It's not that you're in bad standing, it's more like the phrase "except for the murder of your husband, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

When you tell us that you're moving forward with a plan to stay in North America for 4 months, when the US embassy writes pretty clearly that you have to leave North America within 90 days (and which is what other visitors to this forum have told us they have been told by customs), the details of your plan become pretty insignificant.

The first time I read that you had to leave North America within 90 days, I had the exact same reaction you did, why should the US care when I leave a different country, but that is the rule. I will try to find you another thread where this exact same situation came up a few months ago.

I looked at what you posted on LP, and you didn't make it clear that the advice you were getting here was being quoted from the US embassy, which lead them to declare that it was wrong. I would be curious what their reaction would be if you reposted it, saying it was from the Embassy in Copenhagen. I would hope they would be less likely to declare it as "just plain wrong."

The overstayer and liar comment appeared to be a direct response to one of your plans to switch your plane tickets, hoping they don't catch you, to get around the rules.

If you get a response from customs and are told something different that what others have reported, and what is written on the Embassy's website, we'd love to hear that too. If you decide to move forward with the tourist visa, that would work too, although I'll warn that from others have reported, that's quite difficult to actually get approved. I'd bet switching your plan to visit Canada first would be far less costly and time consuming.