Community Commentary -- Michael Glueck

There is no doubt that Steve Smith’s column (“Costa Mesa residents

keep that Independence spark alive,” Saturday) is well-intentioned and

evokes some notable nostalgia. However, there are some serious flaws and

present dangers in his arguments:

* Perhaps hailing his town as the home of the western folksy fireworks

festival of Southern California is not the honor many residents and

concerned parents desire.

* As a physician who spent a few Independence Days in the radiology

department adjacent to the emergency room, I must sadly tell you of the

many itty bitty fingers, toes, noses, ears and eyes injured or destroyed

by so-called “safe” fireworks. A large price to pay for a small bang.

* For Smith, as someone who has made a career writing about being a

responsible adult and a concerned and involved parent, hailing fireworks

as necessary to understand the “meaning of the Fourth of July” is

inconsistent.

* The signers of the declaration he talks about -- Benjamin Franklin,

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson -- never lit commercial fireworks, and we

can assume they, more than anyone, understood the meaning of their

actions.

* As for spending on fireworks as a show of community support, would

not many parents feel that the money would be better spent on books?

Perhaps Smith suffers from the chronic percussive effects of standing

too close to too many fireworks for too many years. Fortunately for

Smith, whose heart is in the right place, this is not a fatal affliction.

* MICHAEL GLUECK is a Newport Beach resident.