Technologically Challenged

Sometimes you have to look at the little signs to get a hint of the thought processes that control state government.

From the Herald-Leader:

Gov. Steve Beshear, who replaced Fletcher in December, doesn't have a government e-mail account. He said he prefers his official communications to be in person or by telephone.

Beshear said he decided not to use government e-mail in part so that he wouldn't be exposed to the possibility of mixing personal and official communications.

"You've always got to be careful not to step over that line, and the easiest way from an e-mail standpoint not to step over that line is to not even have a government e-mail," he said.

Now I understand Beshear’s reluctance to use email. After all Ernie Fletcher was, in part, undone by email and so to some extent were Paul Patton and Steve Henry.

I’m also sure that in his law practice Beshear had a minion to do any necessary emailing.

But a few questions come to mind:

Is the Governor, like many of his generation, just email challenged?

Do the Governor’s official or personal communications contain something he doesn’t want to be subject to open records requests?

Does the Governor believe that just because he doesn’t use email his administration is bullet proof when it comes to scandals documented by email? If he wants to do that, then he needs to ban email statewide and cut all links between state government and the Internet.

I guess the real question comes down to whether the Governor is technologically ignorant or if he wants to make sure that any back room deals he makes don’t blow up in his face.

Neither answer looks good for this administration or the Commonwealth.