Few people on the right had heard of ersatz conservative Kathleen Parker until she wrote a column ridiculing Sarah Palin — a couple weeks after praising her to the heavens. The press ignored her thoughtless inconsistency, lauding Parker as a heroine, along with fellow finger-in-the-wind Republicans Peggy Noonan and Chris Buckley.

After a predictable reader backlash, Parker has recast herself as a latter-day Jeanne d'Arc. Each subsequent column wrings three self-promoting themes: Conservatives are stupid, conservatives are mean, and Kathleen Parker is very, very brave.

While her friends in the movement have politely ignored the embarrassing descent, Jonah Goldberg finally begins the intervention:

I don't know what's more grating, the quasi-bigotry that has you calling religious Christians low brows, gorillas and oogedy-boogedy types or the bravery-on-the-cheap as you salute — in that winsome way — your own courage for saying what (according to you) needs to be said. Please stop bragging about how courageous you are for weathering a storm of nasty email you invite on yourself by dancing to a liberal tune. You aren't special for getting nasty email, from the right or the left. You aren't a martyr smoking your last cigarette. You're just another columnist, talented and charming to be sure, but just another columnist. You are not Joan of the Op-Ed Page. Perhaps the typical Washington Post reader (or editor) doesn't understand that. But you should, and most conservatives familiar with these issues can see through what you're doing.

Here's a tip for Kathleen: "Speaking Truth to Power" is brave. Flinging bull at the powerless ain't.