Robert Novak, the legendary syndicated columnist and longtime cohost of CNN’s Crossfire, died at his home in Washington from brain cancer today, according to the Associated Press. He was 78.

The journalist, nicknamed “the Prince of Darkness” for his unabashed conservative views, pitbull pessimism, and take-no-prisoners brand of political commentary, began working for the Associated Press in Washington in 1957, followed by a stint at The Wall Street Journal, and then, in 1962, a partnership with Rowland Evans, which eventually led to a slot on the fledgling CNN cohosting the political talk show, Evans and Novak. The sparring cable shows Crossfire and The Capital Gang followed.

Despite his long career reporting stories about Washington players, Novak became the story himself in 2003 when, acting on a tip, he revealed the name of C.I.A. officer Valerie Plame, which led to a lengthy criminal investigation.

Fox News host Glenn Beck has lost several advertisers from his television program, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter. Insurance giant Geico has pulled their ads from the program, and other advertisers, including Procter & Gamble, Progressive, and SC Johnson, say their ads ran in error, with Progressive’s rep noting the company tries to “avoid programming that we believe our customers and potential customers might find extremely offensive.” The controversy likely stems from Beck’s July 28 remarks that President Obama is a “racist” who “hates white people.” Fox says the ad buys have been redistributed across their other programming.

Taping tonight's episode of The Late Show, David Letterman took a few minutes to respond to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who called him "pathetic" in a radio interview after he made her and her family the butt of a recent Top 10 list. The late-night host had drawn particular fire from Palin and some pundits for a joke about one of Palin's daughters being impregnated by New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez during a trip to Yankee Stadium. Camp Palin apparently took the joke to be a crack against Palin's 14-year-old daughter Willow, who had recently attended a Yankees game, but Letterman insisted today that the real target was 18-year-old daughter Bristol.

“We were, as we often do, making jokes about people in the news and we made some jokes about Sarah Palin and her daughter [Bristol]… and now they’re upset with me…” Letterman says on tonight's show. "These are not jokes made about her 14-year-old daughter. I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl…. Am I guilty of poor taste? Yes. Did I suggest that it was okay for her 14-year-old daughter to be having promiscuous sex? No." Saying he hopes he's "cleared part of this up," Letterman extended an invitation to Palin to come on the show as a guest.

Read more about Letterman Vs. Palin on PopWatch:
Contessa Brewer vs. John Ziegler re: Sarah Palin — 'Cut the mic, please'