Enigmatic but always sincere and true to himself. That’s how I’m always going to think of Robert Novak – called and not without reason “the last of the shoe leather newspaper reporters” – who passed away yesterday at age 78 after a heroic battle against brain cancer.

Novak embodied and epitomized everything that it’s supposed to mean to be a reporter: working hard, cultivating sources, and never taking anything at face value. A lot of people are calling him a “conservative” commentator. I don’t know if that could really be said about Novak. He was the kind of journalist who, better than most, separated his politics from his profession. But when he had to weigh in on the issues he did it on his own terms. As Novak once observed: “Always love your country — but never trust your government!”

And it goes without saying: Robert Novak was a damned ...