Robert Novak, Sociopath

Dana Goldstein writes:

Robert Novak is driving a black corvette on K Street. He hits a pedestrian crossing the street in a crosswalk with a "walk" sign. And then he speeds away...until a vigilante cyclist, who also happens to be a partner at lobbying/law firm Harkins Cunningham, uses his bike to block Novak from evading the police!

This isn't the first time Novak's gotten in trouble with criminal driving. Fortunately, the 66 year-old man Novak hit has only minor injuries, which means Novak will probably only see a minor penalty. And that's too bad. The penalties for this stuff ought to be much stiffer. Morally speaking, what Novak was doing here is no better than walking down a crowded street with his handgun, firing off .22 rounds at random. "He's not dead, that's the main thing," says Novak but that's just a coincidence.

I hate, incidentally, that coverage of this is using the euphemism that Novak is known as an "aggressive" driver. He's a criminal. Cars are large, heavy, fast-moving objects that share space with delicate flesh-and-blood human beings -- piloting them in an illegal manner is serious wrongdoing.

Comments

Morally speaking, what Novak was doing here is no better than walking down a crowded street with his handgun, firing off .22 rounds at random.

Is this some kind of tune up for the type of absurd arguments you will be expected to make once you start at the Center for American Progress.

Posted by Mark Adams | July 23, 2008 4:45 PM

What's the penalty for hit and run in DC?

Posted by blah | July 23, 2008 4:51 PM

Let's hope so, Mark Adams. It's about time that people start talking about automobiles in the same terms that we use for guns and cigarettes. We've got 46,000 Americans a year getting killed by these f'ing machines and that's not even counting oil war.

Posted by Dave | July 23, 2008 4:53 PM

Morally speaking, what Novak was doing here is no better than walking down a crowded street with his handgun, firing off .22 rounds at random.

Is this some kind of tune up for the type of absurd arguments you will be expected to make once you start at the Center for American Progress.

Posted by Mark Adams | July 23, 2008 4:45 PM
================================================

Amen. Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?

Posted by Campesino | July 23, 2008 4:54 PM

Aggressive driving is one thing. It's not necessarily illegal and accidents can occur. But a hit and run is a crime. Can you officially charge someone with attempted hit and run?

Posted by mpowell | July 23, 2008 4:55 PM

The problem is that he drove away when witnesses said the old dude went up on the windshield. You can't miss a cyclist rolling up on your windshield. That being said, Matt sounds like an idiot.

"piloting them in an illegal manner is serious wrongdoing."

Melodramatic, much? Nerd.

Posted by Stoopy | July 23, 2008 4:55 PM

Perhaps they are comparable in terms of risk to others, but from a "morals" perspective, they are remarkably different acts (at least if we presume an ordinary driver's state-of-mind on behalf of Novak).

Also, we should be careful in rushing to judgment as to whether this particular act requires harsher punishment. While reckless driving is deserving of punishment, as is hit-and-run, it's not perfectly clear that he was driving recklessly, nor that he intended to escape punishment for the consequences of such driving.

Posted by mvanburen | July 23, 2008 4:56 PM

I second mpowell -- hitting a guy is one thing. Accidents do happen. Fleeing the scene is fucking disgusting.

Posted by Dr. Victor Davis Handjob | July 23, 2008 4:57 PM

mpowell, no, there's no such thing as attempted hit and run. It would just be a hit and run. If you can prove their intent to flee the scene, that's enough to be charged. This sounds like a hit and run to me. Especially if witnesses claim the cyclist hit his windshield.

Posted by Stacy | July 23, 2008 4:57 PM

"He's not dead, that's the main thing," says Novak

"And if it weren't for that other goddam cyclist, I would have turned around and finished that fucker off", Novak added.

Posted by calipygian | July 23, 2008 5:00 PM

"He's not dead, that's the main thing," says Novak

"And if it weren't for that other goddam cyclist, I would have turned around and finished that fucker off", Novak added.

Posted by calipygian | July 23, 2008 5:04 PM

It's about time that people start talking about automobiles in the same terms that we use for guns and cigarettes.

I am fine giving more attention to car fatalities and making it a public policy priority. But it is absurd to say that "what Novak was doing here" is morally equivalent to firing a gun into crowd unless Novak drove onto a sidewalk, pressed the accelerator and hoped for the best.

His post-collision response is an entirely different matter.

Posted by Mark Adams | July 23, 2008 5:05 PM

Bah, I see pedestrians jay-walking, crossing mid-block, and wearing headphones all the time on my morning commute. This sort of thing was bound to happen some time; I'm just surprised it doesn't happen more often.

And the idea of blaming Novak is ridiculous. Who amongst us hasn't run over a pedestrian? You can't keep track of all of them.

Posted by ibc | July 23, 2008 5:07 PM

And wtf w/ that $50 fine? I got ticketed for not COMPLETELY stopping at a stop sign, and it was $170 -- this in the distant province of Mississippi.

Complete stops waste fuel and increase our dependence on terror-supporting petro-mullahs. Feel free to share that with the law enforcement officer of your choice.

