Crashing the White House -_-

[Terastas]

This just in: Richard "Balloon Dad" Heene no longer the biggest douche bag wannabe reality TV star:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_state_din ... ted_guests
I'm not sure who deserves to be b****-slapped first: the couple, or the Secret Service guys that didn't notice them.

[Lukas]

i found it rather amusing really

[RedEye]

Legally, they comitted Trespass on private property. That's prosecutable.
Socially, they shot themselves in the foot; no manners.

And where the Heck was the guy/gal with the guest list? They shouldn't have made it past the "Have you an Invitation" person.

Somebody skrood up big time, there.

[Uniform Two Six]

Actually, it would be tresspassing on U.S. Government (not private) property, but there's a catch: The State Dinner is technically a public function. Only select persons are permitted entry, but it sounds like they weren't prohibited entry, so legally they're good. They apparently didn't sneak into the thing -- they just breezed through security as if they belonged there, so it's technically not tresspassing. I'm interested in seeing what the story on how the Secret Service failed to notice these guys is. My bet is that this kind of attempt is made all the time, and this was some kind of fluke (somebody got momentarily distracted or something). And yeah, somebody's career is going to crash and burn in this thing.

[Terastas]

There's two things that I'm willing to bet will come out of this:

1) Those two A-holes will get included on Real Housewives (because smart people never watch that crap anyway)
2) Those two A-holes are going to be making more Republican appearances than Carrie Prejean and Joe the Plumber combined.
Just goes to show that all the money in the world can't buy an ounce of class or taste. Seems to be just the opposite actually.

[Noir-Okami]

...I feel sorry for the poor guys who're gonna get fired over this.

[Sevena]

i read the article at the BBC website, and it said that although they were not on the guest list they did still go through all the security check points, metal detects and such.BIG booboo for the secret service.the guys that let this couple through the gates will have a hard time finding work when new employers find out they dont bother to read material given to them,especially those of importance.

[Lukas]

There's two things that I'm willing to bet will come out of this:

1) Those two A-holes will get included on Real Housewives (because smart people never watch that crap anyway)
2) Those two A-holes are going to be making more Republican appearances than Carrie Prejean and Joe the Plumber combined.
Just goes to show that all the money in the world can't buy an ounce of class or taste. Seems to be just the opposite actually.

i don't see what the big deal is really, so two people got by the guest list, they still went through security check, it is rather comical really

[Gevaudan]

Actually, it would be tresspassing on U.S. Government (not private) property, but there's a catch: The State Dinner is technically a public function.

If it wasn't a public function, wouldn't it be fine for the government to charge them with trespassing? It is technically private property, in the sense that it's solely owned by the US government.

[Baphnedia]

Its kinda interesting... all I know is that reality show stupidity is now going to intentionally screw lots of things up just to get a bit of attention and the chance to be famous...

[Noir-Okami]

i don't see what the big deal is really, so two people got by the guest list, they still went through security check, it is rather comical really

What they were worried about is the possibility. If those two had wanted to harm the president, and somehow managed to get weapons past security... You get the idea. It would've ended badly.

And it makes some sense why they'd be paranoid. The Telegraph reported that Obama gets about 30 death threats a day. This is apparently up 400% from Bush Jr's term.

[Lukas]

i don't see what the big deal is really, so two people got by the guest list, they still went through security check, it is rather comical really

What they were worried about is the possibility. If those two had wanted to harm the president, and somehow managed to get weapons past security... You get the idea. It would've ended badly.

And it makes some sense why they'd be paranoid. The Telegraph reported that Obama gets about 30 death threats a day. This is apparently up 400% from Bush Jr's term.

They can worrya bout the possibilities sure sure fine but I think It's going to be hard for some redneck triple K guy to slip a few handguns past the metal detector.

[Terastas]

They can worrya bout the possibilities sure sure fine but I think It's going to be hard for some redneck triple K guy to slip a few handguns past the metal detector.

It's not the checkpoints that are the problem. Sure, they made it inside without any weapons, but whose to say they couldn't have just swiped a fork or knife off the table (it was a dinner event) and stabbed him with it when they went up to meet him?

Regardless of the intent, they still deliberately conducted a breach of security, trespassed on government property and lied to federal officers to fake their entry. Giving them a free pass on this now will essentially be an invitation for others to make similar attempts. And if all it takes to get into the White House is to show up, it will only be a matter of time before somebody uses such an event as an opportunity to murder him.

