Shut it Down - Even if it's Always Open?
The government is shut down but it has the resources to order Park Service Personal to erect barriers at various, always open to the public, Washington D.C. Memorials. I've visited many of our nations memorials after hours and some of my most memorable visits have been reading the words of Lincoln and Jefferson late at night. To walk the mall as the sun sets and see the Koren and Vietnam memorial in the dimming light is nothing more than moving.
Why did the admistration think it was a good idea to close something that's not normally closed. The WWII memorial “is an open-air memorial that the public has 24/7 access to under normal circumstance - even when Park Service personnel aren’t present. It actually requires more effort and expense to shut out these veterans from their Memorial than it would to simply let them through. My office has been in touch with NPS officials and the Administration to try to resolve this issue.”
"On Wednesday, the veterans' group is planning to visit the Lincoln Memorial, which the Obama Administration has also vowed to close to visitors. I have regularly visited this memorial at one or two in the morning. At those hours, it is a peaceful and reflective place. It is an open space. There is no access that needs to be blocked. It is only by a conscious decision, and a great deal of work, that access would be blocked."
The shut down is going to cause much real pain. Imagine your a mother of five, you're out of food and you need food stamps to feed your children but that agency is closed. Imagine your a family that's about to get approval for your home loan only to find out FHA or VA loans are on hold. Everything is planned, your household goods are coming and you have no extra cash to get a hotel for a few weeks while the government is shut down.
I understand this type of hardship and the shut down angers me. But going out of your way to shut down something that's normally open to the public, something that is as open as the National Mall or the Korean War memorial is "gratuitous and petulant" and shows insight to what our countries leadership has become.
