Big Con readers may enjoy my cover article in The Nation on how the notion that the nation is fundamentally conservative is, um, a big con. Don’t miss the quote from the Campaign for America’s Future/Media Matters joint report on “Why a Conservative America Is a Myth” about how the stubborn oxen in the mainstream media botch the job: “Democratic victories are understood as a product of the Democrats moving to the right, while Republican victories are the product of a conservative electorate.”

Here’s an example that demonstrates the problem in spades: the inaccurate-beyond-words New York Times op-ed by Melinda Henneberger, “Why Pro-Choice Is a Bad Choice for Democrats.” She tries to make an argument about how devotion to abortion rights is somehow losing Democrats voters by the boatloads.

“Catholic women in particular !!

Women who are “liberal, deep-in-their-heart Democrats who support social spending, who opposed the war from the start and who cross their arms over their chests reflexively when they say the word ‘Republican'” – but who, with tears in their eyes, somehow still pull the lever for Republicans!!!

Hey democrats!!!! “[I]f the party they’d prefer doesn’t send a car for them, with a really polite driver, it will have only itself to blame”!!!!

I know an angry woman who debunks these absurdities much, much better than I ever could. She is:

especially irked by Henneberger’s assumption that Dems should cozy up to the forced childbirth lobby in order to woo Catholic women. I don’t know the data on this, but I bet Catholic women more often than not vote Democratic (this is likely to be especially true given that Latinos are becoming increasingly Democratic).

What I do know is that polls have consistently shown that a majority of Catholics reject the Church’s position on abortion and support choice. I suspect these wanker pundits who automatically assume all Catholics march in lockstep with the Pope don’t know very many Catholics. Even my devout Catholic mother, who’s quite conservative, especially on sexual issues, parts ways with the Church on this one.

She also makes a, shall we say, pointed critique about some evident flaws in The Times op-ed page’s gatekeeping function:

Why in god’s name did the Times publish this crap in the first place? It’s poorly argued and traffics in stale cliches. It doesn’t say a damn thing I haven’t heard a thousand times before. Why this op-ed appeared, as opposed to any number of smart, fresh and interesting op-eds that could have been published, is a mystery. I assume the writer must have an in with the op ed page editor, because otherwise I see no reason on earth why this crap would ever see the light of day.

She should calm down and recognize a truth more self-evident than the rising and setting sun: “Democratic victories are understood as a product of the Democrats moving to the right, while Republican victories are the product of a conservative electorate.”

The actual data about why supporting Roe v. Wade is, in addition to being the right thing to do, perfectly consistent with Democratic political success, is here.