Clinton wrote only two e-mails while in office

[freespeechhere]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/28/clinton.email.reut/index.html

Bush doesn't do e-mail either.
Probably doesn't know how.

Unbelievable.

[TSElliott]

1. It's not to unbelievable.

Any e-mail that is sent by the President would become public record and available for all to read.

[trogdor]

9. How many executives send their own emails?

One would think this would be the job of one of his secretaries.

[PVnRT]

21. Exactly

Any email from the president would actually come from the secretary - that's how it works everywhere. I don't see why this is a big deal.

[beyurslf]

2. The article doesn't say the Bush doesn't send emails.

It just says the the president of the CLinton library doesn't think Bush does.

[SoCalDem]

3. It's really kind of sad..

The diaries of long dead people often lend humanity to them and let people of the future peek back into a long gone time.. Modern day presidents are afraid to write their thoughts down, for fear that an overly zealous prosecutor or his enemies will subpoaena them and use them against him.. I wish they could "time capsule" the private writings of presidents.. seal them away, and after they have been dead for say 50 years, open them up..

The writings of their official stuff is different.. that needs to be aired out ASAP.. The president is our EMPLOYEE, and we have a right to know what he has done in our names.. We need to know it sooner rather than later..

It's obsecene that we have not seen(and probably won't see)Reagan's papers or Bush1's..

I think *'s coronation was as much for THAT reasn as any.. Those records were due to be released, and if Gore had been allowed to be inaugurated, they WOULD have been opened.. By now they have surely been "sanitized for our protection".. What has been excised will never be known..

[oostevo]

11. Umm ...

"I wish they could "time capsule" the private writings of presidents.. seal them away, and after they have been dead for say 50 years, open them up.."

Isn't that what classification is for? I'm sure presidents could work out how to classify their documents.

[SoCalDem]

16. Classification for "official" documents, but for personal it should be

different..

Think about it.. They have the most important job in the owrld.. They meet interesting people every day.. They go everywhere in the world.. Wouldn't it be fun to read a personal diary of a president from waaay back..?? If it was a truly candid oone it could be delicious.. They always have to put on a "happy face" when they receive foreign dignitaries, but wouldn't it be fun to read what they really thought of them.. or of the senators & congresspeople they dealt with..

I think a lot of them self-censor because they are afraid of having them come out too soon, and that they might embarrass their families..

[jmowreader]

4. How many business letters is the CEO supposed to type?

E-mail is the business letter of tomorrow; why the hell would Clinton be writing these?

[freespeechhere]

5. E-mail is also the #1 communicative tool of the time...

as is evidenced by this very forum.

I find it hard to believe, especially since Al Gore invented the Internet, that Clinton could only find time to write two e-mails during his 8 year tenure as President. I'm not dissing him on any other issue...just this one.

[qanda]

13. "Al Gore invented the internet"

Who are you trying to fool by repeating that blatant lie?

I wonder what the policy is on the President sending e-mails. It may be that it's not a secure medium and something that national security advisors frown upon. I don't know, but it would make perfect sense to me.

[freespeechhere]

15. It was a joke....

Geez.

[qanda]

17. Sorry

The internet doesn't do sarcasm well.

[bleedingheart]

23. We have no clue whether or not Clinton had an aol or hotmail account

perhaps he just didn't send his email using his official @gov account...

Oh and Al Gore was one of the only people with enough forethought to push for funding for what would become the Internet!

[0rganism]

24. How is this forum evidence of e-mail's utility?

We're not even using the same protocol!

BBS tech and e-mail are separate and distinct entities.

We don't know if Bill Clinton used IRC chat.

We don't know if Bill Clinton posts to forums. Hell, he could be posting here right now, and you wouldn't even know about it.

[Toots]

6. Maybe to his daughter or wife

:shrug: sure comes in handy for me.

[spindoctor]

7. There is an actual WH policy against it

I don't remember what the reason behind it was or when it took effect though (thats helpfull, isn't it?).

[Robin Hood]

8. I read that and was blown away as well, Also Hillary said that she uses a

When Hillary was pushing her book, I think she was on Letterman when she said that she likes to use a paper pad and pencil. My wife and I were blown away. I mean come on!! You and your husbands admin is responsible for the tech boom and he only sends two emails and you're still using a paper pad and pencil.

Their lack of tech savy left a weird taste in our mouths. I guess that it was Al Gore who brought us the Internet. Maybe Kerry can bring it back.

[kskiska]

10. I just read where Clinton is writing his book

in longhand on a pad.

I remember an account of * saying when he was installed in the W.H. that he would miss sending e-mails now. Apparently, as evidenced by the Clinton Admin., they can be subpoenoed at some point and these people would never want to be in that position.

[LiberalFighter]

28. Just emails?

The diary logs can be subpoena.
Anything written down can be subpoena.
Video tapes can be supoena.

