Oogedy-Boogedyism?

Matt Lewis | November 19, 2008 1:52 PM

I just came from the excellent National Review Institute, so maybe they are on my mind more than usual ... In any event, in perusing the Corner, I see that even the most erudite among us are now in agreement that Kathleen Parker is really an Extra-Terrestrial who is attempting to take over the world (Okay, that's really me. But they do seem to agree she has gone too far).

... Jonah Goldberg's advice to Kathleen:

"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."

... K-Lo seems to think Kathleen just needs a vacation from email:

"I wonder if after some time away from her e-mail and newfound attentions she'd be using some of the same words she's been using lately about many of the buyers of her book ... I won't ever pretend to know her or anyone's mind. But I do know she is smarter than her column recently has suggested."

May I offer my own observations/predictions?

First, Parker's ridiculous notions are not what makes me cringe most. Instead, it's her Peggy Noonan meets Maureen Dowd cutesy writing style (who says

oogedy-boogedyism?) that is the most intellectually insulting. Of course, this style almost always goes along with flawed political analysis, so...

Second, just as Arianna Huffington was once a conservative writer who was even found on these very (web) pages, Kathleen Parker has gone over to the Dark Side. This is not one column we're talking about here.