The American Spectator

Mary Louise| 9.27.09 @ 12:08AM

"You'd be surprised what some of these morons write on the Internet . . . that they wouldn't say to somebody's face,"

Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve already said this a couple of times to one of our resident Trolls.

Boy, this is creepy and is a good reminder of what an honorable profession reporting is. Reporting can’t really be about money either. It’s about pride (the good kind) and accomplishment. Money can and will come if you’re good. But it might not be steady unless you whore yourself out.

When I first moved into my apartment complex it was peopled by émigrés from the old USSR. The gentleman who lived below me was a prosecutor in Moscow during the last years of Stalin. He brought some old dossiers with him. Invited me to review them with him. But his wife got sick and died and then he moved in with his kids. He admonished me for buying a foreign car. When I explained that the reason I did is because my Ford’s frame broke he just smiled.

He was a good man. He said that he always kept God in mind as he searched for and administered Justice.

Your buddy| 9.27.09 @ 2:52PM

Due to the spam below, I'm not going to include a direct link, but here's a list I've compiled of almost fifty people who are trying to politicize this issue:

preview.tinyurl.com/yd72dfd

A few others have offered similar lists with a much smaller set of names. If you want to prevent such politicization in the future, hold what those people are saying now against them in the future.

Alan Brooks| 9.28.09 @ 10:51AM

Hilarious:
A police guy in KY said it might have been a suicide or even an accident.

An ACCIDENT? He wrote fed on his chest and then accidentally hung himself?

wbfrank| 9.28.09 @ 11:15AM

Sure! I kinda remember that back in the Clinton Error there was this apparent suicide of these two teenagers. This is when he was governor. His appointed ME, who was his friend, ruled that the two boys who were found on a railroad track and had their hands tied was in face a suicide. It seems that these two dead teens had been spying on the airfield nearby which was and probably still is, used as a drug drop.
Wasn't it funny how death and 'suicide' seemed to follow the Clinton's around?? Remember the dead lawyer friend in front of the White House...
Nope, this poor fella probably stumbled upon one of those famous Ky stills and the inbred people running it wanted to send a message.
Ya' think?

Mary Louise| 9.27.09 @ 12:10AM

Sorry I didn't close tag. Should have closed after first paragraph.

Mary Louise| 9.27.09 @ 12:12AM

Staying in the Truth; that's what a reporter does and it's the invaluable service he provides.

Bob Robinson | 9.27.09 @ 4:43PM

It is too bad those on the right wish to deny the obvious... The murder of a man found hung on a tree with"FED" scrawled on his chest, Federal ID taped to his head... is in all likelihood related to anti government sentiment. Bottom line the right looks silly by denying that which is so totally obvious.

Margie| 9.27.09 @ 5:25PM

In your assumption you are incorrect about what you call "the right." When you say anti-government, it is not those on the right that are so. Republicans and conservatives are not anti-government. We are for government in its capacity as enumerated in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Conservatives are law abiding citizens who love our wonderful country and love the freedom God gives us to practice whichever religion we wish to, speak openly of our thoughts, vote for decent politicians (when we can find them :^)), raise up our children the way we see fit, and the many other freedoms we have. The anti government people that you are referring to are those on the Left. These are what you call anarchists. They believe in NO government. The peaceful and law abiding citizens on the right are those who marched in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 12th. We vote the corrupt politicians out, we don't condone any sort of violence whatsoever. I hope you have learned something from what I've just said, and please save your assuming of how this poor man was murdered until the actual facts are in.

ConservativeWanderer| 9.27.09 @ 7:34PM

Hey, Bob... what would happen if we used the same broad brush you use to paint those of us "on the right" to paint the pro-choice lefties with Jim Pouillon's murder?

Would you think that was fair? Or would you scream (no pun intended) bloody murder?

Nick| 9.27.09 @ 7:39PM

Mr. Robinson,

Do we look as silly as you guys on the left who deny "that which is so totally obvious":

Like the assassination of President Kennedy by commie-lovin', left-wing Lee Harvey Oswald?

Or that Robert Kennedy was killed by Sirhan Sirhan?

Or that Salvador Allende killed himself?

Or claiming President Bush allowed 9/11 to happen, brought down the towers himself, and lied us into war?

I could go on and on.
Believe me, you lefties have the market cornered on looking silly, pal. Or moronic, as it were.

