Obama's new loneliness

I found this article from the New York Times very interesting.  A short excerpt:

For years, like legions of other professionals, Mr. Obama has been all but addicted to his BlackBerry. The device has rarely been far from his side — on most days, it was fastened to his belt — to provide a singular conduit to the outside world as the bubble around him grew tighter and tighter throughout his campaign.

“How about that?” Mr. Obama replied to a friend’s congratulatory e-mail message on the night of his victory.

But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful.

It's interesting and also quite sad.  Both President Bush and President-elect Obama will have to share the same loneliness that comes from being the most examined life in the world.

No more personal contact via email.  No more records.  Nothing that might look bad later. Personal conversations not recorded are off the record and at least a "he said she said situation."

It's too bad.  It's just ridiculous how much scrutiny our President will have.  Transparency is good, but do we really have to ignore all boundaries?  I'm sure Republicans will take every opportunity to investigate Mr. Obama just like Democrats have done to President Bush (and plan to continue doing now that he is out of office and unable to claim Executive Privilege).

There are perfectly legitimate reasons for heightened transparency, but when do these investigations prove worthwhile and when are they just damaging to our Republic?