrades from Vietnam? Oh, that's right, getting his Lurch-like mug photographed with Hanoi Jane.

Guy at work is in the reserves, he just got back from Iraq recently. He also served in Kosovo and Bosnia. He said that all the horrible scary stuff that the news bleaters show is in the minority of what is going on, very few soldiers are actually being exposed to heavy fire in Iraq. He said most of the military personnel are set up in relative comfort behind barricades of (I forget what he called them, big drum-shaped things full of sand) and one of the worst things about being there is the roads; he doesn't see why we just don't build our own there and use them instead of the dangerously narrow, crappy, exposed Iraqi roads. We built our own roads in Bosnia and wouldn't let anyone but military personnel use them and fared much better.

Novak is a difficult guy to peg.

He was a Democrat - left of center slightly - during the Kennedy years (yep, he covered Kennedy). Then moved to the right slowly, a move that accelerated during the Regan years. He and his late partner, Rowland Evans, were big supporters of Reagan.

He was - and is - a fierce anti-communist and wrote the preface to the latest edition of Whittaker Chamber's Witness.

But he - as was Evans - detests our policies towards Israel to such an extent that on occasion that he dismissed the characterization of Hamas as a terrorist organization.

He was born Jewish but converted to Catholicism about 5 years ago. He's sort of a paleoconservative but is a big supporter of capitalism and doesn't have any of the misgivings that paleos have with free trade, outsourcing and the other "destructive creationism" inherent in free market economies.

He's a odd mix of things. Personally - I met him briefly about 15 years ago at a seminar - he is extremely kind and considerate, quite at odds to his TV persona.

SMG

Mr. Novak is full of it. I happen to be on the same base as the good 1SG Hook. We are doing well, despite some frustrations. I am still not sure who Novak talked to, and what the heck they are talking about...Andrea, I think you mean HESCO barriers...We are actually building a road called the McNaughton Bypass out here, by the way.