What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
Take Advantage of Ridiculously Low Holiday Airfares view!
travelzoo.com - Flights $52 and up for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. But move on it now.
200 Comments
- NinjaBoy, on 10/12/2007, -12/+115Asking questions is just another form of terrorism!
- iceperson, on 10/12/2007, -8/+88"It is men like Mr. Stark..
who showed the ultimate in strength..
by withholding it..
that makes me want to change my mind about leaving this country called America."
Is that..
you...
William...
Shatner??? - Halvy, on 10/12/2007, -25/+95It is men like Mr. Stark..
who showed the ultimate in strength..
by withholding it..
that makes me want to change my mind about leaving this country called America. - bemenaker, on 10/12/2007, -13/+70I am incredibly impressed that this man had the restraint to not fight back. I don't know that I could have done that. Some lame ass rent-a-cop bum rushes me, he's getting has butt handed to him.
I applaud your efforts Mr. Stark, continue on with pressing charges. Do not drop them. - DollaDollaBill, on 10/12/2007, -6/+59***** leaving it, this country at one time kicked ass, lets take it back.
- dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -13/+66No kidding. And to think some ***** who commented on the prior story yesterday felt that he "probably had it coming," despite any evidence to their opinion.
"He was talkin' 'bout his wife! He shoulda got beat!"
***** that. As a figurehead, you're going to have to take the attention from both the good and the bad. The problem is that, lately, all politicians get in the way of attention is "good." No news organizations will attempt to ask them the tough questions, because they'll get black-listed by the politicians, and never be invited back.
I don't care if this guy was asking if Allen thumb-raped his wife in her sleep. If Allen responded in an honest and open way, it would've only made this guy look bad for mudslinging on irrelevent, unimportant topics. But we should be given the chance to question our governemnt any time we wish. - ClassicJBC, on 10/12/2007, -6/+56I agree that Stark was being aggressive, but unless he was threatening physical violence verbally or in demeanor, the excessive force shouldn't have been used. Stark didn't even fight back. Clearly his intention wasn't to pick a fist fight with anyone.
I can see how the staffers around the senator might've been really pissed about the situation at the time, but what really bothers me is the reaction from the senator later--that things like that just happen. - rationalist, on 10/12/2007, -9/+56Patience,
Mike was there as a credential journalist. If you watch the full video (CNN has it on their site), you will see that, in fact, he was not belligerent at all in his initial approach; after being headlocked the first time, when it became clear he would not be allowed to exercise his 1st Amendment rights, he shouted out the question about Allen spitting on his ex-wife.
If you ever watch campaign events on CSpan or ever attended one yourself, you would know that most journalists - from the big networks - are FAR more aggressive and "belligerent" in their pushing and shoving to get to a candidate.
Ultimately, however, that is all beside the point. Assume Stark was belligerent; it is still wrong to physically assault someone. "Verbal assault" is a tricky term, and your comment makes it easy to equate a nasty comment to a punch in the face; however, civilized society distinguishes between the two.
The big problem with this whole thing is that, each time we excuse physical intimidation and assault by campaign operatives, we get closer to authoritarianism. There should be zero tolerance by ALL parties to physical violence at campaign events. Zero tolerance.
The whole principle of free speech means nothing if you excuse physical intimidation and even violence in response. - toasty168, on 10/12/2007, -9/+51He shouldn't be ashamed of anything. He was practicing his right to free speech. The fact that Allen is running for public office and will be the leader/representative of many people opens himself up to such questioning. It's a good question. Do you want someone who spits on his wife to represent you in congress?
What's bad is they physically assaulted him. It's not like he called Allen a piece of ***** even though he probably is. If you're in office and privy to all sorts of perks like corporate whorism, you should be willing to take such questions in stride. - ClassicJBC, on 10/12/2007, -6/+40I just watched the video again to be sure, and he was most definitely assaulted without any provocation. He didn't even get within 10 feet of the senator himself, and the most contact he had with any staffer was brushing up against one gentleman's shoulder. Then, he was pushed and ultimately tackled by one overzealous *****. The whole time it really didn't even look like he was struggling against his attackers, and yes, I'm calling them attackers. I only wish that if this was going to happen that it happened sooner; so he could sue the whole campaign into oblivion.
