In many treatments of factorization in QCD, the logical starting point 
is an unproved assertion that the cross sections in question are the 
convolution product of "bare parton densities" and unsubtracted on-shell 
massless partonic cross sections. This assertion is repeated many times 
in textbooks, lectures, as well as in papers.  I will show why it is 
physically and conceptually false.  I will argue that this myth is 
impeding progress in pQCD, because an incorrect starting point messes up 
efforts to extend the methods.  Moreover, the myth miseducates students.