Posted by Anderson | July 23, 2008 5:07 PM

Seriously, our host here needs is afraid of cars the way most liberals are afraid of guns. Piloting your motorcoach at an excessive rate of speed might give him the vapors, but the rest of us see it as good, clean, only slightly illegal fun.

This is in no way meant to excuse Novak. He hit somebody and tried to get away. It's a little different than "aggressive driving."

Posted by too many steves | July 23, 2008 5:08 PM

Matt
I agree with the other commentators.
It's quite possible for accidents to happen with cars and society has come to an agreement that it's not possible to eliminate all car accidents.
What is unacceptable, illegal and should be severely punished is fleeing the scene of the accident in the hope that you will escape punishment.

Posted by Rajesh | July 23, 2008 5:08 PM

Matt, I appreciate your approach and your passion on many subjects. Your recent book is well thought out and makes intelligent arguments with a maximum of facts and a minimum of sensationalism. Your statement "Morally speaking, what Novak was doing here is no better than walking down a crowded street with his handgun, firing off .22 rounds at random." is sensationalist, unworthy of you, and the exact opposite of your published work.

If Novak fled the scene of an accident, it's a crime and he should be punished for it. If the pedestrian brushed off the quarter panel, he's still at fault, but the criminality is harder to argue. Let the police sort that out and wait for the facts.

Posted by Jon C | July 23, 2008 5:12 PM

too many steves, there's a difference between doing 80-90 mph on the highway and the euphemistically-termed "agressive driving" in downtown DC. The latter is much more likely to endanger human lives than the former.

Posted by Tyro | July 23, 2008 5:13 PM

I'm with Dr. Victor et al on this one.

There appears to be plenty of cause for opprobrium here, but you need to maintain some focus, Matt.

Also, the victim was a pedestrian, not a cyclist as implied by previous commenters.

Posted by Steve | July 23, 2008 5:14 PM

Piloting your motorcoach at an excessive rate of speed might give him the vapors, but the rest of us see it as good, clean, only slightly illegal fun.

Yep, gotta agree with this one.

Oh, unless you're in an area where there are lots of pedestrians and cyclists. Then you're a self-absorbed, immature little ass-wipe.

Drivers who run over pedestrians in a cross-walk should be pulled from their cars and beaten. There's no excuse for it.

Posted by ibc | July 23, 2008 5:16 PM

ibc and Tyro are right, but I'm using Matthew's attitude toward driving in general, and his earlier comments that we have too much horsepower, to make some assumptions here. I could be wrong, but it seems like a theme. And it's odd because Matthew's not usually a nanny-state liberal. Booze, guns, porn, drugs, cigarettes, cars -- they go together!

Posted by too many steves | July 23, 2008 5:22 PM

You people are a bunch of sociopaths, too. Maybe the lack of social stigma and criminal penalties attached to driving like a lunatic has something to do with the tens of thousands of preventable deaths by auto that happen every year?

Posted by Some dude | July 23, 2008 5:25 PM

Booze, guns, porn, drugs, cigarettes, cars -- they go together

The rules are pretty simple...

;)

Posted by ibc | July 23, 2008 5:27 PM

Perhaps, New Yorkers who don't drive should refrain commenting on the subject of driving, thus avoiding the possibility that come across as moronic as legislators from Buffalo complaining about the subway.

Posted by PSP | July 23, 2008 5:31 PM

If you can prove their intent to flee the scene, that's enough to be charged.

He fled the scene. The only thing left to prove is that he knew he hit someone.

As most drivers will recognize, the idea that you could have a guy sprawled on the hood of your car (even for a fraction of a second) and not realize it are basically zero. If you run over an *empty pop can* you know it. There is basically no way Novak didn't know he hit this guy, and further mens rea could be inferred from his attempts to get away from the cyclist who chased him down.

But the biggest crime in all of this is that it appears, from the press accounts, that he *isn't* being charged with hit and run, but simply an unsafe turn. This is disgusting on several levels.

Posted by McKingford | July 23, 2008 5:37 PM

Is this guy going to get fired now?

What a message having him sends to their readers-- "We employ a guy who would accidentally hit you with his car and then run away to lecture you about politics." F-.

Posted by Swan | July 23, 2008 5:37 PM

As I have been saying on numerous occasions on this blog when the topic of Robert Novak came up, he is a fascist cocksucker. He's lucky I'm not the cyclist who chased him down or he would be in the hospital with multiple contusions, if not broken bones. This sounds like a hit and run, which, if it involves a pedestrian, is a felony in many jurisdictions and results in a jail term. His claim that he didn't know he hit the pedestrian is a crock of shit. According to the witness, the guy rolled up onto the hood and then rolled off. Fucktard Novak belongs in the slammer.

Posted by SLC | July 23, 2008 5:39 PM

matt you need to consult a mental health professional to help you deal with your personal hatred of mr novak

Posted by bluesmoke | July 23, 2008 5:41 PM

Perhaps, New Yorkers who don't drive should refrain commenting on the subject of driving

I'd implore you not to clutter the Internet with idiocy; it's hard enough to get a Google search to return meaningful results as it is. I can't imagine what it will be like in another 10-15 years.

