I understand your point, and respect it. I, however, use a nickname I've been using for some time. Last year, I ran for election (I came in dead last). If I had to associate my handle with my real name, I'd log off and never frequent any forum or blog ever again. Not only would political opponents use nasty snippets from anything I might have every posted in the past few decades, I'd also get ridiculed on boards and fora with incessant ad hominem attacks of "oh you're only saying that because you're an evil $POLITCAL_PARTY politican!"