UVa law student and Marine veteran Mike Stark is circulating a letter about his assault at the hands of the Allen campaign today. Here it is:
My name is Mike Stark. I am a law student at the University of Virginia, a marine, and a citizen journalist. Earlier today at a public event, I was attempting to ask Senator Allen a question about his sealed divorce record and his arrest in the 1970s, both of which are in the public domain. His people assaulted me, put me in a headlock, and wrestled me to the ground. Video footage is available here, from an NBC affiliate.
I demand that Senator Allen fire the staffers who beat up a constituent attempting to use his constitutional right to petition his government. I also want to know why Senator Allen would want his staffers to assault someone asking questions about matters of public record in the heat of a political campaign. Why are his divorce records sealed? Why was he arrested in the 1970s? And why did his campaign batter me when I asked him about these questions.
George Allen defends his support of the Iraq war by saying that our troops are defending the ideals America stands for. Indeed, he says our troops are defending our very freedom. What kind of country is it when a Senator’s constituent is assaulted for asking difficult and uncomfortable questions? What freedoms do we have left? Maybe we need to bring the troops home so that they can fight for freedom at George Allen’s campaign events. Demanding accountability should not be an offense worthy of assault.
I will be pressing charges against George Allen and his surrogates later today. George Allen, at any time, could have stopped the fray. All he had to do was say, “This is not how my campaign is run. Take your hands off that man.” He could have ignored my questions. Instead he and his thugs chose violence. I spent four years in the Marine Corps. I’ll be damned if I’ll let my country be taken from me by thugs that are afraid of taking responsibility for themselves.
It just isn’t the America I know and love. Somebody needs to take a stand against those that would bully and intimidate their fellow citizens. That stand begins right here, right now.
W. Michael Stark
I forecast that the Allen campaign will launch an assault on Mike Stark (an assault of words this time), continuing their habit of slandering Marine veterans.
This is superb propaganda. The humble former Marine simply desiring to ask his Senator a question when the Praetorian Guard deliver a vicious assault. The truth, however, is more prosaic.
Stark is a jerk. Left, right, or center. He baited Allen’s guys, engaged in physical violence himself according to at least 2 eyewitnesses prior to any force being used against him, insulted a US Senator, and generally behaved poorly. Of course, the story is of Allen’s staff taking the bait, but forgive me for thinking that this guy is just a pos.
Still, great propaganda. And that’s all he wanted.
Way to go, Waldo. Taking the bait, and looking like an imbecile.
Can’t say I’m too surprised, though. You’re good at that.
People have got to calm down, a person shouldn’t be assumed to need physical restraint just because he wants to ask and important politican a question even if it is not to his liking, especially if it is not to his (the politican)liking. Too many people are to fearful that folks won’t understand a mistake done in one’s past. A majority of us have made mistakes and we understand, but we all need to calm down a notch or two. I think Mr.Stark needs to understand that people are very suspect of seeming strangers making approaches to VIP’s when assassinations are commonplace in these times. People aren’t just going to let an aggressive approach take place today. I saw the tapes and it was what seemed to be an aggressive lunge towards G.Allen. So, cool your jets man and maintain a civil discourse on the issues, not what one would discuss in the confessional
I agree Judge Smails that this is something of a stunt, but the Allen campaign’s reaction was way over the top.
I don’t see any physical violence on Stark’s part. I see a guy trying to ask George Allen a marginally relevant question. I also see George Allen’s people telling him to leave and then slamming the guy into a glass window.
Throughout the whole event George Allen remains incredibly passive.
Assassinations are commonplace in these times? Really?
The Allen campaign knew exactly what it had on its hands by the time they started getting physical. Watch the video again. Nobody looked to me like they had the fear of assassination on their minds.
“Now you’re getting personal!” Is that what people are saying to assassins these days, by way of discouragement?
Hey Sam, the irony of your taking the bait and looking like an imbecile comment is truly a thing of beauty.
Good Work man!
Cant say Im suprised though. They are really good at it by now.
Stark was unnecessarily manhandled. Typical Allen bully behavior.
I have to agree with Judge Smails; Mr. Stark’s self-serving antics are nothing more than poorly though out propaganda stunts! While I doubt that the physicality was necessary, I do think that Mr. Stark must really love the attention; I recall that he has already had one run-in with the Allen staffers. I’m sure that after next Tuesday, he’ll need to redirect his energies into something that will put himself back into the spotlight. I bet he’d be a darn good ambulance chaser!
