When Will They Learn to Just Stop Talking?

It's no surprise that people get carried away and write things online that they shouldn't.

But when public figures make e-fools of themselves this late in the game, it's hard to have much sympathy for them. Take this exchange between Missouri resident Bart Cohn and Missouri State Senator Brian Nieves: http://goo.gl/SZYLb.

At the very least you'd expect a state senator (or whomever writes his stuff for him) to have gotten over his apostrophe issues by the time he got out of college ... and not to rely on spell check anymore. Yet he writes "we'll" when he means "well," and "your" when he means "you're."

Maybe small-time politicians can get away with these kinds of blunders, but fundraisers cannot. Your ability to acquire and retain supporters — not to mention raising the resources you need — depends heavily on your reputation. And looking like an online dunderhead is not helpful, to put it mildly.

The exchange is pretty amusing. But it's also another in a long list of cautionary reminders that you've got to be careful what you write out there. As a blog on the Huntsinger & Jeffer website said a few weeks ago:

• Think before you post.
• Let others have their say.
• This too, shall pass.
• And maybe most important: Know when to shut up.

Remember, think before you write. And, to paraphrase Thumper, if you can't say something effective, proactive, emotional and motivating about your mission, "don't say nothin' at all."