Robert Novak, RIP

Robert Novak passed away today. Novak was one of the first conservative pundits whose work I came to know back when I was in high school and shows where people shouted at each other first began to enter the public consciousness. But before he was a talking head he was a columnist. A sometimes dour columnist, but one who knew where he stood and was not afraid to tell you, damn the blowback. He and George Will have always driven me crazy with a certain unguent smugness, but give me them any day over the Glen Becks, Sean Hannitys, Rush Limbaughs, and Bill O'Reillys who have taken over the mantle as the public voices of conservatism.