Thx.

Posted by ibc | July 23, 2008 5:41 PM

What is wrong with you people? The worst thing here isn't that he drove away (though it shows what a piece of shit he is, and it's RIDICULOUS he was not arrested). The worst thing is that he hit someone because he was acting like his car was a toy!

Our streets should not be fucking kill zones. If you can't pay attention to where you're going so that you actually hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk who has the light--well, then at the very least you don't get to drive anymore. Seriously, take your license, take your car, you're done. Because your convenience isn't worth killing people.

Posted by anon | July 23, 2008 5:50 PM

From the linked article, discussing an earlier altercation between Novak and a pedestrain:

Novak explained to the paper: "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em."

It might be worth reporting here that, some years ago, I almost hit Robert Novak in my car as **he** jaywalked across Pennsylvania Avenue. The only reason he didn't splay his own corpulent bulk across my windshield is that I am apparently a better driver than he is.

(I also almost ran down a jaywalking Morton Kondracke on 14th St. once.)

Posted by Cliffy | July 23, 2008 5:54 PM

"Perhaps, New Yorkers who don't drive should refrain commenting on the subject of driving, thus avoiding the possibility that come across as moronic as legislators from Buffalo complaining about the subway."

Or maybe they should comment because they're the pedestrians getting hit by the criminals.

Posted by cda22 | July 23, 2008 5:55 PM

lol...yeah, driving a car quickly is like firing a gun in a crowd...

...maybe Matt moving to the new job is for the best.

Posted by rab | July 23, 2008 5:56 PM

Novak bad man!

TrueLiberal wins the thread!

Oh, sorry, I was channeling MattY's new friends at ThinkProgress.

Has Novak actually been convicted of something related to this issue? If not, should he sue MattY/The Atlantic for convicting him on a blog and claiming that he's a "criminal"?

Posted by TLB | July 23, 2008 5:58 PM

My celebrity close-miss roster is Sam Waterston and John Madden. Is "aggressive" code for "drunk" by any chance?

Posted by CJColucci | July 23, 2008 6:00 PM

great post Yglesias.

Posted by raft | July 23, 2008 6:01 PM

Re Cliffy

Mr. Cliffy should have done the world a favor and wasted that sucker.

Posted by SLC | July 23, 2008 6:01 PM

Maybe if Novak is diagnosed with brain cancer Matthew's opinion of him will soften.

Posted by Will Allen | July 23, 2008 6:02 PM

MY - I hate, incidentally, that coverage of this is using the euphemism that Novak is known as an "aggressive" driver. He's a criminal. Cars are large, heavy, fast-moving objects that share space with delicate flesh-and-blood human beings -- piloting them in an illegal manner is serious wrongdoing.

As amply demonstrated in the crimes and the killing Teddy Kennedy did in a motor vehicle, or his son Patricks drug-addled wrecking of a rental yacht or piling his car up on Capital Hill Jersey barriers after smashing a police cruiser at 2 Am and sayong he was on his way to do an urgent vote and was immune from arrest.

Then there is Robert Byrd, fond for 30 years of parking in fire lanes, driving through DC streets at 90 MPH and informing police or in a note accompanying his torn up tickets that Senators are exempt from all misdeamor traffic laws while Congress is in session. Another criminal, but like brain-fried Patrick and nasty Novak and unlike Teddy - Byrd never killed anyone. (Not even when he was driving a pickup truck as a rising Democratic Party official and KKK member back in W Virginia.

Posted by chris ford | July 23, 2008 6:05 PM

Matt,

don't get help for hating Mr. Novak more after he did a hit and run on a pedestrian.

hating Mr. Novak is the rational thing to do.

telling people on a liberal blog to not hate the guy is the irrational thing.

Posted by david in norcal | July 23, 2008 6:07 PM

What is with some of you psychopaths?

He hit a pedestrian who was in a friggin cross walk with a walk signal for godsakes.

If that isn't criminal vehichular assault what is?

Posted by eric k | July 23, 2008 6:08 PM

Perhaps citizens who do not murder other people should refrain from commenting on the morality of murder.

Posted by qjk | July 23, 2008 6:10 PM

Shit, we should all just be glad he didn't leak the name of a CIA agent while doing this. Again.

Posted by Kyle | July 23, 2008 6:14 PM

Cliffy, if you miss two opportunities like that you really can't complain about the state of Journalism anymore.

Posted by jetan | July 23, 2008 6:20 PM

Was the fellow that he hit wearing an Obama T-shirt? It might establish motive.

Posted by American Daughter | July 23, 2008 6:35 PM

I was almost hit once by Jennifer Connelly.

Jennifer Connelly > Bob Novak.

Posted by Shine | July 23, 2008 6:35 PM

Matt, Anon, and Eric K are either idiots, or they've had someone close to them die in a car accident. Those are the only options, and they are not mutually exclusive. I'm not defending Novak, but just because he hit someone that had a walk signal doesn't imply that he was running a red light. He was obviously driving carelessly, but to compare to walking down the street firing a gun is so ridiculous, that I can't help but feel that Matt has been starting to slip recently.

