It is a rule that organizations can declare themselves virtuous by admitting that they were less than virtuous in the past (but note: this works only for liberal organizations).  It's based on the tried and true self-criticism theory of Maoist China that (theoretically) allows people to reclaim their virtuousness by confessing past incorrect thoughts or modes of behavior.  That's why The New York Times is making a big splash by saying that it discriminated against women and minorities in the past not only in life, but even after they died, by not giving their deaths the publicity they deserved.  Therefore, the Times has begun to write a series of obituari­­es for "notable" women and minorities who died a long time ago.

Here are some of the most "noteworthy":

1. Qui Jin.  Qui Jin was a woman-loving, cross-dressing, man-hating poet who was beheaded by imperial forces in China in 1907.  Jin was the author of profound poetry such as:

My body will not allow me
To mingle with the men
But my heart is far braver
Than that of a man.

That was brilliant and ahead of her time.  If she were alive today, I'm convinced she would have a talk show on MSNBC.

2. Mary Ewing Outerbridge.  Mary Ewing Outerbridge created the very first tennis court in America.  Or maybe she didn't.  Even the obituary isn't sure.  But what does it matter?  We can be sure that she was the first person to create a tennis court while being a woman (at the same time!).

3. Marsha P. Johnson.  Marsha P. Johnson was a mentally ill, homeless gay man who dressed up as a woman.  Any one of these attributes is enough to earn a mention in the Times' obituary section; to qualify in four categories makes it a requirement!

4. Emma Gatewood.  Emma Gatewood was the first person to hike the Appalachian Trail while being a woman – both at the same time!  Many men had hiked it before, but until Gatewood came along, no one hiked it while also being female.  However, while we know that Gatewood was the first woman to hike from Georgia to Maine, we do not know the first woman to hike from Maine to Georgia – another gap in the Times' obituaries!

5. Ada Lovelace. Ada Lovelace was the very first female computer-programmer – in 1843!  She was the first programmer before there was even a computer!  The obituary is not clear, but I suspect that this is only the tip of the iceberg – that she was also the first female astronaut, before there were rockets, and the first woman to actually go inside the internet, before the movie Tron was even conceived.

You know what's missing from this hall of virtue?  Any mention of victims of the Holocaust.  You know, the Holocaust that The New York Times admitted it covered up.

The Times consistently placed major stories about the Nazi treatment of European Jews on back pages "by the soap and shoe polish ads." ... [T]he way the Times covered the Holocaust "contributed to the public's ignorance."  But in addition to poorly informing the public, "The Times' coverage mattered so much ... because other bystanders, particularly the American government, American Jewish groups, and the rest of the American press, took cues from the paper.

You would think the Times might feel some remorse for its actions and show it in its "missing obituaries" series.  But no, not a single Holocaust victim so far.  Evidently, in the eyes of the Times, victims of the Holocaust aren't as virtuous as cross-dressers, lesbian poets in China, and imaginary computer-programmers.

Ed Straker is the senior writer at Newsmachete.com.