- tpodr, on 10/12/2007, -5/+36And here is a good quality video of the assault:
http://www.click2houston.com/video/10202525/index.html - shadgenki, on 10/12/2007, -5/+30Verbal assault is not a reason to physically assault someone. Any judge will tell you that. I hope he sues the pants off them.
- rationalist, on 10/12/2007, -4/+30@bnl771,
If Allen had immediately and unequivocally condemned the way Stark was treated, stood up for the 1st Amendment, and, as any honorable American representative should have done, invited Stark to stand with him in front of the cameras, personally apologized to him and shook his hand, then not only would your comment make sense, but Allen would win the election in a landslide.
Not to long ago, the scenario I just described would have been par for the course for smart politicians - most especially Republicans, who always have to face a degree of suspicion about their commitment to free speech. And it would have been what the American public expected of their politicians - a bit of class and the ability to rise above pettiness and meanness, the ability to show American in its best, not worst, light.
The fact that no one, not even on the Right, even thinks to suggest this, shows how far we have fallen as a society. - N00F, on 10/12/2007, -16/+38America's 2nd civil war is coming. Your freedoms are being eroded day by day.
- Moocat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27You seriously have to be blind to miss what happened there.
He walked up asking his question, be it rude or not, it was not of a threatening nature (i.e. I have a bomb!) and therefore, under our laws of the USA, does not warrant ANY physical action. That's just freedom of the press, and he was clearly in a public place, for a public function for public office. News gets spread when people are there to hear it, and what better place to ask pointed questions than there?
The supporters/staffers attempted to completely block his access to the senator, moving in front of him everytime he tried to peek his head around them to ask his question.
He NEVER physically touched ANYONE. You can watch it 100 times and see that the slightly bald headed guy with the white shirt moved in front of him and caused the first physical contact by body blocking and then proceeded to grab his wrists at which point Stark started walking backwards and attempting to escape what at this point in the legal world is called assault and battery amoung other things. He was then put in a headlock, for what reason, I'm not really sure considering he was already moving away from the group. At this point, when he is cleared from the immediate area of the group, the guy in the white shirt then proceeds to throw Stark onto the ground near the window with zero provocation (unless you consider attempting to escape a headlock provocation in some twisted world).
Seeing Stark being led out of the building was the very last part of the video, which means you may be watching the same video as the rest of us, but only the last 10 seconds of it. There's a link posted above (and many on the interwebs) that show you the FULL and correct video. - NSMike, on 10/12/2007, -9/+31Yeah! He should be ashamed that he wanted Webb's comments recorded on camera! He should be ashamed that they had to put him in a headlock just because he asked the senator a hard or controversial question! He should be ashamed that he was assaulted without provocation! He should be ashamed that he felt that he was allowed to exercise his constitutional right to petition the government!
Idiot. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+25How the f--k is Clinton a rapist? A cheater and a lier yes, but a rapist? C'mon man.
- Fantt, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23Giggle:
I'm not so sure that the military would hold together as a cohesive whole in case of some sort of insurrection - especially if the government takes away a lot more freedoms.
There are plenty of very good men and women in the military. They'd never allow our country to fall completely into a dictatorship. - rambo6376, on 10/12/2007, -34/+52GOP is full of f*n thugs.
- amoirae, on 10/12/2007, -6/+24They were valid questions that I would love to hear answers to.
Perhaps after Allen is voted out on November 7th he can answer them. - irregardless, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Bad-ass is damn right. Maintaining his composure while being pummeled by superior numbers. While I understand (and pity) your urge to use your Mortal Kombat skills on assailants, NOT injuring those who battered him works in Stark's favor.
- cgcpromotions, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21The more and more I watch/read the news any more, the angrier I get.... Everything from Electronic voting machines to the war in Iraq. I am kinda down the middle when it comes to the left and the right. I agree and disagree with both sides on issues.. Everyone in Washington should be thrown out of office.
- Fhqwhgadss, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18But if elected officials are held responsible for their actions, the terrorists have already won.
- ClassicJBC, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18@VTmruhlin
Your idea of "carrying him off" may differ from mine, but I don't think putting someone in a headlock and throwing him to the ground against a glass door would be defined as being carried off.