Matt, has your girlfriend dumped you?

Posted by Stacy | July 23, 2008 6:47 PM

From the article:

In 2001, he cursed at a pedestrian on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th streets Northwest for allegedly jaywalking.

“’Learn to read the signs, [bodily orifice]!’ Novak snapped before speeding away,” according to an item in The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column.

Man, that Novak is a real earhole...

Posted by hw | July 23, 2008 6:54 PM

What a nostril.

Posted by southpaw | July 23, 2008 6:56 PM

Matt, this isn't helping the impression that you have an anti-car bias!

Just, you know, saying...

Posted by Anthony Damiani | July 23, 2008 6:56 PM

Novak is a notoriously dangerous driver. Here's some context, borrowed from the Daily Dish:

"I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that," - Robert Novak, quoted in the Washington Post in 2001.

"I didn’t know I hit him," - Novak, today, after striking a pedestrian with his convertible, and leaving the scene of the accident.

Those, my friends, are the words and actions of a world-class a**hole.

And I fully agree with Matt. When you get behind the wheel of a machine, you assume a moral responsibility. If you drive "aggressively" or while impaired, you're acting unethically, in a way that ought to be criminal -- whether or not the person you hit dies.

Posted by Ted | July 23, 2008 6:58 PM

My God, if I had this comments section I'd leave, too.

Write books! Blogging is a waste of time! There's no space to write anything more substantive than some 20 year old college student could write on a good day. Do something worthwhile and stop writing for internet trolls.

Posted by John Lynch | July 23, 2008 7:01 PM

The eyewitness said that the pedestrian was splayed across the windshield of the Corvette and that Novak couldn't possibly have failed to notice.

Novak admitted to ABC News that the the bicyclist only caught up with him a block away from the accident.

So, Novak did leave the scene of the accident. He claims that he didn't notice that he'd hit someone--a dubious claim contradicted by the eyewitness. If he really didn't notice, he should have his license suspended, he's a menace.

I wonder if the cops gave Novak a breathalyzer or a field sobriety test. He's slurring his words badly in the ABC footage.

Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein | July 23, 2008 7:07 PM

Novak was boarding an American flight to Chicago when he cut in front of another passenger while entering first class. The guy protested and laid a hand on Novak -- who responded by socking him and threatening to knock his teeth out.

Not mild-mannered Bob? We reached Novak in Maui, just minutes into yesterday's game.

"Some guy pushed me and I pushed him back," he said, shouting into the phone from the stands. "That's all there was to it." Both offending parties were scolded by airline staff and huffed to their respective seats.

And did you learn something from this experience, Bob?

"No, nothing."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112200193.html

Posted by blah | July 23, 2008 7:08 PM

I have to say that Novak's brief moment of navigational madness hardly compares to the atrocities he has systematically committed against the English language. Why does an old man systematically try and reverse engineer the monkey at the typewriter idea? For that alone a session in the pillory seems urgently required. Of course, his other problems with truth and logic might lead us to make that two pillory sessions, at the very least. It's the only way to reform these desperate linguistic criminals!

Posted by morzer | July 23, 2008 7:11 PM

NOVAK: Mr. Pacelle, have you ever seen a cockfight?

PACELLE: Yes.

NOVAK: I've seen one; it was in Puerto Rico a number of years ago. I enjoyed it tremendously.

PACELLE: That's unfortunate.

NOVAK: Well, I had a very enjoyable evening. Tell me what you object to about it.

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/11/26/cf.opinion.cockfighting/

Posted by blah | July 23, 2008 7:14 PM

Blah, I think you have a typo. You need to delete the "fight" in cockfight.

Posted by jsmccain | July 23, 2008 7:16 PM

What we see here are a lot of commenters, buckled up for safety in their two ton automobiles, insisting that pedestrians and bicyclists need to act responsibly, and realize that the automobile driver is inherently unreliable and not to be trusted.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Posted by serial catowner | July 23, 2008 7:32 PM

As I have been saying on numerous occasions on this blog when the topic of Robert Novak came up, he is a fascist cocksucker. He's lucky I'm not the cyclist who chased him down or he would be in the hospital with multiple contusions, if not broken bones. This sounds like a hit and run, which, if it involves a pedestrian, is a felony in many jurisdictions and results in a jail term. His claim that he didn't know he hit the pedestrian is a crock of shit. According to the witness, the guy rolled up onto the hood and then rolled off. Fucktard Novak belongs in the slammer.

Posted by SLC | July 23, 2008 5:39 PM

**********************************************

Today, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) called on Republican party leaders to offer a public rebuke of right wing pundit Bob Novak’s harsh anti-Israel stance and string of unbalanced columns.

