A Soccer Game Breaks Out At Allen Rally

This is pretty funny. To evade having Senator Allen answer a question, one of his supporters takes a dive like a soccer nancy.

The Doughy Goons Of George Allen

Goonsmanship ain't what it used to be. In this video some of George Allen's "toughs" tackle blogger Mike Stark. Stark has filed charges.

The Virginia Senate Race

Four months ago, this race was dead in the water. George Allen had a significant lead over Jim Webb, both in polling and cash on hand. Then came Macaca, a rather slight gaffe that should have been a bump in the road for Allen except his subsequent handling of the matter made things worse at every turn.

Since then, Allen has repeated faced accusations of racism. There are simply so many of them that it is probable that at least a few of them are true. These accusation woke up the electorate to the race and Jim Webb started closing the gap. Recent polling has Webb still behind, but within the margin of error.

Webb should benefit from getting the Washington Post's endorsement which stated "Quite simply, he is a mediocre senator whose six years of undistinguished service do not justify rehiring."

This race is a tough one to call right now. Webb needs a big blue wave on election day to push him over the top. However, since I believe women are going to lead that wave in an overwhelming fashion nationwide, Webb has a problem. Allen has been running attack ads against Webb for some comments he made in the 70's about women, and they have had a degree of effect. Is it enough to stem the tide of Iraq and kitchen table economics that should hurt Allen among women? I don't know. Prediction: True toss up, winner will win by less than a full percentage point.

Allen's "Worthless" Stock Options

George Allen has said that the stock options he failed to report in his discloure forms were, in fact, worthless. Facts, however, are one thing Allen is very short on these days. From Bloomberg:

In March 2000, Allen held 60,000 options when Xybernaut shares closed at an all-time high of $23.75. That would have made the options worth $1.1 million, less commissions and fees, had Allen exercised them.

At that time, Allen could have paid $5.47 and $1.56 respectively for two groups of options, sold them and pocketed the difference. He was awarded another 50,000 options in October 2000.

Greg Walden, an attorney at Patton Boggs LLP in Washington who represents Allen, said the options with Xybernaut expired 90 days after Allen left the board in December 2000.

Walden said Allen never exercised the options. They became worthless as the share price fell. The company went bankrupt in 2005.

A filing by Allen, which Xybernaut forwarded to the SEC in February 2001, shows that he had the right to exercise all the options at the end of 2000. The options were to begin to expire in 2008. Allen also reported owning the options on his 2002 and 2003 Senate financial disclosures, long after Walden said they had expired.

Now, you might be thinking that Allen isn't corrupt, just dumb. (By the way, he isn't that bright) What you need to know about Xybernaut is that Allen was actively pimping the company for new contracts with the Army while he was holding. Allen knew that if he could get the Army to buy enough of Xybernaut's junk, his options would be worth far more than the $1.1 million that they topped out at. Why wouldn't he, nobody anywhere wastes more money than the Pentagon.

Also, thumbs up to Bloomberg for refuting the lies of Allen's attorney in the next paragraph after he states them.