@elebrio
So you're telling me that telling someone to ***** off and punching him in the face are the same thing? - airship, on 10/12/2007, -5/+20Stark is a Marine veteran and was working as a credentialed journalist for one of the biggest political blogs on the Internet (dailykos). He did not act billigerently. He aggressively asked a pointed question, which is what journalists do. For this, he was put in a headlock and wrestled to the ground by staff members working for a United States Senator.
There is a reason we have 'freedom of the press' here. Jefferson and the boys talked about how annoying it would be to have a free press, and in the same breath concluded how essential it was to freedom.
Fortunately, here in the US, we have a choice if we don't like how things are run. We get to make that choice next Tuesday. - betterth, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16At the last poster. Yes there is.
One is called assault, or possibly assault and battery. It's a felony, usually. The other is called literally verbal assault and is a misdemeanor. - NSMike, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17If he wanted to avoid culpability, he should've stopped his staffers. He didn't care. He said "These things happen."
- rationalist, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Actually, he has asked for the records to be released for many months, picking up on others who have asked for years. Not that you care about checking the facts.
- rationalist, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15The records, as anyone who has bothered to do the minimum amount of fact-checking - even as little as reading mainstream media articles about the incident - are being withheld from the public - just like his multiple arrest records, which, given his history of violence, as documented by his sister's biography and testimony from schoolmates, could be for assault and battery. His campaign claims they were for parking violations, yet refuses to release them for public scrutiny. Why?
The best way to defuse the controversy, if the campaign is being honest, would be to release the records. What are they hiding, and why shouldn't journalists be curious about what is hidden in the divorce records? What if Allen is a wife-beater - don't voters have a right to know before an election? And, if Allen is perfectly innocent, then why not release the records.
I'll tell you why - because they claim at least some of them were destroyed or can't be found by the county clerks. Convenient. - Thuktun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13I think it's more reflective of the country's political shape than just digg.
- Moocat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13A) You weren't at the event, otherwise you would have known the "officers" were supporters/staff.
B) Asking tough question equates to raving lunatic? Since when?
C) Appearing like he was pulling a weapon? Where? From mid air where his hands were? Was he a magician?
D) Lucky a beating was all he got? For asking questions that he didn't want to answer? I suggest YOU leave the country since you so blithely ignore pretty much every right in the USA this guy had to go up and ask the public representative his question. - HaroldHupmobile, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16Had he attempted to fight back he would have been lowering himself to the level of those staffers. He was the bigger man.
- slimnickyy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19Excellent letter, bravo sir. Do not let up; file a suit for any and all laws that these ***** have violated.
- Aeiri, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12@GiggleStick
http://freestateproject.org/
As for VTmruhlin, I don't want to feed a troll, but he appears to be serious about his answer.
How is asking about a previous divorce provoking? How is it anywhere NEAR provoking? It's probably an honest question, so he can make a better decision about what type of person his Senator is and vote accordingly.
Provoking would be calling him names, or saying after his question, "You raped her, didn't you!" - KyleRayner, on 10/12/2007, -7/+17He didnt even attempt to fight back, which was probably a good idea. It looked to me like every suit wearing moron in that room would be blown down by a stiff wind, and calling up their lawyers to sue for irreversible emotional harm.
- zip000, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Do you notice how all the news sites - or at least the three or four that I've just looked at - label Stark as "a protester" ?
That word makes you think of whiny liberal hippies - which I don't think Stark was or is...liberal media my ass. - amoirae, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13You really need to ask that of people like Bush who criticize any dissenting voice, especially that of former servicemen who dissent, even though Bush himself was awol through much of his Air National Guard term.
- rationalist, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14That is the difference between today's GOP and today's Democratic Party (and the old GOP). Dissenters should expect to be respectfully treated and their challenges honorably met. You obviously have never attended a Democratic rally or a recent Republican rally. You would see the dramatic difference. The GOP under Bush and the authoritarians don't want to even hear dissent or allow anyone who is not a sycophantic follower to even be allowed into a rally.
