Think Progress

Flashback: Bachmann Spread Fears Of Scary Stalking Census Workers

beckbachmannBill Sparkman, the 51-year old Census worker who was hanged to death in Kentucky, was found “naked, gagged and had his hands and feet bound with duct tape.” A witness reports Sparkman also “had duct tape over his eyes, and they gagged him with a red rag or something.” The word “fed” was scrawled on his chest in a felt-tip pen, and his “Census ID was found taped to his head and shoulder area.”

The gruesome lynching of this Census worker seems to bear a disturbing similarity to some of the worst hate crimes committed across this country. Regardless of what the motive for the killing may have been, why would a murderer(s) take such pains to so blatantly convey anger, fear, and vitriol towards a Census employee? Perhaps because some on the right have created an impression that Census employees are terrifying.

Earlier this summer, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) waged a high-profile, wildly-dishonest campaign against the Census. The Minnesota congresswoman said she was so worried about the threat of the government asking “very intricate questions” and collecting information that she would illegally refuse to fill out the form. “They will be in charge of going door to door and collecting data from the American public,” she said. “This is very concerning.” She repeatedly used inflammatory and fear-mongering rhetoric against the Census:

– “I think there is a point when you say enough is enough to government intrusion.” [6/25/09]

– “If we look at American history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the census bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations, at the request of President Roosevelt, and that’s how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps.” [6/25/09]

“You will receive approximately six contacts from them [Census workers], either through phone calls or they will knock on your door. If you still do not give them the information, they said they’ll contact your neighbor to the left of you, to the right of you to get information.” [6/25/09]

Bachmann’s irrational diatribes about scary stalking Census workers quickly spawned a right-wing movement. During an interview with Bachmann, Fox News’ Glenn Beck said, “Ok, so let me talk about the Census because there’s a lot of people that are concerned with it 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.”

Conservative radio host Neal Boortz told a caller, “Most of the rest of the [Census] information is designed to help the government steal from you in order to pass off your property to the moochers. They’re looters.” Boortz urged his listeners to resist the Census workers. “If somebody comes to my — if a burglar came to your house, are you going to show him where the silverware is?” he asked. “Maybe you will if he pulls out a gun.”

Update The Washington Post reports that violence against Census workers is a growing concern:
Census takers who die on the job typically succumb to strokes, heart attacks and car accidents. But violence against field workers, while rare, is an ongoing concern.

The 2000 Census was marked by a spate of violence. In Indiana, a pack of dogs mauled a census taker to death. A California census taker was grabbed and forced into her car after a homeowner ordered her to leave and she lingered, trying to explain the importance of the Census. A Denver census taker was hijacked and stabbed, and in Chicago, a census taker was thrown down a flight of stairs.

This year, a county manager in New Mexico warned that many people take their property rights seriously, and some might shoot at census takers who trespass.


210 Responses to “Flashback: Bachmann Spread Fears Of Scary Stalking Census Workers”

  1. rsalier says:

    Has anyone told this stupid person the reason we do a census every ten years? Has anyone told her what this data is used for? Some one needs to sit her down and provide a modicum of education to her so she stops sounding so stupid. But, then again, she is a repuglican. So even with an education, it would dribble out of her empty skull.


  2. P.D. says:

    Dear Lord. Why have the Repugs sunk this low? Like rsalier stated, this has been going on for years. The Repugs are so bitter, they are willing to destroy this country. Unreal.


  3. joe cantwell says:

    ***

    i thought she was going to slit her wrists… ?

    :\


  4. P.D. says:

    joe@3, LOL! And here I thought good ole Michelle was an EMBARASSMENT to the GOP! She should be their Poster Child. But seriously, that poor man is dead. The conficting reports are unreal. I guess in rural Kentucky, they may be a little embarrassed how this has been handled, or is is a cover-up? If this happened up North, the MSM would be all over it. WTF?


  5. Marie says:

    She was the first person who came to my mind when I heard of this murder, but the details had not yet been revealed. Now that we know the gruesome details, is there any doubt that the man was killed because of his federal job?
    Bachmann and those who ally themselves with her must be held accountable for the role they play – directly or indirectly – in inciting people to commit acts of violence.


  6. Immigration2008DotCom says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  7. dbadass says:

    palins_a_whore
    Tell me of yourself. Do you have a special need for attention or are you just maladjusted?


  8. GreatGranny2B says:

    So far, Rachel Maddow is the only one really covering it and she plans to continue. WHEN will someone put Bachmann in her place over this sort of thing? Unlike Beck, she is an elected government official and should be held accountable for all the vile insanity she constantly spews.

    I’ve tried to leave messages on her website, but she only takes from her own constituency. I’ve also sent to McConnell as I live in KY, but haven’t had any response….and probably won’t get one.


