This politician smeared himself, The lesson of Randy White is that what is private is now public

Apopular radio show of the 1930s and 1940s, opened with the line,"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"

Now, thanks to the Internet and television, everyone does. Hencethe phrase "too much information."

The ease with which information flows unfiltered to the publicshould make every public person think twice before he takes off hisclothes, gets down on a mat, and begins rolling around in paint witha few other naked men.

State Sen. Randy White, D-Webster, learned this lesson the hardway with an experience that gives new meaning to the word "smear."

White frolicked in the nude at a body-painting soiree two yearsago and the incident wound up on WCHS-TV's newscast. Politiciansordinarily lust to be on TV in the capital, but this is not exactlythe type of publicity one wants when one is seeking re-election in arural, conservative district.

"The pictures were taken approximately two years ago in privateand were stolen from my personal computer," White told the DailyMail's Kris Wise. "I am not sure why they were given to the media,but I must assume for obvious political reasons."

Private smearing became public spectacle.

A case can be made that body-painting in the nude amongst like-minded, consenting male adults has little to do with legislating.Whether the TV station should have broadcast the pictures iscertainly open to debate.

But public figures know they operate in a fishbowl, and in anincreasingly coarse society.

Technology makes more information available to more people, andsomeone is always willing to show the pictures.

But White is a victim of his own conduct.

One upside of the White revelation is that instead of one editordeciding whether or not the story is relevant to White's re-election, all of White's constituents get to make that decision - atthe polls.

The other plus side in this sorry affair is that if politicianshave to think twice about doing something that may wind up on TV,they may start behaving behind closed doors as well as they try tobehave in public.

Even if they don't, they might think twice before storingpictorial keepsakes on their computers.