I’ve hesitated to touch on this incident with Bob Novak running over a pedestrian and apparently speeding off as though nothing happened. He’s a controversial figure and the case is so weird that it sort of speaks for itself; blogging about something like that is like fishing in a stocked pond — no sport in it.
But looking at the report of what happened, according to the bicyclist who eventually got Novak to stop, David Bono, Novak hit the guy, a 66 year old man walking in cross walk with a walk signal. He told The Politico “a black Corvette convertible with top closed plows into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed into the windshield.”
And Bono didn’t think it was credible that Novak didn’t realize he’d hit the guy. “There was a pedestrian splayed on his windshield — I don’t think there is anyway you can miss that,” Bono said.
Note to that the original report that the victim got off with just some bumps and bruises don’t seem to be quite right. According to ABC’s DC affiliate WJLA …
The pedestrian who was struck by prominent Washington columnist and commentator Robert Novak is in worse shape than first thought, a hospital source tells ABC 7 News.
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.
Now, Novak says he didn’t realize he’d hit anyone. And if that’s true it removes a great deal of the moral and potential criminal liability. But it puts in real question whether Novak should be driving a car. If you can be driving through the relatively compact streets of downtown Washington, hit a pedestrian so that he rolls up on to your windshield and then trundles off onto the ground and you don’t notice, should you really be driving?
Think about that. For most of us I think having anything make contact with your car while you’re in motion is very jarring, as it should be. That’s certainly been my experience. And you don’t notice when you plow into a guy and he rolls up on your windshield? I don’t get that.
As you’ll recall, 2007 was the first year of the annual Golden Dukes “to recognize great accomplishments in muckiness including acts of venal corruption, outstanding self-inflicted losses of dignity, crimes against the republic, bribery, exposed hypocrisy and generally malevolent governance.” One of our nominees in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Corruption-based Chutzpah was Ginger Cruz, the Deputy Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR). Sen. Larry Craig (R) of Idaho ended up taking the award in that category.
But now Ms. Cruz sends along news on two important new developments.
Earlier this month a grand jury investigating the case declined to indict Cruz and her boss, Stuart Bowen. And several days later the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency similarly cleared Cruz and Bowen of wrongdoing.
Stay tuned for the 2008 Golden Dukes, coming up right after the November Election.
Obama’s big speech in Berlin is at 1 p.m. ET. That and the day’s other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
McCain pulls ahead in Colorado and closes the gap in Michigan and Minnesota, according to new Quinnipiac polls.
John McCain will lunch today in a German restaurant — in Ohio.
Looks like some of our favorite ‘wingers are set to have their hearts broken by the good folks at BMW Direct.
Yesterday in the New York Post, Michelle Malkin was positively giddy at the “jaw-dropping political miracle [that] may be on the horizon.”
Namely, the challenge to veteran Democratic Rep. John Murtha (D) being mounted by Army reservist William Russell. And she’s so bullish on his chances of ousting Murtha because of the nearly $670,000 he’s raised in the second quarter — a stunningly high total.
Unfortunately for the GOP, Russell appears to be yet another little-known candidate who’s turned over his fundraising to BMW Direct, the best-practices direct mail outfit that pulls back in fees 90% to 95% of the funds they raise for their clients. Andrew Tilghman has the story.
Todd Gitlin stumbles upon Franklin Roosevelt’s 9th State of the Union Address: “Our people are not afraid”
If you’re desperate to be John McCain’s vice presidential nominee, you better get on TV and start talking up the Surge as the single most important issue in this year’s presidential campaign. And if you’re serious about getting picked it wouldn’t be a bad idea to say John McCain invented the idea of the surge and maybe even coined the word either. In today’s episode of TPMtv we check in on some of the wannabes to see just how bad they want it …
High-res version at Veracifier.com.