Such deliciou subtext in this article…
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - A teen-ager says he convinced the White House he was Iceland’s president and managed to schedule a call with George W. Bush but was found out before he got to talk to the U.S. president.
“My call was transferred around a few times until I got hold of Bush’s secretary and managed to book a call meeting with Bush the following Monday evening,” Vifill Atlason, 16, told Reuters.
The teen-ager posed as Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson when he made the call on Dec 1.
Icelandic police turned up at his door two days later — the day of the planned call — and took him in for questioning.
“They told me the CIA had called the National Commissioner of the Icelandic police and asked if the police could try and find out where I received that phone number from,” said Atlason.
The teen-ager said he was unable to recall where he discovered the telephone number for the White House.
“I know I’ve had it on my phone card for at least 4 years now and that an Icelandic friend gave it to me, but I don’t remember who,” he said.
At a White House news conference Monday, Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said her understanding was that Atlason had called a public line “that anybody can call,” according to a transcript.
Disguised as one of those “who gives a shit” Oddly Enough Reuters story is a compelling underlying message of the absurdity - and potential danger - that the US President would ever deign to talk to an ordinary sixteen year old.
I think the President should actually go through and talk to this kid if this kid was smart enough to pull this off. Obviously he has something to say to the man, and if he has an appointment, then what’s the problem?
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2 Comments
Subtext abounds…!
1. Does this mean Olafur Ragnar Grimsson had his Identity(TM) stolen? Is his Identity(TM) more important than ours?
2. They traced the call /all the way back to Iceland/ and /Icelandic police/ picked the guy up. How cool is that?
3. There are publically accessible telephone numbers which it is not permissible to call (or even know). Actually I found one of these by accident once, using the wrong area code and getting a very senior person in the Forces who wasn’t at all happy and demanded to know who I was and how I’d got his number. Creepy at the time.
we are all as important as we make ourselves.
to get hung up on how important others think they are takes away from our ability to focus on how “important” we are……to ourselves.
our loved ones and those around us who`s lives we touch in meaningful ways are those who resonate with how “important” we are.
i placed the word important in quotes to suggest that the term it`s self isn`t important and that it`s not important to be “important”.
it is necessary to be involved and part of a community of love and understanding.
unless you aspire to be president, or something. in which case it`s critical to understand the mechanisms of control and apply them without let or hinderance.
it does seem absurd that the us government would be concerned about an icelandic teenager, but they didn`t know who he really was and needed to be assured he wasn`t some sort of potential threat.
and i think the whitehouse gets all sorts of calls.