More than a decade ago, I remember being warned that you should never put anything in an e-mail, unless you were prepared to read it on the front page of your local newspaper. Back to the present, the future of those daily newspapers looks rather shaky, but all the e-mails we’ve ever written seem to be destined to live forever.
In the U.S, improper use of e-mail is threatening to end the hopes of returning to the White House for Hillary Clinton. Please don’t let it be the Donald who wins next year.
Here in Canada, it’s those all important incriminating e-mails that are closing in on Stephen Harper as he campaigns to continue living at 24 Sussex Drive. As each day passes, and the circus trial of Mike Duffy continues, it’s becoming harder and harder for the Prime Minister to keep giving the same robo answers when those pesky reporters keep asking questions about how much he knew about that infamous $90,000 check from Nigel Wright. Will Ray Novak be the next one to not so quietly disappear from Harper’s inner circle ?
It makes you seriously wonder about the political smarts of the Harper machine. They must have known that all this would take over the news cycle when they opted to go for a marathon campaign of 11 weeks !
E-mail was a mode of communication that Diefenbaker and Pearson never had to worry about, nor Trudeau the First. Many Canadians under 40 years of age say they don’t even use it any more, opting instead for texting and tweating. Remember the good old days when a phone call was exciting ?
In the corridors of power it no longer works to say “I didn’t get around to reading that message” or “It must have fallen into my trash bin”. The lesson for all of us, think very carefully before you start tapping on that keyboard or smart device.
I’m Roger Currie
