This summer, I wrote a blog post about the bizarre hanging death of a federal census worker, William Sparkman (top), in rural Kentucky. I started the post by noting....
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.
It was a bad decision on my part; I should have either not blogged the story at all or handled it differently. While I sprinkled the post with a lot of hedge words, I still used the preliminary facts -- the word "fed" was scrawled on Sparkman's body -- as an excuse to criticize public officials engaged in over-the-top anti-government rhetoric. It turns out that the rhetoric had nothing to do with why Sparkman died. The police and FBI found considerable forensic evidence to support their finding today that Sparkman killed himself, and that the "fed"-scrawling and other circumstantial evidence was his effort to make it look like a political killing so that his son could collect on his life insurance policies. Even though I remain appalled by some of the political rhetoric these days, I should not have conflated that rhetoric with what turned out to be just one man's suicide.
If you pay attention to the way our manic news cycle ebbs and flows, you know I'm probably not the only person too quick to make a connection or even reach a conclusion. But I can't control what other people do, only what I do. I was wrong, I apologize, and I promise to be mindful of this mistake in the future.
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Wow. Hoping this is the first of many. Yet I doubt it.- Comment removed.
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- Because it's America - where even idiots can get the mike?
What about all the other kooky conspiracy stuff you spewed over the last 8 years that proved not to be true?— fafafooey- A true reporter, acknowledges their mistakes and misprints....Now if only fox news would follow your lead. Ha— birds
Very noble Will. As touching as all those right wing mea culpas we read after the Ashley Todd scam. Oh wait...- Comment removed.
- Nice job, Will. Truthfully, I thought he ran into some rural meth heads.— RG
- This really shows that you are a higher being. I, by the way, was right from the beginning. I've lived in Kentucky. Didn't run into too many people obsessed with the revenuers.— Blinq
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- "...Happy Turkey Day..." It's Thanksgiving, not Turkey Day. Happy Thanksgiving.— 24601
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
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