Main | Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Icelandic Kid Pranks White House

You'll love this one.

Icelandic teenager Visill Atlason was watching a recent episode of the Ellen Degeneres show during which Jenna Bush called her dad live on the show, using Ellen's on-set landline. Apparently, Atlason was somehow able to decipher the number that Jenna dialed and called Dubya's secret private number himself, pretending to be president of Iceland.
Atlason, 16, called the White House claiming to be President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, and asked to speak to President George W. Bush. He was passed around but says he got through to Mr Bush's private secretary and set up a phone meeting with him. Along the way he says he was asked a series of questions about Mr Grimsson, which he answered using Wikipedia.

Questions included Mr. Grimsson's date of birth, parent's names, where he grew up and when he took office. Atlason said all he wanted to do was have a chat with the president, and invite him to visit Iceland. "I wasn't rude and was addressed as Mr. President by the White House staff over and over again," he said.

Atlason was found out before he got to talk to the president, and got a visit from local police in his hometown of Akranes instead of an interview with Mr. Bush. Rebellious to the end, he said it was "totally worth all the fuss."
The White House is claiming that the kid actually called the West Wing's general switchboard, but still they had the Secret Service call on the Icelandic police to visit him.

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