Did Iceland Teen Call Secret White House Phone?

[RamboLiberal]

Source: ABC News

When Vífill Atlason, a 16-year-old high school student from Iceland, decided to call the White House, he could not imagine the kind of publicity it would bring.

Introducing himself as Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the actual president of Iceland, Atlason found President George W. Bush's allegedly secret telephone number and phoned, requesting a private meeting with him.

"I just wanted to talk to him, have a chat, invite him to Iceland and see what he'd say," Vífill told ABC News.

A White House official, who asked not to be identified, denied the young man had accessed a private number but instead dialled 202-456-1414, the main switchboard for the West Wing.

Vífill's mother, Harpa Hreinsdottir, a teacher at the local high school, said her son did, in fact, get through to a private phone.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3973925&page=1

---

The police showed up at his home and questioned him for several hours saying they were under orders from U.S. to find the leak - tell me again WH this wasn only the switchboard. They were threatening to put him on no-fly list - bet he gets on it anyway. Surprised they didn't waterboard him. This is :rofl:

Mom said the kid has become a hero in Iceland because Bush is so unpopular.

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. Surely, he's posted this "secret number" to the internet, yes?

:rofl:

[JustDavid]

9. I imagine

the WH has a contingency plan if the # were to be made public.
I am sure it would be killed very quickly and replaced with a backup number.
I am even imagining a 750 page protocall manual on this very subject.

[niceypoo]

16. Reminds me of CONTROL from get smart...

Little kids on the street would give Max directions to control headquarters when it was supposed to be top secret

[Counciltucky]

30. As we descend into utter KAOS...

:rofl:

[Diamond Dave]

57. LOL

[Nailzberg]

2. That's is one helleva prank call.

:rofl:

[Mnemosyne]

32. I'd bet * is still looking

for that damn frig that's running.

* likes to run so he'd relate.

[WileEcoyote]

45. A lucky guess

He just took a standard number found on the listing and changed a few digits on the last four. Maybe up a couple numbers or so.

These things are rare but can happen. When I was a kid we could reach any of our neighbors merely by moving up one digit on the last number of the phone as we went down the street.

I thought that was remarkable even for the time: 1970.

[BearSquirrel2]

3. Sequential analysis perhaps ???

Perhaps he looked at a sequence of public numbers and found holes in it. Phone numbers are typically allocated in blocks.

[dysfunctional press]

6. but if it's a private number- it could be one from ANY area code.

i'll bet they change the way they get/assign their numbers after this, though.

maybe they'll take this opportunity to switch to vonage...:think:

[lynnertic]

47. No kidding. Remember when Vonage couldn't be tapped?

They had to build a backdoor for the FBI, I read.

[JustDavid]

11. Wouldn't someone doing that

come up with, for instance, MY number? Or the others of millions that are not public?

I mean my cell number is not public.
You prolly know more about it than I do. Is my number public, but not PUBLIC public?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

4. There's a West Wing operator out of a job tonight.

Too bad Dumbyass doesn't have the guts to talk with the kid. He can't really tolerate discussions with intellectually superior people unless he absolutely has to.

[dysfunctional press]

7. but if what the mother says is true- it sounds like it may have bypassed the switchboard...?

:shrug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. They'd still blame it on an operator...

I have no doubt.

[MADem]

33. Those operators are careerists--they stay through GOP/Dem.

Decades in, decades out.

I imagine if they fire an operator, it'll make the routing of phone calls VERRRRRRY interesting through the remainder of the BushCo term. They stick together.

Here is an ancient (and heartwarming) little article about a WH operator from almost thirty years ago: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919985,00.html

When Caroline Kennedy lived at the White House, she picked up the phone one night and Burns heard this request: "I want to talk to Santa Claus." Burns turned to a man in the telegraph room and asked for help. He got on the line with a jolly "Ho! Ho! Ho!" and a report from the North Pole for the five-year-old Caroline. A few minutes after Caroline hung up, the President's line was alight again. "Mary," asked a startled John Kennedy, "how did you do that?

