What Price Freedom?

One of the attractions that we visited during our Atlanta family vacation was the new Georgia Aquarium, which is billed as the world's largest. The exhibits were interesting, but the security was not.

Security is set up at the entrance of the Aquarium, so you have to line up outside to pass through a security checkpoint. At peak times, the wait can be as long as 30 minutes -- in the heat, rain, whatever. Silly me, initially I thought that the lines were ticket lines. No, ticket lines are separate -- those are inside. They use the same technique as at airport security, including going though your belongings. Because we comprised a group, I also had to sign a "contract" agreeing to abide by a certain set of Aquarium rules. Unbelievable.

Is there really that a high risk of terrorism sufficient to justify the measures required for entry to see the whales?

Closer to home, the signs of freedom are being fenced in, with reports of "[p]lans by the National Park Service to cleave Independence Square in half with a seven-foot-high iron security fence," according to the Inquirer. See Independence security fence sparks ire. As the Inquirer noted:

The controversial fence plan was first disclosed in The Inquirer two years ago and was subsequently downplayed by officials at Independence National Historical Park. It has now emerged as the most visible element in the park's response to post-9/11 security directives from the Bush administration.

Independence Square - the shady park behind Independence Hall - is the site where the Declaration of Independence was read to an excited public for the first time on July 8, 1776. It has never been bisected by a fence and, in fact, was created by the colonial legislature expressly as an open public gathering spot "forever."

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In addition to the fence, the park's security plan calls for the transformation of the first home of the U.S. Supreme Court - the building at the corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets commonly known as Old City Hall - into a permanent security facility. That has largely been accomplished already, with the front section of the building given over to security screening machines and guards.

Exhibition materials explaining and illustrating the origins of the court and its role in the fledgling nation have been removed from the building.

As explained in a follow-up article, Rendell and Street oppose Independence Square fence:

As delineated in park documents, the fence, running from Fifth to Sixth Streets, would cut the historic square almost in half, blocking access to the rear of Independence Hall. Visitors to Independence Hall would pass through airport-type security inside the old Supreme Court building, at Fifth and Chestnut.

Frankly, the fence doesn't matter. Security measures that have already been put in place in the Independence Square area have created an invisible fence around what have long been symbols of liberty and freedom. Last summer, I was there with visiting family and we were passing by the area when a security guard accosted us. He shouted out to us that we "were out of bounds." At first, we didn't even understand that he was speaking to us, since we were just walking by on the sidewalk. Apparently, even the sidewalk around the square off limits. I guess free access is verbotten as a threat to freedom. We certainly wouldn't want us to get too close to those former icons of freedom and liberty or we might miss the fact that they are gone.

In fact, now that I think about it, erecting a fence around Independence Mall is a perfect symbol of the "freedom" that exists today. This way, we also could peer through the gates and remember when.

Tags: Civil Liberties