"It's the same thing as the Bush administration"... um, no, it isn't, Keith. Unless I've somehow missed the fact that Anderson Cooper keeping quiet about his sexuality has caused bombs to be dropped on civilians and a country to devolve into sectarian violence. Get a grip.

Right this minute people are being MURDERED in Iraq for being gay, by sundry religious factions. There are the people whose "freedom" we're solemnly informed, we're "defending." Covering such international issues is part of his job. Also talking to Kenny Chensey about the gay "rumors" and out CNN meat Puppet Thomas Robert about being molested by a pedo-priest. But radio silence on Cooper himself.

Your defense of the closet is PATHETIC,"Lucy" (not your real name, I'm sure.)

i totally get where people are coming from. when you start talking about your personal life, like how your brother died. people are going to start forcing you to tell ALL, especially who you sleep with. but i do think coming out is a personal issue that must has to take place when you are ready.

David Ehrenstein - thanks for your polite reply. For what little it's worth, Lucy is my real name. And I was not defending the closet. I was pointing out that in my opinion, one person keeping quiet about his sexuality is not equivalent to the world's superpower launching an illegal war on false pretences. Nowhere in my post did I say that keeping quiet about your sexuality is devoid of negative effect on the world. I was saying that it's a question of proportion. You can choose to disagree with me, but you might do so a bit more politely. Or not.

All your post really seems to do is reinforce my point, by the way, by pointing out one of the tragic results of Bush's interference in Iraq... gay citizens who formerly enjoyed a degree of tolerance, are now being murdered. That's a result of Bush's interference, not of Anderson Cooper staying in the closet. It's not totally clear to me what point you're trying to make, actually... unless it's that Anderson Cooper as well as other mainstream news outlets could do a lot more in terms of reporting on GLBT human rights violations. If that's your point, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Although I don't personally think that Cooper has to be out of the closet in order to do that.

And before you jump down my throat again on no evidence, no, that does not mean I am "defending" the closet.

Hey Dave,everyone is being murdered in Iraq.When will you tire of the whining and the mantel of victimhood that is so precious to your martyr status?Gay men if anything, are a privileged elite in this country .

Very well said, Lucy.

David Ehrenstein. I wasn't aware that revealing one's sexual orientation was required in order to be able to cover international issues.

In any case, you've made clear how much respect you accord gay tv journalists for coming out in your description of Thomas Roberts as an "out CNN meat puppet".

Why do people point at Cooper's book as proof he does talk about his private life?

1. His Dad was high up in social circles and his death was covered in the NYT.

2. His brother's suicide was major news, photographers/journalist followed their every move from the viewing of the body to the funeral where a city block was shut down to accommodate the masses.

3. His mother wrote 'A Mother's Story' a decade ago about Carter's death.

4. His mother wrote 'It Seemed Imortant at the Time' in 2004 which detailed her love life (& Wyatt Cooper).

5. I don't recall Anderson mentioning his half-brothers in his book (or any interview for that matter), especially why one half-brother has been estranged from the family for nearly 30years.
and
6. The same can be said about Anderson never mentioning his nephew or neices.

Remind me again how Anderson frequently speaks of his personal life?

KEITH OLBERMANN IS THE BIGGEST IDIOT ON TV!!!!
This pompous moron should have been sacked a long time ago rather than Don Imus .
Why does Messed Up NBC keep him around anyway he has rotten ratings .
I would feel angry ,but nobody watches Messed Up NBC anyway!

I'm with Keith O. on this one. You can't write the autiobiography and flog it on "Oprah" without giving out the real goods. If you're keeping the single biggest thing people want to know about you under wraps (and let's face it, this is the ONLY think people want to know about Anderson Cooper at this point), DON'T WRITE THE BOOK. Coming out isn't going to disqualify him as a network anchor (like that's a job with any kind of mojo anyway these days -- look at Katie Couric, she's a dead woman walking career-wise). I can't see beyond the deception with Anderson Cooper. Maybe it's my bias, but that's how I feel. Look at Rosie O'Donnell -- love her or hate her, she's really come into her own. Enough from me ...