I used to think that this was a community of well-educated and fairly rational individuals, a respectable part of what a BushCo operative dismissively termed the "reality-based community," but the delerium of party politics seems to be fogging the minds of many participants here.
So let's get to the bottom of this and find out how much reality exists in the consensus judgements of the DKos community. I'll do this with a few poll questions:
I'm going to make it easy for poll respondents by providing an explanation of the rationale for the questions and the interpretive consequences of the poll results.
Defense policy is a serious reality-based challenge to the Democratic Party leadership. Apart from its growing opposition to the obscene Iraq war, the Democratic Party has given no indication of a willingness to cut defense spending. We now spend about as much on our "defense" as the combined military spending of the rest of the world. It is wrong to support this grotesque level of expenditure, because it is in no way proportionate to the threats we face, and it is economically unsustainable. Do you acknowledge this reality?
Energy policy is the other major reality-based challenge to the Democratic Party leadership. A very persuasive case can be made that worldwide fossil fuel production will peak in this decade (if it hasn't already), resulting in massive challenges to American society. The Democratic Party, like the Republicans, appears to be afraid of frightening the children (the US electorate) by telling them the truth. It is wrong to pretend that ethanol, windmills, and a few conservation tweaks will allow us to get through the Great Depletion with great difficulty. Do you acknowledge this reality?
If a majority of poll respondents accept that the Democratic Party positions on these two watershed issues are not reality-based, then I will accept that DKos is a reality-based community. If not, then I will conclude that DKos is just another outlet for collective wishful thinking and political gossip. The choice is yours.