Novakula. The Douchebag of Liberty strikes again!

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 - One of the most puzzling aspects of the C.I.A. leak case has had to do with the name of the exposed officer. Why did the syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak identify her as Valerie Plame in exposing her link to the C.I.A. in July 2003 when she had been known for years both at the agency and in her personal life by her married name, Valerie Wilson?

Mr. Novak offered a possible explanation for the disconnect on Monday, suggesting in his column that he could have obtained Ms. Wilson's maiden name from the directory Who's Who in America, which used that name in identifying her as the wife of Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former ambassador.

Mr. Novak did not explicitly cite the directory as his source. Nor was this his first public reference to the Who's Who listing. In a column in October 2003, three months after he had first disclosed Ms. Wilson's name and her role, Mr. Novak cited the published listing as evidence that Ms. Wilson's identity was "no secret."

But in drawing renewed attention to the published listing, Mr. Novak seemed to suggest more directly than ever before that the scrutiny that has focused on which of his sources provided him the name might have been misplaced, and that he might well have figured it out by himself.

Novak suggesting that this is much ado about nothing? Well then. I'm sure that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will wake up tomorrow morning, pick up his morning New York Times, read this intrepid reporting, and exclaim, "Silly me! I've clearly been wasting everyone's time! Tap the keg, it's party time!"

I hope they pick up Novak in the paddywagon right after stopping by the White House for Karl, Scooter, and whoever else is asked to tag along.