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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THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET by MARGARET DICKSON OK. Now we know who our candidates for public offi ce in North Carolina will be in 2012. Filing for offi ce ended at noon on the last day of February, and the political plotting is now in full swing in the races from governor to N.C. General Assembly to county commissioner. In many cases, it is not going to be a pretty picture. Television talking heads and columnists on the printed page are lamenting the loss of civility in our society, especially in the public arena, and they are correct. We are not only rude to each other, we aim to draw blood from the heart. The 24/7 news cycle exacerbates partisan comments and behaviors by running them time and time again. To deepen the cut, they not only provide the opportunity but demand responses from people who might be insulted or wounded in some way. Remember the South Carolina Congressman who shouted "You lie!" at the President of the United States? How many times did that ugly episode go across your screen? My worst fears about this election year were sadly confi rmed when Senator Olympia Snow, a longtime and thoroughly respected Republican member of Congress from Maine, surprised her constituents and the nation by announcing she will retire after 33 years. After saying how humbled and honored she has been to serve, Snow said this, "I do fi nd it frustrating, however, that an atmosphere of polarization and 'my way or the highway' ideologies has become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions." She knows, as do most people involved in politics, that no matter how much we all say we detest negative political advertising, it works almost every time. Snow is another voice of political reason silenced at least in part by incivility. Partisan politics is, of course, a raucous sport not often practiced by the faint of heart. It takes strong convictions, a tough hide, and a long memory to be truly successful in the political arena, and there are a handful of North Carolinians who have done so civilly, even gracefully. Think the late Senator Sam Ervin who both did his duty and charmed the country with this down- home wit during one of the 20th century's worst political — and partisan — scandals, Watergate. Think Jim Hunt, the only person ever to serve four terms as governor and who is still promoting education every waking minute of his day. Both men could be tough when they needed to be, but I have never heard a story about either being rude or mean. In other words, advancing one's political agenda and being civil to others are not necessarily mutually exclusive. But back to 2012. This campaign season, there is a new wrinkle in the advertising we are going to see and hear until we want to scream. Shortly before the 2010 elections, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling commonly known as Citizens United, which allows corporations and other entities to advertise on behalf of — or, more likely, against political candidates. We saw some of this during that election cycle, but no one really had the hang of it two years ago. They do this year, and the presence of such advertising — largely negative — is going to be ubiquitous and offensive. The entities that do such advertising, called 527s, are going to say things about candidates that most opposing candidates might be too squeamish to say for fear of offending voters with their negativity. The 527s can get away with this, because no one knows who is really funding these groups, but you can bet the farm that it is someone with deep pockets and a serious political agenda. It pains me to say this, but I suspect we are going to hear far more than just a candidate's position on any given issue or his or her voting record. I suspect we are going to hear who pays child support and who is a deadbeat parent, who has had a child with someone other than a spouse and who engages in questionable employment practices. Think former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards' memorable comment that he would always be re-elected unless he were caught in bed with a "dead girl or a live boy," and you can see where this is heading. Platitudes abound the importance of civility in society. My grandmother was fond of reminding me that manners are the glue that holds society together and keeps us from killing each other. I tell my own children that they will catch more fl ies with honey than with vinegar. The truest one is the one we all know, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I fear these sage and sound pieces of advice have already been thrown under the campaign bus and that the ads are already in the can. If I am right, we have two options. Turn off the television on Labor Day and keep it off until the elections are over. Or, call your doctor for anti- nausea medication and just live through it. Margaret Dickson, Columnist, Up & Coming Weekly. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Ytrvurvvbvuvurru vvyryrvx 484-6200 www.upandcomingweekly.com H Banquet rooms available up to 100 guests 8 UCW MARCH 7-13, 2012 apy p 484-0261 1304 Morganton Rd. Mon-Sat: 6am-10pm Sun: 7am-3pm Serving Fayetteville Over 50 Years! WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET Off to the Races! Please Say "Please" and "Thank You"