Despite legal and security hurdles, president-elect Barack Obama says he has a plan to retain his beloved Blackberry once he moves into the White House next week. Interviewed by CNN Friday, Obama said the smartphone was among the tools that he would use to stay in touch with real Americans and avoid becoming trapped inside the presidential ‘bubble.’ ‘I think we’re going to be able to hang on to one of these. My working assumption, and this is not new, is that anything I write on an email could end up being on CNN,’ he said. ‘So I make sure to think before I press ‘send’,’ he said of his Blackberry, which was an ever-present fixture on his belt or in his hand on the campaign trail. Obama did not divulge just how he will overcome legal constraints, given the requirement of the post-Watergate Presidential Records Act of 1978 to keep a record of every White House communication. Nor did he say how he would persuade his Secret Service protectors that the Blackberry does not pose a security risk, for instance if it is hacked over the air. But Obama, who succeeds the unpopular […]
Saturday, January 17th, 2009
Obama Refuses to Surrender Blackberry
Author:
Source: Agence France-Presse (France)
Publication Date: Jan 16 07:24 PM US/Eastern
Link: Obama Refuses to Surrender Blackberry
Source: Agence France-Presse (France)
Publication Date: Jan 16 07:24 PM US/Eastern
Link: Obama Refuses to Surrender Blackberry
Stephan: The article is frivolous in tone, but what Obama is trying to do -- to stay out of the ossified bubble of the post 70s presidencies -- is important, and I urge SR readers to make their opinion on this subject known. The President needs to be able to reach out, and for non-official people to reach in.