Is Novak part of the WHIG?

[rumpel]

What is the consensus here...or his he merely the main receptacle?

[Walt Starr]

1. No n/t

[patrice]

2. Is that a type of frog?

Yes he is.

[longship]

3. WHIG

White House Iraq Group
Formed by Andrew Card

Rice
Rove
Libby (Cheney's Chief)
Hadley (Rice's deputy)
Hughes
Matalin
James Wilkinson
Nicholas Calio (legis. liason)

on edit: corrections and additions.

[BuyingThyme]

11. Chalabi, Miller...

[longship]

13. Chalabi and Miller?

Not WHIG. Pawns maybe, but not WHIG.

Add Ari Fleischer as an apparent WHIG as well.

[CubsFan1982]

4. I don't think the Whigs would have wanted him.

Plus Novak doesn't strike me as a Henry Clay kinda guy.

[leveymg]

5. Fellow traveller, at least. Trusted insider, committed neocon, for sure.

[Sequoia]

6. Why isn't he in jail?

[Just Me]

7. What about Miller?

:shrug:

Correct me if I'm wrong but, didn't Novak initially position himself AGAINST the Iraq war? Or was that bow tie? I remember one of them didn't agree with waging war against Iraq.

[DemonFighterLives]

10. Novak wasn't too hot on the war

But when he is backed in a corner, he always shills for the admin.

[dbonds]

8. Is Rove placing all the Blame on him (Novak)?

Seems like Rove is blaming his fart on a friend. Not just any friend, a long time dirty tricks friend.

[BrotherBuzz]

9. Double Dutch Super Secret Background

WHIG is an acronym for White House Iraq Group - Hey, some of us are out of the loop... ;)

[rumpel]

12. I reread Novak original column since a new article suggests Wilson himself

outed his wife. By Clifford D. May

It says:

As for Novak’s use of the word “operative,” he might as easily have called her an “official,” an “analyst, or an “employee.” But, as a longtime newsman, he instinctively chose the sexiest term (one he routinely applies to political figures, too, i.e. “a party operative”).

it goes on to say:

So if Novak did not reveal that Valerie Plame was a secret agent, who did? The evidence strongly suggests it was none other than Joe Wilson himself. Let me walk you through the steps that lead to this conclusion.


http://www.nationalreview.com/may/may200507150827.asp

But it is a parsing of words: The original Novak para is:

Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction.

snip
in same para:

The CIA says its counter-proliferation officials selected Wilson and asked his wife to contact him. "I will not answer any question about my wife," Wilson told me.

http://www.nationalreview.com/may/may200507150827.asp

(It was also reported that Novak was asked by the CIA not to write about his wife)

May then speculates that David Corn outed Plame a few days after Novak's column, because he goes into detail of her role in the CIA.

(Any reporter will be curious who Valerie Plame is, once the name was revealed)

This is a very strained explanation and defense indeed.