Not really original--Rob Kall , executive editor and publisher of Op-ed News, scooped Novak by three days, a pretty long time in the news business. (See related article I've listed below.) Novak provided no hat-tip. Makes me wonder if Novak or his assistants read Krall or just arrived at the same idea later. And of course, either way, the connection between the defections and the lobbying laws is interesting and more people read Novak, probably. Novak does a good job of bringing in how much Lott had already earned. I had to downgrade the article for balance and accuracy, given Novak's glowing description of Lott's career up until now, a description which which cherry picks and distorts. And since Novak left out any mention of ... More »

Novak casts aspersions on Lott's claim that the two-year ban "didn't have a big role". He could have said "I'm not sure I believe him", and that would have been fine. But to say "He (Lott) hurt his credibility", that is unfair, because it says flat out that everyone knows Lott is lying. Frankly, Novak is not in a position to know one way or another. Other than that, this is a good story.