When Burns first went to work under Truman, the world was in turmoil. Once she worked at her switchboard for 40 days without a break. But it was worth it when Truman called one night, feeling lonely. Bess was away. Margaret had sailed for Europe. "Get me Margie," Truman ordered. Burns affirmed the request but was not sure just how quickly she could comply, since the President's daughter was two days out to sea. Margaret Truman was raised on a ship-to-shore connection in ten minutes. When the conversation ended, the President rang Burns back. "No one has ever had such service," he said.

Burns could gauge the intensity of presidential concern from her headset, but she kept it all to herself. The phones hummed with hushed anxiety during the Cuban missile crisis, kept secret for six days. The Kennedy assassination strained the White House switchboard more than any other single event. Calls came in from all over the world, but the lines were so busy that only a fraction got through. People would call in distress and just sob, "Get me the East Room," which was where Kennedy's body lay.

Crank calls have mounted over the years. Bums relishes the time a White House operator, caught in heavy telephone crossfire, hooked two crank calls together so the angry citizens could rail at each other. One man called during Eisenhower's Administration and said he was HEW Secretary Arthur Flemming and wanted to talk to the President. Mary sensed something was wrong. She stalled, got Arthur Flemming and learned the caller was an impostor.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

42. The Santa story has me sniffling

:cry: That's so sweet!

I wonder if the current misadministration hasn't managed to get rid of the non-neo-con operators. I would imagine the vast number of people in that field do not agree with Dumbyass' wiretapping policies.

[trusty elf]

41. I love the anteater photo.

What a whimsical and improbable creature! ! !

[GoddessOfGuinness]

44. I like your Bach!

This is how he looked right before that painting was made

[trusty elf]

59. He's my hero.

We performed two Bach cantatas today in the Predigerkirche in Basel,

BWV 70 Wachet! betet! and BWV 1 Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern.

http://www.bachkantaten.ch/

What a sublime and immortal genius!


Thanks for the photo. He looks cool with shades!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

63. I would love to have heard it!

One of these days I'll get to Europe... :hi:

[panader0]

5. bush unpopular in Iceland? Whoda thunk it?

[mwb970]

40. It's amazing. bush is unpopular *everywhere in the world*.

Nobody seems to like this guy (wonder why). I heard that the only countries where his approval rating is above 50% are Israel and Albania.

[Cronopio]

56. Everywhere except corporate boardrooms.

As well as expensive and heavily defended sanctuaries in Connecticut, Texas, and Paraguay.

As far as Bush is concerned, as long as he has a good, stiff drink in his hand and a fraternal pat-on-the-back from his fellow "haves and have mores", it's enough.

[stevedeshazer]

8. Maybe he watched Ellen DeGeneres

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212118093.shtml

<snip>

Jenna Bush has called her father, U.S. President George W. Bush, from the stage of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, People.com reported.

DeGeneres asked the first daughter, a guest on Wednesday's show, if she could reach her dad by phone whenever she wanted, to which Jenna Bush replied, Sure.

Encouraging her guest to call the president, DeGeneres covered the phone with her hands to protect the private number as Jenna Bush dialed and joked, I'm not going to get anything I asked for for Christmas.

The talk-show host reassured her, We're not barging in while they're in their pajamas or something.

First lady Laura Bush got on the phone and said, I'm just sitting here with Daddy, prompting DeGeneres to say, I wanted to say hi to Daddy.

President Bush took the phone and was told by his daughter, "This is 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show.'" See the video below.

"Well, that's great!" President Bush said, asking DeGeneres, "How's my little girl doing?"

"Oh, she's great," DeGeneres said.

Jenna Bush asked the president if he was mad, but he said: "No, not at all. ... I'm glad to talk to you. I'm glad to talk to Ellen."

He also wished the audience a Merry Christmas and told his daughter he loved her. On a side note, did an Icelandic teen steal the prez's number from this video?

See video @ link

[JustDavid]

10. highly unlikely

unless he is a prodigy, I can't believe he would be the ONLY one to do that.

[JDPriestly]

18. Jenna asks her dad if he is mad that she called from the show?

As a parent of two grown daughters, I think that is bizarre. I cannot imagine that it would even cross either of my daughters' minds to think that I or my husband would be mad at them for calling us any time anywhere from anyplace. A good parent is there for an adult child or any child regardless of when they call. If I am in a position where I can't talk, I won't be at the phone. I suspect Jenna was just putting on a show. The call was prearranged. The Bush's were sitting there wherever they were waiting for the call. Jenna was acting coy to be cute. Her parents are probably delighted to get her calls. Parents complain because their children don't call often enough, not because they call too often or at the wrong time.