In recent columns, Novak has suggested Israel’s policies are “worse than apartheid,” implied that Israel is oppressing Christians, claimed that terror organization Hamas wants peace, and chastised President Bush for failing to pressure the Israeli government. [Washington Post, 4/9/07, 4/16/07 and 4/5/07]

This is a major example of Republican hypocrisy,” said NJDC Executive Director Ira Forman. “Republicans jump up and down and paint Democrats with a broad brush whenever anyone on the left says anything remotely questionable about the Middle East. Yet, here is right wing pundit Bob Novak writing a series of awful columns and the silence from Republican leaders is deafening.”

Novak has a long history of unbalanced reporting on Israel. In 2001 he referred to Hamas terrorists as “freedom fighters” and in April 2005, he wrote a column accusing the Israeli government of “walling off Christianity,” a theme he has repeated in multiple column. Novak has also blamed Israel for the Iraq war. [Newsday, 12/7/01; Townhall.com 4/18/05; CNN 12/23/03]

http://www.njdc.org/newsdigest/detail.php?id=687

Posted by blah | July 23, 2008 7:35 PM

Just four blocks up Connecticut from Novak's "incident", during the morning rush hour, a man driving a black Range Rover nearly killed a pedestrian when he gunned through a red light at New Hampshire and Dupont Circle. The pedestrian nearly croaked from shock. The Range Rover revved it from probably a half block back, pulled around a delivery truck (which had already stopped for the red light), and nearly struck the man. I'm still shaking and this was over ten hours ago.

Yes, Matt was, perhaps, a little hyperbolic in his description, but I don't necessarily disagree with him. The MPD does not have the money and staff to undertake a wide-scale and systematic crackdown on auto abuse of pedestrians and cyclists (our n'hood works with them on traffic safety and they do the best they can [though not all]). Even within our n'hood group, I am shocked at the rage some drivers vent towards pedestrians and cyclists. Yes, these two groups of folks are not always the most obedient when crossing streets and driving in traffic, but, as the MPD slogan says: "Steel v flesh, it is no contest."

Posted by BEmama | July 23, 2008 7:38 PM

I totally agree with Matt's analogy to shooting into a crowd.

He's on tape saying that he drove away from the collision. I don't see how he gets off the hook here.

Posted by Chris | July 23, 2008 7:41 PM

Stacy,

The person was in a cross walk with a WALK signal.

How could you drive into a cross walk where the person has a Walk signal and not be going against the light?

Posted by eric k | July 23, 2008 7:42 PM

eric k, it appears Novak was turning onto 18th from the K St. service lane. If so, both of them were headed along K St. in the same direction before the collision, so Novak would have had the green at the same time the pedestrian had the Walk sign. But the pedestrian indisputabliy had the right-of-way.

SLC, jetan -- maybe I would have if I knew it'd just have been a $50 ticket!

Posted by Cliffy | July 23, 2008 8:10 PM

"coverage of this is using the euphemism that Novak is known as an "aggressive" driver."

Actually, the DC police have a program targeting "aggressive driving," which is defined as "a combination of unsafe and unlawful actions that demonstrate a conscious and willful disregard for safety." It's not a euphemism here.
http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1240,q,547928,mpdcNav_GID,1552,mpdcNav,%7C.asp

Posted by Bloix | July 23, 2008 8:12 PM

What ought to emphasized again here is that Novak's primary sin is that he fled. Accidents do happen, and if he'd stayed and dealt with things, this would be a different conversation.

Matt's analogy maybe hyperbolic and inexact, but the outrage at work here is not that Novak drove a car, or that he's a right-wing doofus, but that he hit a man, and tried to flee the scene. That's the issue.

Posted by Rafique Tucker | July 23, 2008 8:27 PM

"He's not dead, that's the main thing," says Novak

That's what Cheney would have said about shooting his lawyer, if he'd felt the need to say anything.

Posted by Aleks | July 23, 2008 8:36 PM

What ought to emphasized again here is that Novak's primary sin is that he fled. Accidents do happen, and if he'd stayed and dealt with things, this would be a different conversation.

Matt's analogy maybe hyperbolic and inexact, but the outrage at work here is not that Novak drove a car, or that he's a right-wing doofus, but that he hit a man, and tried to flee the scene. That's the issue.

Posted by Rafique Tucker | July 23, 2008 8:46 PM

Cliffy,

I thought that might be it.

A right on a green light in the city with cross walks isn't a free turn. I learned that in Drivers Ed 26 years ago. Novak was clearly driving too fast and not paying attention.

Accidents are when a tree falls in the street and hits your car, this was Novak breaking the rules of the road.

Posted by eric k | July 23, 2008 9:00 PM

Update:
Injuries of victim may not be minor.

"The victim, a 66-year-old man, appeared somewhat incoherent, said the source who had seen the victim. The man appeared to have casts on his neck and back. The victim was X-rayed and a surgical team plans to evaluate him, the source said."
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0708/537957.html

Posted by Measure for Measure | July 23, 2008 9:22 PM

Mary Jo Kopechne was unavailable for comment.

Posted by Dewclaw | July 23, 2008 9:23 PM

Sadly, I'm not surprised that so many are flaming you for speaking the truth - cars are lethal weapons. Worse, drivers are more self-absorbed than ever.

