Where's Novak?

I'm glad I ran across this piece by Tony Norman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Norman's opening paragraph cries in despair: "Will someone please explain in simple, easy-to-understand language, why we never see right-wing pundit Bob Novak's name mentioned in the same breath as reporters facing jail time for contempt in the Valerie Plame affair?" Good question! We hear almost nothing about Novak, even while a three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Washington has upheld a previous court ruling that the New York Times's Judith Miller and Time magazine's Matthew Cooper "should be jailed for contempt for failing to disclose the source of a story neither had any intention of publishing in the first place." I brought this up in the blog way back on Dec. 6, and nothing's changed since then. (Read Amy Sullivan's excellent piece (originally in Washington Monthly, for some more background.)

Of course, in this poisonous political climate, the problem goes much deeper than just Novak, as Norman makes clear.

The persecution and prosecution of reporters is taking place at a time when the White House has perfected the art of manipulating the Fourth Estate. With recent revelations that three prominent columnists were paid "consultants" for administration policies, it's easy to see why the First Amendment isn't taken particularly seriously these days.

And then, with the announcement that "Jeff Gannon," a proud sycophant of the White House press corps, is actually James Guckert, a Republican dirty trickster and homosexual prostitute, one has to wonder whether this administration's contempt for journalists knows any bounds.

Addendum, Feb. 22: Thanks to a reader for pointing out an explainer about Novak I missed in Slate.com the other day.