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A video featuring a Kansas legislator criticizing President Barack Obama's policies while wearing a hat describing opossum as "the other dark meat" was removed Thursday from YouTube, where the lawmaker had posted it last month.
Republican Rep. Bill Otto said he didn't remove the video, titled "RedNeck Rap," and didn't know why it had been taken down. Google Inc., YouTube's owner, could offer no explanation.
Otto said criticism of the video was unfounded. He said the hat's saying, which he repeats at the end of the short video, refers to redneck stereotypes, not Obama.
The White House declined to comment Thursday, but Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, called the video "disturbing." He said it's logical to see the reference as being to the first black president's race.
In the video, Otto pauses after criticizing Obama and his policies, repeats the saying on the cap and adds, "A little greasy, but hey."
"It's a reference to rednecks," Otto said during a telephone interview from his home in LeRoy, a small town about 75 miles south of Topeka. "It's like 'The Beverly Hillbillies,' eating opossum bellies, grits and pigs' feet."
The flap comes less than two months after U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, another Kansas Republican, remarked in a public forum that the GOP was still looking for "a great white hope." She later said she wasn't referring to Obama and didn't know of the phrase's past link to pre-civil-rights era racism.
Attempts by AP to access Otto's video Thursday night resulted in a message stating that it had been "removed by the user." Google spokesman Scott Rubin said if a video is removed for violating YouTube's standards, a message would say so.
"With 20 hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube, we cannot comment on individual videos," he said in an e-mail message.
Meanwhile, Hensley accused Otto of "bigotry."
"If opossum is the other dark meat, what is the original dark meat he is referring to?" Hensley said. "It is not only thoughtless, but outrageous."
Otto replied: "I don't know where he's getting that."
Freedom of speech . . . . only if it doesn't offend?
A video featuring a Kansas legislator criticizing President Barack Obama's policies while wearing a hat describing opossum as "the other dark meat" was removed Thursday from YouTube, where the lawmaker had posted it last month.
Republican Rep. Bill Otto said he didn't remove the video, titled "RedNeck Rap," and didn't know why it had been taken down. Google Inc., YouTube's owner, could offer no explanation.
Otto said criticism of the video was unfounded. He said the hat's saying, which he repeats at the end of the short video, refers to redneck stereotypes, not Obama.
The White House declined to comment Thursday, but Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, called the video "disturbing." He said it's logical to see the reference as being to the first black president's race.
In the video, Otto pauses after criticizing Obama and his policies, repeats the saying on the cap and adds, "A little greasy, but hey."
"It's a reference to rednecks," Otto said during a telephone interview from his home in LeRoy, a small town about 75 miles south of Topeka. "It's like 'The Beverly Hillbillies,' eating opossum bellies, grits and pigs' feet."
The flap comes less than two months after U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, another Kansas Republican, remarked in a public forum that the GOP was still looking for "a great white hope." She later said she wasn't referring to Obama and didn't know of the phrase's past link to pre-civil-rights era racism.
Attempts by AP to access Otto's video Thursday night resulted in a message stating that it had been "removed by the user." Google spokesman Scott Rubin said if a video is removed for violating YouTube's standards, a message would say so.
"With 20 hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube, we cannot comment on individual videos," he said in an e-mail message.
Meanwhile, Hensley accused Otto of "bigotry."
"If opossum is the other dark meat, what is the original dark meat he is referring to?" Hensley said. "It is not only thoughtless, but outrageous."
Otto replied: "I don't know where he's getting that."
Kansas Lawmaker's Anti-Obama 'Redneck Rap' Taken Down - Political News - FOXNews.com
Freedom of speech . . . . only if it doesn't offend?
A video featuring a Kansas legislator criticizing President Barack Obama's policies while wearing a hat describing opossum as "the other dark meat" was removed Thursday from YouTube, where the lawmaker had posted it last month.
Republican Rep. Bill Otto said he didn't remove the video, titled "RedNeck Rap," and didn't know why it had been taken down. Google Inc., YouTube's owner, could offer no explanation.
Otto said criticism of the video was unfounded. He said the hat's saying, which he repeats at the end of the short video, refers to redneck stereotypes, not Obama.
The White House declined to comment Thursday, but Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, called the video "disturbing." He said it's logical to see the reference as being to the first black president's race.
In the video, Otto pauses after criticizing Obama and his policies, repeats the saying on the cap and adds, "A little greasy, but hey."
"It's a reference to rednecks," Otto said during a telephone interview from his home in LeRoy, a small town about 75 miles south of Topeka. "It's like 'The Beverly Hillbillies,' eating opossum bellies, grits and pigs' feet."
The flap comes less than two months after U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, another Kansas Republican, remarked in a public forum that the GOP was still looking for "a great white hope." She later said she wasn't referring to Obama and didn't know of the phrase's past link to pre-civil-rights era racism.
Attempts by AP to access Otto's video Thursday night resulted in a message stating that it had been "removed by the user." Google spokesman Scott Rubin said if a video is removed for violating YouTube's standards, a message would say so.
"With 20 hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube, we cannot comment on individual videos," he said in an e-mail message.
Meanwhile, Hensley accused Otto of "bigotry."
"If opossum is the other dark meat, what is the original dark meat he is referring to?" Hensley said. "It is not only thoughtless, but outrageous."
Otto replied: "I don't know where he's getting that."
Kansas Lawmaker's Anti-Obama 'Redneck Rap' Taken Down - Political News - FOXNews.com
C'mon! Stuff like that needs to stay up.
Freedom of Speech? I remember hearing about that once... it used to be what we had in this country at one time.
Freedom of Speech means that you can't be prosecuted for what you say or write.
It does not mean that the owner of a website can't pull any material that he wants off the site. If you want something posted, you are free to build your own site
Freedom of Speech means that you can't be prosecuted for what you say or write.
It does not mean that the owner of a website can't pull any material that he wants off the site. If you want something posted, you are free to build your own site
I call bullshit on this being taken down if it wasn't by the person who put it up. It's censorship plain and simple . . . .because someone's feelings got hurt. BFH.
It amazes me how some people are just fine with giving away their rights like they were candy.
Freedom of Speech means that you can't be prosecuted for what you say or write.
It does not mean that the owner of a website can't pull any material that he wants off the site. If you want something posted, you are free to build your own site
Youtube takes down videos all the time, seemingly at random. It could be copyright, it could be some kind of rule broken, etc. The fact of the matter is, Youtube is a private company there Zoom.
You seem to not be seeing your own hypocrisy here. So this private company should not be allowed to decide what videos should or should not be up? So much for their rights huh?
It's worth pointing out that one of the major criticisms of YouTube's take down process is that if someone claimed copyright violation, it's removed without any real checking.
It's worth pointing out that one of the major criticisms of YouTube's take down process is that if someone claimed copyright violation, it's removed without any real checking.
Of course it is and it's wrong. However, it's their policy. Eventually, they will be forced to change that policy when enough people speak up or competition comes along. Because right now, YT has no real competition.
