Take, for example, an op-ed published this week by the New York Times headlined, “How Did Women Fare in China’s Communist Revolution?”

The main thrust of the article, which is little more than a shameful bit of apologia for Mao Zedong, who is personally responsible for more than 45 million deaths, is that Chinese women were liberated by the country’s great and murderous Cultural Revolution.

And by liberated, op-ed author Helen Gao means “cloistered wives” were “ushered” into factories so that they could labor alongside men in meeting state-mandated production quotas.

Huzzah. Feel the fresh air of freedom.

There’s a lot to pick at in this disaster of an op-ed, but the silliest lines are found in the story’s opening paragraphs [emphases added]:

My grandmother likes to tell stories from her career as a journalist in the early decades of the People’s Republic of China. She recalls scrawling down Chairman Mao’s latest pronouncements as they came through loudspeakers and talking with joyous peasants from the newly collectivized countryside. In what was her career highlight, she turned an anonymous candy salesman into a national labor hero with glowing praises for his service to the people.

[…]

“The Communists did many terrible things,” my grandmother always says at the end of her reminiscences. “But they made women’s lives much better.”

A “journalist” in the early days of the Cultural Revolution? Interviewing “joyous peasants?” Turning a candy salesman into a labor icon for his “service to the people?” Lady, your grandmother wasn’t a reporter. She was a state propagandist, complicit in the spread of disinformation and agitprop. How many tells do you need?

There’s more.

The article goes on to praise the Communist revolution for bringing “women more job opportunities.” The op-ed also states that the 1950s collectivization of the Chinese countryside “empowered rural women by offering them employment.” The story also marvels that Chinese women interviewed in China disagree with studies showing they’ve seen few personal gains under the revolution. People in China disagree with studies showing they’re still repressed, despite the revolution’s promise of emancipation. Imagine that!

It’s not entirely clear whether the author is aware of what went on during the Cultural Revolution, or whether she is familiar with the word “laogai” or what the Chinese government does to voices of dissent.

Finally, after the author completely glosses over the genocide and human rights abuses that marked the birth and maturation of China’s Communist revolution, she kicks off her conclusion with this line, “For all its flaws, the Communist revolution taught Chinese women to dream big.”

Ah, yes. The upside to a political movement marked by mass murder, labor camps (“job opportunities”!) and widespread repression.

We eagerly await the publication of similarly argued op-eds, including “For all its flaws, the Klan teaches young men about the importance of community” and “For all its flaws, sex slavery gives young people a chance to travel.”