Kathleen Parker: You know who's kind of awesome? Sarah Palin

Emphasis on “kind of.” The condescension here is thick enough to use as spackle, but have a little patience with her. After all, Palinistas aren’t made overnight. First comes the Todd Palin charm offensive, then comes the “y’know, she’s not half bad” op-ed; before you know it, she’ll be wearing a “mama grizzly” t-shirt and leaving angry comments at Conservatives4Palin about what a treacherous RINO candy-ass Allahpundit is. That’s when we’ll know she’s transitioned.

Alternate headline: “Kathleen Parker really wants grassroots conservatives to give her new cable show a chance.”

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…

This woman is not to be feared or loathed. She is to be taken with a grain of humor and a dash of admiration. A different version of Madonna, she’s a public relations machine who manipulates public perception with well-timed and, recently, sophisticated messaging. In the nearly two years since she became the first female Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah has morphed from a pit bull with lipstick to a mama grizzly. Grrrrrrrr…

And don’t tell her she can’t [run for president]. If you do, she’s just gonna get feistier and cuter. Next thing you know she’ll be a dadgum lioness givin’ heck to those media hyenas, just the way they can’t stand it.

Look outcha!

Question for Palin fans: Is this progress for Parker? It’s not exactly a love letter, but that Madonna analogy piqued my interest. Camille Paglia, who loves Sarahcuda, made the same comparison all the way back in 2008 after McCain put her on the ticket — not long, in fact, before Parker penned her infamous “she’s out of her league” piece. She’s come a long way, baby. Second look at KP?