Hard work not a justification for...

Hard work not a justification for circumventing the law

In response to Robert Beard’s self-proclaimed “feeble voice”

regarding Geoff West’s view of the Westside from his perspective on

the Eastside (“Competing views of the Westside,” Oct. 15), it seems a

few blocks distance in neighborhoods can be worlds apart.

Beard, a Newport Beach resident, a galaxy away from Costa Mesa,

waxes lyrical, calling him a “visionary leader.” From my vantage

point, the disenfranchised Latinos to which he refers are not

integrating with the rest of the community because they have little

to no interest in doing so. In fact, some of their “visionary

leaders” are known to vocally argue against integration. Perhaps we

Westside Costa Mesans read different news reports than those in

Newport Beach.

I find the second half of Beard’s letter somewhat confusing. He

strongly advocates that his bank should accept an ID card issued to

an immigrant by the Mexican consulate in Santa Ana. He somehow feels

that they should be given some of the rights that this country has

accorded its citizenry, just because they are “working members of our

community.” I wonder if he also feels that they should have the right

to vote and direct the future of our land, as they are “working

members ... etc.” If so, his views are certainly contrary to mine.

How easily “compassion” can lead us to overlook all manner of

lawlessness and even contempt for the principles on which we built

this country, all for no more of a profound reason than that a person

works. If this falls under the rubric of “integration of the Latino

population,” I would think that all of the good, hard-working legal

Latino population would feel as I do -- embarrassed that our laws,

which we endeavor to uphold, should be so easily sidestepped and

flouted.

CHRISTIAN ERIC

Westside