Tom, I disagree on this being a piece of propaganda.
For an example of political propaganda I would look at Bush’s two recent rally the base speeches. He selects two towns where his popularity ratings are through the roof (in Sugar Land and in Georgia). The audiences are carefully screened to ensure that only the most passionate pro-Bush people are in attendence.
The backdrops are entirely designed with an eye towards how they will look on national TV. Minority members are placed on the stage behind Bush (the three minority members at the Georgia event on Monday were pulled out of the crowd and placed behind Bush in prominent view of the camera). These events are manufactured to generate an illusion of an incredibly popular president who is beloved by his people; the sets are designed to try to show how diverse Bush’s support is.
This is what I understand propaganda to be–selling a reality that isn’t representative; manipulating the frame in a way that distorts reality. That scene at the Omni was too messy to be considered propaganda.
I would agree that it was a stunt on Stark’s side, but it’s a stunt that would have been a non-story if Allen’s people had acted with a little bit more descretion.
It’s a stunt that would have bombed if Allen had demonstrated some leadership by restraining his people and playing an assertive role–or simply parrying the interlocutor with a witty response. The best leaders can turn a seemingly negative situation to their advantage. The worst leaders have a tendency to turn an advantageous position into a disadvantageous one.
That’s a pretty straightforward summation right there.
Also, you used the word “interlocutor” in your post, which is good for 2 points right there.
It will be interesting to see if this is more of a success for Stark than his Staunton stunt was. I actually thought that the Staunton episode might have gone somewhere, but no. I guess you’re right about the propaganda- there really is no such thing as a one man propaganda show! Also, your last point is absolutely true. Remember Reagan’s famous parry when he was challenged about his age?
Yep, I’m still mastering the art of the pithy blog post.
Btw, RK has a copy of the VA Pilot story up on this event. Allen’s staffer Chris LaCivita is stating that no member of the Allen staff was involved in this incident.
What’s the deal then with Allen campaign (and former Tom DeLay) spokesman Dan Allen?
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=113571&ran=159859
No member of the Allen staff was involved? Wonderful. That must means that they were just your average, ordinary Allen supporters, taking it upon themselves to beat a man — free of charge! — so that Felix’s effete corps of paid campaign pros didn’t have to risk breaking a nail.
Deal.
This race is making me question the proposition that Politics is a Good Thing®. Help me, Sabato!
From the Hampton Roads story:
All that really means is that they weren’t “paid” employees. They certainly still could’ve been “advisers” and or “campaign volunteers.” There’s still a lot of wiggle room in that statement.
While I think this incident is being blown all out of proportion, I confess I greatly admire a man like Stark who is taking the fight to the wing-nut dominated talk shows on a regular bases and confronting them with facts.
I don’t have the stomach to call into those hateful shows, but share Mr. Stark’s valid concern that listeners are being deliberately misled by lies, misleading facts taken out of context, and unreasonable raw emotion. Voters are being manipulated, it’s dispicable, and Mr. Stark is a hero for fighting the lies in an arean that makes me sick to my stomach. Huge kudos.
Now, as to approaching our elected officials in the manner he did, I do not support that as clearly. Frankly the Senator and the President are ducking all the hard questions, and many need to be asked, but the question about Allen’s previous marriage/divorce is non-sequitor – has nothing to do with this term in office nor this election; at least not that we know of. In those conditions I wish Mr. Stark had asked relevant questions about the completely horrible job Allen has done as a Senator (there are hundreds), and asked them just as aggressively.
The press up here in NOVA is drawing connections for the style of badgering/aggressive questions to Michael Moore’s “Roger & Me” film and they are quoting something on Stark’s blog – the key differences are:
1) Moore asked very pertinent questions of GM executives
2) Allen is a public figure and our senator and should respond
Kudos to Stark for his history of fact-based challenges to wingnut talk-radio shows, but this “Eastern Judge” deducts points for silly question under stress for this one incident…
To be fair, I am not sure I’d remember to ask the right question when being shoved around like that.
In Staunton, Mike Stark asked George Allen if he ever used the N-word. “No, No” was Allens response before over-zealous Allen people demanded that Stark leave. Stark reminded them that the Allen campaign had no authority to order him out of the hotel. Boy were the Allen people steamed.
6 people subsequently went public to confirm that Allen DID use the N-word.