Alan Brooks| 9.28.09 @ 10:44AM

good points.

controlled demolition, that was a funny one. As if the jets were paper airplanes.

Mary Louise| 9.27.09 @ 8:37PM

Bob,

I think Wanderer makes a good point. It’s not good jumping to conclusions even when appearance entices you to.

The hard-edge government talk is immensely counter-productive because almost all of us are tax consumers even if to a small degree.

I’m on the ‘Right’ but I have a libertarian streak and I think that our government has been a combination of republic and socialist democracy for a long time now. Beating that back, if it’s possible, will require many years as well. And that’s why it’s so important to educate the public, and to do that by staying in the Truth. Democrats aren’t doing that now and Republicans didn’t do that for 8 years either.

Instead of fighting for an honest conversation about entitlements, Medicare D was advanced. Were Senior Citizens really clamoring for that? Or was that re-election insurance, looming insolvency be damned?

Just like Obama’s health care scheme, really hard-edge government talk can’t really be sold to the American people. Both can piggy back on crises, but neither ideology is where the American people are.

I ramble too much and I’d really like to beat that back. In the hope that I don’t go overboard again I just want to leave you with this.

Just up the street from my apartment complex is another complex for the developmentally disabled. I took the bus to work for a few years, and as such came to know a couple of the tenants. One, a man in his mid to late thirties, whose disability I couldn’t really pinpoint as he worked part-time, traveled alone to a nearby City to take in football and baseball games. We sat next to each other often, so I came to know him a bit. The other , a young man who was wheelchair bound and who spoke as a deaf man speaks. One morning when I was inserting my pass for date stamp the young man in the wheel chair said good morning to me. And as he tried to pronounce my name I started to really tear up. I gave his forearm a squeeze but I really wanted to hug him so tightly. In that moment, his courage just made me feel the way a child feels towards someone so courageous and so admirable.

My taxes and those of the other working folk who took the bus provided for this young man’s relative independence. That pleased me then, and it pleases me still. Without the energy of the Federal Government I don’t think this young man could live the life he’s living. Can the Tea Party attendees and the Protesters consider the role of the Federal Government here hale? I can and do.

Maybe the individual States can do this without Federal prompting. But the Federal Government is responsible for bringing the plight of Americans with Disabilities to the fore. It’s a moral good, in my view.

Competence and accountability are what most Americans are after.

victor| 9.28.09 @ 12:18AM

Pity that you think that the government is flushing our money away and we are not pleased with that is "hard-edged".
Where is what you speak of in the Constitution?
Founding Father James Madison:
“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.”
-James Madison, 4 Annals of congress 179 (1794)
It is up to the states, but really it is up to the churches.

Mary Louise| 9.28.09 @ 1:18AM

I don't have the Constitution memorized nor do I think I can easily interpret it. I don't think my taxes as spent for the developmentally disabled have been flushed down the toilet. And I bet Mark Levin doesn't think so either. When he interviewed Stephen Smith he said he was for helping those who can't help themselves.

You can't easily dismantle what has taken years to put together. You can only begin to educate in an attempt to move away from dependency on government for retirement, medical care for the aged and the underaged, unemployment insurance, pell grants, etc.

Last I knew, Bob Barr advocated a 2 year max for welfare. I can't remember if that was a once in a lifetime deal or not. But I don't think he advocated totally eliminating it, and that's probably because he knew he had to begin where the Country is right now.

Newt's Welfare Reform was a good idea. Heather MacDonald's analysis of the effectiveness of it, and the approval it garnered from welfare recipients themselves is worth studying.

You can't expect to unravel what has become the fabric of American life. No one my age chose to become part of the Social Security Net. Your best bet is to write-off my generation and begin educating the young as to why conservative priniciples, faithful to the Constitution, will preserve the Republic, the morality of the people, etc.

ConservativeWanderer| 9.28.09 @ 8:08AM

Hey, Victor, re-read that quote:

“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.”
-James Madison, 4 Annals of congress 179 (1794)

What Madison is saying is that he cannot find any article that gives the Congress the power to just spend money on "objects of benevolence." To "lay one's finger on" was--and still is to a lesser degree--a common phrase that roughly means "to point to," so he is saying that there's no article in the Constitution that he can point to and say, "there's the authorization to do spend like this.

In short, your quote supports the position of those of us against increased government power and spending.

