Senseless Security in DC

The Washington Post has a good article on the extensive security measures found throughout Washington, DC.

While the article quotes many people who gripe about the barricades, armed guards and security checkpoints, the Post does not question whether many of these methods are even needed. Homeland Security is not known for being well-thought-out. (This International Herald article specifically sites a $200,000 bomb-detonating robot given to North Dakota.) In DC, security measures are often just as unreasonable.

Take the Smithsonian Museums which require visitors to walk through metal detectors and have their bags searched. Security lines can take over 30 minutes to get through, according to the Post. And for what? Are terrorists really going to go inside the National Botanical Gardens and shoot the place up? If they wanted to destroy any of the museums, wouldn’t they use explosives, which metal detectors wouldn’t uncover anyway? Not to mention that the security lines create a large concentration of people—the exact kind of easy target a suicide bomber would look for.

Security is obviously important in Washington, DC. But the excessive number of metal detectors at the Smithsonian and elsewhere are hurting visitors’ ability to enjoy Washington, DC while providing no real protection.