The Department of State Embraces YouTube, Taps Baseball Player to Clean Up U.S. Image Abroad

So the State Department has essentially created a new position called "Director of Digital Media" to hire a former producer of Bill O'Reilly to upload "viral" propaganda videos to YouTube. This one could be called "High Tea with Condi Rice, Karen Hughes, and Hall of Fame baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr.," whom the Bush Administration has tapped to salvage America's image abroad. A few words of caution: this video is a train wreck.

Some classic lines:

"Well, Mr. Ripken -- let's call a spade a spade." -- State Dept. Director of Digital Media Heath Kern (Who Is Heath Kern?)

"Sports is a universal language, kind of like the arts." -- Sec. of State Condi Rice

"Hmmmm... that's a TOUGH QUESTION!" -- Cal Ripken, Jr.

"And that's an important point because America is not its government. America is so much more than its government. And you hear people all the time say, "Well, I don't have a chance to meet Americans. I don't know that much about Americans." Well, it's fine if they meet Karen or they meet me, but it's even better, in many ways, if they meet Americans from all walks of life. And I've often said -- we talk about public diplomacy, we talk about the image of America abroad. I've often said that that isn't really the work of the government; it's the work of every American." -- Condi Rice

And Cal Ripken, Jr. is "every American." You get the point. You shouldn't have watched this video.