I see that one of Andrew Sullivan's emailers (responding to the "Kos diarist" flap) has finally caught on to the real Glenn Reynolds agenda:

Instapundit has been quoting and linking to triumphalist anecdotes about Iraq for the past 2-1/2 years, wholly unfazed by the fact that the news headlines give the lie to it just about every other day.

"Triumphalism," however, is an odd, newer word which doesn't appear in my gigantic (3194 pages) Webster's New International Dictionary. I want this country to win the war, and if is "triumphalism," then I guess I'd prefer "triumphalist anecdotes" to defeatist ones (even if the headlines from the latter "give the lie to it").

But according to the most reliable definition I could find, the word "triumphalism" really doesn't involve triumph in war; it describes bigoted attitudes:

The attitude or belief that a particular doctrine, especially a religion or political theory, is superior to all others.

There's no question that Glenn links to war reporting which is supportive of the U.S. troops (Michael Yon's blog will do fine as an example), but I haven't gotten a sense that any religion or particular doctrine is considered "superior to all others." Far from it. If alternatives to the usual media defeatism constitute "triumphalist anecdotes" then I could see the point. But they don't -- not according to the definition of the word.

Perhaps that's what prompted these remarks from another emailer to Andrew Sullivan:

I read Glenn all the time, and I do not think he is a 'triumphalist'. He does err on the side of the positive, but frankly I am rather glad that he does. The mainstream press simply never ever does, and it is nice to have news sources that refuse to descend into eternal gloom and doom.

As to those who call positive reporting "triumphalism" and think it's "given the lie" by defeatism, I think they're engaged in "Kos triumphalism."

UPDATE: Donald Sensing admits to being a (gasp!) "triumphalist" -- at least in the following sense:

I am perfectly willing to say that the American political and religious freedom is quite definitely superior to the religion-politics of our Islamist enemies. That seems clear as crystal.

QUERY: Considering that those who believe Islam is "superior to all other religions" are by definition triumphalists, why do we only hear the word applied to Americans who simply support the war effort?