Robert Novak, the former CNN controversy magnet and favorite Jon Stewart target, died today of brain cancer. He was 78.
The longtime Washington Post columnist turned political pundit was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in July 2008.
Aside from his nearly five-decade career in print, the "Prince of Darkness" was a TV talking-head fixture, holding down the right on such CNN shows as Evans and Novak, Capitol Gang and Crossfire.
Novak became a punching bag for The Daily Show's Stewart after outing covert CIA agent Valerie Plame in a 2003 column.
The fallout eventually ended his 25-year career at CNN in 2005, when Novak dropped an S-bomb and stormed off the set supposedly to avoid answering questions about his disclosure. He later joined Fox News for a brief stint before publishing his memoirs in 2007, titled Prince of Darkness: Fifty Years of Reporting in Washington.
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