Meltdown

Lots of people have observed that Novak's meltdown didn't really make any sense as what Carville had said to him certainly wasn't outside the normal partisan banter on such shows. But what Carville said really didn't make any sense in the context of the discussion. It sort of came from nowhere and didn't really fit in with the rest of the conversation. Increasingly I'm starting to think that Carville was making an "insider" comment to Novak - referring to something they both knew but which viewers would have no clue about. As reader David put in comments:

If you review exactly what Carville said that triggered Novak's meltdown, it was essentially "You have to show the right wingers that you are a stand-up guy, and the Wall Street Journal is watching your every move." Carville may have known that Novak has to make a hard choice: save himself, or throw his sources to the wolves. It's possible that Novak is looking at hard time here: perjury, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act of 1917. He's safe from the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which pretty much exempts reporters, but the 1917 act was the ostensible basis for the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, no joke at all.

Certainly possible.