Nixon's tapes were subpoenaed.

[LiberalFighter]

26. Paper pad and pencil is handier

When you are attending an event.. riding in the car.. at a meeting.. easier to use low tech material.

Also faster!

It is a matter of utilizing the tools to their best potential.

[0rganism]

12. Honestly, who the hell cares?

Above all, Clinton DID HIS JOB. Even while getting a blowjob, he was able to conduct negotiations with Arafat. Clinton, for better or worse, was right there in the middle of things, triangulating his arse off on behalf of the people and special interest groups of America. I don't care if he ran his numbers with an abacus and wrote office memos on stone tablets, he got the job done. If he sent 2 e-mails, well, that's a bit of insignificant historical trivia.

The current occupant, in contrast, has already taken more vacation days than any president in my lifetime, perhaps in recorded history. He's also given 11 press conferences, that's a THIRD of what Clinton racked up in 3 years. bush shows ZERO understanding or interest in policy of any sort, foreign or domestic. All he knows is fundraising and image, and every aspect of our society has suffered for it. Except that's not historical trivia, it's CURRENT EVENTS.

If the so-called liberal media would give that the same kind of coverage as Clinton's e-mail habits, we'd see some changes at the top.

[freespeechhere]

14. It is a piece of insignificant historical trivia...

isn't it?
But indulge me for a moment and imagine what it would have been like if President McKinley didn't use the newly invented telephone, or Theodore Roosevelt decided not to ride in the newly invented car.

What is it about e-mail and the technological age that is so intimidating and inhibitive?

We are at a plateau in human development and it's time to embrace our destiny...we're a long way from the abacus, brother.

[0rganism]

19. E-mail didn't really come into it's own until 1996

I remember the beginnings well, back in the late '80s, bouncing e-mail around on the college vaxen. It was a geekly passion, not something you did if you were more interested in getting laid. I certainly wouldn't have been disappointed in anyone who preferred to use a telephone or a fax at that time.

Then, in the mid-90s, well after Clinton was elected, on-line forums evolved out of their primitive BBS stage, and people wanted to "get connected." The first GUI web browsers appeared at about that time (remember mosaic?), and web content was heavily weighted towards sciences and video games. Maybe Clinton had other things on his mind, like getting things done the best way he knew how? And he did send a couple e-mails, but perhaps it was relatively inefficient for him at the time, maybe he was a slow typist.

Right now, the techno craze is multimedia messaging with cell phones; personally, I don't even want the president wasting his time with that crap. I don't care if he's played the latest X-Box games, I don't care if he can ride a segway (which he can't), I don't care if he takes notes on a blackberry PDA. What matters is, can he pay attention in conferences with his cabinet? Can he conduct delicate diplomatic missions? Can he comprehend extensive background briefings on complicated situations? Can he oversee his appointees, and keep them from instituting policies that degrade quality of life or international esteem?

THOSE are the things that matter. I don't care if Teddy Roosevelt rode in a car twice or two thousand times; what matters to his legacy is that he started the national park system, busted up resource monopolies, and oversaw a foreign policy capable of promoting both international peace and American empire. His personal embrace of the latest technologies is a footnote, as it should be.

[freespeechhere]

20. So I guess the Dot Com boom of Clinton's presidency

Is an insignificant footnote, as well?

I agree with everything you're saying but my point is that e-mail and the technologies inherent in the Age are what is going to move this country forward...look at what all of you people are accomplishing every day on the Internet by simply communicating with free speech, ideas, and expression through an electronic medium. This is revolutionary.

I think when history looks back and sees that Clinton only left behind two e-mails it will look simply ridiculous -- anamolous at the very least. You can say it doesn't amount to a hill of beans if he did his job right and that's fine BUT I contend that...

If Bush Boy isn't sending any e-mail, it will be further testament to how really out of touch he is....

[0rganism]

22. Clinton's e-mail address was Dot Gov anyway

The economic policies that made the boom possible will indeed be part of Clinton's legacy, and they'll be especially entertaining in contrast to those of the current fuck-up.

Frankly, given the way the senate Democrats have been hacked by GOP staffers (Sen. Frist's web server was just siezed by the cops this week), Clinton's reluctance to use e-mail could be seen as a prudent security measure.

[1a2b3c]

18. Its hard to type when you got an intern under you desk

Or so ive been told. :-)

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LiberalFighter]

25. And monkey boy doesn't read newspapers either.

Couldn't possibly read novels.
Couldn't possibly read the Bible.
Couldn't possibly read the Constitution.
Couldn't possibly read the Bill of Rights.

He probably could read the stats on baseball cards.

[Catherine Vincent]

27. Oh Please!

Nobody is goanna give a damn if former President Clinton used email or not....except maybe YOU! Give me a break!