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New York Times / Ozier Muhammad
Sen. Barack Obama on his arrival at the Rochester Opera House in Rochester, N.H., in January 2008, BlackBerry in hand and chief strategist David Axelrod at his elbow.

Say Goodbye to BlackBerry? If Obama Has to, Yes He Can . Jeff Zeleny at NYTimes.com:

WASHINGTON -- Sorry, Mr. President. Please surrender your BlackBerry.

Those are seven words President-elect Barack Obama is dreading but expecting to hear, friends and advisers say, when he takes office in 65 days.

For years, like legions of other professionals, Mr. Obama has been all but addicted to his BlackBerry. The device has rarely been far from his side -- on most days, it was fastened to his belt -- to provide a singular conduit to the outside world as the bubble around him grew tighter and tighter throughout his campaign.

"How about that?" Mr. Obama replied to a friend's congratulatory e-mail message on the night of his victory.

But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas.

So what? It's called transparency.

Most of us have learned to practice discretion in our writing. Emily Post said you should never put in writing anything you didn't want to see on the front page of the newspaper. (Is this new to those who would confiscate your tools? Did mothers drill that only into their daughters?)

The technology exists to sniff and sift mail. The president cannot be kicked offline and handicapped by isolation.

Truly sensitive communications can happen on secure channels, with suitable protections.

When they come for your connectivity, just say no, sir. Tell them instead how you want it set up to avoid the obvious hacks, hoaxes and leaks. And if you want a backchannel, tell no one.

 Tags  BlackBerry connectivity Obama

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1 Comments

Sheryl roehl said:

Wonder how President-elect Obama will deal with the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms from his CrackBerry addiction? Read a tongue-in-cheek fantasy letter to the President-elect on how to cope (from one addict to another) at http://www.justmypointofview.wordpress.com.

Link | November 19, 2008 9:50 PM
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