For some, the chunk of marble that fell from the facade of the Supreme Court yesterday was a frightening safety hazard.
But this is Washington, after all, where people search for hidden meaning in anything that happens at places such as the nation's highest court. And so, some couldn't help but note that the tumbling piece chipped at a carved marble figure that represents "Authority."
When one of the dentil blocks fell, chipping into "Authority" and dinging the "Equal Justice Under Law" inscription, some tourists were marveling at the grand building while others stood in line to attend the morning's oral arguments.
Although "Authority" was damaged, there will be no need to restore "Order," its neighboring figure. Or "Liberty Enthroned," which also survived the accident.
At the foot of the Supreme Court steps, where engineers were photographing the remains of the Vermont marble pieces and carefully loading them into crates, one onlooker nudged a friend: "Notice how it happened on the right side. Not the left. The right."
