Death In Kentucky

Attytood

I debated whether to link to this story -- it's based on very preliminary information, the kind of information that can often be later found incomplete or flat-out wrong. That said, the details are potentially so alarming that it bears close watching for now:

The FBI is investigating the hanging death of a US census worker near a Kentucky cemetery, and a law enforcement official said 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 on 12 September in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural south-east Kentucky. The census has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay county, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether the death was a killing or a suicide, and if a killing, whether the motive was related to his government job or to anti-government sentiment.

I worked for the Census in 2000. My job was to verify addresses prior to the actual enumeration. It was a fun job, paid well, and took me into some very remote, as in not easily accessible, parts of my local area of the Sierra Nevada. There were times when four-wheel-drive low range wasn't enough and I had to get out and walk.

Like anywhere, most of the folks I met were very nice and wanted to co-operate. One community was really glad to see me because they wanted their roads paved so they wouldn't have to snowmobile their kids three miles to the schoolbus stop every day.

I met my share of backwoods crazies too. Most of 'em just wanted to be left alone and I can dig that. That's why they lived out there in the first place. One guy, whose neighbors actually warned me about, a prominent cattle rancher who was a leading citizen in a town so small that both city limits signs might as well have been on the same post, thought I, as a federal agent, was setting him up for a visit from a black helicopter! Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little...

That said, I never, ever, felt myself to be in any kind of danger whatsoever. It remains to be seen what effect this incident in Kentucky will have on the hiring of tens of thousands of people for the 2010 Census, and I hope it gets resolved quickly. The Census is very important and is good for us all.

And then there's plain old batcrap crazy:

Even if Sparkman's death proves to be not related to his federal work or even a bizarrely staged suicide, the fact that the FBI was called into the case should be a reminder to any politician whose inflammatory talk even poses the risk of inciting anger and violence against federal workers. This investigation certainly calls to mind outspoken (and often unhinged) Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who was even criticized by fellow Republicans when she said she wouldn't fill out her 2010 Census form because the Constitution doesn't require such information and she voiced fears about a possible tie between the Census Bureau and the anti-poverty group ACORN.

To be followed closely...

My condolences to Mr. Sparkman's family over their tragic loss, but I'm hoping that the answer lies in plain old criminality rather than some right-wing gasbag-inspired teabagger/hater shit:

UPDATE: As promised, more info. The Huffington Post compiles more information on the tragic loss of Sparkman, a popular substitute teacher. As for Clay County, Whet Moser of the Chicago Reader points out that it may be a dangerous place for federal workers not so much because of politics but because of an alarming level of illegal drug activity.

From the link:

"I’d be wary before jumping to conclusions on this: the Daniel Boone National Forest is a hotbed for pot growers and meth labs and archaeological looters (Harper’s—subscribers only, alas) and there’s a distrust of anyone considered connected to the federal government, including Forest Rangers and local cops."

Our Forest Rangers around here are now law-enforcement trained and have gone around armed for the last few years where they never did before for much the same reasons.

Update:

Retired trooper warned census worker to 'be careful'