I've Always Gone By NTodd

NYTImes:

Want a top job in the Obama administration? Only pack rats need apply, preferably those not packing controversy.

A seven-page questionnaire being sent by the office of President-elect Barack Obama to those seeking cabinet and other high-ranking posts may be the most extensive — some say invasive — application ever.
...
They must include any e-mail that might embarrass the president-elect, along with any blog posts and links to their Facebook pages.

The application also asks applicants to “please list all aliases or ‘handles’ you have used to communicate on the Internet.”

The vetting process for executive branch jobs has been onerous for decades, with each incoming administration erecting new barriers in an effort to avoid the mistakes of the past, or the controversies of the present. It is typically updated to reflect technological change (there was no Facebook the last time a new president came to town).

True, there was no Facebook when Bush II first arrived, but it was around during the 2004 campaign.  Anyhoo, I admonish my students to not post anything online they'd be embarrassed to have potential employers see.  If I'd taken my own advice, I might even have a shot at a job in the administration--that Code Pink stuff and tax resistance probably puts the kabosh on my prospects.

Regardless, there's only one alias or handle I've ever used online: NTodd.  At least that would make it easy to vet me via Facebook, let alone the Google...

ntodd