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Teen Calls Bush on His 'Private Line'
By Brandon BarkerDec 10th 2007 8:41AM
Filed Under:ePresident Bush, Bush Administration, Featured Stories, Gaffes, Humor
It could have made a cute and warmhearted story this Monday morning: Icelandic teen wants so badly for President Bush to visit his country that he calls him on his direct line. And just imagine how it could have played out... A beleaguered, lame-duck president takes a call from a resourceful youngster from a faraway land with whom he forms a unique (yet wholesome) bond. Leaving the cares of his office behind, the President journeys to Iceland to visit the lad, seeking him out on the fjords while the boy tends his sheep and then they hit one of those all-night discos.
Alas, according to ABC News, that is not exactly how it played out. Vífill Atlason, a 16-year-old high school student from Iceland, dialed a "private, direct line" to the White House. When the White House answered, Vífill says he claimed to be Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the actual president of Iceland, and was quizzed by several different staffers on President Grímsson's date of birth, hometown and the date he entered office.
According to Vífill, this was not a problem. "It was like passing through checkpoints," he said. "But I had Wikipedia and a few other sites open, so it was not so difficult really."
He eventually reached the President's private secretary, who told him to expect a call back soon.
Though the White House denies the boy had actually accessed a private line, they nevertheless sent the Secret Service to his house in Akranes, a fishing town about 35 miles from Reykjavik, to arrest him. The agents grilled Vífill for several hours, trying to find out where he got that number. According to the boy, he couldn't remember exactly how he got it. "I just know I have had it for a few years," he told ABC. "I must have gotten it from a friend when I was about 11 or 12."
Vífill was eventually allowed to go home with his mother, and no charges were brought against him.
B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.
Recent Comments
(Page 1 of 16)luise3:29PMDec 10th 2007
I thought the whole thing is very refreshing.
Gayla3:34PMDec 10th 2007
George Bush is an idiot and a liar - and people are dying because of his lies!! He will be remembered as the worst, most destructive president America has EVER had!!
hoover3:37PMDec 10th 2007
damn son.......don't call up me and my secretary...
seekinaud3:37PMDec 10th 2007
Since when is it illegal to call the president ooohhh when you pretend to be the president of another country. Dont prank the president, lesson learned.
Dawn3:42PMDec 10th 2007
I would love to talk to our president to and tell him I dislike him and the job he is doing. He has our men and women suffering in a battle that no longer needs to be fought. And what happens when they come home? They get treated like dirt. The VA system that is set up, does absolutely nothing for them without there being years of fighting between the VA and the Vet. Also, he will spend billions on this ridiculous war, but gives Congress a problem when they want to increase the children's healthcare spending. I would tell Bush exactly where to go and how to get there. He is just like his father and that's not a good thing.
andshewasnot3:45PMDec 10th 2007
All I want is about an hour to talk to the president, just to figure out what exactly is wrong with him. Is he an a**hole or just a moron? I guess we'll never really know.
Just me3:46PMDec 10th 2007
Dawn and Gayla may I first strongly recommend that both of you take a couple classes in US government and learn just how little say that our President really has in most matters. Second you both are free to leave this country and move anywhere else in the world that you would like.
Lar3:48PMDec 10th 2007
Clinton was an idiot and liar. Bush is a good man
stepasideclyde3:49PMDec 10th 2007
I'd love to call Bush up & thank him for wasting 7 years of the time. I'd also mention that his VP is an AH, and can't shoot straight.
patsysueflint3:51PMDec 10th 2007
IF I COULD TALK TO THE PRESIDENT I WOULD SAY
THANK YOU MR PRESIDENT FOR KEEPING AMERICA SAFE FOR SEVEN YEARS
I ONLY HOPE THE NEXT PRESIDENT WILL KEEP US SAFE AND NOT GIVE IN TO TERRORISTS
Brenda3:52PMDec 10th 2007
Well i agree with mary marks great person (Our President!
Tim3:54PMDec 10th 2007
For everyone who claims that he is killing their sons and daughters...Nobody forced your men and women to sign up with the military or army...Im sure you had no problems when your men and women received the money or grants for signing up. They signed up on their own and they knew what "could" happen. I guess we would be better off with a president like Clinton, who gets his D--k sucked in the white house, rather than with a president who is taking care of business, and ridding this earth of terrorists, and all other supporters of Saddam, and any terrorist regime!! Take your heads out of your a-- and just admit that Bush is the one who had the balls to do what should have been done a long time ago
Dawn3:56PMDec 10th 2007
Just me, I have a hige problem with Bush because there is absolutely NO reason for our troops to still be there. My boyfriend, who is a Vet of OIF, is in constant pain because of injuries suffered over there. He gets home and he has to contend with morons in the VA who do nothing for you. The only time anything is done is when the Vet gets a political figure involved. I wonder why it is, that after 5 years of being at war, Bush has done nothing to try and make things better for them? Only now, after Marine Zeigel made national headlines, is anything even being considered to try and assist them more. Bush sends them there and puts their lives at risk, but when they get back, he does NOTHING to ensure they receive the assistance they need. And Bush is the one who vetoed the Bill that would have given additional money for the children's healthcare spendature. Bush has managed to do one thing for us....put us into even more debt than we were already in. He is the ONLY president who has put us into a war where we have not been able to secure anything from it.
Roger Hargrove3:59PMDec 10th 2007
Gayla 3:34PM Dec 10th 2007
George Bush is an idiot and a liar - and people are dying because of his lies!! He will be remembered as the worst, most destructive president America has EVER had!!
What is your source of proof and are you a History expert.Why don't you turn some of your anger to the people that crashed the planes into the Trade Centers or are you one of those that thinks Bush did that to
tennis3pt04:00PMDec 10th 2007
Mary: So you're the one who still likes him! Haven't been paying close attention, have you?
paddle pusher4:00PMDec 10th 2007
ARREST him for WHAT! This president is nothing but a BULLY. This country is not a BULLY. Threatening other countries, GET LOST BUDDY, What happened to your idea of not being POLICEMEN of the world. 1 YEAR Left, as Charlie Brown says GOOD GRIEF!
Dawn4:00PMDec 10th 2007
Tim, I think you definitely need to talk to some Army Vets and Marine Vets who were involved in OIF and they would strongly disagree with you. First off, there was no money or grants given for my boyfriend signing up. If you were to speak with the vets who were injured over there, you would have a completely different view of how they are ACTUALLY treated and what is actually going on over there!
Joe4:02PMDec 10th 2007
I remember when a local DJ from San Francisco tried to call "his President" and ask him a question, managing to make it up to a lower secretary. It is impossible for a citizen to talk to his president. Try it sometime and get a visit from the secret service and quite possible jail time.
LENA DE SANTES4:02PMDec 10th 2007
GIVE ME A BREAK. BUSH IS ALWAYS THE WRONG ONE. ISN'T HILLARY PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS?. SHE HAS HER MOTHER ON THE ELECTION TRAIL. FIRST TIME I EVEN KNEW HER MOTHER WAS ALIVE.. BY THE THE WAY SHE SHOULD BE IN NEW YORK DOING THE JOB SHE WAS ELECTED FOR.THEN ALL THAT OTHER FREE PUBLICITY SHE HAD STAGED.WAKE UP AMERICA SHE IS AS DISHONEST AS THE DAY IS LONG.
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mary marks2:47PMDec 10th 2007
I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO TALK WITH OUR PRESIDENT. I WOULD LET HIM KNOW HOW MUCH I ADMIRE HIS RESOLVE. HE IS A GOOD AND DECENT MAN THAT I AM PROUD TO SAY IS MY LEADER. GOD BLESS HIM!