The boards here today seem to belie an undercurrent of sadness and disillusionment. Olbermann feels hurt. Obama supporters feel betrayed or compromised. Long-time bloggers feel unloved. It's just a sorry place to be on a Friday of the first full week of Summer.
But, in a larger sense, we are grieving about the very real possibility that our way of life is changing completely and forever, and even though our society and our world have reached the point of critical mass where such change is not only inevitable but preferable, this does not help to mitigate the fear which accompanies any journey into terra incognita. After all, most living Americans cannot remember a time when travel was anything but discretionary and distance was no obstacle. Nor can we envision a world where most families rent their homes or spend most of their household income merely feeding themselves.
As our security ebbs away, so too do the icons of the old world, human symbols of comfort and order and a stable world outside ourselves: Carlin, Russert, and a parade of faces both solid and familiar and seemingly eternal.
And so we grieve.
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