Robert Novak, Columnist, Dies at 78

[aephi alum]

Look. Death is almost never an occasion for celebration. (I say "almost never" because the execution of a serial killer or rapist could be considered cause for celebration. But as Novak was neither, that is irrelevant.)

I disagree with his politics, and then there was the whole Valerie Plame thing. But that by itself is not a valid reason not to respect someone.

I lost all respect for the man in 2002. At the time, he appeared on Crossfire as one of two "on the right" pundits opposite two "on the left" pundits. Then, as now, we were in a recession. There was a segment called (I believe) "Fireback", where they would answer viewers' letters and email. A viewer wrote in, in obvious distress, to give his own personal perspective on the economy. He had been laid off, his wife was unemployed, and they were struggling to support themselves and their children on unemployment checks that were small to begin with and would disappear entirely in a few weeks.

All Novak could say was: "Get a job."

We were in a recession. Jobs were not exactly easy to come by. I had been abruptly laid off a couple of months earlier, and I could not find a job for love or money, even with my master's degree from a top university. It was all but impossible to find so much as a part-time, minimum-wage job, let alone a job that paid enough to live on.

I wrote in asking him directly how he'd feel if he lost his job. What if he were in the other man's shoes and had to find a job, any job, to support his family - and couldn't even get a job flipping burgers at Mickey D's? Of course, my letter went unanswered.

The man had no perspective on the harsh realities of everyday life.

Nonetheless, I wish his family comfort in their time of sorrow.