Another phony political stunt to make Bush look almost human -- almost like the rest of us -- just any old dad, you know.

[rucognizant]

38. I had a different perception...........

"Another phony political stunt to make Bush look almost human -- almost like the rest of us -- just any old dad, you know."
MOST plain old Dads, would be happy to hear from their kids, and "are you mad" wouldn't even be an issue.!
This Dad is a serious emotional abuser..............Did you notice Jenna nervously twisting her skirt between her fingers,when the call was going through? ( always read the body language.) Even if it was prearranged; by Laura & Ellen?, I bet "Dad" wasn't in on it and 26 years of exposure to unpleasantly, unpredictable, alcoholic, behavior, teaches an automatic "flinch reflex" even into maturity.
Been there done that!

[originalpckelly]

21. Me vunders?

Hmmm...If that was a real phone, and she was really dialing the number, then he could have looked at her fingers on the keypad!

[originalpckelly]

25. Nope, I just watched the video: no keypad tones, nor video of her dialing.

It is possible the audience saw and put it out on the net, it might also just be floating around on the internet.

[dysfunctional press]

26. someone may have cajoled a drunken jenna into doing the same thing while out partying...

took note of the number, then put it out there. :shrug:

[Ian David]

43. If you could HEAR the numbers as they were being dialed, then quite possibly. n/t

[CreekDog]

12. maybe someone on the Ellen crew got the #

it's plausible.

[frogcycle]

22. all you'd have to do

is hit redial, and record the tones as it dials; then translate them to the corresponding numbers. Might take a while if you have a tin ear like me, but it can be done.

[merwin]

31. Cell phones don't use tone dialing.

So hitting redial won't cause any tones to be played. Most phones, however, can be configured to play the tone when you press the number key, but they never play the tones on redial.

[frogcycle]

51. she didn't use a cell phone - Ellen handed her a land line

and aside from that, chances are the phone system at the studio tracks numbers called and all they had to do was query a database

[JBoy]

13. Bush gets Björk'd!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

27. I dare say...

If she had been involved in this, Dear Leader would be walking around with his head under his arm. She's 100% Viking woman and all that.

[rosesaylavee]

14. This is easily my favorite story of the last several months.

Why, oh why can't OUR American children be like this? What are we teaching them in schools these days? Are they falling behind in pranks as well?

[1620rock]

15. Our kids live in Amerka. you want them to disappear?

[Dukkha]

17. will the boy receive a booting now?

Disparaging the Boot is a Bootable Offense

[L. Coyote]

19. "the kid has become a hero in Iceland because Bush is so unpopular." LOL

[lynnertic]

48. Icelandic population: 301,931

and they have long, dark winters.

[originalpckelly]

20. HAHAHAHAHA!

Das so phunny! Phunny little Icelandic kid makes a pranker on the Bushitler. Me must finduns thisuns numbers!

[nam78_two]

24. Is there a part of the world where Dear Leader isn't unpopular? nt

[Canuckistanian]

60. Albania. That's it.

But hey, they missed every American president from Eisenhower to Clinton. They have nothing to compare * to.

[shanti]

28. this is hilarious!

"Mom said the kid has become a hero in Iceland because Bush is so unpopular."

i love it! :rofl:

[seriouslyfrivolous]

29. Melrose Larry Green must feel very threatened by this Icelandic kid

This has got to be the coolest prank call.  It surpasses the
call  Melrose made to Peter Jennings, describing OJ's return
from the slow freeway chase.

[trusty elf]

34. What I'm wondering is

how long did it take shrub to figure out that the kid wasn't the president of Iceland? ! ?

[Botany]

35. 4 to 5 Days tops.

:rofl:

[DeeDeeNY]

49. That photo says it all!

:rofl:

[ps1074]

36. LOL

He's very resourceful you know," she said. "He has become a bit of a hero in Iceland. Bush is very unpopular here."

