Richard Miniter

The visceral hatred of  Sarah Palin flowing from so many in the commentariat, even on the right side of the pundit class, has made me wonder. How could anyone hate someone so ordinary and normal?

Sean Paige, who used to run the editorial page of the Colorado Springs Gazette, has an intriguing theory over his blog, the American Contrarian.

I tend to write off the sniping from Noonan and Parker as cattiness and envy; there’s a hot new conservative “it” girl in town and they’re old news, as charter members of the conservative cougars club. Parker swung from swooning over Palin to dissing her in a matter of weeks, based, in seems, on Palin’s poor showing in the Katie Couric interview. She seemed like a fickle teen dumping her latest BFF over some perceived slight. Plus, Parker is savvy enough to know that the quickest way to become a “mainstream” media darling, and get invited to the right parties, is to attack someone else on the right. I never saw Parker on the cable news gab shows until she did her hit piece on Palin. You shouldn’t discount the element of self-promotion in her actions.

Following the money is always a good reportial instinct. Maybe that explains some of the conjurred-up outrage.

But consider the hypocrisy angle. Peggy Noonan, a onetime Palin cheerleader who is now a harsh critic, is author of new book called Patriotic Grace. I’ve read its beautiful meanderings. It is, as my mother would say, like a cup of tea with an old friend. Her book argues against the kind of instant diabtribes that Noonan unleashed on Palin. Physician, heal thyself first.