Mike Castle: YouTube Will Save Us
I have been told that on Tuesday Mike Castle spoke at a Holocaust Remembrance event. The Congressman apparently was having a senior moment during his remarks. One of his points was that, thanks to YouTube, the holocaust could never happen again.
No, I’m not kidding.
Let me just say that in Darfur there is a genocide going on right now. Those people don’t get to surf over to YouTube to point out the atrocities that they are subjected to. And even if they did, who is watching? Rep. Castle’s current rating with Darfur Scorecard is a D. My son would be grounded for a marking period if he got a D in his Social Studies class.
I am certain that the collective shock in the room was not about Darfur, but about how ignorant a comment that was. Of course it can happen again. If a US President can circumvent the Constitution, Congress and the Geneva Convention, I have no doubt that a foreign dictator could do as he pleased with his people for quite a while. YouTube is no guarantee of openness and freedom. It does not inoculate us against genocide, nor magically spur us to action. It does not ensure accountability.
There were ordinary people in Nazi Germany who knew what was going on that said nothing. And when the Gestapo came for their neighbor, they gave a Heil Hitler! to the agents and later after they left, they gave a Groß Gott! for it not being them or their children.
Thomas Jefferson once said that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Mikes take on it seems to be, ” now that we have the internet, it’s all good.”
I’ll tell you this… I do wish we had the YouTube video of Castle saying it.
Tags: Mike Castle
That is one of the dumbest statements in the history of dumb statements.
There is a pattern emerging in Republicans. Peggy Noonan said some things should just be “mysterious” and “walk on by.” Republicans have gone full-scale apologist on the Bush administration abuses so it’s not surprising that the ignore inconvenient truths mentality is spilling over into other places.
So, is Castle trying to say that the Darfur genocides are not occurring since they aren’t on YouTube?
There must be audio from several different sources of Castle saying that, including the News Journal and WDEL. If the audio doesn’t turn up somewhere, that will be an indication of how much protection Castle enjoys in Delaware.
I’m checking now. We’re not sure if it already has been taped over. If it hasn’t, I’ll try to get it up on my blog. I’ll keep you posted.
I’m kinda feeling what UI is right now. What the heck is up with Republicans trying to cultivate this aura of being supernaturally disconnected from events?
It is freaking weird.
Prepared remarks usually reside here.
Either the Youtube remarks never made it up or were scrubbed from the site.
What the heck is up with Republicans trying to cultivate this aura of being supernaturally disconnected from events?
If Castle actually made the remarks, in the context reported to LG – the real news is that a roomful of reporters didn’t think the comment was newsworthy.
For all of Castle’s subservient mewling during the Bush years – I never thought he fully broke with the reality based community.
I guess I was wrong.
I never noticed before, the phrase “reality based community” was bestowed by the Bush aide quoted in the article, not by the left itself.
Oh yeah. The Bushies were so proud of their new model.
Soooooo effing proud.
I’m stunned that none of the assembled reporters would report on that. Or at least someone should have followed up with Castle to ask him if he would support some of the human rights groups out there that do try to provide video equipment to document human rights violations. Peter Gabriel’s Witness program is just one of many.
Or ask Castle why the DOD worked so hard to control the flow of information and images from Iraq and Afghanistan, presuming that the power of information is good enough for all of us.
I was stunned, too. My source is reliable, though. I wonder if Al will be able to dig up the tape.
There were ordinary people in Nazi Germany who knew what was going on that said nothing.
And there were ordinary people in republican America who knew what was going on that said nothing.
True also.
I remember how Republicans subjected us to excruciating detail on Bill Clinton’s sex life but when their misdeeds are in the spotlight they turn to “let’s not play the blame game.”
I think Republicans have spent the last decade carefully constructing an alternate reality with their own news channel and their own schools. I think you can only ignore reality for so long before it bites you in the #ss.
Yes, Castle did not mention Darfur. But in fairness to Castle, no one else mentioned Darfur (or Palestine) either.