William Sparkman, 51, was a substitute teacher for Laurel County Kentucky.   He was an Eagle Scout.    He was well liked in the community.   He moved to Kentucky when he was transferred by his employer, The Boy Scouts of America.  He became interested in teaching and several years ago decided to switch careers.  He went back to school to become an elementary school teacher.   He loved to teach and was scheduled to graduate college with his teaching certificate in 2007.  Unfortunately he was diagnosed with Stage 3 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma before he completed his degree.   He balanced chemotherapy with school work and managed to graduate on time.   He was even the key note speaker at his own graduation, where he told his fellow graduates, "I'd been knocked down, but I refused to be knocked out.  Those brick walls will appear from time to time in your career. Do not let them stop you. There are no failures, just teaching moments."

Bill Sparkman was also a part-time Census worker.  

On September 12th, the decomposing body of Bill Sparkman was found hanging from a tree next to a cemetery near the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural, south east Kentucky.   The word "FED" was written on his chest.  His truck and the laptop he used for his census work was found nearby.

We don't know much more than that at this time.   We don't know how he died.   We don't know for sure that it was murder, although the local Census Director says she was told that it was an "apparent homicide".  

We do know that a week and a half after the body was found, federal agents have been unable to rule out his connection with the Census as a contributing factor.  We know that Census interviews for that area have been put on hold indefinitely.  

This summer, I attended the Kansas City Ethnic Festival.   It was filled with booths representing the food & crafts of most of the different immigrant groups found in Kansas City.  It also had a booth set up for the Census Bureau.    I jokingly asked the woman manning the booth if she was one of "those ACORN people" expecting her to laugh in exasperation at the number of times she had been asked that question.   Instead she looked at me with a mix of fear and anger.  "Not today I haven't", she told me.   I immediately apologized for upsetting her and as she calmed down she explained that it was becoming very scary to work for the Census.   There were lots of threats made to Census workers this summer and lots of hatred directed at them.  She was even reconsidering her job.   I felt bad for her but thought she was probably over-reacting.   Now I'm not so sure.

We don't know that Mr. Sparkman was killed because he was a census taker.   We do know that the following has been said about the census this year.  Media Matters.com lists the following examples of Conservative Media discussing the Census.

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On July 23, 2009, Glenn Beck tells radio listeners that people going "door to door collecting information" would be helping to create a "modern day slave state".

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 During a June 25 interview with Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) on his Fox News show, Glenn Beck stated that "there's a lot of people that are concerned" with the census "because they don't want to fill it out. They're not comfortable with ACORN members coming to find out all this information. They don't want to give the government all this kind of information."

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On the June 22 broadcast of Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Co-host Rose Tennent stated that Bachmann reportedly said that she does not intend to complete the census and stated: "ACORN being recruited by Obama for a mission -- that is so frightening." After listing several questions included in the census, she added that "it's just so intrusive. And you're right. I mean, there's the risk of identity theft and all kinds of things. I'm just -- it scares me to think that these thugs are getting this information from us."

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On June 18, using the headline "What Kind of Info Is ACORN Gathering for Census?" The Fox Nation linked to a June 18 Washington Times article reporting that Bachmann stated "she will not fill out anything more than the number of people in her household" for the 2010 census because "the questions have become 'very intricate, very personal' " and because "she feared ACORN."

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On the May 20 edition of his radio show, Neal Boortz told a caller, "I received a census form the other day asking me a whole bunch of questions about my small business. I threw it in the trash. I'm not going to answer it. None of their damn business." He later added that "the federal government and the state government, they have a legitimate reason for knowing how many people live where. They have no legitimate reason for knowing anything else. The rest of the information is -- most of the rest of the information is designed to help the government steal from you in order to pass off your property to the moochers. They're looters."

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On May 20, Neal Boortz said, "My advice to you -- and to all of my listeners -- is always: Obey the law. And the law says you have to answer this stuff. OK? But, if I have received the American Community Survey and I ref-- I personally refuse to respond to it, and once every 10 years I will respond to the census, but the only information I will give them is the number of adults who live in my household and that -- or the number of people -- doesn't, you know -- the number of people who live in my household, and that is it.

And they've knocked on my door. And they've come to my door with badges. And they've come to my door and told me I could be fined. They've come to my door and they've told me that I am breaking the law. And I look at them and I say, "Two adults live here. That is all the information I will voluntarily give you. Waterboard me if you want to learn any more." But that's it.

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We don't KNOW that comments like these and others made by the Right were the cause of Mr. Sparkman's death.  We don't know that a Glenn Beck fan scrawled the word "FED" across the chest of Mr. Sparkman's body.   But anyone with any kind of a sense of morality would at least wonder.

We can however predict the response of Mr. Beck and his fellow harbingers of Socialistic Doom.   They will all sigh and explain how they are merely doing their jobs as "journalists".   They are innocent!  And much like Pontius Pilate, they will wash their hands of the whole affair and continue on in their eternal search for ratings gold.   Spreading hatred and fear through lies and exaggeration.   They will be oblivious to the consequences of their speech and they will ignore the blood on their hands.

I hope that late at night in the privacy of their home, they hear the ghost of Pontius Pilate whispering, "Remember Bill Sparkman."

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"He was such an innocent person, I hate to say that he was naive, but he saw the world as all good, and there's a lot of bad in the world."

Gilbert Acciardo, retired Kentucky State Trooper & co-worker of  Bill Sparkman