White House E-Mail System Becomes Less User-Friendly

[angryank]

Do you want to send an e-mail message to the White House?

Good luck.

In the past, to tell President Bush — or at least those assigned to read his mail — what was on your mind it was necessary only to sit down at a personal computer connected to the Internet and dash off a note to [e-mail].

But this week, Tom Matzzie, an online organizer with the A.F.L.-C.I.O., discovered that communicating with the White House had become a bit more daunting. When Mr. Matzzie sent an e-mail protest against a Bush administration policy, the message was bounced back with an automated reply, saying he had to send it again in a new way.

Under a system deployed on the White House Web site for the first time last week, those who want to send a message to President Bush must now navigate as many as nine Web pages and fill out a detailed form that starts by asking whether the message sender supports White House policy or differs with it.
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Completing a message to the president also requires choosing a subject from the provided list, then entering a full name, organization, address and e-mail address. Once the message is sent, the writer must wait for an automated response to the e-mail address listed, asking whether the addressee intended to send the message. The message is delivered to the White House only after the person using that e-mail address confirms it.

Jimmy Orr, a White House spokesman, described the system as an "enhancement" intended to improve communications. He called it a "work in progress," and advised members of the public who had sensitive or personal matters to bring up with President Bush to use traditional methods of communications, like a letter on paper, a fax or a phone call.

He said the White House, which gets about 15,000 electronic messages each day, had designed the new system during the last nine months in partnership with a private firm that he would not identify.

more... http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/18/technology/18MAIL.html?ex=1059710400&en=7dbd222bd5cd6f27&ei=5004&partner=UNTD

>this reminds me of the "complaint department" sign on the back door that leads to the street. ala 3 stooges<:argh:

[northofdenali]

1. See no evil, hear no evil, read no evil.....................

Agreed. They don't care, and don't want to listen.

[JaySherman]

2. Interesting...

They want your political affiliation, full-name, address, e-mail address, (terrorist) organization. Wonder what they could want all that for?
:think:

KNOCK KNOCK

Though I doubt they'd even bother knocking. Just kick your door down and take you away.