Self-described truth seeker and existential punster Gagdad Bob has a real corker of a post today at his blog, One Cosmos.  In "Progressive Thought and the Denial of History," Bob argues that the defining characteristic of modern-day progressives (i.e., Democrats) is their stubborn resistance to change.  As Bob notes, the reason for this is that progressives live in a world of "beautiful ideals" that exist a priori outside of time.  Stop me if you've heard these before: America is an imperialist power; we can end poverty by giving money to the poor; abortion on demand is a constitutional right; casual sex with multiple partners is a legitimate lifestyle choice, and so on.  Progressives truly, deeply believe these propositions.   But they do so largely for emotional, not intellectual reasons.  Bob states it best:

On the bottom floor of the primitive group psyche there is an abiding sense that time is not progressive. Rather, time is the enemy. It does not advance, but wears away and corrodes. Things that unexpectedly develop in time, like, say, President Bush, the conservative movement, or the threat of Islamic terrorism, are not exactly denied. Rather, they are regarded as bizarre aberrations -- they are not really real.

For the progressive, their reality has been stolen and a false one has been inserted. I mean this literally, for example, with regard to the ineradicable obsession with the 2000 election. It is not so much that an election was "stolen." Rather, the feeling is that their beautiful reality has been purloined. But this is just a small reflection of the more pervasive sentiment in the dead and dying liberal MSM that reality went off the rails in approximately 1980, with the ascendancy of Reaganism. It is as if they are constantly trying to undo that tragic mistake and force reality back into the little liberal box that once contained it (and them).

William F. Buckley, Jr., writing in 1955, noted that his magazine, National Review, and the then-nascent conservative movement "stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it."  It's ironic that progressives now find themselves in a similar position.

Of course, conservatives believe in respecting -- conserving, if you will -- beliefs and practices that have evolved over time and demonstrably strengthen society.  They object to throwing those beliefs and practices overboard in favor of "beautiful ideals" that are untested or demonstrably weaken society.  As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Progressives don't need to have their theories validated through experience, but they do need the support of voters to put their theories into practice. When that support evaporates, their first reaction is to blame the voters, who they regard largely as clods.  That's perfectly understandable: if your ideals are objectively true and beautiful, anyone who rejects them must be either ill-informed or evil.  Or both.  Hence the antipathy most liberals feel toward Republicans.  If you think this is an exaggeration, spend a few minutes strolling through The Huffington Post, Kos or any of the sites they link to.

What we're basically seeing is half of the American electorate responding to current events by holding their hands over their ears and humming loudly to themselves.  It's cognitive dissonance on a societal scale.

Earlier this month, Democrats gained control of Congress, with no small help from the mainstream media.  They now have yet another opportunity to put their ideals to the test, and they are euphoric.  But those ideals don't work in the real world, and anyone supporting them is bound to fall out of favor sooner or later.  The only question is how many lives are going to be ruined before we get to that point.