In Charlottesville, Mike Stark asked George Allen if he had spit on his first wife, the subject of complaints in Allen’s divorce. This time the Allen handlers didn’t wait for hotel people to escort Stark from the hotel – they took matters into their own hands and committed an assault/battery. Poor choice.
How long until we hear that George Allen DID in fact spit upon his first wife? The Marine has cleared the beach, and it was ugly. Now give Virginia the truth George Allen.
“…I confess I greatly admire a man like Stark who is taking the fight to the wing-nut dominated talk shows on a regular bases and confronting them with facts.”
I’ll tell you what, I’ll trade you Limbaugh, Hannity, Fox News, and the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and virtually every other big city daily. Oh, and I’ll need you to throw in all the top tier colleges and universities in the country. Maybe then things would be more fair and heroes like Stark wouldn’t be necessary.
If I could bring all of you all’s attention to this story:
It is truly breath taking, considering this silly uproar about Kerry’s tongue tided comments.
Bush Is Surrendering Control of the US Military To A Foreign Leader. Despicable.
http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/11/abandoning_an_a.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/world/middleeast/01iraq.html?hp&ex=1162357200&en=905549422a159d1b&ei=5094&partner=homepage
http://www.raisingkaine.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5635
whoops, really mangled that first sentence, huh?
Judge Smails,
So, you believe that all the major network television stations other than Fox, as well as PBS, and all major big city daily newspapers are on the level of bias as Hannity and Limbaugh?
I’m having trouble coming to grasp the levels of intellectual disintegrity or else nihilism that would be required to come to such a conclusion, considering we’re comparing editorial content to news content, which makes an attempt, however flawed, at telling the truth, not opinion. Do you believe there is such a thing as truth? If not, that would certainly explain your distaste for academia.
As you noted, Limbaugh, Hannity, et al have no pretensions to objectiviity. The MSM in the form of the networks and major newspapers do. That’s why it’s so maddening to conservatives when we hear liberals bitching about Fox News or talk radio. We’ve had to carve out these tiny niches b/c of the intsitutional biases (which of course are more subtle and nuanced than Limbaugh & Hannity) of the MSM that have existed since before Cronkite.
once again, even if stark wore a tshirt that said”beat me up’
that does not give immunity to the thugs that beat him up.
Saying he aasked for it is the same as saying the young lady in the slutty clothes is asking for it too.
That was felony assault, plain and simple.
George allen needs to identiify the thugs, and help the cops and magistrate bring them to justice.
If he dont, then winning the election would mean nothing, since he will have to resign next year.
in any case, Webb will win with 54% of the vote on nov 7,
The democrats will pick up 7 senate seats, 31 house seats, and Bush will have to be a better president, or his legacy will really be not very good
I strongly suspect that those who believe that “he asked for it” would also believe that women who dress non-conservatively are also “asking for it.” It is, as you explain, logically consistent.
To paraphrase what you once said to me, Waldo: Conflating an obnoxious provocateur getting knocked around a little bit with sexual assault is beneath you.
George Allen must absolutely identify these thugs and help bring them to justice.
Remember, when Allen wasn’t claiming the noose in his law office was actually a lasso, and part of a theme of “western decor,” he was saying it represented his firm “law and order” stance.
Not that he was a prosecutor, mind you. Just a regular, private attorney with a real passion, apparently, for “law and order.” Except for yesterday.
I’m not taking about this incident being related to rape. What I’m saying is that those who believe in the logic that “he asked for it” have the underlying belief that one’s expression can justify violence. That is the same belief that supports the notion that a woman “was asking for it” in how she dresses.
Judge,
Why do they call themselves Fox “News” then? It really isn’t news, it is the right’s viewpoint, all the time. And the part about ‘tiny niches’ is hilarious.
Also, you make a clear distinction that Fox, et al are not part of the ‘MSM’. It sounds to me like a lot of organizations are very puzzled about what news is. (WorldNetDaily, Fox, right-wing talk radio) Either that, or you are.
Oh, c’mon. To compare the influence and reach of Fox News & WorldNetDaily to that of the broadcast networks and major dailies is ludicrous. Conservatives have been forced to create these alternative media outlets because we’ve been shut out of the establishment.
Meanwhile, the MSM so loathes conservatives in general and Bush in particular that one of its stalwarts went on the air with obviously fraudulent memos purporting to show Bush had shirked his Nat’l Guard duties just days before the last election. And some wonder why conservatives don’t trust the MSM.
