Staffers for Virginia Senator George Allen, who is running a contentious campaign against Democrat Jim Webb, assaulted blogger Mike Stark today, placing him in a chokehold and pushing him to the floor, after Stark allegedly asked the Senator if he “spit on his first wife.”
Allen was leaving a speaking event at a hotel in Charlottesville when asked the question. Why was he attacked? According to AmericaBlog, “Mike Stark, a UVA law student and former US Marine, asked a question about a story that's been discussed for a while now, but the media has yet to report: Why Virginia Senator George Allen has sealed his divorce records and won't explain why there were warrants out for his arrest in the 1970s? There have been rumors that the divorce records included details of Allen's treatment of his wife, including a rumor that Allen spit on his former wife.”
When asked for comment on the incident from a CNN affiliate, Allen reportedly replied, “Things like that happen.”
Speaking of the sanctity of marriages, Virginia is another state with a proposed ban on same-sex marriage on the ballot this November 7. Allen recently spoke at a rally and reiterated his commitment to protecting marriage (except for the one to his former wife). Said Allen (sometimes known as the “bigots' bitch”): “There is a clear difference here between me and my opponent – I support protecting marriage from judges who do not understand their role: to interpret the law, not invent the law. My opponent does not. My opponent says that this amendment would infringe upon the rights of ordinary Virginians, and he opposes it. This amendment does exactly what it says it does; it defines marriage as being between one man and one woman, and I'm for marriage between a man and a woman while my opponent is against it.”
