Comments on: Theirs, Not Mine

By: Endie

Endie — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 16:53:23 +0000

> Independence Hall … felt so much like our collective property, our
> patrimony. You could just walk in. It was there for us, of us.

That’s one of the few things that I think have been well done about the new Scottish Parliament. Unlike Westminster, you can walk right up to it, hang around in the public spaces that it includes, and to an extent walk around inside it without any imposing security. I think that it’s a good thing that the capital’s newspaper is always banging on about skateboarders using the parliament as a skate park.

Of course, in the Mujihadeen’s Big Book of Targets, the Scottish parliament ranks a long way below important American historical sites.

By: Simon Shoedecker

Simon Shoedecker — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 14:59:23 +0000

We’re certainly destroying the aesthetic experience of going. I had the pleasant experience of wandering around the square on a trip five years ago, walking up to the Liberty Bell and peering at it (through the glass, admittedly) and then offhandedly taking a nice tour of Independence Hall. I don’t think I’ll go back should I return to Philly; it would just spoil the pleasant memories.

By: Stentor

Stentor — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 13:29:20 +0000

I went to Independence Hall a couple years ago, and since I didn’t realize there would be security, I neglected to leave my pocketknife and box cutter in my hotel. When I got there, I showed them to the guards. They conferred with their supervisor for a while, and finally told me “you can take them in, as long as you don’t wave them around.”

By: Ralph

Ralph — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 19:02:04 +0000

I share your sadness about all of this, Tim. I’d have hoped next week to go to Independence Hall, as I once did, and visit our national roots there. Going through yet another series of security checks might be just enough to make me decide that I’ve been there once and that was enough. It really isn’t. I need to revisit it regularly.

By: ebehren1

ebehren1 — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 22:45:39 +0000

I continue to wish that Our Prexy had used his substantial single-mindedness, political capital, and all of that to push the “no fear” meme. I used to think that FDR’s “nothing to fear but fear itself” was catchy, but it didn’t really mean anything in particular to me. For the last four years, I’ve seen most of our mistakes being driven by our fears…a fear that is disproportionate with the risks, as is often the case.

Being committed to living in an open society is the real macho.