Dean Barnett, Hugh Hewitt’s sidekick at Townhall, demonstrated yesterday what’s wrong with conservative bloggers who get a big head and lose touch with the movement.

After days of making no mention of RedState’s effort oust embattled Rep. Ken Calvert from the House Appropriations Committee, Townhall finally weighed in yesterday with a post by Barnett that criticized Erick Erickson for “needlessly purple and hostile” language. Barnett says he doesn’t have the stomach for this “war,” which he compares to the tactics of the dreaded Markos Moulitsas.

I’m not going to war against other Republicans. I don’t even go to war against Democrats. Especially when there’s a real war going on, such rhetorical table pounding isn’t my cup of tea.

Barnett confirms what I’ve said is the rightosphere’s biggest problem: a lack of activism online. Erickson is using Calvert to fire up the base and send the GOP establishment a message. Barnett, however, would rather play the role of pundit — an interesting position for someone writing at Townhall, which boasts its own “Action Center” for conservatives.

I’m not into Action Alerts. I’m not into telling you how to protest something or telling you to call Congress. I find the very rare political conference calls that I attend to be a nuisance, even though they do provide a handy opportunity to watch “Family Feud” on the DVR while officially spending my time constructively.

I’m a writer, not an activist, and I have no interest in changing.

It’s ironic Barnett takes that position because earlier this year he was leading the charge with Hewitt to turn thousands of bloggers and blog readers into activists as part of the NRSC Pledge, which vowed to withhold money from the National Republican Senatorial Committee for its support of squishy Republicans.

In a January 27 column on Townhall, Barnett wrote about the “civil war” that had broken out in the Republican Party (ironically, not unlike the one that RedState is promulgating today):

But, in fact, this was a good week for conservatives; it was the week conservatives finally fought back and began reclaiming their party. For the past six years, conservatives have withstood the numerous slights and insults of the Republicans in congress.

My question to Barnett is this: Why is your “war” against the NRSC a legitimate cause and RedState’s “war” against Ken Cavlert not? You may not agree with Erickson’s tactics, but the least we could ask of you is some consistency.

UPDATE — 11:44 a.m.: Matt Lewis has responded on Townhall. I recognize his point that some bloggers only want to be pundits. That’s fine. My frustration with Dean Barnett is that he’s sending the wrong message about activism. Even if Barnett doesn’t want to be an activist, he shouldn’t cast a negative light on those who do, especially when we share the common goal of pressuring Republicans to clean up their act.

UPDATE — 5:18 p.m.: I seem to have generated quite the internal debate at Townhall about this. Lewis’ original post has attracted a number of comments, including ones from Mike Krempasky and Streiff, fellow bloggers of mine at RedState. In addition, Lewis posts an e-mail he got about the controversy.

Later in the afternoon, former RNC eCampaign Director Patrick Ruffini, now on contract withe Giuliani campaign, offers his take on the debate of punditry vs. activism. Personally, I think Ruffini nailed it — and said it better than I did. Always clamoring to have the last word, Lewis responded to Ruffini.

UPDATE — 11:20 p.m.: It’s the debate that never ends. Ruffini wasn’t content with letting Lewis have the last word. Meanwhile, over at techRepublican, David All frames this as a battle of two titans: RedState vs. Townhall. Following up on David’s post, Justin Hart offers a critique of RedState. (I think Justin misunderstands my main point, which I articulated in an update earlier today. I’m not peeved at Dean Barnett because he hasn’t joined the fight; rather, I’m annoyed that he decided to attack RedState for standing up for conservative principles.) And finally, Danny Glover at Beltway Blogroll offers a nice recap of the day’s events.

UPDATE — 11:50 p.m.: One last update before calling it a night. Josh Trevino has an excellent post analyzing the “split in the online right that is both portentious ‚Äî and necessary.”