Pulitzer-winning columnist Kathleen Parker may have won that accolade in part because of her columns going after Sarah Palin. But in her column this morning Parker bonds with Palin:


 For what it’s worth, I get a kick out of Sarah. May I call her Sarah?


She and I apparently share a certain genetic predisposition to annoy all the right people. These would be the folks who take themselves and their ideologies a tad too seriously. Thus when I was promoting my book, “Save the Males,” I wore an aggressively feminine suit — pink with a bow in back — just to irritate hard-line feminists, who, without bothering to read the book, would hate it on sight.


I happen to hate bows, but it was worth it.


But then Parker opines:


This woman is not to be feared or loathed. She is to be taken with a grain of humor and a dash of admiration.


The genius of Sarah’s message, whatever it is, is that it doesn’t matter what it is.


Sorry, Palin is to be taken with the utmost seriousness. She has fun, seems to love stirring up the odd hornet’s nest, etc. That’s true. But don’t take her with a grain of humor. Palin’s work to popularize the term “death panels”-which seem more real every day now that the healthcare bill has passed-and her ability to give a candidate a leg up with a Palin anointment are not jokes.


Parker thinks that Palin has “positioned” herself to represent a new kind of conservative woman and that she’s trying to make herself above criticism. Palin will never be beyond cirticism–she will always be a hate object for those who regard themselves as part of the intelligentsia. She will remain an important figure in the political arena and she deserves considerably more than “a dash” of admiration.


By the way, we do congratulate Kathleen for her new TV show, soon to debut on CNN. Parker has shown she, like Palin, can take the heat, and, though we don’t always agree with her, we wish the plucky Parker well. 


We think Palin would be a great guest.