Lots of buzz for this one since it fits neatly into the “Obama’s a thin-skinned autocrat” narrative, but I’m skeptical. Does the FBI normally dispatch foreign police every time a crank sends the White House a snotty e-mail? If the feds want to bar someone from the U.S., don’t they normally inform the person in question of that themselves rather than ask the local constable to do it? Anyone else troubled by the fact that the only evidence we have of the kid’s banning is his own say-so — as quoted in a notorious tabloid?

Radical theory: Maybe the kid’s e-mail was a tad more menacing than just calling The One a “prick,” no?

He said: “I don’t remember exactly what I wrote as I was drunk. But I think I called Barack Obama a p***k. It was silly – the sort of thing you do when you’re a teenager and have had a few.”…

He added: “The police came and took my picture and told me I was banned from America forever. I don’t really care but my parents aren’t very happy.”

A Beds Police spokesman said: “The individual sent an email to the White House full of abusive and threatening language. We were informed by the Metropolitan Police and went to see him. He said, ‘Oh dear, it was me’.”

There’s no confirmation from either the local cops or the FBI that he’s been barred. A DHS spokesman refused to comment when asked about it by the New York Daily News but noted that there are more than 60 reasons someone can be refused entry to the U.S. Here’s the list in the Immigration and Naturalization Act; subsection (a)(3)(A)(ii) says any alien who seeks to enter the U.S. for any unlawful activity is inadmissible. Exit question: Shouldn’t we at least see the e-mail before deciding that Obama has some sort of hypersensitive vendetta against his foreign critics?