President-elect Barack Obama is having a tough time giving up his BlackBerry. For security reasons (both the Secret Service and Obama's legal team are worried his device will get hacked) he has been asked to 'give it up'... But as we all know, letting go of one of a communication tool as effective as a BlackBerry could/is a hard thing to do.
When asked to comment on the situation, Obama replied:
"They're going to pry it out of my hands...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..."
Looks like he's not going to give up his CrackBerry without a tussle. Gotta love the guy.
Note: Now that I think of it, I remember noticing this video of Barack Obama taking a vacation in Hawaii. He was on the driving range before a round of golf. You'll notice at 1:45 he takes a swing, and the BlackBerry goes flying out of its holster. Good stuff. I've done that before!
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61 comments
Our presidents need to be able to have their BB's and their laptops and email. When are we going to let our president stay in the same century as regular Americans? We want him to run our country, but run it the same way we did in the 70's before all the technology we have now. We are asking someone that is supposed to lead our country to step back in time and run it with sticks and stones. He understands the risks, and is willing to take them, he should be allowed to do so.
Haha, I thought that video was cute. I've also done that before.
Even though I'm Republican and voted for McCain, I do feel bad for Obama. :( No way in hell would I be president if it meant giving up my crackberry! I really hope he gets to keep it in the end.
Don't have to love the guy, but can respect the addiction.
Although I did not vote for Mr. Obama I think him keeping is BB is a good idea. If a BB is good enough for him to use as a Senator then why not as President? Think about it, the government works on two separate networks, NIPR(unclassified) and SIPR (classified). All classified communications would have to still be processed on a SIPR terminal and these two networks are kept separate by several different ways. So his BB would never get any sort of classified documents sent to it. So if a BB is good enough for all of us to have, then why not the man that holds the highest seat in the land?
He is constantly surrounded by a staff of people that are esentially, for lack of a better phrase, "PeopleBerry's"... they're walking talking Blackberry's standing over his shoulder 24x7x365 with the sole purpose to tell the president anything and everything he could possibly need to know.
I highly doubt that he could get anything accomplished quicker with a Blackberry then he could just speaking to the person who is constantly right next to him.
Not to knock the berry... you'd have to pry it out of my fingers too... but it's easy to make the case that the President doesn't NEED one, or that the risk of carrying one outweights the benefits.
his reasoning for wanting to keep it is more for keeping in touch with his friends and comrades, rather getting a lot of presidential business done.
maybe they can just let him keep one that doesn't have network abilities... so he can get a few levels of BrickBreaker in when he's bored!
As our next commander in chief (scary thought) I think kicking his smoking habit is slightly more important than kicking his blackberry habit :)
Someone should send the guy a new blackberry! RIM??
make it a special edition BB - president style!
lol!
They probably don't want him to have one b/c of the possibility of his positioning being tracked and compromising his safety. I am sure RIM and and the U.S. Gov't can make it safe information wise since Blackberrys were created specifically for government use.
Oh sure. Just because he's the president (to be) he thinks he can use his phone while on a plane....:)
lol. I absolutely agree. I say he gets first dibs on the Niagara, considering the BB that he's using now is the current World Edition.
Thats a change I can believe in. haha.
They can pry my BB (and my guns) out of my cold, dead hands! Now he knows how a lot of us feel!
When times get tough, I also "cling" to my BB to help me out. Go figure...
Ah get over it! He didnt pry anything from your hands. More than anything he's workin' his butt off to put some money in your hands.
The messiah is working hard to figure out ways to take away and redistribute your income. Like any good socialist he is looking for ways to control the middle class and give up our liberty in exchange for false promises.
The American capitalist system is the reason so many of us are able to afford BB's. As far as the 'chosen one' retaining his BB.... he should do what is in the best interests of national security.
NoBama can take a long walk off a short pier!
what are you waiting for? show him how it's done!
I'm not sure how it works for you, but I put money in my hands, not the government! I'll give the guy a chance...perhaps he will limit the amount of redistribution that comes from me and goes to you.
But, back on topic... I'm sure we all feel the same way he does when it comes to our devices.
lol. wow. Redistribution that comes from you and goes to me??? What I was referring to was the economy, and him drawing out a plan so that WE ALL AS AMERICANS can get our finances back to normal. Chill with the assumptions. I DO QUITE WELL ACTUALLY.
good point made. whether you agree or not isn't the point. He has now been voted in, so give him a chance to show us his change!
I hope he gets to keep his blackberry. I know it would be devastating for me if I couldn't use my blackberry.
I've done some work in partnership with the White House. I can tell you that most 'in the know' staffmembers carry BlackBerrys. I can see not wanting 'the man in charge' to have a unit tied to a public server (ie: wireless carrier)... But as for BBs and VIPs at the White House, it's like Peas and Carrots. :)
Instead of the security staff telling the president what he can and cannot carry, I have a better idea:
Executive Order #BO44-1
The president may carry a smart phone of his or her choosing. The security staff shall assist the president in making it secure.
Who's in charge, after all?!
all of these non believers seem to think that he is in this alone. I agree, let the security do their job, and give him a chance, after all, this country does need change!!!!
Cute picture, Pres Obama!!! :)
So what model BB does he have? Curve? Bold?
According to his golfing video when his Berry fell off... I believe it's an 8830 (World Edition).
Who cares?
They should just let him keep it...Everyone, including the President, should have a Blackberry....LONG LIVE CRACKBERRY~~!!
NOBAMA...More than the amount of people who care about your Mother not swallowing YOU!!!!
dammit.. why the f@ck does everyone turn into southern rednecks when we discuss the presidents BLACKBERRY.. its a discussion ON HIS BLACKBERRY.. keep your PERSONAL comments on how you think he will do as president TO YOURSELF!
if you want to discuss that go to a POLITICAL forum.. you make this place suck for everyone else...
if you notice, the guys username is modeled after a tv show about mobsters and the rest of the stupid comment are anonymous. i'm sure we're dealing with geniuses here.
I am not a redneck and live in New England. Many of us feel very strongly about national security, personal liberty and capitalism/free enterprise.
If having BB represents a national security risk then the messiah shouldn't have one. Also as a taxpayer I resent the fact that public money will be spent buiding a legal case for him to be able us his sacred BB. The amount of money that will have to spent to ensure his BB communications secure will also be courtesy of every taxpayer.
There are also crackberry users on this website that see issues beyond the BB. This president-elect has not demonstrated a concern for many issues that are important.
Also if the only way someone can get a point across is by posting a MASKED EXPLETIVE F@CK then they have no credibility
I really don't care if you like how i worded my post or not.
My point was that I'm here to read about blackberrys, not everyones opinion on wether or not the think obama is a lousy president.
Oh yes, lets change his name to Nobama.. that's mature. what are we? in grade school again?
If I want to read political views on people and retarded comments I wouldn't come to a blackberry site.. this ruins it for alot of people, not just myself.
Obviously you don't understand the broader ramifications of communication devices and there use in sensitive areas.
As I said when you have to use 'masked expletives' then you don't have any credibility
I just realized that obviously YOU have absolutely no clue what I'm actually talking about!
But if you feel the need to continually respond, then by all means, the floor is yours.
I agree completely. Keep your comments to yourself unless you are in a political forum, with the exception of you, for you did make an extremely good point!!
I agree 100%
Not a big Obama fan but you got to respect anybody that fights for their BB!!
Actually...Obama makes this country suck for everyone else...
According to a NYT article the reasons go deeper than just having his account hacked.
"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. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful."
One possibility is that he might continue to receive emails but not respond to them, though the consensus seems to be that he'll stop using e-mail altogether.
I understand the need to err on the side of caution when it comes to protecting a president's emails from hackers, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Barack Obama will support the use of technology as much as possible during his administration. Still, I can't help but think that it's weird that the next President of the United States might not use e-mail, or whatever other form of electronic communication is popular during his time in office.
Sure he can keep it. After all, National Security has never been a concern of his. Why should he start caring about it now?
HAHA!!! That is so true.
From the whitehouse website itself.
Automated Records Management System (ARMS)
Acronym: ARMS
Originator: Office of Administration, Information Systems & Technology
Department/Agency Name: Office of Administration
Major Organizational Subdivision: Chief Information Officer, Information Systems & Technology
LOCAL SUBJECT INDEX:
LOCAL SUBJECT TERM: US Federal GILS
ABSTRACT: Serves as an internal storage for capturing "e-mail" messages created and received by offices and councils within the Executive Office of the President.
PURPOSE: To store "e-mail" messages created and received by agencies and offices within the Executive Office of the President.
The already have a way to keep track of all emails and if it is not working correctly maybe they should get a Barracuda Message Archiver
http://www.barracudanetworks.com/ns/products/archiver-features.php
If you've scanned through the commentary articles on CNN today, you may have caught this little ed-op piece regarding the President-Elect's obsession with tiny technology.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/08/begala.blackberry/index.html
dont give it up, fight the fight
With Documents To Go, he can use Sheet To Go to make a spreadsheet to figure how he will rob working Americans to give to the non-working. He can then use Word To Go to keep up with all the lies he spews. Or maybe those award winning speech writers can hit him up with a few footnotes and he can use his BB as a mini-teleprompter. That way, I wouldn't have to hear "uhhhh" or "ummm" 45123412351254 times in his conversations. He can set alarms in his calendar for important meetings with felons, terrorists, and assorted unsavory accomplices. You know, nice people like Aires, Blagojevich, Khalidi, Wright, Resko, ect., ect.
ok, but how did we get so many unemployed? from Bush, so let's give Obama a chance and see the change so that there may be a chance for the unemployed non-elitist's to become employed again.
Honestly, crackberries are great and all, don't get me wrong, but seriously, what's more important? It's no longer a case of just letting a guy play a couple games of brickbreaker, it's a case of national security. I don't think many people understand the serious nature of the situation. Yeah, it's fun and cool to see a guy who loves his blackberry, but you've got to be rational and weigh to benefits with the risks. Let's all sit down and think, is it really worth jeopardizing the safety of the president (and the entire country) just for this?