Thoughts on the Killing in Kentucky

                                                                                                                                                                             

Over the last few months a discussion has been taking place regarding the ongoing rhetoric in the country as to what should be the role of government. Some of those discussions were loud, rude, and fractious. Some of those discussions were loud, calm ,and logical. What has been interesting about these discussions is the disparity of coping methods among individuals in the country as together we face various difficulties as a society. I was not discouraged when these discussions became heated. Perhaps this attitude is the product of growing up in a liberal household in the middle of a conservative state. Perhaps this attitude is because  as a young girl I stood on the grassy knoll in Dallas where protesting government met with the ultimate sacrifice; the death of a man who happened to be our President. My Mother took me . She felt we children should see the place where violence robbed the country of an age of innocence. Perhaps this attitude is because I came of age hearing the shouts of young protesters declaring "HELL NO WE WON'T GO" as the Nation considered the moral compass that was guiding the War in Vietnam.  Loud and angry protests seemed a part of my culture. I can find information in the rowdy and unruly protest, even if this information is only how frightened or misinformed we all may be. I can be rowdy and unruly when I see the need. This is America, the land of the free. And often the rowdy and unruly.


My generation is uniquely suited to protests. We do not fear them, often revel in justified protest, as when Dr. King led the peaceful march on Washington,and usually forget that the end result of ugly rhetoric can be injury; the student killings at the Kent State protest seem to have faded from many memories. As I watched the protests this summer where armed Americans screamed angry words that often had no basis in truth, such as the angry cries against mythical death panels, I wondered if remembering events like the Kent State protest creates a level of responsibility we as a society don't want. Have members of my generation begun to make a habit of not verifying information, or spreading lies with glee just to watch the fireworks, or retreating in imagined indignation when someone asks for clarity on any issue? Have some of us forgotten to question the very media outlets many of us viewed skeptically as young adults in the 1960's when information was so filtered? As a generation many of us demanded the truth about the war in Southeast Asia, never taking at face value the facts distributed by the media. Have we forgotten the illegal and unreported bombing of the Cambodia border? 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               In 2009 I watched in amazement as worried adults removed their children from schools when our President planned to address them personally on the merits of education at the direction of media outlets that warned the children were being enticed to join a personality cult. Think about that for a moment.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            How about those who disagree with armed protests, or find the idea of a personality cult stealing their children's mind improbable, or  view death panels a myth? Astonishing for me as one of those who remember when being cool was in no small measure being open to independent thought, these individuals are accused of being foolish,or fascist , or hey- uncool. These attacks were not just directed toward the leadership as we saw in many town hall meetings  but to anyone who disagreed,even in the workplace or at social events. What is more powerful for our generation than being uncool? Apparently, not much. I have noticed that when disagreements arise on any given subject a new method of dealing with this dilemma has come into play, become the victim . Call someone a name, such as racist or communist, or fascist while using the smoke screen of free speech,such as when Glenn Beck called President Obama a racist(1). If a groundswell of criticism arises insist that the injured party was not the person insulted or attacked, like President Obama, but the speaker of such carefully planned invective, as when Glenn Beck implies he is simply misunderstood (2). While  individuals who object to such behavior as Beck's or Limbaugh's are attacked ,accused of either not grasping the Constitution or being to dim to understand the genius of our forefathers on right wing radio and cable TV Beck is interviewed on a media  mainstreamweb cast as a celebrity (8).  Listen to Rush Limbaugh,whose opinions are embraced by no less than the head of the  GOP (9).  In 2009 to object to illogical or hateful or untruthful information about the workings of our government is uncool, or unpatriotic, or snobbish. As I write  this I feel the shame of participating in just such arguments . Tired of being personally attacked for my beliefs, I retaliated in kind.  What does embracing this sort narcissism get us? In my opinion, if  we are not very careful, an injury for which society will bear a responsibility that cannot be healed by words of sorrow. A life cannot be magically restored from death. There are examples- the Oklahoma City bombing, the death at the hands of a madman in Waco that was laid at the feet of the ATF (10) , the killings at Ruby Ridge (11). There have been killings in the name of freedom in our lifetime that are the result of misplaced anger by a people who struggle every day to live marginally in a country that promises unlimited success and cannot deliver the opportunity (12). I am very worried that we are at such a point in history again. We have elected officials appearing at rallies that are  paid for in part by groups that urge their members to attack "government entities" (3).  We have elected officials like Michelle Bachmann  who are implying  the government is amassing information to enslave citizens and calling this process the census(4). We have  entertainers, such as Glenn Beck, who openly discuss methods of murder for elected officials (5).

