I hate to do this almost, but I will. The hate to do it part is because Cory Ondrejka has a post up that connects the milestones of Presidential elections to the developments at Linden Labs and of Second Life, and I hate to pick out one particular line, the one bolded below.

Now, I’m a giant fan of Cory, and frankly the post hits an emotional punch. Maybe it’s just me – but it connects disappointment with hope, progress with frustration, and reminds us that, perhaps, all good things come in time. With recent disappointments on the Grid, I couldn’t help putting them in the context of other disappointments, and other hopes and beliefs.

Lines like these bring it home:

“But the evidence of Second Life was compelling. Given tools and capabilities, people worked together in amazing ways. Leveraged amateur-to-amateur education on a scale no one anticipated. Cooperated. Created. Innovated.”

When was the last time you heard a Linden use the word “amateur”? It’s all corporate firewalls now, I suppose, and business collaboration, and teaching, whatever.

But here’s the kicker:

“I didn’t end up involved with the (Obama) campaign to any degree. Sure, I blogged about it and donated, but mostly I was working. I was asked to sign on to Obama’s tech policy when it was released last November and would have, except that the final version hit my inbox a few minutes ahead of Philip’s email informing me that he wanted me to leave Linden. Unfortunate timing, that.”

Now, I don’t know what happened between Phillip and Cory. But there’s something about hearing that the separation papers came in an e-mail which, if it’s true, reminds me of how news that affects half the Grid can just somehow pop up on the blog one day, an otherwise quiet place where the word amateur is seldom used anymore.