The new US first family settled into their new lives in the White House on Thursday as US President Barack Obama won an important personal victory: He can keep his BlackBerry communicator.
Obama will be the first sitting president to use e-mail, and he has been reluctant to part with his ever-present handheld device.
Its use will be limited to keeping in touch with senior staff and personal friends, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
And though Gibbs said Obama had to ask at one point where to go next in his “pretty big house,” he also said the president was enjoying living above the shop and had time for dinner with the family on Wednesday.
“I think that obviously means a lot to him as a father,” Gibbs said.
It was back to business for daughters Sasha and Malia, too, who returned to the private Sidwell Friends School on Thursday.
The girls were allowed to play hooky on Wednesday after a late-night scavenger hunt at the White House that ended when they opened a door and found their favorite band, the Jonas Brothers.
But two days of frivolity was, apparently, enough. First lady Michelle Obama had no public schedule for the rest of the week as she helped the girls adjust, said Mrs Obama’s spokeswoman, Katie McCormick Lelyveld.
“Her primary focus this week is getting the kids settled. She is focused entirely on getting unpacked and getting the kids up and running,” McCormick Lelyveld said.
Both girls were excited to get their rooms set up, McCormick Lelyveld said. Mrs Obama has worked hard throughout the transition to maintain a strong routine for Sasha, seven, and Malia, 10.
“I know the family’s moved now three times in only a few weeks. But if you know them and you know their family, they’ve had a routine for a long time,” Gibbs said. “This is a monumental testament to Michelle.”
The monumental testament to her husband? He won the BlackBerry battle.
Gibbs joked that the development was “almost as exciting as the presidential dog.” He poked fun at the White House press corps for stirring at the news during his briefing: “Let’s make sure the pen still works.”
But the BlackBerry victory is a big concession. Obama said earlier that he was working with the Secret Service, lawyers and White House staff to keep the device.
Gibbs said the president would limit its use and that security had been enhanced. Only a small number of senior staff members and personal friends would be given his e-mail address.
Previous presidents chose not to use e-mail because it can be subpoenaed by Congress and courts and may be subject to public records laws. And Gibbs said the presumption from the White House counsel’s office is that Obama’s e-mails will be subject to the Presidential Records Act, which requires the National Archives to preserve presidential records.
He also said, however, that exceptions are made for “strictly personal communications.”
Obama has been seen often checking his e-mail on his handheld device, even when it meant getting his hands slapped by Michelle during his daughter’s soccer game.
Former US presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did not e-mail while in office, although Bush was an active e-mailer before becoming president.
That was before the era of the BlackBerry, a device now ubiquitous in Washington and precious to Obama.
When asked during the campaign about his worst habit, Obama said: “Checking my BlackBerry.”
Gibbs said the president believes that using the device is an effective way to keep in touch with people without “getting stuck in a bubble.”
Those who have access to the president’s e-mail will be briefed about appropriate communications, Gibbs said.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS