Ask the Answer Man

Novakula, who oughta know, says don't bug him about Plamegate:

Newspaper columnist Robert Novak is still not naming his source in the Valerie Plame affair, but he says he is pretty sure the name is no mystery to President Bush.

"I'm confident the president knows who the source is," Novak told a luncheon audience at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh on Tuesday. "I'd be amazed if he doesn't."

"So I say, 'Don't bug me. Don't bug Bob Woodward. Bug the president as to whether he should reveal who the source is.' "

This is kind of a fascinating dodge, with Novak believing the President should answer for his crime. Wouldn't the best source of knowledge on who leaked the info be the guy he/she actually leaked the info TO?

But this is a good point to be made. The President has tried to play this game that he wants to "get to the bottom" of the Plame controversy as much as anyone else, when clearly he has all the information at his disposal. He could have defused this controversy two years ago by simply forcing his staff to come clean. Then it wouldn't be the big deal it is today.