The perils of the web

Bush's new chief domestic policy advisor Karl Zinmeister has been a tad outspoken in the past. What's surprising is Zinmeister left his paper trail the old fashion way -- on paper.

If he was bold enough to call Nelson Mandala a "feckless fool" (redundant?) and label the Washington elite "cheating, shifty human beings, just as morally repugnant as our underclass," in newspapers and magazines, imagine what The Zin-meister would be capable of blogging semi-anonymously.

Or if he had a page on Facebook.

I'll sum up that last link real quick for those not logged onto the New York Times; College kids post pictures and tales of sex, drugs and violence on their publicly accessible Facebook and Myspace accounts and lose out on jobs and internships because of it.

This blows me away. Especially since I believe people should be getting smarter and smarter. I have some sympathy for the kid at Duke* who got kicked out of school for emailing a buddy a quote from American Psycho (which they teach at Duke!) in the wake of the "incident" at the lacrosse house. With an email it takes the police or a very bad friend for your private words to become public, whereas the whole point of Facebook and Myspace is so lots of people, if not everybody, can see what you're about.

If you are about getting drunk and doing drugs and getting members of opposite sex to become scantily clad in your presence -- that's a college choice. If your thing is taking pictures or writing about these college experiences, go for it. But when you post these words and images** on the internet for everyone to see, it's not just that you are jeopardizing your future. You are also being an amateurish braggart.

It's like Barry Sanders' dad told him. "When you score a touchdown, you have to act like you've been there before." That's what Barry did. He handed the ball to the official. He didn't take a picture and put a stupid caption under it. Sanders ended up rushing for 99 touchdowns and 15,269 yards. (If they counted the yards he ran backwards and sideways it would have been three times that.)

But the kids will be alright. Our nation has a proud history of forgiving past transgressions.

Some kinds of past transgressions. Others not so much.

I've argued on this space I wouldn't want to be the first serious presidential candidate to be backed by the netroots because of the literally well-archived baggage the blogshere brings. (I was pleased to see one of the pro's picked up on that point yesterday.)

Markos Moulitsas, the founder and propriety of Daily Kos, leading netroot and would-be democratic party king-maker has posted things on his blog that make Zinmiester's words look like eulogies. Moulitsas is also setting himself up to be a far more influential figure than Zinmiester and employs a scorched-earth policy with the press.*** If the Washington Post had a little fun with Zinmiester they'll have a World's Fair with Moulitas.

I know he had a good show out in Vegas this weekend, but I really don't think Moulitas will end up being the factor he hopes to be. There are lot of smart people involved in politics, even if they don't always act that way. They'll figure out this guy is far more poisonous to political ambitions than a hot tub full of floozies.

* JJ Redick mug shot. What can I say? Dick Vitale, poetry, and the Portland Trailblazers all come to mind. And the half-popped collar -- out of control. Here is the mug shot and some fun comments about Reddick.

** I found many images of drunk, semi-clad college students. I was going to link them because they are humorous (and occasionaly titillating ) but I'm not going to because they are real people and I'd hate to see anyone lose out on a job. There are a lot of decision makers reading my blog.

*** Here is how Mr. Kos responded to the 6/12 Byron York article I linked. Today he goes after "cowardly" democratic consultants -- And he wants to be their latex salesman.