Alter: Why Obama Should Keep His BlackBerry | Newsweek Voices - Jonathan Alter

Why Obama needs to stay plugged in

By Jonathan Alter | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Nov 18, 2008

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Barack Obama is under pressure to do so many things immediately upon taking office Jan. 20. What should be his very first act?

Keeping his BlackBerry.

That's right. Obama must keep that trusty PDA he has come to depend on, despite bogus "security" demands that he give it up.

Before Obama gets to "Yes, We Can," he has to start with "Yes, I Can." And the only way he can be successful in the presidency is if he can stay connected to the world beyond the "splendid isolation" of the presidency. To succeed, he must be constantly exposed to a wide variety of opinions—not just from advisers, experts, pundits and polls, but from his friends.

Obama's hero, Abraham Lincoln, called it "a public opinion bath." He got it corresponding with ordinary people and by flinging open the doors of the White House to anyone who wanted to come by for a visit. These "baths," Lincoln knew, were critical to his success.
Lincoln's approach doesn't work anymore. The world's too big. But technology now offers a way to circumvent the stifling chain of command and help a president get at least a little closer to the truth.

One question a lot of Texans ask these days is, "What happened to the George W. Bush we used to know?" The answer, in part, is that Bush foolishly listened to the security people who made him give up his e-mail account in 2001. The result was that old friends suddenly found they had no way to get through to the president. More than a few watched in horror as he drove the country over the cliff.

Now I'm not arguing that e-mail would have necessarily saved Bush from disaster. It's not as if Bush would have read a message from, say, Brent Scowcroft when the former adviser to Bush "41" was arguing in vain against the Iraq War. But maybe Scowcroft would not have had to infuriate Bush by going public in The Wall Street Journal if he had been able to get through to the president by e-mail. (Scowcroft's efforts to see the president personally were blocked by White House aides).

Or let's say that at a certain point in 2002, a dozen old friends—people he respected and knew had his interests at heart—had e-mailed Bush that he should give sanctions more time. Maybe it would have at least given him pause.

Isolation is the major occupational hazard of the job, wrote George Reedy, a former aide to LBJ, in his classic, "The Twilight of the Presidency." But what was once virtually unavoidable can now be eased by technology that every president should use.

I agree with Mr. Alter that Obama should keep his blackberry, but for a different reason:

I think that the most piercing insight that Barack Obama brought to the presidential campaign, a message that carried him through both the primaries and general election, was his dedication to the idea of "change." I can't help but believe that Obama embraced not only the idea that we as a nation must change, but that we all must embrace the idea of change itself.

If you think about all of the biggest problems that face our nation today, you will find that at their root is a resistance to change. Why is our nation facing an impending energy crisis? Because for the past 25 years, we've allowed the interests of Big Energy to dictate our policy, and they have remained obstinately wed to 20th century energy sources. Instead of spending their time and money on developing the future of energy science, they've used it to influence government not to invest in fostering the alternative technologies that will eventually make fossil fuels obsolete. Why is our car industry failing before our eyes? Because they have fought emissions standards instead of challenging themselves to get ahead of them, and engineer cars that will sell in the 21st century. Why is our economy failing? Because the rest of our nations commerce has followed suit, and focused more on creating a virtual economy in which we play with the money created from existing industries instead of maintaining our dedication to innovating real, tangible industries that will create real, lasting wealth for our nation.

If our country can take one lesson from the last 30 years, it's that there's no such thing as standing still in history -- you're either moving forward or falling behind. No matter what the issue is, the answer must always be forward-thinking. It might often seem easier to stick with what works, but it will always be worth it spend or endure a little more now to prepare for the future. That's where Obama's blackberry fits in: it might seem easier now to make him ditch it, but the blackberry, or rather, the technology it represents, isn't going anywhere. Taking his blackberry away might solve the problem for the present, but it does so only by resisting change. If Obama's campaign has taught us anything, it's that every American must welcome back the transformative spirit of change.

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Posted By: open4energy @ 07/01/2009 11:28:48 PM

Talking about the BlackBerry and energy saving

At least we do not need to be concerned about the energy being used by President Obama.

It consumes a mere 12,5 cents per year,

But here is the kicker, a typical user will waste $1,65, using their charger as a miniature heater while waiting for its device to return for the next charge.

Individually we may not see this as a problem, but it is a big issue in totality. We are pouring billions of $'s into the air on chargers playing heater ...

Please join us to to understand this issue, and put an end to this silly waste: http://open4energy.com/forum/hc/power/blackberry_charging
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Posted By: AshamedofYou @ 11/22/2008 10:42:16 AM

Obama should keep the Blackberry, how else is he going to successfully sling crack.
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Posted By: Special J @ 11/21/2008 5:29:53 PM

I agree with Mr. Alter that Obama should keep his blackberry, but for a different reason:

I think that the most piercing insight that Barack Obama brought to the presidential campaign, a message that carried him through both the primaries and general election, was his dedication to the idea of "change." I can't help but believe that Obama embraced not only the idea that we as a nation must change, but that we all must embrace the idea of change itself.

If you think about all of the biggest problems that face our nation today, you will find that at their root is a resistance to change. Why is our nation facing an impending energy crisis? Because for the past 25 years, we've allowed the interests of Big Energy to dictate our policy, and they have remained obstinately wed to 20th century energy sources. Instead of spending their time and money on developing the future of energy science, they've used it to influence government not to invest in fostering the alternative technologies that will eventually make fossil fuels obsolete. Why is our car industry failing before our eyes? Because they have fought emissions standards instead of challenging themselves to get ahead of them, and engineer cars that will sell in the 21st century. Why is our economy failing? Because the rest of our nations commerce has followed suit, and focused more on creating a virtual economy in which we play with the money created from existing industries instead of maintaining our dedication to innovating real, tangible industries that will create real, lasting wealth for our nation.

If our country can take one lesson from the last 30 years, it's that there's no such thing as standing still in history -- you're either moving forward or falling behind. No matter what the issue is, the answer must always be forward-thinking. It might often seem easier to stick with what works, but it will always be worth it spend or endure a little more now to prepare for the future. That's where Obama's blackberry fits in: it might seem easier now to make him ditch it, but the blackberry, or rather, the technology it represents, isn't going anywhere. Taking his blackberry away might solve the problem for the present, but it does so only by resisting change. If Obama's campaign has taught us anything, it's that every American must welcome back the transformative spirit of change.