Down the Memory Hole

If you’ve read 1984, you’ll recognize the header of this item. In Orwell’s vision of dystopia, the rulers would wipe out any records of past events that clashed with their current version of the truth -- this was the ‘memory hole’.

Orwell didn’t envision the internet, however, which keeps inconvenient records that are (for now at least) beyond the reach of the rulers.

Here’s a classic case: The mayor of a small suburb about 25 miles from downtown Philadelphia was recently arrested for soliciting oral sex from a young man at gunpoint.

The mayor of Marcus Hook was charged Thursday with holding an acquaintance hostage during a drunken encounter at his home last month that allegedly ended with the mayor's firing a gun into the floor.

During the encounter, Mayor James D. Schiliro repeatedly offered to perform a sex act with the 20-year-old male, according to police.

"This young man was put in danger," Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said, adding that the unidentified young man was near the gun when it was fired.

Schiliro, 38, was arraigned Thursday before District Judge David R. Griffin, who set unsecured bail at $50,000. Schiliro was charged with recklessly endangering another person, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, furnishing alcohol to a minor, and official oppression.

A sorry mess, certainly, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

Except that Mayor Schiliro is a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns – Mike Bloomberg’s pressure group. Or is he?

Here is the group’s website before Schiliro’s arrest. Marcus Hook is one of the cities listed as members.
Here it is now. Marcus Hook is gone.

How's that memory hole working, Mike?