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    These are frightening times, the former leadership was negligent,(6)  as was Corporate America (7).  Now everyone pays the price for the ethical lapses of the captains of industry and the political leaders who removed the prudent regulations that protected our people (13).  We have no jobs, we have less savings; many of us are loosing/ have lost  our homes. We live in the time of  the terrorists, which has been defined as no more than an invention of right wing extremists by one of their own party, Scott McClellan,to invade Iraq. What hope had we of dismantling the organization of Bin Laden when no such organization existed in the country we attacked? What hope had we of winning a war in Afghanistan when funds were diverted to a country (Iraq)contained and no threat to American interests? What sort of leadership led our country to this point?  As is always in America, that depends on who you ask. Now as a country and a society we must find solutions to the economy, the jobs, the wars,and the peace. This will require the workings of government, I believe. I base this belief on logic. Consider please, if Corporate America could salvage the economy it would have already done so, I think.  Where is the profit in a company that can not grow? If the military complex could achieve victory in the Middle East, our servicemen and women would be stateside.Alone these tasks cannot be achieved.  It is my personal belief that the serving members in Washington, D.C. are not the government. These individuals are the staff, the subject matter experts, the employees of the real government, and that real government is all 3 million of we citizens. This is why I do not fear government. I am government.


What we know is that the fear of government instilled by a small part of the population, and a smaller part of the entertainment community as exemplified by Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, may have given us our first innocent victim. A census taker was killed in Kentucky, and the word FED was scrawled across his chest. The investigation is not complete. All the reports to date only indicate that a homicide occurred. There can be no rush to judgment, we have to wait for the FBI  to clarify this issue for us. Make no mistake, this could have happened anywhere,in any community where anger and fear has been allowed to foment. Like Dallas in the 60's, we wait to learn if  the angry buzzing of fear, resentment, and the glorification of bad decisions created a movement to protest government that has resulted in death. I hope  the death of this man  had nothing to do with the census and the current mistrust of all things government fed on the airwaves, in the schools, and in the churches. I deeply hope that our love of freedom has not been so misused.  If  the blatant use of fear and pain by a few has resulted in this man's death, we are all responsible.  Is this what we want?



The freedom to speak our opinions and  the freedom to worship as we choose are integral to our lives . These two rights have been used to hide the fact that among us are groups who want to use violence as a problem resolution tool. I hope we can take a step back and really look at the issues before us. I can no longer be vaguely amused by the angry words, the scorn, the magical thinking . I am afraid while I was indulging myself an innocent paid the price. If indeed this man was murdered for simply doing his job, what part have I played?  I should have spoken out much sooner in outrage against the participants of this current fear mongering.



                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

AP article below:

  
 Family Cemetery Visit Led to Hanged Census Worker
Family visiting cemetery found census worker's naked, hanged body; had been gagged, duct taped
By ROGER ALFORD and JEFFREY McMURRAY Associated Press Writer
BIG CREEK, Ky. September 26, 2009 (AP)
The Associated Press


Graves dot a hillside at the Hoskins Cemetery in rural Clay County near Manchester, Ky., Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. It was near this cemetery census worker Bill Sparkman was found dead earlier this month. (AP Photo/\Ed Reinke)
(AP)

A family's visit to a rural Kentucky cemetery led to the shocking discovery of a part-time census worker's naked body hanging from a tree with the word "fed" written on his chest.

Jerry Weaver of Fairfield, Ohio, told The Associated Press the man had been gagged and his hands and feet were bound with duct tape.

Weaver said Friday he was certain from the gruesome scene that 51-year-old Bill Sparkman was killed deliberately.

"He was murdered," Weaver said. "There's no doubt."

Weaver said he was in rural Clay County, Ky., for a family reunion and was visiting some family graves at the cemetery on Sept. 12 along with his wife and daughter when they saw the body.

"The only thing he had on was a pair of socks," Weaver said. "And they had duct-taped his hands, his wrists. He had duct tape over his eyes, and they gagged him with a red rag or something."

