Hard To Explain Things To The Kids

A regular thought I have when talking to people who are, say, 15-20 years younger than me, who have some vague awareness of things from 15-20 year ago, and can certainly read about them, is, "yah, man, you just had to be there."

The past is hard to explain! In part because we experience events largely as media events, and while you can describe Sarah Palin, and point out the facts surrounding her candidacy, just try to communicate the entire thing in the context of the 2008 election, John McCain's particular place in the hearts of journalists, the unfolding foreclosure crisis, and the absurdity of her family issues at a time when Republicans still pretended to be "the family values party"... you can't do it, my friends!