Lady Liberty takes a risk

Detroit Free Press: It is hoped the message inherent in Interior Secretary Gale Norton's decision to reopen the Statue of Liberty this summer will outweigh the very dangerous risks it invites. The world needs to see that while Lady Liberty was forced to bow to terrorism after 9/11, she -- one of America's most enduring symbols of freedom -- is not broken.
But she certainly has suffered, cut off from her admirers for two years, longer than any other national monument closed after the Trade Center attacks.
It's unclear where the blame for the delay belongs. A federal investigation suggests possible financial mismanagement between the National Parks Service and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation. What an awful day it will be if bad spending is ruled the culprit. Answers should surface in enough time that they don't distract from a festive July re-opening.
The realities of this post-9/11 world mean it will only be a partial reopening -- no more trips up the narrow, winding 354 steps to the statue's crown. The 150-foot observation deck will have to do.
While that still may smell like a cave to some, the truth is the trip to the crown leaves visitors too vulnerable, and it was never intended to be part of the experience at the 118-year-old statue. The steps were installed years after it opened for maintenance crews.
The Bush administration is smart to admit the limit of its ability to protect people in an area built without emergency exits or easy access.