As a pedestrian, I routinely see cars approach intersections with no thought of pedestrians. I've seen people hit while in the middle of crosswalk by drivers who run stop signs. Several years ago, I saw an individual flipped onto a windshield. The driver was in too much of a hurry to drive at the speed limit and literally plowed through the crosswalk.

Just last week, a toddler was nearly hit by a car that made a Hollywood stop. As I was closer to the car, I noted that the driver was only looking for oncoming vehicles. Because of this, my mother and I didn't enter the cross walk. Something told us she was not going to stop. The child was with his father - both had stopped and looked before entering the crosswalk. Of course, they assumed the driver, having a stop sign, would do the same. She didn't.

Posted by Judy | July 23, 2008 9:53 PM

Oh SLC, I get the vapors with you threatening a 66 year old man over the intartubes.

Posted by Bill M | July 23, 2008 9:55 PM

i don't see what the problem is. ted kennedy was in a car accident a half century ago. plus robert byrd was once in the KKK.

Posted by ibc | July 23, 2008 10:27 PM

"He's not dead, that's the main thing," says Novak

"And if it weren't for that other goddam cyclist, I would have turned around and finished that fucker off", Novak added.

Expect ole' Set 'Em Up and Run 'Em Down Bob to petition the Cheney Administration for immediate clemency. Bob Novak cannot be charged for a crime, much less on K Street! That would not be civilized.

Sources also have reported that the partners at Harkins Cunningham started a pool at 11 a.m. regarding the future of David Bono, the vigilante cyclist and most evil Liberal Lawyer in D.C.

For $1,000, you can pick the exact date, day, and time (to the second) that Bono will be fired.

For an extra $5,000, you can select the location, military unit, and CIA field officer that will waterboard Bono.

And for $50,000, you can choose the date, day, and time that Set 'Em Up and Run 'Em Down Bob Novak will personally have Bono thrown off the roof of AIPAC headquarters.

Posted by Mark | July 23, 2008 11:35 PM

As a long distance bicycler and bicycle commuter, I want to see dangerous driving behavior punished. On the other hand, it's no worse than the recklessness with which people are pushing so-called universal health care with no regard to the consequences for our civil liberties. That behavior needs to be punished, too.

Posted by The Reticulator | July 23, 2008 11:43 PM

I'm with Matt on this one. In our vehicle-centric culture we've normalized these incidents as "accidents". But when you're driving carelessly, your vehicle becomes a deadly weapon. People need to start internalizing that reality and behaving accordingly. If not, they should be punished accordingly.

Posted by slag | July 23, 2008 11:47 PM

Years ago in Berkeley, a motorist who wanted to turn right on red wouldn't yield to me as I (on foot) crossed on the green, so I pounded on his car with my fist as he went in front of me. He stopped and got hot about it, but what really amazed me is that another motorist who'd seen the whole thing yelled at me, "He's in a car!"

Posted by SqueakyRat | July 24, 2008 12:08 AM

From:

Head of State

http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/07/mission-to-18th-and-k.html

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Mission to 18th and K

The decision of a 66 year old pedestrian to splay himself across the innocent windshield of columnist Robert Novak's Corvette convertible on July 23, 2008 was made routinely, at a low level of intellectual consideration and attention, without the columnist's knowledge. Remarkably, this produced a firestorm of media attention that has yet to subside.

Witnesses' reports that Novak drove directly into the pedestrian, who was crossing on the "Walk" signal, that the pedestrian was splayed across the windshield involuntarily, as a result of being struck by Novak's vehicle, and that Novak then drove away from the scene of the hit-and-run until a witness on a bicycle chased Novak, having to repeatedly block his vehicle to prevent Novak's attempts to escape from the scene were highly unlikely, regarded by the columnist as less than definitive, and it is doubtful that Novak ever saw him. Certainly officers on 18th Street did not, before they arrived at the downtown address, attributing Novak's behavior to "reckless driving" and issuing a $50 citation.

That witnesses reports relied on the reports of a bicycle riding, knapsack wearing, possibly liberal and environmentalist lawyer made Novak's mission, moments earlier, the basis of unhinged Democratic accusations of "hitting a 66-year old man who was legally crossing the street" and "driving away after an accident victim was spread across the hood of your car", though these accusations were apparently forgotten by the time Novak was faced with reporters at the scene, and in response to their questions, tersely spoke.

Reluctance by the pedestrian to admit a mistake has led Democrats increasingly closer to saying that Novak dissembled about his actions when driving through the crosswalk. Even after a belated interview with TMZ, in which, in a quasi-apology rich with the dark irony for which he is noted, he stated that he was distracted while driving by "listening to NPR," finger-pointing at the events in the intersection continued. Messages between the Politico and Think Progress hashed over the quotes from witnesses, while more rational blogs speculated that the accident had been a set-up by liberal operatives, who hoped to draw attention from statements by John McCain praising the surge.

