The Huffington Post’s Jennifer Bendery has found an advocate for the installation of a moat around the White House after a fence jumper scaled the fence on Thanksgiving Day and forced the building to go on lockdown just as the Obamas were sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner.
Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee said that the reportedly suicidal man should have gotten a little wet after he jumped the fence and stuck the landing.
Secret Service: Man who scaled White House fence wanted to die https://t.co/goLicguEyV maybe he should've gotten little wet when he landed!
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) November 27, 2015
CBS News’ Mark Knoller took some photos in May of the temporary enhancements to White House security, including doubling the size of the buffer zone (that is, moving the sidewalk barricades further out) and installing sharp metal points on the top of the fence. Scott McFarlane reported that the spikes would serve as just a temporary solution until a more permanent fence change could be made at the speed of government, in 2016.
Those who have joked about digging a moat around the White House should know the idea has been seriously considered.
MOAT: Nat Park Service rejected ideas for upgrade to White House fence. But will make permanent enhancements in '16 pic.twitter.com/nKnlSAnn4l
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 30, 2015
Check out these other ideas, including an electrified fence. That could be harmful to animals, though, and it could be very difficult to retrieve an intruder from a moat. The arguments against an electrified moat must appear on another page of the study.
We still like Richard Grenell’s suggestion that anyone who makes it over the White House fence gets to live there.
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