Two degrees of Peter Thiel

One of the perils of being as highly networked, and as weird, as Peter Thiel: an association with unsavory characters. I don't mean Sean Parker, the investor's protege at the Founders Fund, who merely likes to party. Or even Auren Hoffman, the creepily assiduous networker whom Thiel retained as a social aide. One could even understand Thiel's backing for The Vanguard because the political action group, a conservative answer to Move On, is led by a former aide at Paypal. But, for even a man with such catholic taste in friends, the latest addition to his sprawling keiretsu is a bit much. The Vanguard's latest hire is the conservative attack dog, author of a hostile book on John Kerry's Swift Boat command, who demolished the Democratic candidate's Vietnam credentials in the 2004 election.

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