More Details of Census Worker

[one...two...tree 2,762]

As details emerge on the death of the slain Census worker in Kentucky, the story appears to be even more tragic than first reported.

Bill Sparkman juggled three part-time jobs and chemotherapy, and he was conscientious about keeping his schedule straight. So when he didn't show up for work at a day-care program Sept. 10, two days after he went out canvassing residents for the Census Bureau, a co-worker reported him missing.

Sparkman's body was found two days later beside a remote road near a small family cemetery in the Daniel Boone National Forest. His death initially garnered little attention, even in eastern Kentucky.

Then authorities revealed this week that a noose was found around his neck, and that he was hanging from a tree, his feet touching the ground. The word "Fed" was scrawled across the 51-year-old census taker's chest, according to the Clay County coroner.

Officials said Sparkman's body was found with his Census Bureau identification card taped to his head. An AP report added that he was "naked, gagged and had his hands and feet bound with duct tape."

As was the case earlier in the week, it's still worth emphasizing that this is an open investigation and additional information is needed before reaching any conclusions. Some of the earlier details have proven false -- Sparkman was not, for example, found hanging from a tree, as some initial reports suggested -- and our understanding of what actually happened may yet change again.

That said, what we've learned thus far is gruesome, and continues to raise the prospect of what may have been a politically-motivated slaying. Faiz Shakir added, "Regardless of what the motive for the killing may have been, why would a murderer(s) take such pains to so blatantly convey anger, fear, and vitriol towards a Census employee? Perhaps because some on the right have created an impression that Census employees are terrifying."

The record on that front is clear -- Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Glenn Beck, and Neal Boortz have invested considerable energy in trying to convince confused, right-wing activists that the Census and those who work for the Census Bureau are not to be trusted, and may even be dangerous.

Here's hoping that their reckless and irresponsible rhetoric did not have deadly consequences.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

Edited September 26, 2009 by Col. 'Bat' Guano

[MrsCat 6]

Is there a law for prosecuting someone who kills a federal worker in the commission of their work (ie: like policemen)?

And as for blaming Beck, I mean come on. The person(s) who did this probably did not need any incitation.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Is there a law for prosecuting someone who kills a federal worker in the commission of their work (ie: like policemen)?

And as for blaming Beck, I mean come on. The person(s) who did this probably did not need any incitation.

Yes...it is considered a federal crime.

If we had Muslim Clerics in this country telling fellow Muslims not to trust the Fed and that Census workers are dangerous...and one of them murdered this census worker, would you also defend the Muslim Clerics for saying what they did?

[MrsCat 6]

Is there a law for prosecuting someone who kills a federal worker in the commission of their work (ie: like policemen)?

And as for blaming Beck, I mean come on. The person(s) who did this probably did not need any incitation.

Yes...it is considered a federal crime.

If we had Muslim Clerics in this country telling fellow Muslims not to trust the Fed and that Census workers are dangerous...and one of them murdered this census worker, would you also defend the Muslim Clerics for saying what they did?

Yes, because I believe in free expression even when those things are outlandish, offensive, inaccurate and with the purpose to incite hatred.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Is there a law for prosecuting someone who kills a federal worker in the commission of their work (ie: like policemen)?

And as for blaming Beck, I mean come on. The person(s) who did this probably did not need any incitation.

Yes...it is considered a federal crime.

If we had Muslim Clerics in this country telling fellow Muslims not to trust the Fed and that Census workers are dangerous...and one of them murdered this census worker, would you also defend the Muslim Clerics for saying what they did?

Yes, because I believe in free expression even when those things are outlandish, offensive, inaccurate and with the purpose to incite hatred.

I do defend their freedom of speech, however, that doesn't mean we can't criticize what they say or even say that the words had an impact on the murder. Words are powerful - they can inspire, move one to tears, enrage. To say that all this hate talk towards Federal workers is essentially saying that words have no effect on people. You'd have to be a robot to believe that to be true.

