Another episode of right-wing violence that wasn’t, kind of like the entire month of August’s town halls:
At the time of the census worker’s death, liberal commentators and bloggers scrambled all over themselves to blame Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck and other right-leaning figures for inciting violence with their “anti-government” sentiment.
Michelle Malkin highlights the subtle smear art that made the rounds on the left. Clarence Page on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation”, Nov. 5, 2009: “You know, maybe perhaps the research that I do – I worry about the Bill Sparkmans, the census worker that was hanged and – found hanged in Kentucky with the word fed on his body. Or, you know – or Stephen Johns, the guy that was killed at the Holocaust Museum in D.C. a few months ago that – I hope those type of incidents, not only interracial marriages increase, but I hope those type of violence, violent incidents decrease.” Andrew Sullivan, Sept. 26, 2009: “No Suicide: That’s the one thing we know for certain now in the case of the Kentucky lynching…But the most worrying possibility – that this is Southern populist terrorism, whipped up by the GOP and its Fox and talk radio cohorts – remains real.” NPR’s Neal Conan of “Talk of the Nation”used the Sparkman story as a jumping-off point for a segment entitled “A History of Mistrust” about the census on Sept. 29. The opening to MSNBC’s Ed Schultz show Sept. 28, 2009:
Brian Levin, on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, Sept. 25, 2009:
Rachel Maddow, Sept. 25, 2009:
“Good Morning America” with Diane Sawyer, Sept. 24, 2009, did a segment entitled, “GOVERNMENT HATE CRIME? CENSUS WORKER KILLED ON ROUTE?” Mark Potok, Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show, Sept. 24, 2009: “I think the bottom line is it’s a very rural area, and these are the kinds of areas where sometimes, you know, real white hot anti-government sentiment thrives. I think it’s probably worth saying that I know that back in `95, immediately after the Oklahoma City bombing, I remember “USA Today” did a poll and found that 39 percent of Americans at that time felt that the federal government was an imminent threat to their liberties as Americans. Quite incredible. I think that we are at a similar point in history right now, you know, where we’ve seen this anti-government sentiment very much whipped up by militia certainly but also the whole scene that we’ve seen develop around town halls and so forth.” On Sept. 23, 2009, Rachel Maddow just about begged an AP reporter to confirm her suspicions: “We`re all wondering if is — should be taken as some indication that this was a crime related to anti-government sentiment. Are you able to report anything? Are you hearing anything about even circumstantial evidence in that regard? Is there any way to know even whether federal and law enforcement getting involved is an indication that they think that might be true?” Allison Kilkenny, Huffpo: “This is the kind of violent event that emerges from a culture of paranoia and unsubstantiated attacks. Personalities like Glenn Beck have irresponsibly accused the government of running FEMA concentration camps, and constantly stoke the fear of ‘the Feds’ taking over.” Brad Friedman littered his post with caveats before ultimately going to same route (and using that lovely piece of art): “With all of that in mind, however, it’s admittedly damned difficult not to look back at the kind of wildly-irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric being slung casually across the airwaves to millions of viewers and listeners every day by folks like Bachmann, Beck, O’Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh, and all the rest, without pondering questions such as: ‘What the hell are these people thinking?’ and ‘Do they not realize that people are actually out there paying attention to what they have to say?'” Village Voice: “Village Voice Media’s True Crime Report blog cited the recent ‘rage against Washington . . . especially in the rural South,’ and said the death had ;all the makings of some anti-government goober taking his half-wit beliefs way too far.’ People for the American Way put this video together of right commentators talking about the census, while drawing this connection in the about box:
Speculation is often a part of the news cycle, and the circumstances surrounding Sparkman’s death were strange indeed. But if I weren’t far too fair to jump to conclusions, here, I’d say a lot of commentators acted stupidly in reaching for the storyline that fit their preferred violent, redneck right-winger narrative. In the end, police determined Sparkman wrote the word “Fed” on his own chest, his hands and feet were bound loosely enough for him to have maneuvered himself, and they found no defensive wounds or anyone else’s DNA on him. Thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends who will now be able to mourn his death without the glare of the national media. (All transcript results pulled from brief perusal of Lexis-Nexis search.)
