John, you mention Mammoth and Dana. Unfortunately for most west siders, since Yosemite is the shortest way to get to those places, having a quota on the road just to pass through makes visiting those other places so much more difficult that I can no longer to. I am strongly opposed to restricting pass-through traffic.
Of course you are right, that it takes longer to get to parts of the East side from the West side without hwy 120. According to Google Maps: For me (coming from Sunnyvale), going via hwy 108 adds less than 10 minutes. For you (Fresno), it does add more, but only ~ 30 minutes. For the occasional trips, I do not mind the delay when considered against the smaller crowds when I do visit Yosemite. It is not just the valley that is impacted by the crowds. The valley is the worst, but hwy 120 is also overcrowded without the permits.
Of course if I were making this trip on a weekly basis (or even monthly) I might be in full agreement with you. However, the objective is to limit crowd size, personal contact, and the spreading of Covid 19, so I hope I would still fall on the side of limiting entry. I would not like to think that my "selfishness or sense of entitlement" had led to the death of anyone, especially a family member or friend.
Hwy 108 goes through Stanislaus National Forest, which includes several 11K peaks, and many miles of trails. Might have to check that area out:-)
