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The Facebook Skeletons Come Out
NY Times ^ | 11/5/2010 | Jeremy W. Peters

Posted on 11/07/2010 6:40:36 AM PST by Saije

AMONG the many firsts in the 2010 elections, it is safe to assume that the following words had never before been uttered about a future member of Congress, “This is a candidate who is probably best known for getting drunk and having sex on television.”

The comment, made by the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, was lobbed at Sean Duffy, who overcame his bawdy past as a star on MTV’s “Real World: Boston” in 1997 to ride a wave of conservative discontent into office. Some of Mr. Duffy’s youthful indiscretions that were captured on film and dredged up by his opponents included a drunken toga party and images of him dancing on a pool table in his underwear.

With the ubiquity of technology and social networking Web sites like Facebook that allow — and compel — young people to document themselves drinking, wearing little clothing or putting themselves in otherwise compromised positions, it was a given that a generation of politicians would someday find themselves confronted with digital evidence of their more immodest and imprudent moments.

But who knew it would happen this quickly?

Politics today is rife with examples of candidates having to explain why they were posing shirtless for pictures poolside with a skimpily clad woman (Representative Aaron Schock of Illinois), simulating sex acts on a toy (the Congressional candidate Krystal Ball of Virginia), or carousing on Halloween night dressed as a ladybug (the Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell of Delaware).

“I think all of us know that politicians would have to confront the Facebook skeletons in their closet, but that it would be in 20 years, not in two years,” said Anil Dash, a technology consultant and pioneer of the blogosphere when it was just beginning in the late 1990s.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Society
KEYWORDS: 2010midterms; embarrassment; facebook; photos; politicians; seanduffy; wi2010
Depends on when and where I think and how old you are when you're running for office.
1 posted on 11/07/2010 6:40:39 AM PST by Saije
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To: Saije

“This is a candidate who is probably best known for getting drunk and having sex on television.”

For a minute I thought that this story was about Ted Kennedy.


2 posted on 11/07/2010 6:44:37 AM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Islam is the religion of Satan and Mohammed was his minion.)
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To: Saije
carousing on Halloween night dressed as a ladybug (the Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell of Delaware)

Wonder why dressing up like a ladybug on Halloween is a problem for the NY Times?

Why didn't they mention this guy's Halloween embarrassment?


3 posted on 11/07/2010 6:46:39 AM PST by weef
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To: weef

Just damn, that’s Gore, isn’t it?

I guessed it on body language then confirmed with some searching.


4 posted on 11/07/2010 6:49:24 AM PST by FreedomPoster (No Representation without Taxation!)
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To: Saije

If it were Charlie Sheen running, the dims would be fawning all over him. You can get away with ANYTHING if you are a democrat. Besides, since when did the Rats become moral about drinking, nudity or sex?


5 posted on 11/07/2010 6:52:39 AM PST by peggybac (Restore America and restore her honor.)
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