Mary Louise| 9.28.09 @ 12:13PM

From this very good piece, here's what really provides the Constitution to die a slow, painful, death. The Founding Fathers knew this all along, too.

"In the wake of the market crash, our national discussion about how to fix capitalism seems limited to those who believe that more government will fix the problem and those who think that free markets will fix themselves. Few have asked whether we can recapture the civic virtues that nourished our commerce for 300 years.

We’re not likely to find many churches preaching those virtues today. Though America is more religious than most industrialized countries, today’s pulpits hardly resound with the bourgeois work ethic. While John Wesley once observed that religion produces “industry and frugality,” and the American Congregationalist preacher Henry Ward Beecher declared that the way to avoid poverty was through “provident care, and foresight, and industry and frugality,” today the National Council of Churches, to which these denominations belong, advocates for a left-wing “social gospel” of redistributing wealth (see “The Religious Left, Reborn,” Autumn 2007). And though the Catholic Church once strove to assimilate generations of poor immigrants into American economic life, today its major social-welfare organization, Catholic Charities, has become an arm of the redistributionist welfare state (see “How Catholic Charities Lost Its Soul,” Winter 2000). Even our evangelical churches, whose theology most resembles that of the great Protestant reformers, have focused their energies primarily on social issues, such as fighting abortion or gay marriage, or even inveighing against welfare reform that encourages single mothers to return to work."

I emigrated to a Presbyterian town, I know full well the work ethic that built that County Seat.

It's one of the reasons that found harangues against Protestants so dubious and distasteful.

Alan Brooks| 9.28.09 @ 10:47AM

the Weathermen were anti-govt leftists.

Bernadine Dohrn wasa leftist, but she praised Manson in a speech. How sweet.

wbfrank| 9.28.09 @ 11:16AM

You are right... there is anti government sentiment to go around... the right and the Communist Left aka Dems!
I still think he found a still!

ithitsthefan| 9.27.09 @ 2:25AM

The reaction from the loony left exemplifies their mentality. Anyone that has ever been to Clay County, KY knows that they have a long standing vehemence toward anything federal, mainly because it is a drug haven. Murders in that area are not uncommon, especially when a stranger happens upon a meth lab or marijuana patch.

This has NOTHING to do with Obama. Nor does it have anything to do with the radical left agenda.

Julie| 9.27.09 @ 3:34AM

Probably true, but you know leftists, "Don't waste a good crisis." They use anything they can to push their agenda--including lies.

Crusader| 9.28.09 @ 8:56AM

Ding ding ding, we have a winner.

What happened to the census taker is the reason why I never go on a hike without my handy-dandy Springfield XD45. Two legged vermin are more dangerous than 4-legged predators in some forests.

What are the odds the drug-makers who killed this guy are illegals?

Alan Brooks| 9.28.09 @ 10:42AM

alrighty, if not Obama, then blame it on CHENEY!

wbfrank| 9.28.09 @ 11:18AM

I stand corrected! You are right; more than likely a meth lab AND a marijuana patch...

tibia gold| 9.27.09 @ 5:10AM

Tibia Gold
Tibia Items

President Pantywaist| 9.27.09 @ 6:26AM

Bring it on, racist crackers!!!

victor| 9.28.09 @ 12:46AM

Thanks, mate, you just reminded me of where that came from:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/n....._so_badly/

Mick Langan| 9.27.09 @ 9:46AM

Does anyone realize that killing feds has been a backwoods pastime for a century and more?

Si Vis Pacem| 9.27.09 @ 11:19AM

Thanks RSM!

Oh, this is too good. A skilled MSM-trained reporter does the work lazy bloggers are unwilling to do...

Reminds us of the dot-com bubble: The big lesson was that in the "New" Economy, it was suicide to ignore business fundamentals.

Wallyut | 9.27.09 @ 1:18PM

Liberals "don't waste a good crisis?" Too much in that comment to ignore. 1st, how many murders have been committed by rightwingers since Obama was elected Malkin, Spectator and Beck have started cranking up the hate?

2nd, ever hear of invading a country because someone else bombed the WTC? Birth certificates? Phony death panels? At least liberals exploit REAL crises and not trumped up conspiracies.

The other part I love is the CERTAINTY here that this murder had nothing to do with the hate being flung at the Federal government by the right wing since Obama became President. And specifically the hate towards the census that is spewed by Bachman.

