SUNDAY NEWS

In his June 15 column, Gil Smart, in reference to John McCain's self confessed inability to use a personal computer, asks "How can a candidate ill at-ease with the current era lead us safely into the future."

WATCHDOG: Fair question.

Furthermore, presidents today cannot safely venture from the Secret Service cocoon, and thus must rely on staff and a few visitors to serve as "gate keepers." Spending twenty minutes a day and an hour on Sunday viewing comments from a variety of diverse contacts privy to the president's private e-mail address can be a valuable substitute for what used to be getting out and "pressing the flesh."