Robo, you made yourself perfectly clear. With your definition, there is no problem at all with your rant. (Obviously, I might add.) The problems start when you realize(!) that yours is not the only definition floating around. Some people will insist on optimistic realism (using other definitions, of course). But I think we all agree that realism isn't a bad thing at all.
In one of the links that Google search turned up it was remarked that "optimistic athletes have more succes". You might translate that as "realistic athletes have more succes", but I cannot but think that some information has got lost in the translation: the fact that these athletes have a positive mindset. Not your definition of optimism, but an acceptable one nevertheless.
Regards,
Karel