Celebrating A Suicide

I'm filing this one directly in the "I'm not buying it for a second" bin.

Conservatives are all in a collective, joyous, embrace now that Kentucky State Police are claiming that Bill Sparkman - a Kentucky State Census worker - committed suicide.

There's only one problem that I have with this - this doesn't add up.

Perhaps this is my jaded nature shining through, but think of the verified reports that came out after Sparkman's body was discovered in the Daniel Boone National Forest area: hands and feet bound AND "hanging" from a tree. The former wouldn't be possible if the later was done either before or after. It's impossible to be in that position unless someone else was there.

What really concerns me most about this is that the final report is exceedingly vague in presenting the "facts" surrounding the case. But the overriding factor within all this is that it's highly likely that KSP and the FBI were concerned with what would happen not only in Kentucky, but around the nation, should it be brought to light that this was a murder.

The life-insurance policy is the only component of this that does tend to lend a modest amount of credibility to the final reporting. Was this the sole piece of "evidence" that led investigative officials to rule suicide rather than murder? It's possible.

Another sickening aspect of this is conservatives are actually rejoicing over this man's suicide. Of course, this was initially cloaked in "concern" for the man's family, but now that they feel it is acceptable to use Sparkman's death as a new talking point, be prepared to deal with their idiocy for months to come.

Still, I'm not buying the final reporting - not one bit.

Some Thoughts For Your Morning

- I'll give the GOP one thing - they certainly know how to tap into a fear and squeeze it for all it's worth. One of the more widely spread, yet sorely underreported, memes of the right-wing machine is that if you own a gun - or would like to purchase one - the Obama administration is going to take away your right to both own AND purchase. So, what does Republican Dean Allen from South Caroloina do at a recent rally? He auctions off an AK-47. It seems that Allen is hoping that since South Carolina has the eyes of the world upon it ( thanks to Mark Sanford and Congressman Wilson ) that he would cash-in on as much political capital as he could afford. So, did the winner have to register the firearm? Was there a background check done?

- As Bill O'Reilly feels the pressure coming at him from Fox's early prime-time hour ( you know he can hear Glenn Beck's footsteps down the hall every day ) it's interesting to see him try to tackle topics with which he is sorely unprepared to handle. When it come to racial animus, O'Reilly decided that he would try and go after Florida A&M University law professor Dr. Jeremy Levitt.

- Despite the reality surrounding the death of Kentuckian and US Census worker William Sparkman, the conservative fringe continue to try and shroud the very real aspects of his murder. They claim that even reporting that what was attached to his body and written on his chest obviously smacks of politically driven hatred is the same as "dancing on his grave". It's situations like this where we see that the fringe conservative will attempt to deny and or defend their own hate-filled rhetoric, even at the expense of potential repeat murders.

- It's not something that hasn't been done before. After all, conservatives love tricks that have worked in the past. But there is something to be said about Ann Coulter's recent assertion that it's not conservatives that are making posters that equate Obama with Hitler, it's actually liberals. This runs completely in line with the conspiratorial nature of the modern conservative movement. It's their version of "trutherism". Conservatives aren't destroying this country, it's a "black flag" operation planned by and carried out by liberals.

- Fox"News" seems to have diefied the pollster Scott Rassmussen this year. But, as perculiar and often slanted ( to the Right, of course ) as his polling practices are, it appears that there are other polls that are just blatantly stupid.

Waiting For The Retraction

On Friday, it was revealed that the Kentucky coroner examining the body of murdered US Census worker William Sparkman did have the word "fed" written on is chest. But, that's not all that was done to him.



Michelle Malkin, and various conservatives, have taken to this story with smarmy, childishness and attempted to shift the discussion towards liberals and progressives attacking conservatives.

I killed the Kentucky Census worker — along with every man and woman in America who is guilty of having said or written anything critical of government.

The criminalization of conservatism continues.

The complete lack of professionalism that Malkin cloaks herself in whenever it is revealed that fringe-conservative rhetoric has lead to the death of someone is no longer suprising. And as I watched Racheal Maddow on Friday, the first question that sprang to my mind was "when will Malkin own up to the facts in this story?". As of this time of this writing, her original post remains the same.

Some Thoughts For Your Day

- Oh, so now conservatives are interested in the death of census worker Sparkman. Apparently, after cobbling together several quotes from local law enforcement - which I should point out essentially state that nothing is being ruled out in the investigation - their own brand of speculation based on nothing of real merit, and even claiming that Eastern Kentucky is filled with nothing more than drug-addicted toss-pots, conservatives have essentially claimed that their inflammatory rhetoric can't be blamed.

- It seems that Sean Hannity is suddenly "concerned" with the water needs in Southern California. In a special edition of Hannity's America - a place I thankfully do not live - he had some protesters bussed in to some local farm where water is in very short supply and essentially blamed Barack Obama for the whole mess. Unfortunately, Hannity left out some key details in his "report".

- In another classic example of Glenn Beck's idiocy when it comes to The Constitution, he cites Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 to claim that "the founders" meant that there was a value to living in this country. I was going to wait to read this book, but it seems that it just might be the greatest piece of unintended comedic literature of the 21 century.

Seems That Michelle Bachman Got What She Wanted

The story of a Kentucky man, William E. Sparkman Jr., a census worker was found murdered this past week is quite troubling for me for multiple reasons. However, the context of his murder brings about very troubling questions, chief of which is how right-wing fear-mongering contributed to this senseless death.

The FBI is investigating the hanging death of a U.S. Census worker near a Kentucky cemetery, and a law enforcement official told The Associated Press the word 'fed" was scrawled on the dead man's chest.
The body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and occasional teacher, was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. The Census has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation.

As a lifelong resident of Kentucky, I am not suprised at all by this turn of events. After the continuous and ill-conceived blatherings of the lunatic fringe began to dominate most political conversations that I heard and often found myself participating in ( as a voice that I had hoped would bring reason ) I started to tell myself that someone is going to die because of this. And I can say without equivocaiton that I am ashamed to call myself a Kentuckian. There are maybe two cities in this poor-excuse of a state that have even a shread of dignity left in them and I am some 3 hours away from them.

It will be interesting to see how this story is spun. I'll be following this until the murderer has been captured.