Does anyone else think it's odd that Robert Novak has been sidelined by "bullshit," but not by the CIA leak investigation? We haven't heard any news about his status on CNN, so to the best of our knowledge he's still "taking some time off." From the transcript of CNN's appearance at the TCA Press Tour on July 17:

QUESTION: We can expect to see Robert Novak on your air for a long time to come; is that what you're saying? ANSWER: Walton: Yes.

"I think as a news organization, you stand up to the heat sometimes," Jim Walton added. Jon Klein called Novak "one of the most outstanding political reporters this country has ever known." So what gives?

> "CNN doesn't have that many conservatives left," this commentary says. "If he goes, it'll put another nail in the coffin of what once was a refreshing source of even-handed news but which has "grown" into another me-too mouthpiece of conventional liberal thought."

> Update: 10:15am: "It's even more odd when you consider that Mark Shields, on the Capital gang, used the same word -- twice -- and he was never asked to take time off," an e-mailer adds...