Two people briefed on the investigation said various details of Weaver's account matched the details of the crime scene, though both people said they were not informed who found the body. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

Authorities have said a preliminary cause of death was asphyxiation, pending a full medical examination. According to a Kentucky State Police statement, the body was hanging from a tree with a rope around the neck, yet it was in contact with the ground.

"And they even had duct tape around his neck," Weaver said. "And they had like his identification tag on his neck. They had it duct-taped to the side of his neck, on the right side, almost on his right shoulder."

Both of the people briefed on the investigation confirmed that Sparkman's Census Bureau ID was found taped to his head and shoulder area. Weaver said he couldn't tell if the tag was a Census ID because he didn't get close enough to read it. He could see writing on Sparkman's chest, but could not read that it said "fed."

  
Authorities have said the word was scrawled with a felt-tip pen.


Weaver, who works for a family topsoil usiness in Fairfield, said the body was about 50 yards from a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck. He said Sparkman's clothes were in the bed of the truck.

"His tailgate was down," Weaver said. "I thought he could have been killed somewhere else and brought there and hanged up for display, or they actually could have killed him right there. It was a bad, bad scene.

"It took me three or four good nights to sleep. My 20-year-old daughter ended up sleeping in the floor in our bedroom," he said.

Sparkman, a Boy Scout leader and substitute teacher, was supplementing his income as a part-time census field worker. Authorities have refused to say if Sparkman was at work going to door-to-door for census surveys before he died.

After Sparkman's body was found, the Census Bureau suspended door-to-door interviews in Clay County until the investigation is complete.

Clay County Sheriff Kevin Johnson declined to comment on the investigation because the department is only playing a supporting role but said patrols have increased in the Daniel Boone National Forest since the body was found.

State Trooper Don Trosper said it was clear this wasn't a natural death but said all other possibilities were being considered.

"We are not able to rule out many scenarios at this time, and that's what makes this a difficult case," he said.

Although anti-government sentiment was one possibility in the death, some in law enforcement also cited the prevalence of drug activity in the area — including meth labs and marijuana fields — although they had no reason to believe there was a link to Sparkman's death.

———

Associated Press Writer Devlin Barrett in Washington contributed to this report. Alford reported from Frankfort.















                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   


(1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI_0Kt_e3Go.

(2) http://supportglennbeck.com/

(3)   http://traffic.outbrain.com/network/redir?key=bad1e051bc9395576bcdc15d857adf56&rdid=57509235&type=MLT_def&in-site=false&req_id=edf89c360ba6f3e812c761b60c825b92&fp=false&am=get&agent=blog_JS_rec&version=4.4.1&idx=0


(4) http://www.dustytrice.com/?p=6709
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(5) http://www.morninpaper.com/2009/08/video-glenn-beck-says-he-wants-to-poison-nancy-pelosi-on-air/


(6) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/28/bush-leaving-next-preside_n_115335.html

(7) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%932009

(8) http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=mlw&resnum=0&q=glenn+beck+interviewed+by+katie+couric&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=rsTASuvgHM3g8Qbm-IS0AQ&sa=X&oi=news_group&ct=title&resnum=1


(9) http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geusZnDMFKZA0AyyZXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyc20yOXRmBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0Y4MjRfOTM-/SIG=120k6kgc6/EXP=1254252007/**http%3a//www.youtube.com/watch%3fv=NkyGrgXEwds


(10) http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geurtyDsFK5YQAF2JXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyaHM5aWtoBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0Y4MjRfOTM-/SIG=12a0kiukg/EXP=1254252530/**http%3a//www.wordiq.com/definition/Oklahoma_City_bombing

(11) http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu7EpD8FKGhIAwEJXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyNDdjNWk4BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0Y4MjRfOTM-/SIG=11rc9gb5j/EXP=1254252713/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Ridge

(12)http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu7xlD8FKcdAAkDpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyajNlaTNhBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0Y4MjRfOTM-/SIG=12p4np3nr/EXP=1254252773/**http%3a//home.earthlink.net/~rdmadden/webdocs/Poverty_and_Violence.html

(13) http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkyLpFMFKrgsBHBJXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyb2tjMmdsBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA0Y4MjRfOTM-/SIG=12f1v2kr0/EXP=1254254185/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubled_Assets_Relief_Program