Novak's mission was created in his early crusading efforts to reform pedestrian behavior, using the clear, honest, visionary prose for which he has long been known. In 2001, he reportedly cursed at a jaywalker only blocks from the White House, on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th streets, intoning the command hear round the world, "Learn to read the signs, [bodily orifice]!" Stating further in an interview that "I really hate jaywalkers...I despise them...the only other option is to run them over...", Democratic operatives unfairly concluded that Novak's compassionate calling to urban reform in fact represented a mission to splay.

That's where Bono came in. Carrying the dual monikers of a sixties counterculture radical and a 21st century shades-wearing, debt-relieving, globe-trotting liberal firebrand, the bicyclist "witness" came to notice when, cruising lightly, almost as if windsurfing, he wheeled up on his no-doubt-French-made cycle to the window of Novak's Corvette (built entirely in the U.S.A.) and "hit the window with (his) fist." Bono claimed that he stated to Novak that "you can't just hit a pedestrian and drive away." He then placed his bicycle in front of Novak's car, apparently assuming that he had the force and authority to block Novak's further egress.

Bono is not a representative of District of Columbia Traffic Agency. However, his wife, Shaunee Moon (Littletree) Bono is an agency operative on liberalization of jaywalking policy. Two senior Traffic Agency officials told me that Bono's wife suggested sending him to 18th and K to intercept Novak's Corvette. The Agency states that its counterjaywalking officials chose Bono and asked Moon (Littletree) Bono to contact him. "I will not discuss any matters regarding my wife", said Bono, when I interviewed him, "Particularly when I am splayed across the hood of your car."

During the run-up to 18th and K intercept (near the offices where he served), Bono had made oral reports to friends that "accidents are not that likely", and that "you are more likely to be injured slipping in the shower than crossing the street; after all, in the street, there are traffic signals." Notably, Bono's oral statements did not include mention of the possibility of pedestrians voluntarily launching themselves onto moving automobiles. The report of the Agency's interview with Bono remains classified.

After Novak stated that "He's not dead, that's the main thing," Bono declined any further interviews. "The story was never me," said Bono, "it was always the guy who drove directly into a 66-year old man crossing at a walk signal, who flew across his windshield, and then driving away, until repeatedly stopped by witnesses." The story, actually, is whether a covert jaywalking inducement policy, launched by an Agency operative, and executed by the spouse of that operative, should remain covert. I, for one, say no--in the Agency's, the streets' and the public interest.

Cite:

Head of State

http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/07/mission-to-18th-and-k.html

Posted by Robert Hewson | July 24, 2008 12:15 AM

So when does the pedestrian call his press conference to apologize for inconveniencing and embarrassing Novak?

Posted by KCinDC | July 24, 2008 12:31 AM

Years ago in Berkeley, a motorist who wanted to turn right on red wouldn't yield to me as I (on foot) crossed on the green, so I pounded on his car with my fist as he went in front of me. He stopped and got hot about it, but what really amazed me is that another motorist who'd seen the whole thing yelled at me, "He's in a car!"
Posted by SqueakyRat

Good thing it wasn't an illegal alien with two San Francisco felony arrests protected from deportation by "Sanctuary!!". He would have killed you and anyone you were with.

Posted by chris ford | July 24, 2008 1:11 AM

Clearly the author's in the pocket of Big Ped.

Posted by Paul Smith | July 24, 2008 1:14 AM

"it appears Novak was turning onto 18th from the K St. service lane. If so, both of them were headed along K St. in the same direction before the collision, so Novak would have had the green at the same time the pedestrian had the Walk sign. But the pedestrian indisputabliy had the right-of-way."

I almost got run over by some nitwit Chinese driver (warning: ethnic slur coming up! Do NOT get in front of Chinese drivers!) who was turning left from one street onto another with the green light as I was crossing with the green. Naturally he was looking to his right for oncoming cars - even though they had the red light - rather than looking at the pedestrian crosswalk where he should have been looking when making a left turn.

Fortunately, despite being overweight, I can move fast when necessary, and I evaded his left front bumper by inches. He stopped a few feet away and apologized profusely. I just shook my head and dismissed him.

He did not drive away, turn down another street and continue moving until someone else blocked his path, then deny he saw me at all.

As for comparing Novak's actions to random shooting, that might be a little much, but Novak's actions were "criminal". The problem that the idiot posters here illustrate is that most people would act like Novak if they weren't afraid of being arrested. They'd knock people over and probably run people over and not give a shit.

Typical primate behavior - nobody matters but moi. Which is why humans don't matter to me.

OTOH, there are some moron pedestrians who probably deserve to be run over. I see numerous lower class blacks (and other ethnicities) scum deliberately crossing streets against traffic and essentially daring oncoming cars to hit them (apparently they don't know about Chinese drivers in San Francisco).

Which is why you see a lot of these people later as homeless walking on crutches and in wheel chairs. It's called "nature's way of eliminating the stupid."

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | July 24, 2008 6:15 AM

Re Bill M

Actually, fuckface Novak is 77 and stands about 5'5" in his stocking feet. Little punks like him should be careful when mouthing off.

What is particularly galling here is that the police failed to give shithead Novak a breathalyzer test at the scene.

Posted by SLC | July 24, 2008 8:16 AM

Clearly, Novak is just a little too excited for the remake of Death Race 2000. Give a guy a break.

