There is a need for security in the world that we live in today. We see signs of it everywhere, from the shoes we pull off and shampoo we throw out at the airport, to the wiretapping of phone calls, to the "Patriot Act" that creates enormous new barriers to public information.
But how far does it logically extend?
There's an example here in Essex County that is undeniable. Earlier this month the state released a safety report on the John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge — the massive green Interstate 95 bridge that arches over the Merrimack River in Newburyport — that indicates the bridge has significant deterioration problems. Or at least, the pieces of text that weren't blacked out indicate that.
Much of the text is blacked out in the name of national security.
This report, which before the Patriot Act would have been an open book, is now a tightly controlled document.
Some 75,000 cars and trucks go over that bridge every day. Families. Loved ones. Visitors from away. Those just passing through. The bridge is as vital to lives in this area as any piece of man-made engineering we have. Yet whatever serious problems it has are largely being shielded from our eyes. The state says it's safe, but then refuses to provide the bulk of the evidence. What would an independent engineer think of the full report? We'll never know.
The bridge — as safe as the state says it is — is rated as "poor" condition. On a 10-point scale, it's two notches above the point where engineers would consider closing it. And it's two notches below the point that is considered "satisfactory." Some significant work has been done on the bridge in the last few years, but it's considered to be nearing the end of its life and is slated for demolition and replacement within the next few years — whenever money becomes available.
It's well known that Massachusetts has mishandled the maintenance of its highways and bridges for years. As news of the Big Dig's enormous financial burden gets worse, and the link between that financial fiasco and poor maintenance on the rest of the state's roadways becomes clearer, we as citizens are left to wonder what our government has left unfixed. This report clearly gives a glimpse into that, somewhere on those blacked-out pages.
The founding principle of our republic is a government of, by and for the people. Yet the gap between "the people" and the government widens, all in the name of security.
At what point does your right to know if you are taking your life into your hands as you cross that bridge supersede the broad-sweeping swath of the Patriot Act?
As you pass over the rusting bridge where holes are rotting through some of the 54-year-old steel beams, consider that question.
