Former associate makes the national news

Hey! I know that guy!

I'm always heartened to see one of my former employees making a name for themselves. It makes me think that I might have been a postive role model in his or her's life , giving that little extra push to go on to do glorious deeds for the greater good. It can bring moist tears to my eyes. Yeah, right.

But I wasn't quite sure how to react to today's airing on CNN of one Michael Stark getting manhandled by a group of Senator George Allen's campaign thugs down in Virginia. All for asking the good pubic servant "if he had ever spit on his wife." Now what's that all about, Michael?

Stark, who once served as a web developer / programmer for me in the e-Comm Square complex on Broadway here in downtown Albany, went on to attain a certain degree of notoriety soon after as the one and only Mike From Albany. His gig: incessantly calling into radio and television talk shows to take on what he called the wingnuts of the right wing. He then chronciles the fun in his blog Calling All Wingnuts. Mike even got himself a front page cover story in Metroland and on a first name basis with Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. It's funny; I never recall having any sort of political discussion with him when we worked and socialized together--but something obviously set him off.

When I last spoke with Mr Stark, he told me of his need for a major career shift and of his decsion to enter law school at the University of Virginia. That's why he's showing up for verbal ambushes on Mr. Allen, I assume. Allen just happens to have the unfortuanate luck of being the closest wingnut to our hometown hero.

Take a look at the video of this ugliness here.

*** Late breaking news...

Apparently, this stunt may have provided that "career change" mentioned above: various sources are reporting that Mike has been hired by the producers of an Air America talk show program.

This news gets me to thinking. What is more amazing: that Mike Stark has become the the new Stuttering John (from Howard Stern's show), or that Stuttering John took over Ed McMahon's old job on the Tonight Show?