Audacious dissonance?

It's strange: I've been insulated in the university environment during, arguably, the two most important political events of my lifetime.

I was a freshman, having been at college for less than a month, when the planes struck the twin towers on 9/11. I was barely aware of the subsequent chaos in the D.C. area--the conspiracy theories about the Pentagon and, much more jarringly, the snipers. It all seemed so distant. I remember coming home for Christmas break, and being puzzled by commodified patriotism, the sudden appearance of flag lapel pins and bumper stickers.

And now, I was a first-year in graduate school--in Philadelphia for barely two months--when Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy on October 15, catalyzing the series of events that spelled an ever-deepening financial crisis.

I'm not nearly as insulated now as I was 7 years ago--for example, at least I read the news--but nonetheless, recent reports seem hyperbolic and unreal. For better or for worse, I'm more sympathetic to sanguine assessments.

The audacity of hope? Or cognitive dissonance. You tell me.

(In an ongoing effort to force myself to remain open-minded to varying political ideals, I still read Harold Meyerson. It seems I'm not the only one who might be delusional.)