What a strange world we live in where adult professionals construct pretend online identities and post what used to be considered private thoughts on public pages. Where do you draw the line between public identity and private life?

Increasingly, the answer is that you don't. Or maybe it's that you might draw your line, but others will quickly erase it for you. And in politics, it's all fair game.

The extensive list of questions being asked of people applying to President-elect Obama's Cabinet-level positions is a reality check to anyone who thinks they can post with impunity but work a high-profile government job.

The list of questions asks for "all aliases or handles you have used to communicate on the Internet."

In addition, it says, "Please provide the URL address of any Web sites that feature you in either a personal or professional capacity (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, etc.)."

Well, it probably would be weird if the new secretary of agriculture had a MySpace page with party pictures.

The questionnaire includes the things you would expect, such as employment history and tax records, but goes beyond the applicant's immediate family and includes several questions about past relationships, such as:

"If applicable, please list the names, addresses and phone numbers of cohabitant within the last 10 years. A cohabitant is a person with whom you share bonds of affection, obligation, or other commitment, as opposed to a person with whom you live for reasons of convenience (a roommate)."

"Have you had any association with any person, group or business venture that could be used — even unfairly — to impugn or attack your character and qualifications for government service?"

It also asks about private writings:

"If you keep or have ever kept a diary that contains anything that could suggest a conflict of interest to be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family or the president-elect if it were made public, please describe."

Who's going to pass this exam, a cloistered nun?

The acknowledgement that a person's past could be used unfairly against him is a grim reminder of how politics is played. Image is still everything, and some things can't be explained away.

Meanwhile, the vetting process didn't seem to snag former Hawaiian Airlines Bankruptcy trustee Josh Gotbaum, who was named this week to lead Obama's Treasury Department transition team. Gotbaum raised eyebrows and hackles when he asked for an $8 million "success fee" as part of his compensation for less than two years of work on the Hawaiian Airlines case, money Hawaiian pilots said should be going to save the airlines. Gotbaum ended up being paid much less and Hawaiian is still flying, and clearly, so is he.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.