Pentagon employee erases mention of homosexuality on dead soldier’s Wikipedia page.
Pentagon employee erases mention of homosexuality on dead soldier’s Wikipedia page.
The Washington Blade reports that a computer with a Pentagon-registered IP address removed references of Maj. Alan Rogers’ sexual orientation:
Information that was deleted included Rogers’ sexual orientation; the soldier’s participation in American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group that works to change military policy toward gays; and the fact that Rogers’ death helped bring the U.S. military’s casualty toll in Iraq to 4,000. […]
The IP address attached to the deletion of the details and the posted comments is 141.116.168.135. The address belongs to a computer from the office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G-2) at the Pentagon. The office is headed by Lt. Gen. John Kimmons, who was present at Rogers’ funeral and presented the flag from Rogers’ coffin to his cousin, Cathy Long.
On March 30, Washington Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell said the paper erred when it excluded references to Rogers’s homosexuality in its original report, noting that “the story would have been richer for it.”
Andrew Sullivan wrote: “I can see why outing someone who is alive and closeted is unethical; inning someone who is dead and was out is a function of utterly misplaced sensitivity, rooted in well-intentioned but incontrovertible homophobia.”
(HT: Political Punch)
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There was another prominent group in Germany, around 1939, that believed in censorship.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:06 pmExactly, so why delete it?
April 4th, 2008 at 3:06 pmWe have *always* been at war with EastAsia, haven’t we…?
April 4th, 2008 at 3:10 pmManBearPig,
Major Rogers cared about his homosexuality. That’s why he worked so hard to protect the rights of other gay soldiers. He fought so those soldiers wouldn’t face the same kind of harrassment and discrimination he faced.
The Pentagon is using our tax dollars to spread propaganda by editing his Wikipedia entry using Pentagon computers. I also can’t see the Pentagon staff acting on their own to edit the entry. They were probably ordered to. It just happened to be the Intelligence Chief’s office making the edit?
April 4th, 2008 at 3:10 pmPitty that the Pentagon wasn’t hit by a real plane!
April 4th, 2008 at 3:11 pmAh, the “scrub” this administrations answer to altering history.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:11 pmAndrew Sullivan wrote: “I can see why outing someone who is alive and closeted is unethical; inning someone who is dead and was out is a function of utterly misplaced sensitivity, rooted in well-intentioned but incontrovertible homophobia.”
_________________________________________________
Utterly misplaced sensitivity? Nah — the Pentagon still likes to pretend they don’t have any gays in their ranks. This had nothing to do with any sensitivity toward Rogers; it was all about protecting themselves. Protecting themselves from what? Who knows. Apparently they still think that gay soldiers represents a big, big boogeyman.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:11 pmmisshusseinmolly Says:
April 4th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
This had nothing to do with any sensitivity toward Rogers; it was all about protecting themselves. Protecting themselves from what? Who knows.
Protecting themselves from the Fundies and from losing their macho “my dick is bigger than yours” image.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:14 pmIf that is what he wanted, I’m sure reich-wingers would have a hissy fit about it. Why are you having a hissy fit? Do you really hate homosexuals that much? Why?
April 4th, 2008 at 3:15 pmMatt,you know what they say about guys that protesteth too much! How many reich-winggers that have preached about the evil gays have been outed???
April 4th, 2008 at 3:19 pmWhen the sex police stop watching everyone else maybe, maybe we can spend time on real issues.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:21 pmsorry, but i’ve wondered about the “IP address” thing for some time…
this story seems to answer MY question, from today’s FAST:
Bilbo Hussein Baggins at 9:41 am
… until TP starts banning trolls by their IP address.
i’m all for eliminating pests… but, isn’t an IP address shared by many? …
April 4th, 2008 at 3:21 pmi really don’t know… surely someone here does…
eh?
…
ManBearPig bites the dust……good riddence
April 4th, 2008 at 3:22 pmOMG, there’s gays in the military, there’s gays in the military! It’s the end of civilization as we’ve known it, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:24 pmisn’t an IP address shared by many?