  9. jdanman says:

    All the scare tactics these wingers put out are nuts. They worry about ACORN working the census? I worked this spring mapping addresess for the census, guess what, I had to go through a background check & submit fingerprints to the FBI database. Why would anyone with a shady background do that for the not so great wages (not complaining) paid for the work? I had unemployed people I know stay on unemployment rather than give up prints & these were not the worst of the worst. Most of the people I met were cool with what I was doing, hoping we could get another Rep. in Congress.


  10. flight says:

    Michele Bachmann, I hope you can rest your head on a pillow tonight and consider the consequences of your rhetoric. A man is dead.

    Have gotten the results you wanted?


  11. Jess Wonderin says:

    Faux enables the unstable . . . .


  12. cec says:

    Accountibility is needed.


  13. cd says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  14. Deschanel says:

    Irony: Someone can correct me if i’m terribly misremembering but: in the New Testament these Republicans claim to adore, the parents of Christ, Mary and Joseph: the reason for their long journey when Christ was born was because of the Roman census. They had to travel from their distant village to register in a city center hundreds of miles (or more?) away. It was Roman law, and apparently Christ’s parents saw it as their civic duty to take that perilous journey. (Christ himself said, “Render unto Caesar” on the paying your fair share of taxes. You’d never know it from the Bible-thumpers who hate the idea of government.)

    Now, census workers come to you! And this happens. No excuse for this barbarism. I pray the FBI catches the animals who did this, who murdered a good man.


  15. Kenneth says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  16. Rich H says:

    What the fuc* is it with you maladjusted tenthers that makes you so afraid of the census?

    Please explain why you are so SCARED.


  17. Kenneth says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  18. delafield says:

    I am going to vote down every message that’s a reply to a troll.


  19. Kenneth says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  20. gummble-bee-itch says:

    Kenneth says:
    When the census people come to my home, they will get the fact that I am still alive and where I live and no more. The rest is a violation of my privacy. They can take their data and stick it where the sun don’t shine.

    Huh. A few years ago, civil libertarians objected to intrusive wire tapping by the government and were told “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

    Suddenly the “conservatives” are all about privacy. What could possibly have changed?

    Oh, right. Almost forgot: the President is a Democrat. Oh, and Black.


  21. Rich H says:

    Immigration,

    TP and it’s posters really care that your going to add it to your list of posts you don’t like. Wow, making a list, checking it twice?

    As far as making money off of murder that makes me think you must not be republican because the republican party sure does profit from the murder of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals as well.

    But I guess you knew that from your moniker.


  22. Kenneth says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  23. Rich H says:

    Kenneth,

    You want your freedom the way the founders of this country designed it. I guess your all for slavery.


  24. gummble-bee-itch says:

    Kenneth says:
    Rich H,
    Not scared! I want to keep my freedom the way the Founders designed it and it is none of the Gummint’s fugging business to know any more than that I am alive and where I live.

    You do realize the first census was taken in 1790, right?


  25. dbadass says:

    Kenneth did they call you Kenny when you were a kid?


  26. dbadass says:

    Vote down all you want and close your mind.

    I have a policy against that. So anyway, did they?


  27. Kenneth says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  28. Kenneth says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  29. dbadass says:

    The government knows where you live…..


  30. dbadass says:

    Kenneth perhaps formerly Kenny. If you haven’t already I suggest you get lots of guns and canned goods…


  31. Rich H says:

    Kenneth,

    Well, let’s start with Haliburton and Cheney and the invasion of Iraq. How about O’Reilly calling for someone to do something about “Tiller the Baby Killer” then some deranged ahole goes out and shoots him?

    How about all of the gun deaths in the U.S. and the party that REFUSES to consider any kind of gun control. Would you like more examples?

    Admit it, your scared shitless of the black man in the white house.


  32. dbadass says:

    What does that have to do with anything we are discussing now?


    Well mostly it could help explain the traumatic events that gave rise to your twisted world view…


  33. Kenneth says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  34. Zooey says:

    The idiot troll thinks the government doesn’t know anything about him.

    I’d hazard a guess the troll’s voice is on a tape somewhere in the NSA vaults. But hey, if he doesn’t have anything to hide…


  35. Kenneth says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  36. Rich H says:

    He’s a veteran and he’s afraid of the government? Must be one of those militia guys.


  37. dbadass says:

    Well mostly I make it a better place each and everyday. It is badass. Do the services take dyslexics?


  38. tombaker says:


    When the census people come to my home, they will get the fact that I am still alive and where I live and no more. The rest is a violation of my privacy. They can take their data and stick it where the sun don’t shine.

    nothing scarier than having someone know who you are, is there, Kinneh?


