Calling his brain tumor diagnosis "dire," famed columnist and "old-school" reporter Bob Novak is officially retiring. I assume this will be generating much chatter throughout the day and will post responses as they come in.

But in short, it's shocking just how relevant Novak remains for someone who began and was employed for so much of their career in a different era. After all, one of Novak's many claims to fame is being one of the early adopter of television punditry.

Through the Valerie Plame scandal, to reporting on John McCain's vice presidential selection timeline, to his recent hit-and-run accident, Novak has had a very active shelf-life if only measured by his time in the Internet era. And that's to say nothing of the quality journalism he produced during that time.

But his legacy will surely outlast the view of his younger political opponents in the blogosphere. After all, Novak spent his own time cultivating the younger generation of up-and-coming journalists through several outlets, including his involvement with the Phillips Foundation.

When the Human Events website broke the news this morning that conservative columnist Robert Novak has been hospitalized with a brain tumor, the reaction was swift from bloggers on the left and right. Novak has been called a "traitor" by some on the left for his role in the Valerie Plame affair. It's also been a tough week for Novak publicly, after he was seemingly duped into reporting on John McCain's vice presidential selection timeline, and being cited for an alleged hit-and-run on a DC pedestrian.

Hot Air's Ed Morrissey writes:

It will be interesting to see how this news gets received by the media and the blogosphere. When Ted Kennedy got a similar diagnosis, the outpouring of attention and good wishes spread across the political spectrum. Novak, who has reported on American politics for longer than Ted Kennedy has worked in it, will probably not get the same reaction.

Of course, even long-established and respected journalists rarely rise to the same stature as elected officials in the eyes of the public. Tim Russert was an exception, not the rule. Nonetheless, some in the media have been pretty harsh to Novak as the news broke today.

Celebrity/entertainment gossip site TMZ heckled Novak after the hit-and-run story last week and today says, "Right wing bad driver Robert Novak has has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Does that affect your motor skills?"

Josh Marshall of liberal news site Talking Points Memo recaps the news and says: "We wish him the very best."

Meanwhile, it's the comment boards on progressive sites like Think Progress and Democratic Underground that are offering some less-favorable comments on the news.

The story bloggers are following most right now according to Memeorandum has nothing to do with the presidential election, but is instead about political reporter Robert Novak. Novak admitted to striking a pedestrian on a bicycle while driving his black Corvette, but said he was unaware of the incident until another pedestrian informed him. It's been a long week for Novak, who appears to have been taken for a ride by sources claiming John McCain would announce his vice presidential running mate this week.

The Moderate Voice's Shaun Mullen alleges Novak wasn't following traffic laws:

Novak, 77, has earned a reputation around the capital as an aggressive driver and has said that his secret desire is to be king of . . . er, a race-car driver.

Not a lot of Novak sympathy out there, especially from Jane Hamsher, who speculates of Novak's motivation:

Trying desperately to get home before sunrise, no doubt.

Talk Left links to a Politico piece, which interviews the intervening pedestrian. The details are rough:

As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said a "black Corvette convertible with top closed plowed into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed onto the windshield."

Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. "The car is speeding away. What's going through my mind is, you just can't hit a pedestrian and drive away," Bono said.

CQ Politics colleague Jonathan Allen just noted on MSNBC that Bono is a former editor of the Harvard Law Review.