In July of 2003, when he was Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, he scoffed at the idea of investigating the leaks around the outing of Valerie Plame.

He said that leaks were so commonplace they would have to spend all of their time running around investigating them.

He followed by saying, "Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation."

In November of 2004, Novak wrote a praising column about Goss, claiming the CIA was leaking information and Goss was going to clean house.

Novak wrote that John McCain told him "with CIA leaks intended to harm the re-election of the president of the United States, it is not only dysfunctional, but a rogue organization."

Novak went on to say that "the CIA playing domestic politics" was more disturbing than the rogue CIA of 1975, that just ran around causing trouble in the world.

Novak says use of the word "rogue" in reference to the CIA dates back to Senator Church's comments in 1975 during a CIA shake-up following Nixon's resignation.

The funny thing is that Ford nominated George H.W. Bush as the new Director of the CIA in 1975.

Bush's nomination was debated in the Senate and he did not get confirmed until 1976.

Senator Church, who opposed Bush Sr.'s nomination had these disparaging words to say about Bush Sr. "Once they used to give former national party chairman (as Bush was under Nixon) postmaster generalships, the most political and least sensitive job in government.

"Now they have given this former party chairman the most sensitive and least political job in government." said Church. He went on to say that Bush Sr. might compromise the independence of the CIA -- the agency would become politicized.

Novak can praise Goss's heroic efforts to get rid of partisan CIA leakers all he wants. He can claim that politics in the CIA is far more worrisome than government assassins in the CIA.

But the real issue that Novak is covering-up is that Bush Jr. already politicized the CIA by demanding their intelligence fit his foreign policy.

Goss is getting rid of leakers to cover the Bush/Cheney trail as the Plame investigation heats up and leans towards larger issues like the fixed intelligence on Iraq.

This love affair between Novak/Goss/McCain, is very strange indeed. Novak's desire to get rid of leakers is almost laughable, especially in any kind of reference to the CIA.

Novak's story quotes meetings between Goss and his "former enemy" John McCain.

John McCain, formerly the man torn and shredded by dirty tricks attributed to Karl Rove, has become one of Bush and Rove's staunchest supporters.

McCain has also become one of the ever-present talks show guests on Hardball, Meet The Press, you name it.

After being supposedly ripped-apart by the Rove machine, McCain joined in with Novak in November of 2004, to say that the outing in the CIA, not of members of the CIA, is the real issue.

Makes you wonder if Goss "The Plumber" used to be Goss "The Leaker." And what do they have on McCain that makes him such a staunch supporter of the Porter?

By coincidence only, Porter's name, by definition means the "luggage carrier" and the "gate keeper."