  39. dbadass says:

    Twisted World view? What the heck are you talking about?


    Oh just that stuff about the big bad government and the alledged intent of some dudes that were dead long before you were born. So were their lots of gays in your unit?


  40. dbadass says:

    Spam is good. Be sure to get lots of Spam. Myself I just like that jelly it comes in…


  41. X4Progress says:

    had his hands and feet bound with duct tape.” A witness reports Sparkman also “had duct tape over his eyes, and they gagged him with a red rag or something.” The word “fed” was scrawled on his chest in a felt-tip pen, and his “Census ID was found taped to his head and shoulder area.”

    Yep, need to rule out suicide………..


  42. gummble-bee-itch says:

    dbadass says:
    Spam is good. Be sure to get lots of Spam. Myself I just like that jelly it comes in…

    Now I know you’re fibbing, dbadass. Spam hasn’t had the jelly stuff in the can for years.


  43. flight says:

    Hey Kenneth my man. You think it’s pretty cool to hang a working guy from a tree. I guess this is your version of freedom. “If they disagree with you, kill them”.

    Come on, I want to read your justification of this killing.
    Oh wait, we will wait till Glenn Beck covers it in his next lesson from Murdoch’s school of evil abominations. Or do you prescribe to the Limbaugh school of advanced moronic study.

    Come on, I am dying to hear your justification of this mans death (he died to).

    “For your freedom” You are a sick, demented “Son of a B#tch”!!!!!


  44. cd says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  45. tombaker says:

    even redneck kentucky weed farmers know a census taker poses them no real threat.

    the id taped around the neck says what the motive was about,

    and the blindfolding says it was an amateur who was aware of how completely wrong it was.

    only teabaggin, 912er foxsuckers are that maliciously stupid, amateurish, and ashamed of themselves.


  46. USCKitty says:

    Bull, immigration2008dotcom, your side politicized 9/11 and now you have the GALL to try to silence us when we have questions about how rhetoric from the right might be linked to the recent violence? tHIS IS how your side ALWAYS tries to silence our side whenever something like this happens. You do it with the gun control debate whenever something like Virginia Tech happens, all in the interest of “being respectful to the victim.” There are legitimate questions to be asked, especially concerning the rhetoric and its possible inciting of violence.


  47. Chocolate Jesus says:

    “Huh. A few years ago, civil libertarians objected to intrusive wire tapping by the government and were told “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to worry about.””

    Yup.Just like the right wing freakazoids have no problem with people on a completely mysterious “terrorist watch list” including the late ted kennedy, not being allowed to fly, or being hassled greatly before they do, but when some congressmen put forth a bill that would prevent people on the same list from buying guns…well…you can guess we got some deafening silence from the right wingers..


  48. Chocolate Jesus says:

    > To the “people” who voted me down
    > like that’s going to
    > change anything I give a link.

    Trains were integral to the mass murders committed by the nazis in world war II, should we stop using those?


  49. alookdavis says:

    but it if not go to door to door , how to collect the information correctly .Can we use a copper clad aluminium wire round the people neck to get the necessary info ?? that is rediculous . . .


  50. What the GOP REALLY means ... says:

    The government has no goddamn right to know my social security number. Period.


  51. What the GOP REALLY means ... says:

    Zooey says:
    The idiot troll thinks the government doesn’t know anything about him.

    I’d hazard a guess the troll’s voice is on a tape somewhere in the NSA vaults. But hey, if he doesn’t have anything to hide…

    This is different. They’re checking to see if I’m a terrorist. I don’t stop voting for the GOP just because they wiretap me. I take the wiretap as notice I need to try harder to make the GOP to like me. I’ll know when they stop stuffing me in a locker.


  52. MCMetal says:

    cd says:

    ——————————————————————————–

    September 26th, 2009 at 1:29 am

    You’re trying to use a 65 year old occurrence as your basis as some sort of “proof” ?

    Funny how you and all the other GOP backing asswipes are so against the “all-revealing” Census , but have absolutely ZERO PROBLEM with an anti-Constitutional bill like the laughable “Patriot Act” …………………..


  53. What the GOP REALLY means ... says:

    You libs think the GOP causes hell in the majority? You keep forgetting what they’ve done in the minority.


  54. What the GOP REALLY means ... says:

    It looks like everybody got sleepy and used that as an excuse to not debate me. How can choose to sleep when you can’t even debate the terrorists? Wait – that didn’t make sense. You can get a good look at a butcher’s ass by sticking a t-bone up there. Wait – still doesn’t make sense. How can you debate the the terrorists if you let sleep win?

    Whatever.


