Censoring Differing Opinions
Posted on October 26, 2006
Wonkette reports that it is being blocked from being read by Marines on active duty in Iraq.
We realize that when it comes to freedom of the press, the USA has fallen to Number 53 in the world - tied with our fascist homies in Croatia and the islanders of the Kingdom of Tonga! � but do we have to make is so damned obvious?That's not all the military is blocking. Soldiers who blog are being closely monitored and even being shut down. Soldiers can get to Fox News, convicted felon G. Gordon Liddy's show and to that blowhard Rush Limbaugh's site, but they aren't allowed to read humor on Wonkette, or political opinions on Talking Points Memo, DailyKos or the Al Franken Show website.Another Marine stationed in Iraq has sent us a screenshot of what happens when you need some hot news on Macaca and Foley: "forbidden, this page (http://www.wonkette.com) is categorized as (Personal Pages) ALL SITES YOU VISIT ARE LOGGED AND FILED."
Nice little threat at the end, too. Asswipes. Notice the other browser tabs. Two actual "personal pages" that rah-rah for Bush (What's her name, the wannabe Coulter, and Hugh Hewitt) show up just fine, as our Marine Operative confirms. But "Talking Points Memo," which is apparently one of the "left leaning" sites one hears so much about these days, is prohibited.
Writes the Corporal: "I think that this kind of censoring is a big deal. I can understand blocking porn, music and movies, and blatantly illegal sites, but blocking sites that some higher up just doesn't agree with is disgusting. They are blocking a huge portion of voters from information that will help them determine which side to vote for. Because of this, the only news we get is from the big corporations or conservative based sites."
Soldiers are dying everyday in Iraq for their country and they can only read rabid, extreme, right-wing websites. No moderate, no liberal, libertarian or left-leaning thoughts are allowed. Because we certainly wouldn't want our citizens in the armed forces to be exposed to any pesky facts or conflicting political opinions, now would we?