Watauga County is considering beefing up security at its courthouse. It is trendy these days to invest public dollars in manpower and security devices to protect government officials. Reportedly, a man tried to bring a bottle of acid into the courthouse last year, and knives have been found in the walls. (It is difficult to resist a comment about former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford’s claim that missing confiscated guns had been used as rebar in the new prison walls.) Surveillance cameras, metal detectors, wands, and lots of guards serve to reinforce the pecking order. They help civilians realize they are meat machines; guilty until proven innocent; and, unlike government officials, “OK to be shot at.”