‘Orwellian fantasy’

“‘Orwellian fantasy,’’’ Carmel Pine Cone – July 29, 2022

The decision of the Monterey County counsel that the statue of St. Junipero Serra could not be returned to its former position at the intersection of Camino del Monte and Serra Avenue is at best legally spurious and at worst, cowardly.

The Supreme Court has upheld numerous times the right of municipal and county governments to display religious symbols under certain circumstances. Doing so does not violate the Establishment Clause, and a court clearly would rule for a plaintiff should one arise to litigate the return of the statute to its rightful place in Carmel history.

It is equally plausible that county counsel’s decision was simply a manifestation of Orwellian fantasy.

As George Orwell wrote in “1984” — “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture repainted, every statue and street and building renamed, every date has been altered, and that process is containing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped.”

We live in absurd times, and the decisions of our “leaders” are the most significant evidence of it.

Michael Der Manouel, Carmel