02 December 2010

Close the Washington Monument

Bruce Schneier:

Securing the Washington Monument from terrorism has turned out to be a surprisingly difficult job. The concrete fence around the building protects it from attacking vehicles, but there’s no visually appealing way to house the airport-level security mechanisms the National Park Service has decided are a must for visitors. It is considering several options, but I think we should close the monument entirely. Let it stand, empty and inaccessible, as a monument to our fears.

The whole piece, which he published in New York Daily News, is great. It’s a fact of life that doing practically anything, from eating buttered toast to getting into a car is dangerous, but you gotta leave the house.