Masks are a civic duty

Dear editor:

A recent article in your paper reported there was a group of lawyers who were organizing to litigate against the governor to stop the mandatory wearing of masks in public. If this is in the works, it is mind boggling! Have these attorneys no clients? Do they realize what impact this will have on this terrible plague? Have they nothing to do but try and prolong this spreading of a very potent disease that has taken the lives of thousands of Arkansans?

How could attorneys with legitimate law degrees do something so stupid and useless?

As in the movie “Forest Gump,” the character so honestly stated “stupid is as stupid does.” Should the Arkansas Bar Association consider disbarment, or at least a reprimand those in their own flock?

I hate wearing a mask when I go out in public, as I am sure almost everyone does. But I wear one to keep me and my family safe as well as other human beings. I consider it a civic duty just as I would if I had to avoid people because I had leprosy!

Those old enough to remember World War II know we all had to save rubber bands, newspaper, tin cans, etc. for the war effort. We used ration cards to buy gasoline and other items. Also, we practiced wearing gas masks and hiding under our desks in a mock air raid. That was all part of being a patriot. We didn’t even think our civil liberties were being threatened. But to refuse to wear a mask during the COVID virus threat is anti-American and a disgrace to all those hardworking caregivers and to families who have lost loved ones. Is that too much to ask?

Maybe ask this bunch of “deplorables,” as Hillary Clinton would call them.

We are now in a new year with hopes and prayers that we can defeat this virus and start going out with friends, attending large gatherings, getting back to work, school, start traveling and enjoying the opportunity of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!

Finally, for those reading this letter, “ask what you can do for your city, your state, your country.”

It could just save your life!

R. Bruce Smith Hot Springs