New Liberal Buzzword..."Reality"

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Realistic?

Slightly more than half of the citizens of this country simply do not care about what those of us in the "reality-based community" say or believe about anything.

-- Eric Alterman

Only slightly more than half? How many Americans have ever heard the expression "reality-based community" -- much less know what it means? I'd say the figure is considerably more than half.

Might even be 90%.....

Regular readers know how much I loathe labels, slogans and code-language. Perfectly good words are borrowed by various sorts of ideologues (left and right), with the result being that it's tougher and tougher to use once-ordinary words. "Family" is a perfect example which I have discussed before. A couple of years ago, some people started using the word "bright." "Choice" is another one. (Don't get me started on the word "values......") When this happens, my only resort is to tear out my hair (which is thinning, so I'd rather not), or complain to anyone who'll listen.

The latest example of this phraseology ("REALITY BASED COMMUNITY") abounds in leftish circles of the blogosphere, and it involves the use of the word "reality" to denote opposition to Bush, opposition to the war in Iraq, and opposition to religious influences on policy making. The phrase "REALITY BASED COMMUNITY" appears on leading leftist blogs and T-shirts like this one are apparently selling like hotcakes: