The Census Worker Suicide
EDITOR’S NOTE: A portion of the original content of this post has been edited to broaden the debate to include mainstream media (MSM) and all blogs (along with associated writers and commenters) that engaged on this topic earlier. Thank you. -TS
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Joe already reported on it briefly, (and I also noted this from allahpundit) but I think a bit more detail and an apology are in order. For those of you who missed the earlier coverage, it seems that authorities have ruled census worker Bill Sparkman’s death a suicide. How did they determine this? Click through the last link for the full story, but the lengthy investigation revealed a number of factors, including these, not released by the investigators at the time. (And rightly so.)
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Sparkman previously had cancer, which had gone into remission, but he told a friend he was afraid it had returned.
He told a friend he planned to kill himself on the Saturday before he died, and how he would do it. The friend didn’t think he was serious and, sadly, failed to report it.
He had taken out two life insurance policies in May, totaling more than one half million dollars, which would not pay off if he had died of natural causes or suicide, but only in the case of accident or homicide.
His hands which were “taped together” were so loosely bound he could stretch them to shoulder width.
He was “hung” but his knees were inches off the ground and he could have stood up to save his life.
There were no other wounds, offensive or defensive, on his body or drugs in is system to indicate an assault of some sort.
At the time, I wrongly jumped to a conclusion in my column, The Ghouls Surrounding Bill Sparkman. I assumed at that time that the most likely cause of death was murder by some local moonshiners or pot farmers or other mountain folk up to no good. Obviously, I was incorrect, and I apologize. This was obviously an ill and deeply troubled man, dealing with an illness, a lack of a job and family problems, who decided to take this route out of his problems.
Of course, there were some other writers in Blogtopia and MSM who also jumped to their own conclusion about how Sparkman died… theories which have not panned out given the current evidence. I’m sure they will be along shortly with their own apologies to set the record straight.
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18 Responses to “The Census Worker Suicide”
[...] The Moderate Voice is gracious and offers an apology. Thank you. [...]
So much for sparkman the victim, enter Sparkman the sick puppy.
Should someone have to apologize for a logical conclusion based on the current facts?
As long as they used facts and not assumptions no. If assumptions with no real facts were the basis of their error, yes.
Kathy:
I notice you have pulled your post on this issue.
Let me (ab)use this thread to post the comment I did on the post you deleted, and that is to advice you take care of yourself and get to feeling better real soon.
Dorian
Yes my best wishes for a speedy recovery as well Kathy, get better first post later, we can wait for you.
Back to the topic I give kasperhauser the gold star
From John Cole, a post called “Bilal Hussein, Graeme Frost, Rachel Ray, Michael Schiavo and Hundreds of Others Called”.
Hypocrisy is non-partisan.
PS–I also wish Kathy a speedy recovery.
Since my comment posted before Leonida's
“Yes, I also had posted on that before it got pulled, so I'll reiterate here; my best wishes for a speedy recovery as well Kathy, get better first post later, we can wait for you”
mysteriously disappeared, let me,again, post my wishes for you Kathy to feel better real soon
Dorian
Kathy:
Found my original comment in the bowels of TMV
Here it is:
“Submitted on 2009/11/24 at 7:35pm
Kathy:
I notice you have pulled your post on this issue.
Let me (ab)use this thread to post the comment I did on the post you deleted, and that is to advice you take care of yourself and get to feeling better real soon.
Dorian”
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[...] Joe already reported on it briefly, (and I also noted this from allahpundit) but I think a bit more detail and an apology are in order. For those of you who missed the earlier coverage, it seems that authorities have ruled census worker Bill Sparkman’s …Read Original Story: The Census Worker Suicide – The Moderate Voice [...]
The census-hating, Limbaugh-listening rednecks weren't smart enough to make this look like a suicide by themselves. I smell Karl Rove.
The implications of this story are entirely similar to Ashley Todd, a McCain campaign volunteer in Pittsburgh who claims she was attacked because she supports Sen. John McCain.
Confused people see their actions as logical, and when logical people see the “evidence” fabricated by the “victim,” it's natural to assume the image is real. We've had stories similar to this many times in the past. The usage of a fictitious black man perpetrating the murder of Susan Smith's children is a well known example.
Here is just one example where “rednecks” were the assumed perps.
If they were going well beyond the known facts and connecting dots according to their own preconceived notions, then yes. As that's what happened among those predisposed to a certain view of rural redneck Kentuckians who hate the feds and census workers. And that preconception is apparently what led this guy to concoct an insurance fraud scheme.
A quick review of some of the commentary made here at the time shows that some were declaring that the incident had to have been a murder, not suicide (one commenter said suicide was impossible because of hands bound behind the back, which was not factual- we now know that the man's hands were only loosely bound and were in the front of his body.) Another commenter declared that this case was a perfect example of the growing problem of violence among right wing extremists, and another said that it was only a false sense of a need to show equivalency that would lead anyone to say that anything other than murder by right wing haters was a possibility.
These conclusions are just as bad as racists who would use crime statistics to say that any given attack was most likely committed by a black man. They're prejudicial, period.
And Hemm is right in bringing up that case of a McCain campaign worker, but at the risk of being criticized for 'false equivalency' there really are a number of recent incidents of these hoaxes perpetrated by left and right wingers- Randi Rhodes, for instance, and the case of a former Dem campaign worker in Denver who vandalized their headquarters. In these cases, the real motive is to capitalize on the prejudicial view of how bad the extremists on the other side of the political spectrum are behaving. Buying into that viewpoint without having real evidence creates and perpetuates the problem, as it will continue to motivate such hoaxes.
<blocquote> Hypocrisy is non-partisan.
As proven time and time again.
I also think Hemm and you are right to bring up these other examples. Too many people are too willing to attribute the actions of a few nuts on the other side for themselves as a representation of everyone on the other side. This is just feeding the Limbaughs, Think Progresses, Olbermann's and Hannity's of the country and undermining the real issues that face us as a nation. Its like these folks want to have the nation lead by political Howard Sterns. The headline and the propaganda points are more important for some than the real issues and rational discussion. Those who lead that charge will lead us over a cliff into permanent partisan warfare if we follow them and go to where they try to lead us.
“I give kasperhauser the gold star for his earlier posting here at TMV”
I just wish those that were wrong would have stepped up. Some even went so far as to insult and condescend to kasperhauser and insult a full half of the country. Tidbits also felt suicide was a real possibility and was quickly rebuked by a writer on here.Dr. E also tried to inject a little caution and was ignored as the rush to judge began. People use this incident to proclaim all sorts of thoughts and insights ——– well we all know whats that's worth now.
People wonder and try to figure stuff out. I did it myself in this case, but I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut because there was no way to know what really happened. I'll admit when I'm wrong and many others here have eaten crow when called, but now it seems a little thin at the table.