Jonah Goldberg had a tough enough time on Wednesday when MSNBC.com took him to task for falsely portraying himself as a Pulitzer Prize nominee, but that was a glancing blow compared to Alex Pareene's full-body Goldberg takedown in Salon.

The essay is the latest in Pareene's series on hacks, and comes infused with so much venom you might want to wear gloves when you click on it, as you should, to read about Goldberg's "disposable Bic-sharp wit." We're no fans of Goldberg's but even so, we couldn't help wincing on his behalf at lines like this one: "He’s too cowardly and insecure to allow himself to be pinned down on most divisive political issues, much preferring to devote pixels and ink to making fun of mythical sandal-wearing Prius-driving (formerly Volvo-driving) liberals who supposedly think things he finds silly." Ouch!

Anyway, it's well worth a read in full -- unless you happen to be Jonah Goldberg.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at amartin at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Adam Martin