How about if we let law enforcement do their job and then get all umbraged with certainty.

John| 9.27.09 @ 2:25PM

Hate.... since when has disagreement been considered hate.... OH I know... since we have a Black President... Leftist didn't hate Bush.. they only disagreed with him. Yeah RIGHT!

ConservativeWanderer| 9.27.09 @ 2:45PM

1st, how many murders have been committed by rightwingers since Obama was elected Malkin, Spectator and Beck have started cranking up the hate?

Since you've obviously done the research, comparing and contrasting the current murder numbers against the number of murders during the same time period in recent Republican administrations, why don't you share your data with us?

In short, prove your assertions or shut up.

Margie| 9.27.09 @ 7:46PM

..as for the Census~~ as long as they don't plan on counting those who are here illegally in with those who are. This would, of course make for a much wider voter/Democrat base. This is why they would want to count them. The Republicans want no such ILLEGAL Census. Now what about this, hmm?

S.L. Toddard| 9.27.09 @ 8:27PM

Wallyut should be Wallynut. By "Real Crises" do you mean 'TRUTHERISM'? BUSH DID IT!! You're probably the biggest tinfoilhat freak liberal out there.

What a moron.

Victor| 9.28.09 @ 12:20AM

Dear Slo Todd,
Aren't you pretending a bit too hard?
Or as the Bard would say:
Methinks that thou protest to much.

Jeremiah| 9.28.09 @ 3:01AM

Spoken like a crazy Truther, old Vic. It's Bush's fault!!

Ease up on the crack, liberal fool; your dead brain cells are showing.

PhyCon| 9.28.09 @ 12:47PM

Victor| 9.28.09 @ 12:20AM
Dear Slo Todd,
Aren't you pretending a bit too hard?
Or as the Bard would say:
Methinks that thou protest to much.

If you are going to quote or even paraphrase the Bard, Victor, then do it ACCURATELY:
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

In the vernacular your statement should have been: "(Insert title or name) doth protest too much, methinks."

Not being able to get that rather famous quote correct tends to diminish every other thing you say.

Pleased| 9.28.09 @ 11:00AM

Once the Census is complete, Reapportionment begins. And if the wingnuts refuse to be part of the Census, it could turn a district from one political shade to another. So, please, wingnuts ... don't answer the door. It's sort of like a honey bee strategy: If you threaten me, I'll sting you. You may get a bump, but it will kill me. Smart. Real smart.

Julie| 9.28.09 @ 12:11PM

After you fascist liberals finish counting every denizen of every cemetery as a democrat--it probably won't matter if we open our doors or not.

Then there's always Donald, Mickey, Goofy, etc.

wbfrank| 9.28.09 @ 11:23AM

Remember David Carradine!? That was a suicide wasn't it??

Seek| 9.28.09 @ 12:25PM

There is something repulsive about "libertarians" who either rationalize or minimize first-degree murder so long as the victim is a Census enumerator or some other federal employee. The deceased gentleman was no threat to anyone, and to make him a scapegoat for the sins of the State is disgusting. Even the people at lewrockwell.com (for now) have refrained from such incitement -- and that's saying something.

The Census, let us remember, is authorized by the U.S. Constitution. What's more, the Census Bureau is absolutely committed to secrecy of data -- it doesn't even share with other federal agencies.

If filling out a brief form every 10 years is too much to ask of a citizen, then something is truly rotten with the Right in this country. We need some self-analysis. The Right is painting itself into a corner if it gives countenance to the murderer(s). Tyranny does not somehow become legitimate just because it is localized.

Julie| 9.28.09 @ 2:03PM

Nice try, troll. You're the ones using the death of this unfortunate man as a potential rallying cry. Just proves the paucity of your idiotic liberal arguments and the shallow ugliness of your character.

You desperate liberal fools got nothin'. As usual.

LauraB| 9.28.09 @ 9:30PM

I immediately wondered if this was a sort of...payback...for Popcorn Sutton. He chose to take from the "feds" what they wanted so much to take from him - his life.

If Mr. Sparkman ran across anyone in the business, he may have just been a poor sod in the wrong place at the wrong time...

long| 11.10.09 @ 3:17AM

wholesale nike shoes

wholesale shoes

Cheap golf clubs| 6.21.11 @ 8:05AM

so nice post