[MrsCat 6]

Okay, I just read the linked article. Maybe its just me, but I did not read anywhere in there, where they incited hatred or promote killing or injury to a census worker. I read that they distrust government collecting, retaining and analyzing personal information.

[MrsCat 6]

I do defend their freedom of speech, however, that doesn't mean we can't criticize what they say or even say that the words had an impact on the murder. Words are powerful - they can inspire, move one to tears, enrage. To say that all this hate talk towards Federal workers is essentially saying that words have no effect on people. You'd have to be a robot to believe that to be true.

Agreed. But words only have an effect on a person if they choose to let it to do so. People always have a choice on how they are going to act. While words can encourage someone to act in one way more than another - its not a guarantee.

Case in point: Beck's show (for better or worse) is rated with around 3 million viewers. Did 3 million people go out and kill, maim, injure a census worker? Probably not, cause I'm sure that we'd have heard about it. Did 3 million people unanimously refuse to provide the census with information because Beck said so? Not that I've heard of. Did maybe 100,000 people refuse? I don't know, maybe. . . .

Did one federal worker in the commission of his work get killed? Presumably. We don't know who killed him and for what motives. We don't know what motivated the person(s) to cause injury to him. What we have is coincidental actions at this point. Someone who was a census worker was murdered. And a few months prior Beck expressed his distrust and dislike of the census. Not causal enough for me to say that Beck's words were a catalyst for this action.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I do defend their freedom of speech, however, that doesn't mean we can't criticize what they say or even say that the words had an impact on the murder. Words are powerful - they can inspire, move one to tears, enrage. To say that all this hate talk towards Federal workers is essentially saying that words have no effect on people. You'd have to be a robot to believe that to be true.

Agreed. But words only have an effect on a person if they choose to let it to do so. People always have a choice on how they are going to act. While words can encourage someone to act in one way more than another - its not a guarantee.

Case in point: Beck's show (for better or worse) is rated with around 3 million viewers. Did 3 million people go out and kill, maim, injure a census worker? Probably not, cause I'm sure that we'd have heard about it. Did 3 million people unanimously refuse to provide the census with information because Beck said so? Not that I've heard of. Did maybe 100,000 people refuse? I don't know, maybe. . . .

Did one federal worker in the commission of his work get killed? Presumably. We don't know who killed him and for what motives. We don't know what motivated the person(s) to cause injury to him. What we have is coincidental actions at this point. Someone who was a census worker was murdered. And a few months prior Beck expressed his distrust and dislike of the census. Not causal enough for me to say that Beck's words were a catalyst for this action.

We should admonish anyone inciting hysteria and hatred towards our federal government, which is different from disagreeing with the President and his policies. When we've got these talk show celebrities calling Obama a Communist and Dictactor....or saying not to trust any federal workers...that they could be dangerous - that's just irresponsible and teeters on anti-American sentiment. Again, if this were about Muslim Clerics saying these same things, especially if we had a Republican in the White House...you can bet your bottom dollar, the Right would be singing a different tune.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Col. 'Bat' Guano

[scandal 951]

As details emerge on the death of the slain Census worker in Kentucky, the story appears to be even more tragic than first reported.

RIP

[rebeccajo 14]

I do defend their freedom of speech, however, that doesn't mean we can't criticize what they say or even say that the words had an impact on the murder. Words are powerful - they can inspire, move one to tears, enrage. To say that all this hate talk towards Federal workers is essentially saying that words have no effect on people. You'd have to be a robot to believe that to be true.

Agreed. But words only have an effect on a person if they choose to let it to do so. People always have a choice on how they are going to act. While words can encourage someone to act in one way more than another - its not a guarantee.

Case in point: Beck's show (for better or worse) is rated with around 3 million viewers. Did 3 million people go out and kill, maim, injure a census worker? Probably not, cause I'm sure that we'd have heard about it. Did 3 million people unanimously refuse to provide the census with information because Beck said so? Not that I've heard of. Did maybe 100,000 people refuse? I don't know, maybe. . . .

