The president-elect is surely familiar with the stages of grief from that time he recently "quit" sweet, luscious cigarettes, forever. Sad, then, that several weeks after he was elected, Barack Obama is still in the "bargaining" stage about losing his Blackberry, which presidents aren't allowed to have, because then the laws would work as they are intended to and the public would know what they're up to. Barbara Walters recently asked Obama about losing the email device, and he laughed to hide the tears (next grief stage: "depression"), and said he's in talks to keep his precious 'berry:
I, you know, one of the things that I'm going to have to work through is how to break through the isolation ... the bubble that exists around the president. And I'm in the process of negotiating with the Secret Service, with lawyers, with White House staff ...
WALTERS: You might have a Blackberry?
OBAMA: Well, I'm, I'm negotiating to figure out how can I get information from outside of the 10 or 12 people who surround my office in the White House. Because, one of the worst things I think that could happen to a president is losing touch with what people are going through day to day.
The leader of the free world is "negotiating" with his subordinates (including the Secret Service, WTF?) to keep his precious 'berry. For the good of, uh, the people. Not to feed any sort of habit, mind you! He could quit if he wanted to! Yes, he could!
A source tells us that Hollywood Insider host and booze hound