JULIAN SANCHEZ IS FISKING JOE CONASON:

The piece is a useful reminder that Conason’s brand of smug condescension can be every bit as noxious as Coulterian venom.

He takes issue with Conason’s polling data (which he calls “cherry-picked”) and rebukes Conason for giving liberal politics credit for changes that resulted from economic growth and technological progress. Then he makes some interesting points about public attitudes in general.

UPDATE: Megan McArdle adds: “My goodness — how did we ever survive as a nation with Abe Lincoln sneaking out of the White House at night to poison our food?”

Was Lincoln a conservative? Hmm. I guess so — he was standing athwart history, shouting “stop!” after all. And he made it stick.