I've had enough of Mr. Tokarski. It's time that the whole sorry and sad tale be wrote.
I started this blog 7 years ago. As such, it is the oldest active blog running in consistent form in the state (with possible exception of Jeff's, if he would post more than twice a year.) I don't write that as a statement of arrogant importance; but it is germane to what follows. My 'blog-fathers' were my friend Jon, who started blogging 1998 in order to keep in touch with his people in distant locations, and my friends Craig and David. Craig has gone silent, save for his humanitarian efforts, and David is now a corporate shill (~wink~).
I've learned a great deal from each of them. From Jon I learned more than I can express here, save that what happens online can have very real and wonderful consequence in your existence. Hi Batgrl. From David, I've learned to love where you're at and love what you say about where you're at. Honesty is fun, online. From Craig, I've learned one of the most important lessons. Support your peeps, whether you agree with them or not. The online community was onto something new and righteous, and they needed every ounce of support they could get. In truth, I think I've done a pretty damned outstanding job of the latter. I hosted the first and second Montana Weblog awards, sadly now defunct. I hosted the first Montana blogger get-together in my back yard. I've spoken about community at a gathering of one of Montana's best online communities hosted by one of Montana's best bloggers. I tried to get a viable "drinking Liberally" community going here in Bozeman. I've attended and supported meetings for online activism and it's expansion (Hi Jeff). I've promoted Montana blogs at such sites as Metafilter and I've frequently linked Montana websites to nationally renowned websites like Daily Kos. I think I've done my bit.
When it came to the Montana Weblog Awards 2007, I sent out an email to one who had claimed that I was fixing the results. I had hoped that we might have something in common. The response was less human than anticipated, and the weblog awards died. I'm not blaming anyone else. It was my decision. I was tired of taking abuse from halfwits, and decided that enough is enough. Should any get the wrong idea, no, it wasn't Mark Tokarski. But still, a few things can be gleaned from this anecdote. I do what I do because it's fun in the same manner that collecting stamps is fun, or collecting friends on Facebook is fun, or just hanging discussing with others is fun. When it becomes not fun, and personally abusive, it just isn't fun anymore.
Enter Mark Tokarski. Mark waded into the Montana blog-o-tubes with a unique attitude, and was actually well received because of it. Many, if not most of us, attempted to promote and display his offerings. But, because the whole deal didn't become about him, and all about him, things went wrong. It started slow, no doubts, but accelerated quickly.
Someone tried to get me fired. I'm oh so certain that it was only coincidence that that very morning my website had an unbelievable number of hits relating to John Sinrud. I was pissed off. Very Pissed off, so I wrote a post about it. To that post, I got this comment:
Your wit is as sharp as a butter knife.
Funny. That comment came from the same IP address as Mark Tokarski used at the time. I tried to be somewhat polite about it, considering that someone had just tried to get my ass fired.
"Monty", my response to you is posted within your comment in the thread above. If you have a question, state it. Quit with the shit.
Mark's response was this:
Touchy aren't we. Everyone else was drooling over your writing skills that I thought I would add my admiration as well.
And people actually question why I have a problem with Mark Totardski? So I called him on his bullshit:
Mark T. (for Tokarski) is posting under the nom de plume of "Monty" from IP address 216.166.168.55. I can only assume that he is doing so to get me to expose why I wrote a previous post without explanation for those who have no need to know. He'd have been better off just emailing me to ask, but no. He sought to stir shit up, by being contrary and rather rude. I would expect that from Eric, or one of his pets, but not from a "friendly", as it were.
Mark's response, and this where it gets really funny, is that someone stole his IP address.
Well, I've had an email exchange with Mr. Kailey, and from what he has shown me there, there was indeed a nasty email exchange between him and a person calling himself Monty and using a bogus email address, and using my IP address.
It was not me, but I have to say, the evidence is pretty damning. the IP address is mine. I look guilty as hell.
But I'm not.
Please, read all the comments to that thread. You will see that Mark is arguing that his IP address was stolen and that he's arguing against 3 IT professionals who know better. He even blamed Craig, an honorable man, of having done this nefarious deed. No. All 3 of us told Marktard that it didn't happen, and couldn't. Of course, the ironically amusing part is this:
God this sucks. I can see why people are getting out of blogging. It's been taken over by trolls. I am not one of them.
Yes, he really is one of them. Notice, Mark didn't get out of blogging. He just decided to character assassinate anyone who knew the truth of his poor decisions, just as he attempted in that thread. It would be nice, and kind, if these were the wost of Mark Tokardski's foibles. But they aren't. Kindly pay attention when part 2 comes.
Update: I confess, after 4 years of dealing with Mark's condescending critiques of my blog and my person, I'm having a great time watching the liar dig himself in deeper. His latest shovel full is that I fabricated the "monty" comments to "punk" him. Why I would do such a thing to him will remain an eternal mystery. Whoops ... 
That right there is a screenshot of the typepad comment edit function. Clicken to biggin. Notice that I can alter comments, including email or poster. But what I can't do is to change the IP address, or time and date in which a comment is left. Now, it would be posible to morph one of Mark's other comments into this, given that the IP was definately his. But you'd think Mark would have noticed that I done that. No, his claim now and then isn't that I altered a comment he had left, but that he never left a comment at all. And now he claims that I just made it up. Sorry, Charlie. But do try again, Mark. Because I'm enjoying myself now.