Erasable history

Associated Press finally catches on to the truth behind online Encyclopedia Wikpedia. It can be used for political dirty tricks.

Political operatives are covertly rewriting — or defacing — candidates' biographical entries to make the boss look good or the opponent look ridiculous.

As a result, political campaigns are monitoring the Web site more closely than ever this election year.

Revisions made by Capitol Hill staffers became so frequent and disruptive earlier this year that Wikipedia temporarily blocked access to the site from some congressional Internet addresses. The pranks included bumping up the age of the Senate's oldest member, West Virginia's Robert Byrd, from 88 to 180, and giving crude names to other lawmakers.

The entry for Democratic Rep. Jim Marshall (news, bio, voting record) of Georgia labeled him "too liberal" for his state, in part because of a contribution he received from a political action committee run by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. The man who doctored Marshall's biography now works for his Republican challenger.

In Georgia this week, the campaign manager for a candidate for governor resigned amid allegations he doctored the Wikipedia biography of an opponent in the Democratic primary.

I had heard of some of these shenanigans months ago. Why is AP only reporting it now?

Wikpedia lacks alot of credibility as a reference source. I admit to using it sometimes, but on topics that should be non-controversial. Wikpedia says its about free speech. Don't they see what this editing feature does to their site? If an article can be re-written by anyone, abuse will happen and it damages a site's credibility.

Open Post- Cao's Blog, Adam's Blog,