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Back to the Article » OBAMA 'STILL CLINGING' TO HIS BLACKBERRY: President-elect not trying to give it up.

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Name: Reds

Comment: “Obama is being advised for security reasons and his own legal protection to refrain from sending e-mail during his presidency.”… Is there a double standard, unwillingness to accept technology, or even a racial motivation behind this controversy? The argument just doesn’t hold any legitimacy … For a long time, I wondered what’s the real difference in using a BlackBerry vs. a laptop or desktop. So it is not a question of device, but sending emails, period. From my recollection, there were numerous instances where Bush administration officials were accused of routing emails through various RNC accounts. These were not just personal emails, but correspondence relating to government affairs. So maybe Bush himself wasn’t implicated, but extremely close cohorts, such as Karl Rove and Cheney were. The argument here is that the president himself should not be using emails for security reasons, so why should the vice president be allowed to. … OK, what about a cell phone? The argument against using personal emails should also be used against making personal phone calls. Those can also be intercepted and pose a security risk. But hold on, if the president using emails and making phone calls pose a security risk, what about his security detail. Their use of such “advanced technology” should also pose a security risk. … Obama is not stupid. He sees where this entire bs is coming from. Someone wants the life of the first black POTUS to be as miserable as possible. As a lawyer, he can also see that it shouldn’t be that difficult to mount a legal challenge against this senseless argument. There is just no supporting logic for it to withstand any serious legal scrutiny.

Name: HarrisThomas

Comment: Obama is trying to keep the presidential bubble from forming around him where he is shut out of diversity of viewpoints and he views his smartphone as a vehicle to keeping in touch however he chooses to do so . . . . . if the prez has access to other 21st century technologies to conduct his business, then he may as well have access to a smartphone

Name: Reds

Comment: HarrisThomas: “if the prez has access to other 21st century technologies to conduct his business, then he may as well have access to a smartphone”… My point exactly. A smartphone is just a hybrid between a phone and a laptop. If you can’t use a smartphone for personal (non-government) communications, then you shouldn’t be able to use either a phone or a computer, individually. Hold on, so does this means that we are back in the stone age of word of mouth, written on paper, or using a courier to communicate. This shyt is hilariously stupid.

Name: Exmun

Comment: Reds/HT, I don't believe that its an attempt by the Secret Service to limit the availability of information, it's a public records issue. Technically, emails sent by the president "may" be subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the executive branch might at some time be forced to make some of the President's emails available publicly. That's the real issue. So the failsafe way of controlling what documents are confidential and which are not is to prevent the President from having email-capable devices like Blackberrys.

Name: Reds

Comment: Exmun: “its an attempt by the Secret Service to limit the availability of information” … But what information are we talking about? Obama wants to use his BlackBerry for non-government communication with friends and families. The same thing Bush would do when he picks up a cell phone or land lined phone to call his dad. If you can use a phone to send a voice message, then why can’t you use the same phone to send a text message. Ok, so If you can send a text message by phone to friends and families, why not use a Blackberry to send a non-government email message to friends and families also. An email on a BlackBerry is exactly the same as a text message on a cell phone.

Name: Reds

Comment: An email on a BlackBerry, a text message on a cell phone, or even a voicemail on a land lined or cell phone is going to pose the same security risk. So basically, the president has no way to communicate with friends and families using any modern technology. Maybe Obama and his family better start learning Morse code.

Name: musbdherbs

Comment: Obama let the damn blackberry go. Less headache for people to worry about.

Name: HarrisThomas

Comment: using a smartphone creates a public records issue as though a tech savvy prez won't be using latest technology computers and phones separately? . . . . . I agree that a prez has to be aware of public records issues but I really don't see how using a smartphone creates greater issues than the use of computers and phones separately just because the smartphone is a blend of phone and computer communications . . . . . I sincerely hope that presidential communications are secure no matter the medium

Name: HarrisThomas

Comment: silly me: maybe folks are more comfortable having the president use the Jitter Bug cell phone IF cell phone use is permissible

Name: Quietstorm16

Comment: I am going to have to agree with Musb and Emun. Ask Kwuame Kilpatrick - former mayor of Detroit- how much privacy a public official has on a Blackberry. News outlets will be suing every time you turn around to figure out what he is texting.

Name: HarrisThomas

Comment: presidential communications are not on the same level as mayoral communications, however, in both instances, the writer needs to be mindful that the information may be requested/required to be exposed to public scrutiny . . . . . frequently, presidential communications are not available even under FOIA because the writer tends to claim national security classification

Name: shulamite

Comment: I agree musb... give up the blackberry.

Name: honey

Comment: he shouldn't be sending personal messages to family and friends on his government-issued Blackberry, just like YOU should not be making personal calls on company phone, sending personal messages on your business e-mail, Blackberry or personal account on business computer. all of those communications are property of the business/government. my boss is reading my co-worker's e-mail where she calls him an @$$hole right now. true story.

Name: Reds

Comment: Honey: “he shouldn't be sending personal messages to family and friends on his government-issued Blackberry”… I’m pretty sure that the issue is with Obama’s personal BlackBerry account, the same one he has been using long before he started running for the presidency.

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Back to the Article » OBAMA 'STILL CLINGING' TO HIS BLACKBERRY: President-elect not trying to give it up.

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