Posted by Angry Sam | July 24, 2008 9:15 AM

too many steves, there's a difference between doing 80-90 mph on the highway and the euphemistically-termed "agressive driving" in downtown DC. The latter is much more likely to endanger human lives than the former.

Co-signed. When I lived in the nation's smallest city, one or two people died a year just from wandering drunk in front of the wrong car. If those folks had been pulling Novaks and gunning for pedestrians the numbers would've been a lot higher.

Posted by Persia | July 24, 2008 9:28 AM

Consider this dialog:

Bono said he told him that you can't hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: “I didn’t see him there.”

1. If somebody tells you that you hit a pedestrian, the obvious response is, "I did?" Not 'I didn't see him.' The latter is obvious as an excuse, 'I didn't see him and I hit him.'

2. If he didn't see him, how did RN know the pedestrian was male?

Posted by Miracle Max | July 24, 2008 10:07 AM

Would you be so kind as to provide links to all of your stories about Patrick Kenedy's driving problems?Thanks

Posted by Howe | July 24, 2008 11:01 AM

Would you be so kind as to provide links to all of your stories about Patrick Kenedy's driving problems?Thanks

Posted by Howe | July 24, 2008 11:03 AM

Would you be so kind as to provide links to all of your stories about Patrick Kenedy's driving problems?Thanks

Posted by Howe | July 24, 2008 11:03 AM

Novak is a monster and it is related to his role in the world and he is representative of a class of people in the media who perform a similar role.

It is America's denial about these sociopaths in our midst that has ruined the Republic.

The conservative movement is full of sociopaths. It is a direct consequence of an ideology that views society as nothing but a burden to individual fulfillment. Novak is Novak, the rest of the world is there to serve him. It's a bit like Satanism that way.

Posted by Northern Observer | July 24, 2008 11:04 AM

"Stacy,

The person was in a cross walk with a WALK signal.

How could you drive into a cross walk where the person has a Walk signal and not be going against the light? "

Novak had a green light and was turning, Duh.

Posted by PJ | July 24, 2008 11:31 AM

"Stacy,

The person was in a cross walk with a WALK signal.

How could you drive into a cross walk where the person has a Walk signal and not be going against the light? "

Novak had a green light and was turning, Duh.

Posted by PJ | July 24, 2008 11:33 AM

"Morally speaking, what Novak was doing here is no better than walking down a crowded street with his handgun, firing off .22 rounds at random."

Oh please. Spare us the sensationalist hyper exaggeration. Seriously, why stop there? Why not say that, morally speaking, a traffic accident is no better than engineering a second holocaust?

I'm interested to what you'd compare Ted 'Chappaquiddick' Kennedy's fleeing the scene of an accident and leaving a girl to drown trapped in his car. I look forward to your bombastic proclamation of what that might be morally equivalent too.

Posted by JD | July 24, 2008 11:40 AM

"Morally speaking, what Novak was doing here is no better than walking down a crowded street with his handgun, firing off .22 rounds at random."

Oh please. Spare us the sensationalist hyper exaggeration. Seriously, why stop there? Why not say that, morally speaking, a traffic accident is no better than engineering a second holocaust?

I'm interested to what you'd compare Ted 'Chappaquiddick' Kennedy's fleeing the scene of an accident and leaving a girl to drown trapped in his car. I look forward to your bombastic proclamation of what that might be morally equivalent too.

Posted by JD | July 24, 2008 11:45 AM

"Morally speaking, what Novak was doing here is no better than walking down a crowded street with his handgun, firing off .22 rounds at random."

Oh please. Spare us the sensationalist hyper exaggeration. Seriously, why stop there? Why not say that, morally speaking, a traffic accident is no better than engineering a second holocaust?

I'm interested to what you'd compare Ted 'Chappaquiddick' Kennedy's fleeing the scene of an accident and leaving a girl to drown trapped in his car. I look forward to your bombastic proclamation of what that might be morally equivalent too.

Posted by JD | July 24, 2008 11:50 AM

"Morally speaking, what Novak was doing here is no better than walking down a crowded street with his handgun, firing off .22 rounds at random."

Oh please. Spare us the sensationalist hyper exaggeration. Seriously, why stop there? Why not say that, morally speaking, a traffic accident is no better than engineering a second holocaust?

I'm interested to what you'd compare Ted 'Chappaquiddick' Kennedy's fleeing the scene of an accident and leaving a girl to drown trapped in his car. I look forward to your bombastic proclamation of what that might be morally equivalent too.

Posted by JD | July 24, 2008 11:54 AM

Chappaquiddick! Chappaquiddick!

BRAAAACKKKKK!

Posted by ibc | July 24, 2008 11:54 AM

"Morally speaking, what Novak was doing here is no better than walking down a crowded street with his handgun, firing off .22 rounds at random."

Oh please. Spare us the sensationalist hyper exaggeration. Seriously, why stop there? Why not say that, morally speaking, a traffic accident is no better than engineering a second holocaust?

I'm interested to what you'd com