[Lukas]

They can worrya bout the possibilities sure sure fine but I think It's going to be hard for some redneck triple K guy to slip a few handguns past the metal detector.

It's not the checkpoints that are the problem. Sure, they made it inside without any weapons, but whose to say they couldn't have just swiped a fork or knife off the table (it was a dinner event) and stabbed him with it when they went up to meet him?

Regardless of the intent, they still deliberately conducted a breach of security, trespassed on government property and lied to federal officers to fake their entry. Giving them a free pass on this now will essentially be an invitation for others to make similar attempts. And if all it takes to get into the White House is to show up, it will only be a matter of time before somebody uses such an event as an opportunity to murder him.

fair enough I'm not saying don't give a slap on the wrist. but they don't need to fire anyone over it as far as Secret service goes. it was Obama's first major dinner party for a foreign government and mistakes happen. But I don't like paranoid attitudes over incidents like this that is all. Also its hard to kill someone with a dinner fork or a knife, takes a lot of effort! ;p. but sometimes the best reaction is a good laugh and a quiet change in the security.

[Uniform Two Six]

If it wasn't a public function, wouldn't it be fine for the government to charge them with trespassing? It is technically private property, in the sense that it's solely owned by the US government.

No it was a public function, technically (closed to the general public, to be sure) but if people who do not have standing authority to demand entry to the White House (like the Indian dignitaries), are given blanket authorization to enter, then legally it is a public function. That's why they can't be charged with a crime (although Terastas brought up an interesting point that I had not thought of: If they told a Secret Service guard that they were on the guest list, then they could conceivably go down for lying to a law enforcement official -- although that's probably a very minor misdemeanor).

And tresspassing on U.S. Government property is a federal charge, whereas tresspassing on private property is a local one. Big difference, actually.

[Gevaudan]

No it was a public function, technically (closed to the general public, to be sure) but if people who do not have standing authority to demand entry to the White House (like the Indian dignitaries), are given blanket authorization to enter, then legally it is a public function. That's why they can't be charged with a crime (although Terastas brought up an interesting point that I had not thought of: If they told a Secret Service guard that they were on the guest list, then they could conceivably go down for lying to a law enforcement official -- although that's probably a very minor misdemeanor).

And tresspassing on U.S. Government property is a federal charge, whereas tresspassing on private property is a local one. Big difference, actually.

Well, I know it was a public function. I was just being hypothetical.

[Uniform Two Six]

Update: Federal authorities are in fact starting the process to file criminal charges against these two morons, according to CNN. As I posited, they're apparently going to get hit for providing false statements to law enforcement (Secret Service). The really interesting tidbit that CNN put out is that the Feds are supposedly intending to hit them with criminal trespassing as well. It'll be interesting to see how they (legally at least) substantiate that charge.

[Scott Gardener]

Publicity stunts to get into "reality shows" are getting ridiculous. We can debate about which laws were broken, but the bottom line is, they barged in on an international function put on by the President of the United States. It should be kind of a given that any reasonable person can foresee that there would be dire consequences. Why not hack the Pentagon while you're at it? They should just be glad it was Obama's administration and not the Bushes, who would have had them whisked away with handcuffs and bags over their heads in the night.

[Uniform Two Six]

I guess now would not be an opportune time to mention that the "baloon-boy" douchebag is getting on Larry King for a full hour tonight.

[Uniform Two Six]

Wow, this is the gift (for the daytime-TV-crowd) that just keeps on giving. It turns out that this first class jerk is being sued by about a dozen people for sh** that isn't even remotely related to the White House thing. One of them is HIS OWN MOTHER. There's a new "tell-all" book coming out, the wife is apparently going to pose nude in Playboy, and one headline that I read on a Google search was that they (I'm not kidding here) "Have No Idea Where That Gay Bar Cover Charge Cash Went". And yet, that's still not the most obscene part of this whole farce. They snuck into the Congressional Black Caucus Dinner (an event that was actually attended by the President) and got past the Secret Service -- AGAIN!!! I'm not sure if these guys are mentally retarded or if they're actually some kind of James Bond villain. Sh**, I'd say that Osama Bin Laden is totally missing the boat here: These idiots seem to be able to penetrate any security in the world. Al Qaeda should HIRE THESE TWO MORONS.