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The absence of moderate voices on this issue continues to astonish me. If we put aside the possibility that the entire community has lost the capacity for rational thought and nuanced debate, then the silence must be attributed to either fear or indifference. I don't know who reads the editorials in the Leader or the comments below them, but please feel free to chime in and back me up.

I agree with Mr. Conklin that Ms. Jaman should have apologized -- first, directly to the YMCA employee, and again during her public comment at City Hall. Instead, she has chosen to dig in her heels and this only takes us further away from a potential resolution.

That said, it was also wrong and irresponsible for the city council, the elected leadership, to dismiss her out of hand and tar her as morally reprobate. There is nothing in the pedigree of Ms. Jaman to suggest that she is bigot. This judgment was hastily brought down without any sincere consideration of Ms. Jaman's concerns, or even a basic acknowledgement. Similarly, upholding the pool ban does nothing to move this issue forward.

Thus pigeonholed by local authorities, and without moderate voices speaking on her behalf, Ms. Jaman has been forced to ally herself with those who take a harder political line, such as Ms. Sousa, and even some whom many of us find generally reprehensible. But politics is not black and white, and I won't blame her for this circus. I rather blame the silent majority who have the power to call for reason and civility, and instead cower before the mobs or shirk responsibility.