That is often the case Katy. Usually it is better to contact the ip host and complain…otherwise as you say, it is possible to ban a lot of people at once.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:25 pmanother problem katy is if the IP address is in another country….then it gets harder to deal with without just banning them all…
April 4th, 2008 at 3:27 pmBut it’s A-OK that the Army is now chock-full of Crips, Bloods, MS13’s, Nortenos, Surenos, Vice Lords, Latin Kings, White Aryan Resistance, and every other flavor of street gangster known in the U.S.
They’ve sure got their priorities in order there at the DoD, I tell ya.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:28 pmThis story stands on its own merits (that is to to the demerit of the staff of G-2).
It is also another example of the politicallly motivated expurgation of the public record. Destruction of data and denial of facts is the hallmark of this administration and its cronies.
How many more records are being altered or destroyed?
“Lost” RNC-routed emails, shredding trucks at Cheney;s offcial residence, a medical database preventing searches on “abortion”…and there’s still 9 months to go!
This particular act by G-2 is of course no only political but utterly vindictive.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:32 pmMORE ORWELLIAN REDACTION FROM THE PENTAGON(E)
I WONDER WHAT ELSE THE MINISTRY OF TRUTHINESS IS SCRUBBING, REDACTING AND REWRITING?
April 4th, 2008 at 3:33 pmtexaslady Says:
April 4th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
When the sex police stop watching everyone else maybe, maybe we can spend time on real issues.
Isn’t that the truth? What kind of depraved individual continually thinks about all the sex everybody else is having.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:34 pmPlus, there are ways to get around an IP ban anyhow. When I use to visit NaziHounds.us, the trolls would always get around IP bans.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:35 pmI would hope that even the right wing troll monkeys who pollute this site from time to time would be horrified at the Orwellian use of governmental resources to scrub undeniably true factual information from a nongovernmental resource. Your side doesn’t always get to be in charge. You may not be as fond of the next admiistration that abuses its power.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:35 pmI commend the Major, not for his homosexuality, but because of his service to our country. It is not the responsibility of the Army to list his sexuality. That is personal.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:35 pmIt is not the responsibility of the Army to remove his sexual
April 4th, 2008 at 3:38 pmpreferences, if accurate, or the groups he belonged to from Wikipedia.
It is not the responsibility of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, Congress, Supreme Court, President, next door neighbor, blogger, local church, or any other person or entity to LIMIT anyone’s sexuality that is not directly harming someone else. That is personal.
DADT and DOMA are civil rights violations.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:41 pmWhy do you believe that this is not within the rights and privileges of the military and our commander in chief. The major volunteered for the military and died while on duty. He has no rights to undermine public confidence in the military or to attack the very moral foundations of this nation by advertising his sexual perversion. This is simply unacceptable and anyone questioning the God given mission to George W. Bush, should be hunted down and killed as a traitor to our glorious leader anointed by the one true God.
OK, I hope you know this is snark.
The military has absolutely no business in undertaking propaganda in the United States. It is illegal, it is a violation of criminal law. Where will be the outrage? We saw the story of our women captives bloated into untrue myth, we saw a football player’s death diminished by a false story of heroism. When do people recognize the scum that are running the country?
April 4th, 2008 at 3:42 pmThere is no such thing as “well-intentioned homophobia”.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:42 pmI commend the Major for his homosexuality (and his participation in American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group that works to change military policy toward gays;) as well as his service.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:43 pmI cry with his family and friends.
and I wish the #4000 mark was never reached. It’s 4000 too high!
The pentagon doesn’t seem to know that wearing a little uniform and all is sorta ‘Gay’, don’t ya think?
Go to the Gay Pride Parade and see how many military uniform types there are, you will notice quite a few.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:45 pmLOOKS LIKE THE PENTAGRAM HAS TAKEN A PAGE OUT OF Ahmadinejad’s PLAYBOOK:
Ahmadinejad: “We Don’t Have Homosexuals Like In Your Country”
April 4th, 2008 at 3:52 pmENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
If you have a healthy sex life…Great (join the club)
If you are unfortunate not to, please, rent a DVD, go to a strip club, download porn, solicit a hooker, request a call girl, or join the YMCA…I don’t care, just stay out of our bedrooms!
What’s next?
April 4th, 2008 at 3:54 pmA soldier having his political affiliation erased because he wasn’t a Republican?
.
