A rising politician tried to mail his past a shush order and hoped the paper would do the emotional labor.

This is what happens when someone upgrades from messy twenty-something to polished public figure, but keeps the same instinct for control. Back then, the control looked like flirtation and vague promises that kept someone invested. Now it shows up as legal formatting, formal language, and a quiet assumption that silence should be donated out of courtesy. It’s the same move, just with better stationery.

If I wanted everything I’m slightly ashamed that I did in my early twenties under an NDA, I would need a building full of attorneys and the contact information of everyone who went to clubs in several zip code areas over the course of a couple of years. So my advice to our aspiring political star is to just give up from the get-go. I think we all know by now that we’re all just people, YES, EVEN ELECTED OFFICIALS. And as people, we have skeletons in our closets we have to live wit,h and that’s just fine. Be a grown-up and deal with it.