The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington Review

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The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington ReviewRobert Novak is a throwback to a time when being civil to people you
disagreed with was the norm rather than the exception. In many ways this
is a very sad autobiography, since you can see the bleak contrasts to
the current standards where people with different viewpoints are regarded
as "the enemy", and being polite to the enemy is close to treason. But
those same contrasts also make this book essential reading: if there were
more Novaks on the left, right, and middle the country would be much
better off.
Novak is not hesitant to describe his own mistakes and shortcomings--
another stark contrast to most of the current politicians and pundits.
Time and again he relates how various people "used" him in underhanded
ways through carefully selected leaks. Leaks are like Oxycontin--
a drug that can be beneficial, but which can also be very harmful.
Novak, of course, survives on leaks--but he also acknowledges that you
can't criticize your leakers, any more than an addict can attack his
dealer, and I get the sense from the book that he's not entirely happy
with this arrangement--that it's a little bit as though people could buy
you off.
Novak is very candid about his warts, so to speak--smoking, drinking,
fighting, etc, and also very candid about the things that changed his
life, personally and politically, such as his conversion to Catholicism
and his epiphany vis-a-vis Ronald Reagan. Novak is astute, and accepts
that his initial judgements can be mistaken--other qualities lacking in
most politicians and pundits nowadays.
Of particular interest to me were the descriptions of his cable TV work.
Capital Gang was the only political show I could enjoy--and it was my
favorite TV show of any kind. The chemistry was excellent--as Novak
describes--and Novak could take being kidded and could laugh at himself.
There were always plenty of things I disagreed with him on, but the show
would not have been worthwhile without him. My favorite episode, which
most unfortunately is only lightly alluded to in the book, came when
Novak had (on live TV) goaded Mark Shields beyond endurance, and Shields
shouted at Novak "That's [cow manure]!". The Gang looked back and forth
at each other for what seemed like a minute and finally Pat Buchanan said,
plaintively "This is a family show". But that didn't affect the personal
relationship between Novak and Shields. Novak in the book describes other
shouting matches--Novak and Shields, Novak and Al Hunt, Novak and Evans,
etc. He looks candidly at himself in the book--he's not Mother Teresa.
One of the saddest and most disturbing parts of the book comes near the
end, where he is accused by neocons of wanting to see the US defeated and
of hating his country. Most of the accusers/fellow travellers (so to
speak) never served their country, as Novak did, and the attack on his
patriotism is a bizarre kind of Kafka-Stalin mix.
Overall, from this fine book--you'll find that Robert Novak is like your
favorite uncle. He at times drinks too much, smokes too much, gets into
fistfights, swears, and pontificates. But in spite of all that--maybe
because of all that--you love the cantankerous old fart!The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington Overview

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