Remember the case of the Census worker who was found hanging from a tree with the word ‘fed' scrawled across his chest? You remember - he died at the hands of right-wing commentators and anti-government tea partiers. He was killed because of an overwhelming case of right-wing paranoia. He was murdered by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Bachmann, and Fox News.
Keep this quiet though...
While the death of Bill Sparkman was a media sensation for pushing anti-conservative sentiments just a couple of months ago, it is receiving little to no coverage currently. Why? Because, as investigators have recently speculated, there is a possibility that he died by his own hands.
Well, that just doesn't make for interesting news at the so-called legitimate news organizations.
As the AP states,
"The strange case attracted national attention when it first came to light, prompting worries that it may be a sign of increased anger toward the federal government in the first year of Barack Obama's presidency."
Prompting worries from whom? The unhinged left wishing to create sensational accusations? Check. The list follows:
- The Democratic Underground quickly posted a ‘Handy Guide to how Republicans and Fox News are responsible for Census worker being hanged'.
- Rachel Maddow suggested Sparkman was killed simply because ‘he was a federal employee'.
- Liberal bloggers were quick to accuse ‘right wing zealots' trying to ‘take their country back.
- Time chalked it up to government distrust, a sentiment fanned by ‘talk media, tea parties and white-hot town-hall meetings'.
- The Huffington Post immediately assumed this was a case of right-wing paranoia.
- True/Slant opined that the body of Sparkman should be shipped to Glenn Beck.
- Think Progress pointed the finger at Michelle Bachman and her ‘inflammatory and fear-mongering rhetoric against the Census'.
- New York Magazine linked the death to that of ‘some wide-eyed, hysterical woman' named Michelle Bachman. (The irony in this is that the reference to a wide-eyed, hysterical woman was made in an article mentioning Nancy Pelosi).
Now however,
"Investigators probing the death of a Kentucky census worker found hanging from a tree with the word "fed" scrawled on his chest increasingly doubt he was killed because of his government job and are pursuing the possibility he committed suicide..."
And
"In recent weeks ... investigators have grown more skeptical that 51-year-old Bill Sparkman died at the hands of someone angry at the federal government."
Thus far, the AP article remains the only main-stream mention of the case as a possible suicide. Oh, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explored the possibility.
Funny though, how rampant speculation of murder managed to find its way through the media, but now that authorities are leaning towards a suicide, mum's the word.
Will the rest of the media express the same skepticism as those mentioned in the AP article? Will the aforementioned media outlets begin tripping over themselves, offering apologies to everyone they accused of having blood on their hands? Or will they quietly sweep this development under the rug?
Shhh! Don't answer; it'll be our little secret.
Photo Credit: The Times-Tribune/AP
