The problem with all of this intrusion is it will cause otherwise highly-qualified people to throw their hands up in frustration, disgust or both and say, "You know what? I have not been in a monastery since puberty and I don't want some 23-year-old volunteer reading - and probably sharing with her new colleagues in the back bar at the Old Ebbit - my deepest and darkest secrets. I'll just stay here at the law firm in Nashville" or wherever.
The Obama transition team, by trying to protect itself against any potentially difficult press inquiry, is probably sentencing the Obama Administration to a pool of potential hires for whom mediocrity is the norm.
Really smart people, really creative people, really driven people - exactly the kinds of people you want to attract to your team - are not going to take this test, much less pass this test.
The final question is the most insidious: "Provide any other information, including information about other members of your family, that could … be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family or the President-elect."
Who doesn't have someone in their family who doesn't embarrass the rest of the family by simply being a member of their family?
I know that in my family we have such a person.
It's me.