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.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1364002
4 UCW APRIL 21-27, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR April Olsen editor@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Keyuri Parab REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Pitt Dickey, D.G. Martin, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Prudence Mainor, Crissy Neville COVER Cover imagery courtesy of The CARE Clinic. ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: 910-484-6200- FAX: 910-484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN COVID-19 Legislation: More manipulation of Americans by KARL MERRITT 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU APR 22 FRI APR 23 SAT APR 24 SUN APR 25 MON APR 26 TUE APR 27 74 52 77 57 78 52 73 52 78 56 78 58 Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy PM Showers Showers Mostly Sunny Association of Community Publishers Publisher Bill Bowman yields his space this week to contirbutor Karl Merritt. To our country's detriment, power-hun- gry politicians and a cooperative media are manipulating Americans. Democrats have mastered manipulation as a politi- cal strategy. Republicans have allowed, and continue to allow, this Democratic strategy to be successful. ey enable this destructive strategy by failing to instruct the public regarding governmental pro- cesses, sensible reasons for their policy and legislative positions, the basics of economics, and a multitude of similar considerations. As bothered as one might be by this Republican failing, the fact of life is that Democrats have, very likely intention- ally, created a societal atmosphere where it is nearly impossible for Republicans, or anybody else, to do the educating and informing of the general public called for in that first paragraph. at near impos- sibility is rooted in Democrats: robbing millions of Americans of the capacity for critical thought ; promoting focus on self and on group identity; from government, giving just enough to certain groups to gain and retain their support ; pitting enough supportive groups against others so that there is a winning Democratic coalition (Identity Politics). e end result of all of this is that citi- zens are manipulated into strongly sup- porting policies, legislation, and societal standards that, in my estimation, make no sense and even contribute to the loom- ing destruction of this nation as a place of tremendous opportunity and simply an amazing place to live. What has been presented to this point plays out in real life through the recent passage of the $1.9 trillion American Res- cue Plan. Consider the high level of public support for that legislation, the reasons for that support, and the public's under- standing of what is included. ere was overwhelming support for the legislation. An article at democrats. senate.gov titled "Americans Overwhelm- ingly Support e American Rescue Plan Because Families Still Need Relief From e COVID Pandemic — But Republicans Say ey Just Don't Know What's Good For em" included the following statements: "In the poll, which was conducted Feb. 19-22 among 2,013 registered voters and has a margin of error of 2 percent- age points, 76 percent said they back the stimulus package, including 52 percent who said they 'strongly' support the bill. Only 17 percent of voters said they oppose it." [Morning Consult, 2/24/21] "Small Business for America's Future: "69% of small business owners — includ- ing 46% of Republican business owners and 61% of independent small business owners — support the American Rescue Plan." [Small Business for America's Fu- ture, 2/23/21] e following is from an article by Samantha Chang, titled "Biden Voter: e Bombs in Syria Are Kinda Expensive for a Dude Who Owes Me $2,000". Ben Calvert, age 27, who is referred to in the article, is a Democrat and lives in Minnesota: "A lot of my friends are really frustrated because they were like, 'We've got to elect these two senators in Georgia! We've got to get Joe Biden in office and then every- thing's going to be better!'" Calvert told CNN last week. "It's not a $1,400 check, it's $2,000 checks.'" Many Americans interpreted Biden's promise to mean they would receive a separate $2,000 check — not $1,400 plus $600. e focus on self that is reflected in Calvert's statement is rampant across America. One only has to look at com- ments from some individuals as to why they vote as they do to see the success of the focus-on-self political strategy. Concern for one's personal circumstance is reasonable, but it now seems at danger- ous levels in our society. en there was this revealing post on Nextdoor, a neighborhood social media site: "How many Republicans are giving the stimulus check back?" It is reason- able to conclude that this statement was driven by the fact that no Republicans in the House or Senate voted for the legislation and public support for it was far less among Republicans than among Democrats. I contend that statements, such as referenced here, point to a lack of thoughtful examination of facts and to the harmful partisan divide that is so present in America. Power-hungry politicians and a cooperative media are manipulating Americans into supporting policies, legislation and societal standards that are moving our country along a dangerous path.