R E M E M B E R:
THEY(sic) HATE US FOR OUR FREEDOMS…
.
April 4th, 2008 at 4:06 pmSlightly OT, but since the post quotes Andrew Sullivan - the ex-Republican pundit, the comment is pertinent.
I can still remember his reaction to Ann Coulter’s screeching denunciation of John Edwards as a “faggot.” He posted an op-ed that was full of bewildered hurt and anger.
That was the day that Andrew Sullivan FINALLY got it through his head exactly what kind of people he had been shilling for.
I was very sad for him, but at the same time, I thought, “Good. Now you know who these people *really* are.”
April 4th, 2008 at 4:32 pmthank you, Fred and Dr. Hussein Matt …
bilbo, did you catch that too?
April 4th, 2008 at 4:53 pmDaryll Says:
April 4th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I commend the Major, not for his homosexuality, but because of his service to our country. It is not the responsibility of the Army to list his sexuality. That is personal.
_____________________________________________
That’s not the issue here. The issue is the Pentagon taking information about Rogers’ sexuality OFF his Wikipedia page, which isn’t their responsibility, either.
Try reading before posting.
April 4th, 2008 at 5:04 pmDo you even know how to read Daryll or do you just cut and paste talking points that are color coded for you?
April 4th, 2008 at 5:28 pm36 - Awwwww, now, Shayne, don’t be so hard on poor Darryll - when he pulls his little string, he has no idea which of his 10 pre-programmed talking points is going to come out.
April 4th, 2008 at 6:15 pmIt’s like posting on a pro-obama website like americablog, dailykos or huffingtonpost. Good luck! The obama people censor people almost as fast as the republicans do! It’s really interesting to see how all of that ‘change’ has caused people to act like republicans, while pro hillary sites like this continue to permit the Hussein crowd to post unabated. Which supporters are the real progressives? Ask yourselves that Hussein followers…
April 4th, 2008 at 6:21 pmDaryll, do yourself a favor, and stop f**king around in mens room, the Syphilis has already eaten away what few brains you were born with!
April 4th, 2008 at 6:22 pmI’d say the posters who refer to Obama as Hussein are the real progressive RHF. /snark
April 4th, 2008 at 6:36 pmisn’t an IP address shared by many?
That is often the case Katy. Usually it is better to contact the ip host and complain…otherwise as you say, it is possible to ban a lot of people at once.
An IP address will be shared by many at a work address because it is the IP address of the server. But a personal computer does not share an IP address with anyone else. So, if one of the trolls was posting from work and got the IP address banned, it would ban the entire work ip address from posting. But, if TP was to do what redstate.com does, which is to not only ban the ip from posting, but also ban the ip from viewing the site, that would be a different thing. That’s what happened to me when I posted from my work IP (it’s a very small company) just to stick it to them. By banning the IP address from even being able to view the site, they had stopped everyone at my company from being able to view the site. I thought that was hysterical.
I don’t advocate that TP ban IP addresses from being able to view the site, just post from the site. What do you think the chances are of two people in a company being interested in posting to TP with one of them being a troll. It’s a very remote possibility.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:26 pmPlus, there are ways to get around an IP ban anyhow. When I use to visit NaziHounds.us, the trolls would always get around IP bans.
And what would that method be? I consider myself to be very computer literate and I know of no way to get around being banned by an IP address.
Besides, I doubt many of the illiterate trolls who post here would have the technical savvy to know how to get around being banned by IP address.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:28 pm# republicans hate facts Says:
April 4th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
It’s like posting on a pro-obama website like americablog, dailykos or huffingtonpost. Good luck! The obama people censor people almost as fast as the republicans do! It’s really interesting to see how all of that ‘change’ has caused people to act like republicans, while pro hillary sites like this continue to permit the Hussein crowd to post unabated. Which supporters are the real progressives? Ask yourselves that Hussein followers…
republicans hate facts Says:
April 4th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Daryll, do yourself a favor, and stop f**king around in mens room, the Syphilis has already eaten away what few brains you were born with!
A truly ironic statement for you to post directly after your own insane ranting.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:55 amGays in the military? Next thing there will be gays in Congress. What then: gay children of vice presidents?
April 5th, 2008 at 12:04 pm