Kathleen Parker: Conservatives Are Stalinists, I'm a Dixie Chick

A few days ago, columnist Kathleen Parker outraged many conservatives with a column suggesting Sarah Palin should resign her vice-presidential nomination because she's clearly out of her league: "If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself." Parker's outraged that someone would suggest she's not conservative. But in trying to protest in a new column, she's only digging a deeper hole by comparing herself to the Dixie Chicks and conservatives to Stalinists:

The picture is this: Anyone who dares express an opinion that runs counter to the party line will be silenced. That doesn't sound American to me, but Stalin would approve. Readers have every right to reject my opinion. But when we decide that a person is a traitor and should die for having an opinion different than one's own, then we cross into territory that puts all freedoms at risk. (I hear you, Dixie Chicks.)

Parker, a semi-regular on The Chris Matthews Show, doesn't seem to see how her souring on Palin might look to some like a way to demonstrate "independence" and hence more Matthews bookings. On Sunday, Matthews read from her column and cheeringly noted she was booked.

Just after David Brooks denounced Palin as embarrassing, Matthews noted the first Parker column: "She said this woman has to step down, based upon her performances recently. And she says she’s been getting a lot of good play on this, a lot of conservatives are saying ‘You’re right.’ Kathleen will be here next week."

She got good reviews? ("If BS were currency....") That must have been before the avalanche of "hate." The Romenesko media blog, a popular stop for liberal media elites which rarely highlights MRC or any other conservative media critics, is featuring the new Parker column with the headline "Parker gets 'vicious and threatening' mail after turning against Palin." Liberals certainly agree with Parker's suggestion that Palin supporters are largely an angry, intolerant bunch.