It is truly remarkable how quickly people accept a reduction in their liberty; I always pooh-poohed the warnings from my mother, who lived through the Holocaust, that authoritarianism could happen here in the US; I always argued that structurally and culturally it couldn't take hold. She always warned that it starts with the small things, the little bits and pieces of our rights that are dribbled away - and how authoritarians always mask it by setting us one against another.
Like the analogy of the frog in slowly heating water, by the time we wake up, it will be too late. - demonicume, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"Maybe we need to bring the troops home so that they can fight for freedom at George Allen's campaign events."
love this line. - rationalist, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Hmmm - are you referring to books that have been on the Marine Corps recommended list for officers for the past 20 years? Curse the military under Ronald Reagan for first exposing our fighting corps to such "filth", and the Bush administration for continuing the practice.
- Joe_rigby, on 10/12/2007, -13/+21Well, I can't say I didn't warn you ... GOPstapo!
(Get out and vote!) - EatenByAGrue, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I called Senator Hatch's office one morning (alas, yes, I am one of his constituents) to give an opinion on a bill in the house regarding copyrights and such. I was told that I needed to talk to my representative, as the bill was not a senate issue at the time. I'd already spoken with my house representative's office and wanted to be sure all my congressmen knew what I thought. I don't care if I wanted to give an opinion about Paris Hilton to my senator, if he wants to represent me, his office had better be listening to what I have to say. Especially for a controversial topic such as copyrights, patents, DRM, etc. As a sidenote, I was so ticked off that I immediately went to EFF and made a donation.
- harmlessinc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Odd - in every account of the event not a single source has suggested that the people involved were officers. Just staff members of the senator. And in watching the video a couple of times I can't see any point in which a weapon would have been a concern.
Annoying, sure. Persistant, definately. Threat? .... enough to continue to body block the reporter, sure. That's basic bodyguarding . Keep yourself between your client and the public. What I can't see is any reason to tackle the reporter. - rmscomm, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11This is amazing! People seem to have forgotten that elected officials serve the people and therefore any and all legitimate questions and queries should be addressed. Career politicians and the people that support this above the law mentality for certain individuals need to get real. I can't wait until people have an injustice happen to them to make them take a stand.
- Moocat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Your apparently in a dream world where walking and talking equate to physical confrontation, which is the only legal exception in the case of physical attack. They body blocked him, much like you would on a basketball court, then grabbed his wrists, much like you would if you were about to arrest him.
If you don't like tough questions, don't run for public office. In fact, don't go outside, because I can ask you if your little sister is a slut in front of 100,000 people and in the USA that is still well within my rights. According to the law, the only time physical violence in SELF DEFENSE is acceptable is when someone else is physically threatening you. The people assaulting Stark were not even the people being talked to. The question was NOT physically threatening. And there is no such law stating "he was being mean to me" that justifies being put in a headlock and thrown to the ground. If you don't like it, change the law or move out of the country. - ashaw2, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Allen can wipe out all the negativism in a minute by opening up his arrest records and divorce records. If they contain only what his staffers claim to be minor violations (fishing without license, speeding tickets, etc.), Virginians may even forgive him. As long as he resists opening up his records, questions of cover-up will dog him and his campaign. If he is the real thing that he and his supporters want us to believe, why is he concealing those records. What is he afraid of? Beating up a constituent who asks obviously legitimate and yet unanswered questions does not look good on Allen or his supporters. His supporters should urge him to get it all out and move on?
- rationalist, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10Kindly provide proof of your spurious allegations, or withdraw them.
Not that they make any difference with regard to this particular incident.
You seem a bit old to be using the, "but Mom, everybody does it!" defense when caught doing something wrong. - gardnert1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7how does it look like he lied about being a marine? You didn't present ANY information even remotely suggesting that you dolt!
- loquax, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I would however like to retract the last part of my statement. Apparently, Allen opened the door when he started to critique his opponent's treatment of women based on fiction that his opponent wrote. Reap the whirlwind when you play dirty like that.
- harmlessinc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9"If you have a D after your name you get a free ride... no tough questions... no in depth look thru your entire life.."
Did you miss the last election? Swift boats, Jane Fonda.... come on. Don't pretend to be open minded to problems and then make a statement like that. -
Show 51 - 100 of 200 discussions
Browsing Digg on your phone just got easier with our enhancements to the 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is