Does Novak Actually Care?

I know I'm grasping at the elusive needle-in-a-haystack of humanity here, but I think Robert Novak's performance on CNN yesterday -- when on live TV he became upset with James Carville, said "This is bullshit," then walked off the set -- is a signal that the man is not your standard bulletproof Republican operative. Today he even apologized, a gesture that surely separates him from other Republicans who have made mistakes far more severe.

When he blew CIA agent Valerie Plame's cover in his widely-read newspaper column, Novak was not playing nice. But now that a special prosecutor is circling in on the actors involved in this dangerous disclosure of identity, Novak is the one person who seems to be suffering inside. Bush leaves for a record-breaking extended vacation, Rove continues to wear his bemused grin, and Scooter Libby stays hidden under the holster of his boss Dick "Call me Dick" Cheney.

I have a soft spot for writers of any ilk, particularly ones like Novak who has written hundreds of thousands of words and been around for decades. Based on what Arianna Huffington is saying on HuffPost, I find myself being persuaded that Judy Miller is just kind of creepy and sad. Perhaps Novak is too. But my heart still goes out to the both of them. And Novak's emotional reaction yesterday to Carville's ribbing --"The Wall Street Journal editorial page is watching you. Show 'em that you're tough" -- is a slight indication that he's letting this whole RoveGate Plame-Game scandal get to him.

Amen. It should be getting to the whole slimy crew of them.

UPDATE: Of course, the only reason we can witness Novak's emotions is that he is a journalist whose job is to display his ideas and information in public. We have not seen others crack because others stay well hidden.