|
NAM Round Table
The NAM Round Table consists of news, insights, visions, ramblings and rants from the writers at New America Media.
Right wing commentators have floated wild hypotheses on why Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old Census worker, might have been killed in rural Kentucky. Sparkman, a cancer survivor, was found dead, hanging from a tree, but with his feet touching the ground, on Sept 12. His hands were bound with duct tape and he had the word “Fed” scrawled on his chest. Investigators aren’t yet saying what the circumstances behind Sparkman’s death were—officially, his death has not yet even been declared a murder. The leading theory on the left is that it had something to do with anti-government sentiment or militias. Both sides agree it could have had something to do with drugs. But here’s a list of interpretations and responses from the right that have received a great deal of attention. For balance, I’ve included liberal responses to the most extreme of these viewpoints. Andrea Nill, who flagged Hedgecock’s post on Thinkprogress, responds: “It … seems unlikely that an ‘illegal pot plantation’ worker from Mexico would commit such a visible crime and risk drawing attention to what Hedgecock describes as a lucrative enterprise.” But he hasn’t let up; more recently he’s speculated about whether the autopsy will show recent sexual activity, like masturbation, implying Sparkman may have been caught up in a sex game. Andrew Sullivan blasted Riehl’s earlier post in one of his own, titled “A New Low.” He called Riehl a notorious homophobe, and said Riehl had no “evidence at all” for his speculation. “The far right is obviously concerned that its violent anti-government rhetoric might at some point be implicated” in Sparkman’s murder, wrote Sullivan. The wild allegations are a smokescreen for these concerns. For his part, Sparkman’s 19-year-old adopted son gave an interview to the AP. “I look at it as disrespectful to be still throwing suicide and accident around,” Josh Sparkman was quoted as saying. “He didn’t do this to himself. That’s dishonorable. My dad was a good man. No person on this planet is going to fight cancer like he did, then turn around and kill himself a year or so later.” Investigators have confirmed the cause of death as asphyxiation. “I killed the Kentucky Census worker — along with every man and woman in America who is guilty of having said or written anything critical of government,” she wrote in a tongue-in-cheek conclusion to a recent column posted on her site. “The criminalization of conservatism continues.” More NAM coverage: comments |
|
The murder or whatever it was… was either linked to Mr. Sparkmans work OR who ever did it wanted us to think it was. End of story. The right wing just doesn’t want to stop their insane rhetoric and this threatens to slam on the brakes for them.
By DeMock · Posted on Sep 30, 08:52 PMWe have to proceed this CIR because he promised it already.
By Kun Setiono · Posted on Oct 5, 02:18 PMBy www.sharpenbusiness.com