Allen is just taking a page from Bush/Cheney isn't he? Where subjects, er, citizens are not allowed to criticize their leader face to face?

old newsreels I saw of the parliamentary election campaign just before Hitler was elected to the Reichstag....all the brownshirts getting rid of any who protested or asked uncomfortable questions...

Mike's not yet got anything up on his site that I see, but I agree with Sterling....I'm smelling charges and/or lawsuit. BAD IDEA....assaulting a law student

-5.75,-4.05 "I am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard."
William Lloyd Garrison
US abolitionist & editor (1805 - 1879)

http://www.nbc4.com/politics/10202016/detail.html

The press is describing things a bit differently.

fuckin' scumbag Allen is.

Our virtues are usually only vices in disguise.

the CNN footage right here.

The video follows him as he approaches Allen; he's blocked by the guys in the badges, he says "I'm a constituent, he's my Senator, and I'm asking a question", they grab him and hustle him away - and then he hurls the question.

(I'm actually very happy to see that his reaction isn't to defend himself in any way. Smart guy.)

Watch for yourself. It seems the least visually confused account of the incident.

( ... Link ... )

http://www.click2houston.com/video/10202525/index.html

This shows the incident without the bullshit media spin. A simple case of a guy trying to get answers, then manhandled by Allen's thugs.

"Death before being dishonored any more." - Col. Ted Westhusing

Stark confronted Allen.

There just may be more to this story that what the intial tapes reveal? If Stark has been harassing Allen, it would have provoked a reaction from Allen's bodyguards.

I'm not saying that is the case, but Stark may not be as innocent as he first appears?

I'm not defending or condemning either Stark or Allen, but it may be wise to wait to hear all sides of this confrontation.

Kos
Sat Aug 26, 2006 at 05:11:07 AM PST

Sen. George Allen gave the slip to protesters, supporters and city officials today, bypassing an afternoon stop in downtown Staunton for an unannounced lunch break at a local drive-in restaurant.
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The last-minute change in plans came minutes after a man identifying himself as a University of Virginia law school student broke in front of reporters at an event at Staunton's Holiday Inn, forcefully asking the senator, "Have you ever used the word n-----?"
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Allen, caught off-guard but still smiling, put his hands on the man's shoulders and offered to speak to him later, but aides quickly led the man out of the room and Allen soon boarded his bus and left.

That UVA law student was, of course, our very own Mike Stark. And the monkey and banana suits are brilliant, with the potential of becoming as iconic as the Kiss Float in Connecticut if local activists adopt the stunt.

the rest at kos

in this diary he was asking for donations:

We've got ten weeks until election day. We need to pick up 15 seats in the House and six in the Senate. Do you have confidence that the perpetual Democratic campaign professionals are going to make this happen? Do you enjoy guerrilla media as applied to close elections? If you do, I ask you to contribute today. I promise to do my best for you.
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And I promise I'll tell you where your money was spent the day after the elections.