Are we about to witness a full-fledged backlash against hating on Kevin Federline? Suddenly, brave contrarians are coming out in defense of the former Mr. Britney Spears, who until recently was considered a good-for-nothing who served mostly as a hacky punch line for bloggers and late night talk show hosts.

In today's New York Post, former columnist of the year Andrea Peyser actually goes so far as to award K-Fed some sort of parent of the year award: "The competition for worthy parent is admittedly sparse. However, the winner of this prize is easy to spot. Hint: It's not the one who's been photographed, repeatedly, falling out of cars onto her bare and bruised pudenda ... It's K-Fed."

Peyser, who's never met a man, woman, or child she liked, isn't alone in flattering the backup dancer-turned-baby daddy. In the January/February issue of Details, sometime Radar contributor Mike Albo defends Federline and fellow bad boy Bobby Brown. "Most guys have been mired in a similar sinkhole at some point in their lives," he writes in the subtly titled "The Crucifixion of K-Fed and Bobby Brown." "[B]lamed by a partner's friends and family for her failure to get a promotion, finish grad school, or lose her saddlebags; slandered during girls' nights out ... But few men have faced this much condemnation over a split."

Can a soft-focus interview with Oprah be far behind? That would be the pop culture equivalent of a presidential pardon and would allow K-Fed to get back to doing whatever it is he does best.