Rep. Don 'Beer Virus' Young boasts about having never used a computer
At the end of his “Beer Virus” rant, Rep. Don Young unwittingly revealed one of his greatest shortcomings as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I’ve never used a computer in my life,” Young told his audience. “I don’t use my cell phone and that keeps me from getting in trouble.”
Young, 86, was boasting about his inability to use modern technology, an admission that would lead to his immediate dismissal from any private sector job that required employees to be knowledgable about the world around them. Using computers is as important now as the ability to read.
Lots of people older than Young are masters at using computers for researching and communicating. It is an essential skill. No one who brags about having never used a computer deserves to be in Congress, collecting $174,000 a year.
Young, a lifetime government employee, said the coronavirus response was media hysteria, that people should continue with normal activities and that he had skipped an important vote in Congress on the “beer virus” because he didn’t want to be back there with “monkeys.”
He said it was a “dumb bill” packed with socialist items that he opposed. And that people should keep going about their everyday activities.
He was wrong on almost every particular. Young’s speech has not gotten nearly the attention it deserves from Alaska news organizations, though the Frontiersman and the Anchorage Daily News both had good stories on it. The story was picked up by major news sources and received international attention.
In the days following that speech, Young’s flunkies took to Twitter and Facebook and sent letters to constituents contradicting most of what Young had said in person, nonstop damage control. They issued a newsletter with Young’s name on it.
“Knowledge is one of our best defenses against the spread of Coronavirus,” Young allegedly wrote. He gave himself credit for coronavirus relief work in Congress.
Since Young has never used a computer, we know that he wasn’t the author of the posts on social media that tried to portray him as an informed government official with a complete grasp of the crisis.
One of the fantasy posts quoted Young as saying, “I’m co-leading an effort in the House to ensure that our nation’s COVID-19 response is smart, efficient and effective.”
Another fantasy post said, “Congressman Don Young leads colleagues on bipartisan push to protect afterschool programs amid COVID-19 pandemic.”
What he told Alaskans less than two weeks ago was, “This is blown out of proportion about how deadly this is. It’s deadly but it’s not nearly as deadly as the other viruses we have. But we respond, I’ll call it the hysteria concept.”
On Thursday, Young’s sat down before a camera to read a teleprompter and share the short text his staff wrote for him bout the “beer virus.”
People who use computers for communication and research probably told Young to stop calling it the “beer virus” and to say “COVID-19.”
“Weeks ago I did not fully grasp the severity of this crisis,” Young said Thursday, “But clearly we are in the midst of an urgent public health emergency.”
Young did not explain why he did not know what he was talking about on his recent campaign trip. Or if his inability to do any computer research prevents him from accomplishing the most basic tasks in the information age.
Whoever wrote the text for Young inserted the word “weeks” to hide the truth. He should have said “days.”
No one who claims that he did “not fully grasp the severity of this crisis” 13 days ago should be representing Alaska in Congress.