ED WARD, San Clemente
Wouldn’t it be nice if our slice-of-heaven Spanish Village by the Sea still felt like the sleepy, tranquil beach town of the ’60s and ’70s?
And wouldn’t it be nice if flying the American flag was simply patriotic, and not emblematic of dog-whistle support for a nationalist segment of our population that denies science and believes that the election was “stolen”?
And wouldn’t it be nice if the police shooting of unarmed Kurt Reinhold in our beautiful city was simply viewed as “wrong,” and that denouncing such a senseless act didn’t signal universal vilification of law enforcement?
And wouldn’t it be nice if every member of our city council respected science and wore a mask out of consideration of others without insisting that requiring a mask during a public emergency infringed on her rights as an American?
And wouldn’t it be nice if we could somehow come together as reasonable citizens of this amazing city to get back to work on making this once again the sleepy, tranquil Spanish Village by the Sea that we all love?
Wouldn’t it be nice?