[sss1977]

37. Awesome, he used the White House's favorite quote against them...

Where'd you get the number, kid?

"I don't remember."

Haha, awesome.

[Swagman]

39. you mean George Bush had heard of Iceland ?

:rofl: :rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Vinca]

46. This kid has got to be an Olbermann segment.

:rofl:

[MaineDem]

52. I wouldn't be surprised to see it Monday. n/t

[Jacobin]

50. Its not really that hard to figure out the number. I did:

1-800-DUM-BASS

[msedano]

53. hilarity come Monday evening

when shithead calls iceland's president and asks about that meeting he requested.

[Cronopio]

54. "Otherwise, I would be banned from ever entering the United States."

Oh no! Banned from the Roman Colosseum! For life!

"I don't see how calling the White House is a crime," he added. "But obviously, they took it very seriously."

It shows that the "most powerful nation in the world" isn't all that secure. If if it isn't secure, it isn't the most powerful nation in the world. It's what happens when a governement outsources its national security.

The kid *is* a hero, and this is something he can proudly tell his grandchildren, if Bush's corporate masters let him have any.

(And what is this crap about "U.S. officials" ordering the police force of a sovereign nation around? Isn't that what we pay Blackwater to do?)

[Cronopio]

55. Canadian authorities just released a photo of the alleged "Icelandic teenager".

Turns out he's Canadian and, like the rest of us, a terrorist.

[Harper_is_Bush]

58. You mean....the WH is lying about this? Impossible.

They never lie.

[Barrett808]

61. Calling ExPatLefty...ExPatLefty to the white courtesy telephone.

Was that you?

:D

[progressoid]

62. Oh, that's too f***kin funny.

:rofl:

[daredevil2]

64. Private Line!

Just so you all know that it's not really a good idea to call the private line of the president as this is his private line for family and emergency use. It is really impossible for you to get the number unless you have connections at the white house and I am not talking about the switch board of the west wing either that is not a connection as they are operators only that direct the calls to the correct department. The switch board does NOT have access to the president's private line or the phone number on Air Force One or the Presidents limo and they can NOT patch you through to him.

The private line is very private and unless you have connections to the president or the family of the president you will have get it. This number changes as new president's are sworn in after their term in office. If you would like more information regarding the president please visit www.whitehouse.gov and you can click on contact to get the phone number for you to call with questions. (This is NOT the president's private line).

If you would like to visit the White House in Washington D.C. you can take the tour as stated on the site, but DO NOT expect to see the president, vice president or first lady in any tour. This tour is a limited room tour and you will not have access to rooms you are not to be in as they are guarded (yes by military personal) that are not afraid to shoot if you try to get into a place you are not allowed to be in. If you have ever heard of the saying "shoot first and ask questions later" well this is what they are trained to do and will act upon it if need be. They are there to protect the president, vice president, first lady and all other higher up people of the white house that travel with the president.

Word of advice "just don't try to call the president or first lady unless they gave you the number to call them at" They are not your personal friend and you will not be invited over for diner. They have a sworn in oath to up hold and will do so in a professional manor. They do not have the time for games or unwanted phone calls plus they don't like to be disturbed when they are on their own time so thy can relax just like everyone else does. The president and first lady are no different then you and I are, as well all need our down time at some point everyday whether you want to admit it or not.

[slowry]

67. The White House is indeed a professional manor, but they handle things in a Mickey Mouse manner. n/t

[ret5hd]

68. Boy, you told us, didn't you!

[Javaman]

65. huh, moron* doesn't like it when someone invades his privacy.

funny how that works.

The kid should have put the number out on the net.

[groovedaddy]

66. He'll probably get his own "private rendition" n/t

[Blue_Tires]

69. lol at that!

Icelandic kid: "I told you a LONG time ago, you stupid fucking monkey not to FUCK ME!!"

Bush: "AY, AY...WHO D'FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU TALKING TO, HUNH? WHO D'FUCK DO YOU THINK I AM, SOME FUCKING BELLBOY? YOU WANNA GO TO WAR? WE TAKE YOU TO WAR!!!" (Bush, in a stupor fueled by power, money and coke, slouches back in his chair, unaware of the goings-on in the security screens behind him)