Did one federal worker in the commission of his work get killed? Presumably. We don't know who killed him and for what motives. We don't know what motivated the person(s) to cause injury to him. What we have is coincidental actions at this point. Someone who was a census worker was murdered. And a few months prior Beck expressed his distrust and dislike of the census. Not causal enough for me to say that Beck's words were a catalyst for this action.

We should admonish anyone inciting hysteria and hatred towards our federal government, which is different from disagreeing with the President and his policies. When we've got these talk show celebrities calling Obama a Communist and Dictactor....or saying not to trust any federal workers...that they could be dangerous - that's just irresponsible and teeters on anti-American sentiment. Again, if this were about Muslim Clerics saying these same things, especially if we had a Republican in the White House...you can bet your bottom dollar, the Right would be singing a different tune.

How though are you going to 'admonish' it?

That's treading on constitutional ground, you know.

[MrsCat 6]

We should admonish anyone inciting hysteria and hatred towards our federal government, which is different from disagreeing with the President and his policies. When we've got these talk show celebrities calling Obama a Communist and Dictactor....or saying not to trust any federal workers...that they could be dangerous - that's just irresponsible and teeters on anti-American sentiment. Again, if this were about Muslim Clerics saying these same things, especially if we had a Republican in the White House...you can bet your bottom dollar, the Right would be singing a different tune.

Maybe I am slow (probably) and missing your thesis. . . . to rephrase are you saying that under normal conditions, calling the president a socialist and inciting hatred of federal employees would be quelled and stifled, but because its a right-wing person saying these things, its taken as merely hyperbole and at worst a zealous right-winger in defense of the constitution?

[rebeccajo 14]

We should admonish anyone inciting hysteria and hatred towards our federal government, which is different from disagreeing with the President and his policies. When we've got these talk show celebrities calling Obama a Communist and Dictactor....or saying not to trust any federal workers...that they could be dangerous - that's just irresponsible and teeters on anti-American sentiment. Again, if this were about Muslim Clerics saying these same things, especially if we had a Republican in the White House...you can bet your bottom dollar, the Right would be singing a different tune.

Maybe I am slow (probably) and missing your thesis. . . . to rephrase are you saying that under normal conditions, calling the president a socialist and inciting hatred of federal employees would be quelled and stifled, but because its a right-wing person saying these things, its taken as merely hyperbole and at worst a zealous right-winger in defense of the constitution?

I think Steven is saying there would be more of an outcry if the crime looked like it was incited by Islam (rather than the allegations is has a 'militia' flavor to it).

[MrsCat 6]

I think Steven is saying there would be more of an outcry if the crime looked like it was incited by Islam (rather than the allegations is has a 'militia' flavor to it).

Ohhhhh. . . . . He's probably right.

[Darnell 8,480]

I'd sorta be focused on which back-hills , pot-growing krewe got a hold of him, as it's just on the edge of the Daniel Boone National Forest - a KNOWN area for growing ganga...

Historically, a lot of the moonshiners shifted to ganga crop, and there are generations of families that don't want to be found.

Ya, Ya, I know - you wanna see a link or two - but this is stuff I remember, both from news sources and my hillbilly relatives.. so it's MY extrapolation, MY opinion, that it was someone in a pot-growing krewe that did this.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Darnell

[lostinblue 1,989]

I'd sorta be focused on which back-hills , pot-growing krewe got a hold of him, as it's just on the edge of the Daniel Boone National Forest - a KNOWN area for growing ganga...

Historically, a lot of the moonshiners shifted to ganga crop, and there are generations of families that don't want to be found.

Ya, Ya, I know - you wanna see a link or two - but this is stuff I remember, both from news sources and my hillbilly relatives.. so it's MY extrapolation, MY opinion, that it was someone in a pot-growing krewe that did this.

Makes sense.....people growing drugs in the national forest can get upset about a federal worker snooping around. Maybe they confused him with a DEA boy.