Hicks: Politics Hit the MySpace Era
By Tony Hicks
MySpace is sure something else.
I love it for the honesty it prompts in people. It allows all of its users to feel important — that people are listening to and caring about what they say. It’s good for parents who want to ascertain what their children are really up to (some might call it spying; I prefer to call it “evaluating a course of action and adjusting for optimum offspring success”).
MySpace is good for information sharing, networking and definitely good for finding a date. But it’s maybe not so good for people who suddenly get all the attention they want, and then some.
Putting too much info onto one’s MySpace page has backfired on predators, bullies and other knuckleheads not able to think more than three minutes into the future. But I keep waiting for politicians to get caught up in the MySpace phenomenon. For example, Bill Clinton’s headline would scream “The Two Time Most Powerful Man on the Planet,” while blasting Color Me Badd’s “I Wanna Sex You Up.” It would be fun to see whether he says he’s in a relationship “…
It’s just too bad political types aren’t more MySpace-savvy, or they might’ve thought to do something with Levi Johnston’s MySpace page once his soon-to-be mother-in-law was selected to be the Republican vice presidential nominee. The 18-year-old is the boyfriend of the 17-year-old daughter of Alaska governor and new American rock star Sarah Palin, who’s about to become a grandmother thanks to Johnston.
Forget value judgments over kids getting pregnant and whatnot. Forget so many on the religious right embracing the Palin camp’s announcement that the couple are going to get married, ignoring statistics about teen marriage. Forget all that and look at it this way:
How much fun could this Levi Johnston be in Washington, D.C.?
I now point to information from the young man’s MySpace page, which was looked at by reporters before someone yelped “D’oh!” and switched it to private mode. Whether you believe it or not, Palin’s family members are now public figures, especially ones adult enough to get pregnant and married. So we have a right to know what we’re getting into should we vote for Palin. And her future son-in-law seems like a real character.
At the very least, he’s going to keep the Secret Service plenty busy.
Like a lot of young men, he likes snowboarding and dirt bikes. He went on to write “I’m a (expletive) redneck who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes. But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some (expletive) and just (expletive) chillin’ I guess. Ya (expletive) with me I’ll kick (expletive).”
Do they let people shoot (expletive) at the White House? This guy’s going to be a riot at state dinners.
He also wrote he’s in a relationship. As for children, he wrote, “I don’t want kids.”
It’s funny how that last one works. He’ll soon find out that MySpace is a great place for rednecks who kick (expletive) to also post lots of baby pictures.
Reach Tony Hicks at thicks@bayareanewsgroup.com. Read his blog, “Insert Foot,” at www.ibabuzz.com/insertfoot.
Originally published by Tony Hicks , Contra Costa Times.
(c) 2008 Oakland Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
