(CNN) � Barack Obama faces a host of challenges when he assumes the Oval Office later this month, but the hardest personally for the president-elect might just be relinquishing his cherished BlackBerry.
Those who follow Obama on a regular basis know the president-elect is constantly on the addictive e-mail device. But the Secret Service, as well as Obama lawyers, are concerned it could easily be hacked and are demanding the new president hand over the BlackBerry before he moves into the White House.
But in an interview with CNBC Wednesday, Obama made clear he's not giving it up without a fight.
"They're going to pry it out of my hands," the president-elect said.
"You know, this town's full of lawyers. I don't know if you've noticed�and they have a lot opinions. And so I'm still in a scuffle around that, but it�look, it's the hardest thing about being president. How do you stay in touch with the flow of everyday life," he added.
The Secret Service also made President Bush give up e-mail when he assumed the presidency, and former President Clinton, during whose term e-mail became widely-used, sent a grand total of two e-mails while president � one as a test to see if it worked and the second to former Sen. and astronaut John Glenn before he went back into space in 1998.
But in the interview Wednesday, Obama suggested keeping his BlackBerry is one way he could stay connected to the real world.
"I've got to look for every opportunity to do that � ways that aren't scripted, ways that aren't controlled, ways where, you know, people aren't just complimenting you or standing up when you enter into a room, ways of staying grounded," he said.
Can't wait for a video of the secret service tackling him and forcibly taking his blackberry, telling him "its for the good of the country". You know that they are going to have to pry it from his hands.
Would be impossible for to me to give it up, can't even go one day without it
The fact that Barack is having a hard time parting with it, is evidence that it's a seriously addictive device. I'm not so sure I need to get one, now!
Trust me, Barack will lose the fight. He will give up his Blackberry and that's it...
Severe: I'm not so sure he'd lose . . . though he may give it up to avoid the fight.
I know several several federal judges - at the trial and appellate levels - who use their BB's for work AND personal purposes.
Just try taking their BBs from them . . . they hold their offices for life. And while their BBs *may* not be 100% secure, it's not a *crime* or (at the end of the day) an impeachable offense for them to use their BBs.
In turn, it's hard to imagine *them* ordering the President to give his up.
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Last edited by Reed McLay; 01-09-09 at 11:39 AM.
Reason: Mod discretion
It's not about the security of the device, or the device itself for that matter. It's about emails in general. It's about not having emails from the President that could be subpeona.
Well I have a Q? Can you install a firewall on a blackberry lol or the server it uses. With that said I know that wouldn't secure enough to just let him keep it. But my point being could you make it to only be used *** say reading RSS, and organizer, planer, alarm, crippling it in a sence, to only use it for certain things.
No emails or calls no BBM or texts,
And for heavens sake no twitter lol we don't need him telling everyone his where abouts..
I could see it now
Daprezz BO. is now at a starbucks wondering how many expresos to wake me up and lead this country.
Well turning a BB into a toy seems sac-religous but I have no other ideas
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
For those that don't work for the government BES deals with Security. They can clamp down on a BB to have it receive and send messages only if they like.
The problem lies when he is in a meeting, particularly those meetings that involve high level talks. NO ONE is allowed to have any type of communications devices on their person. For fear of links.
Now I ask you all do you want the surgeon operating on you to get a text/email/phone call while doing the surgery -- I don't think so there is the other problem, he is working on something so important that causes him to be interrupted and lose concentration. Again I don't think you do.
So in closing he will get use to it and beside he will always have someone who can hand him a piece of paper with a note from his wife or kids. In 4 or 8 years he can have his BB back.
For those that don't work for the government BES deals with Security. They can clamp down on a BB to have it receive and send messages only if they like.
The problem lies when he is in a meeting, particularly those meetings that involve high level talks. NO ONE is allowed to have any type of communications devices on their person. For fear of links.
Now I ask you all do you want the surgeon operating on you to get a text/email/phone call while doing the surgery -- I don't think so there is the other problem, he is working on something so important that causes him to be interrupted and lose concentration. Again I don't think you do.
So in closing he will get use to it and beside he will always have someone who can hand him a piece of paper with a note from his wife or kids. In 4 or 8 years he can have his BB back.
I hardly think that President requires the same intensive train of thought as a "surgeon" - certainly NOT on 24/7/365. Every day and every moment is NOT DefCon 5 at the Whitehouse.
Besides, the man has shown an ability to multi-task.
If judges (both state and federal) can be using their computers (and BBs) on the bench to send/recieve messages from their law clerks, courtroom deputies, etc. - while presiding over a trial - I think the President can handle the "distractions" from a BB just fine. It still has an "off" button on it.
The fact that Barack is having a hard time parting with it, is evidence that it's a seriously addictive device. I'm not so sure I need to get one, now!
It's definitely an addiction, not a bad one though imo, sure the rest of the fiends here will agree with me on that one lol
I believe most, if not all, of what the President writes is open to public inspection. When you request documents under the Freedom of Information Act, the government agency responsible for custody of those documents will didact (black out) those things that can't be disclosed. This can't be done if the President sends an email to someone. It's all about control.
I think it's crazy that the SS and the lawyers give him credit for having brains of cheese whiz. The man is not going to e-mail sensitive data. He's already stated that he wants to keep it in order to keep informed without having everything filtered before it reaches him.
I believe most, if not all, of what the President writes is open to public inspection. When you request documents under the Freedom of Information Act, the government agency responsible for custody of those documents will didact (black out) those things that can't be disclosed. This can't be done if the President sends an email to someone. It's all about control.
Come on now, do you really think you can get a copy of the brief the President's own notes of a meeting with Hamas or Jerusalem under FOIA? (Answer: no).
Records *retention* for *later* disclosure (if not sealed/sensitive) is a problem, but not unsolvable. Emails don't simply vanish into thin air because you've deleted them from your mailbox.
Since I'm no techie, I'm not 100% sure, but since PIN to PIN messaging is device to device, so records retention *might* be an issue there.
Missouri's governor got in trouble for using his *personal* email to conduct government business. It had the *appearance* (whether intended or not) of trying to bypass a state law requiring that government business be conducted via government email channels (so the records would be retained and/or subject to inspection).
Democracy needs *some* level of transparency with its Government - so we know what information our Govt. officials had, where they got it, etc. - so we can judge whether they're acting appropriately (or just taking bribes under the table). That is why record keeping and record retention is important.
