I just listened to the Prez say the world and the United States are safer because of the war in Iraq and his broader war on terrorism. This is his fundamental stump point for the upcoming election--we are supposed to re-elect him because he has saved us from the clutches of terrorism.

Truthfully, I don't feel much different in terms of safety from 2000 to now. I feel harassed, but it's not from terrorists--it's from the government. I feel like instead of saving us from outside terrorists, everyone in the country has been put on trial for the way we live our lives. Safety is an illusion used to take freedom away from us.

There is no other place in the United States where this is more true than the Statue of Liberty.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Statue of Liberty has been closed to the public. You can go to Liberty Island, but you can't go inside the statue. You can take pictures of the statue, but you can't go to the top (which was refurbished only a few years ago) and take pictures of New York from that vantage point. You cannot freely enjoy what is arguably the biggest symbol of freedom in our country.

The Statue of Liberty is the only major national tourist site still closed since we started this new war on terrorism. You can go to the top of the Washington Monument. You can tour the White House. But you can't go into or climb Lady Liberty.

There are plans to open the bottom floor of the statue later this year. There is a museum inside where you can purchase whatever paraphernalia they like to sell there. But the stairs to the top may never be opened again. The principal reason is safety. The statue cannot be remodeled to allow a quick evacuation of the people inside. So if there is another terrorist attack and the Statue is the target, the people inside will most likely perish.

For our safety, our freedom has been taken away from us.

But the nation and the world are more safe now than they were a few years ago, right? Isn't that what the Prez and his buddies keep saying? Isn't this why we're supposed to re-elect him?

If this nation is truly safer, shouldn't we be free to enjoy our most prominent symbol of freedom?

If terrorists are willing to die for their beliefs, don't you think the average citizen should feel free to take the infinitesimal chance (odds aren't even calculable in this case) that when they go up the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty, they might die for their beliefs--their freedom?

We're not all soldiers. We don't all sign on the dotted line to give up our lives for our country. We don't all trade off our youth for the rigors of the military. But here is one little test of faith we can give: we can take the small chance of death for our country just by climbing a few hundred stairs. Just to feel and experience the Statue of Liberty as it was meant to be.

I would be willing to do this, and I think almost everyone who goes to Liberty Island would be willing to take this chance.

Hell, we take the chance of flying in airplanes--and those were the weapons of mass destruction used in the terrorist attacks. We submit to sometimes humiliating procedures just to fly from one place to another. We get herded like cattle, we take off our belts and shoes, we get wanded, we go through metal detectors, we get chastised if we don't seem to be taking all of this security seriously. And if we're too belligerent, we don't get to fly.

This happens every day. Situation normal. Everybody follow the rules, and no one gets hurt.

But the Statue of Liberty stands empty. Unused. Now an empty symbol of all the freedoms we hold dear.

What used to be the first sight of arriving ships full of immigrants--full of energy and vigor to start new lives--is now an empty vessel. Everything it stands (and it does still stand) for is slowly being taken away from us.

If we are fighting this global threat of terrorism, then give us back one of the things we're fighting for.

Give us back Lady Liberty. We love her more than we hate the shadowy boogeyman specter of terrorism. She should not be defeated this way. She should, once again, be free.

Matt Worley believes in the freedoms that make this country great.