Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM JULY 8-15, 2020 UCW 5 OPINION This, that and the other by MARGARET DICKSON America's culture wars are on full display in our take-no-prisoners response to wearing masks to protect others from COVID-19. Our nation's inherent tension between individualism and collective good has pushed us into different cor- ners, even though polls find more of us are in the collective good corner by better than 2 to 1. e smaller but highly visible my-rights-are- more-important-than-your-health crowd stands firm despite warnings from top pandemic officials, some of whom offer different ways to think about the situation. Pretend we were living in London during the Blitz of 1940-41 when Germany bombed the city and other parts of England every night for 11 weeks. During the Blitz, the British govern- ment required nightly blackouts to hamper the German bombing effort. What if your next-door- neighbor insisted it was his right to burn lights, and bombers missed his house but destroyed yours? Would that have been a proper assertion of individual rights? Or, how about this excuse offered by mask supporters tired of COVID, "I don't like wear- ing a mask." is cynical rejoinder comes from a mask wearer also tired of COVID. "So, you don't like wearing a mask in public for what- ever reasons? Well, you are really going to hate your ventilator!" ******************** Continuing on COVID-19, no one knows what our situation will be when Nov. 3 rolls around. Will we feel comfortable voting in person, either early or on Election Day, when lines are likely to be long in a presidential election year? Will enough election officials be com- fortable enough to oversee the vot- ing process? Many Americans, including this one, are opting to vote by mail be- cause of those very uncertainties. I printed my absentee ballot request from the North Carolina Board of Elections website, filled it out and mailed it in last week to the county Board of Elections. According to the website, I will receive an official bal- lot correct for the candidates in my precinct in September, to be mailed in before Election Day. If I decide to vote in person, I will simply tear up the absentee bal- lot. Voters have many reasons to request absentee ballots — age, illness, travel, incarceration, physi- cal limitations and more, but voters do not have to give any reason for requesting an absentee ballot, nor is an ID required. All that is needed is name, address, N.C. driver's license number or the last four digits of one's Social Security number to be checked against Elections Board records. If you are interested, the state Board of Elections website is www.ncsbe.gov ******************** Speaking of elections, campaign season is heating up, and it is not pretty. In the presidential contest, outside entities — those that were legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling in 2010 — are running all sorts of television ads on behalf of Biden and Trump, both positive and nega- tive. e official campaigns are also running ads, which have the voices of Donald Trump or Joe Biden, acknowledging that they have "ap- proved this ad." A former candidate myself, I am always interested in political ads — whether they build up their candidate or tear down the other person, and how honestly they do so either way. So far, I have seen several official Biden ads touting his experience and patriotism and at least one go- ing after Trump's record. Trump's campaign is hitting Biden hard, with less emphasis on Trump's achievements as president. All of this could — and probably will — evolve over the next few months, but we can all rest assured about one thing. It is going to be a long summer and fall. MARGARET DICKSON, Columnist. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. CAN'T BEAT $ARAH THE JACKPOT GROWS BY $25 EACH DAY SARAH ISN'T BEATEN! POWERED BY: TUNE IN AT 6:10AM AND 8:10AM EVERY WEEKDAY! 910-867-2364 • 4624 BRAGG BLVD. CONNECT with us! @legendspub910 Doors Closed for NOW We Look Forward to Hosting Good Times When We Re-open. With COVID-19 still an issue and elections in November, it's giong to be a long summer and fall.