Make Government Cool, Give Obama His 'Berry

Slate has a fun piece about the irony of President-Elect Barack Obama having to give up his BlackBerry because of security reasons. After his campaign "played social media like a fiddle while coordinating field operations via text message, e-mail blast, and iPhone app," he now finds himself "required to govern like [he's] in the 19th century," writes author Michael Agger.

He laments that "this techno-awkwardness in the highest office brings up uncomfortable associations: an FBI with crappy computers, a government that seems backward, remote, and useless. You don't need to be a computer lover to see that smooth information flow might be a help in tackling the complexity of the financial crisis, Iraq, Afghanistan, education, and health care."

Agger writes that Obama should set the pace for feds and be allowed to keep his 'Berry so he can show that "here is a government that is accessible, capable, and efficient."