Stark’s question was asked during the alloted media questions time slot. Can somebody with the secret A-Team handshake roll over there and ask when Senator George Allen wants the tough questions delivered? And do I need to bring my posse with me for protection?
more like a poncho and duck boots if you are a woman!
See Waldo’s link to Allen’s spitting rituals at women
Good Lord, what a pig that man is! Thanks for the reminder, Deb. I had blown past that blog entry, not bothering to click on the link.
Yuck — there’s story after story of George Allen spitting tobacco at the feet of women. It’s especially noticeable, according to these stories, because he’s usually surrounded by men. He must have to go out of his way to find a woman to spit at.
Does anyone know of a different URL for the George Allen Tobacco Spitting story? The link Ms. Jaquith posted (http://www.swingstateproject.com/2006/09/vasen_say_hello.php)
is now a 404 page.
I’ve taken another look at the video and although Stark pushed his way into others, in no way was he threating to the level of restraint shown to him by these hogs in nice suits. I think he has a case against these guys.
And notice that all Stark says is, “I want to ask a question.” That’s when they jump him. THEN he asks the question about whether Allen ever spat on his ex-wife — while he’s being muscled away.
Their server is temporarily down. Here’s the Google Cache.
And at the Daily Kos, there’s this update on a George Allen spitting-at-a-woman incident.
If you scroll down far enough, you’ll find this letter to the editor regarding yet another George Allen spitting-at-a-woman incident:
Allen has history of disrespect
Letter to the Editor, Bristol Herald Courier
Monday, Aug 28, 2006
I was not surprised by Sen. Allen’s crude remarks aimed at a Democratic campaign worker. Several years ago, while I was engaged in research at the Dickenson County courthouse, I heard that then-Gov. Allen was on his way to a groundbreaking for the new Red Onion prison. A friend and I drove up to the site, not realizing until we arrived that it was a Republican-only event.
Allen was escorted by a politician who, noting our presence, made some comment to him and pointed at us. We stood with a small semi-circle of onlookers waiting to shake Allen’s hand, but he deliberately skipped the two of us and continued shaking hands with others in the line.
He made a few remarks to the crowd and then stood with his back to us, turning once to aim a jet of tobacco spit directly at our feet. Although he had never met us before, he made us well aware of his sentiments. A small incident, yes, but very revealing of his attitude. He did not intend to treat Democrats with the slightest common courtesy.
Following this recent incident, he did not immediately apologize for his comments – he only regretted (or so he says) that the young man was embarrassed by them. George Allen is hardly a representative for all the people.
K _Washington Co., VA
(The man who posted this wrote, “I am withholding my wife’s identity because of the practice of anonymity at this site.” Not sure what the point of withholding it is, when the orginal letter at the Bristol Herald Courier must have included her name.)
DKos – a paragon of nonpartisanship and objectivity, renowned throughout the land for its fairness.
George Allen’s campaign sent out this statement tonight:
The following statement was issued through the Allen campaign today by George W. Bailey, the Sheriff of Albemarle County from 1970-1987:
“I served as Sheriff of Albemarle County, including Charlottesville, from 1970 to 1987, and was the chief individual responsible for law enforcement during that period.
“During his time as an undergraduate and law student, I was familiar with George Allen. He was a prominent student, not the sort one easily forgets.
“At no time during my service as sheriff was he arrested or brought up on any offense in Albemarle County. It would have crossed my desk, and would not have escaped my notice.
“I understand there is some question about two entries for warrants or summonses in the County docket book in 1973 and/or 1974, while George was a student. This could have been for anything as small as an unpaid parking ticket or hunting or fishing license violation. An entry in that book does not mean there was an arrest, conviction or anything of the kind.
“The fact that there is no record of a trial or judgment settles the matter — this was for some minor infraction. If George Allen — a member of the football team and a prominent student — has committed some offense, even as an undergraduate, it is certain I would have been informed, and likely that I would have dealt with the matter personally. But there was no such offense, and consequently nothing more to be said about the matter.”
The same Sheriff Bailey that Governor George Allen appointed to the State Board of Corrections in 1994? What an amazing memory Sheriff Bailey has – he remembers every arrest warrant reaching back 34 years. Conjecture! Dismissed!
What was George Allen arrested for? Now, more than ever, Virginians need to know that they aren’t considering a thug for United States Senator.