OK, so maybe a Cubbie appearance in the playoffs didn't signal a new day dawning. But this might. This is a radio ad running in the red (but swinging) state of Virginia featuring Ralph Stanley who, according to folo is "the survivor of the Stanley Brothers, one of the few remaining figures of the first generation of bluegrass musicians. He’s from the part of the mountains the Carter Family came from..." In other words, he's a good old boy from Appalachia. And he's endorsing Barack Obama as "the change we need."
Is this a sign that the politics of division and fear --- where candidates win because they promise to protect "us" from "them" --- are in the last days?? Could it be that we are seeing the beginning of a "we" era, in which we all know that we need each other to figure out solutions to the problems we face?
Hmmm...I'm enough of a cynic (and a Lutheran) to think: Probably not.
People are dumb. There's no getting around it. And until the kingdom comes in all its glory, we'll keep being dumb.
But it's a very hopeful sign.
Thanks to my friend Sandra - who hails from Appalachia, herself - for pointing me this ad. The blue hills have to be a little brighter these days.
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