A political career cut short, thankfully

Tory Schaaf, a student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and a member of the Student Senate, has been identified as the person who had stolen and burned almost all of the copies of the student newspaper, because he apparently didn't like the fact that he was going to be mentioned in it.

What mention was that? He had been given a ticket for underage drinking.

Obviously Mr. Schaaf isn't a history major, or he would have learned that it's never the crime that sinks politicians, it's the coverup. Now he could face criminal charges, fines, and school discipline, instead of a day or so of embarrassment. So could his buddy that allegedly helped him, who is also a Student Senator and a member of the ethics committee. Some ethics.

Oh, and all of this was wasted effort anyway. You can't steal and burn the online edition of the newspaper where the item appeared as well. Most of the students probably read the paper this way, anyway.

We could analyze this many different ways. We could lament the PC nanny-state society that would stigmatize a student for having some beers at college. Bonding socially with classmates over an adult beverage used to be part of the university experience. Hell, when I went to the University of Maryland, you couldn't get elected to the Student Senate unless you were a known partier. Didn't seem to hurt us any. Things still got done, and people graduated and went on with their lives.

We could discuss how today's parents coddle and indulge their kids until they come to believe that their self-esteem is everything, and that any action to prevent that self-esteem from taking a blow is justifiable. (Remind me to do a post on helicopter parents, who complain to professors when Junior gets a bad grade, or call human resources managers to negotiate little Jane's salary. No, I am not making this up, and it's truly frightening.)

Or we could debate whether graduate school and employment competition has become so cutthroat that a minor violation such as this could potentially affect a person's employability.

I think I'll just take comfort in the fact that a budding politician who doesn't think twice about censorship in order to save his sorry behind has had his career derailed before it began, thanks to his own actions.