  55. MCMetal says:

    What the GOP REALLY means … says:

    ——————————————————————————–

    You libs think the GOP causes hell in the majority? You keep forgetting what they’ve done in the minority.

    September 26th, 2009 at 2:20 am

    They have done NOTHING ; the fault lies with the “Blue Dog Dems”.

    Anyone that has even a modicum of interest , let alone adoration , for a total and complete piece of shit like Ronnie Reagan , has no business representing ANYONE ……….


  56. glogrrl says:

    The government has no goddamn right to know my social security number. Period

    Idiot……….the government gave you your SS number…….you don’t think they keep records?


  57. USCKitty says:

    58…with all due respect, the poster you’re replying to is a parody troll and a damn good one…


  58. USCKitty says:

    58…with all due respect, the poster you’re replying to is a parody troll and a damn good one…


  59. humbug72 says:

    cd@46, It is true that census information was used for internment purposes. It’s also true that the Federal government has done a census every 10 years since 1790 So census information was used wrongly, as far as is known, once over a span of 210 years.

    In addition, many States did their own censuses in the ‘off’ years (1885, and so on), so there were even more opportunities for ‘government’ to misuse the information.

    It doesn’t look like to me as though ‘government’ makes a habit of misusing the data.


  60. bluesunflower says:

    Earlier this summer, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) waged a high-profile, wildly-dishonest campaign against the Census. The Minnesota congresswoman said she was so worried about the threat of the government asking “very intricate questions” and collecting information that she would illegally refuse to fill out the form.

    Dude…this is specifically written into the Constitution! We’d need an amendment in order to stop it!

    What’s worse is that Rep. Bachmann IIRC took an oath to uphold the Constitution when she was elected! Crimineys.


  61. Mr. Sonia Herecomestheangst says:

    Can’t a crafty Democrat sneak an amendment into Obamacare to classify these neocon nutjobs as special needs adults? That Glenn Beck has to be under the care of a doctor to make his inane conspiracy theories and socialist shadow people go away. Bachmann has to have regular talk therapy and a care worker with her to keep her insane ramblings away from microphones.

    The less these lemmings have room to talk, the more innocents can be spared from the GOP’s jumbled schizophrenic delusions.


  62. piltdown says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  63. bluesunflower says:

    #64 – It’s called absurbism, and meant to show the absurdity of the other side. Anyone with half a brain knows the government gives us our SSN, therefore it should be beyond obvious that the comment was a joke.


  64. KayInMaine says:

    MICHELE BACHMAN & GLENN BECK BOTH NEED TO BE ARRESTED FOR INCITING VIOLENCE & TERRORISM ON AMERICANS!


  65. Perry logan says:

    The Right’s belief that government is inherently evil is itself deeply pathological. It metastasizes the Founding Fathers’s justified suspicion of tyranny into a crippling dogma.

    Since government is an essential part of the body politic, hating the government is akin to hating one of your own bodily organs. It just can’t be good for you.

    In right-wing nirvana, government workers can be made to wear armbands. Children who express an interest in government work can be put into therapy.

    Oh yes–and women will be forced to have babies. What a happy, harmonious world it will be.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8CmY8818qk


  66. Badger says:

    I think We should go slowly, with this story…and Not jump to any conclusions.

    If Mr. Sparkman was in fact Murdered by anti-goverment motivated sentiment…then this story will BE really Big soon enough.

    The FBI is doing the right thing by being carefull with the information it releases. If they do find a suspect(s)…they need to ask questions which only the murderer Knows the answer to. Releasing evidence to the press makes this more difficult.

    While suicide seems to be precluded, other motives are possible. A drug dealer or someone with a personal dispute could be trying to make it Look like a Political Crime…to mislead the investigation.

    Nevertheless, Ms. Bachman’s incendiary fear mongering is dangerous. Chickens coming home to roost is a very likely possibility.
    But…the Potential Backfire that would result from jumping to a Wrong Conclusion would also be dangerous. Fox news would run with it for a Month.


  67. Fred says:

    Kenneth says:
    assbad,
    Of course they know where I live! I’m a veteran. What have you done for your country?

    Those on the right tend to be cowards.

    Pretending that you are an Elite American just because you say you served tells us that you probably never did.

    What does it say for your presumed service that you try to hold it over someone’s head to win an argument?

    It says you never served.


  68. Mr. Cobb says:

    jumping to a Wrong Conclusion would also be dangerous. Fox news would run with it for a Month.

    I concur. Fox news will ignore it for now and even after the conclusion is in if it points to them. But they’ll run it endlessly if it turns out to be something else to dismiss concerns that we on the left are being murdered because of them. But I’m at some odd point with Obama that he would pressure the FBI not to have the evidence point to the right-wing. That could happen and wouldn’t surprise me anymore.


  69. Fred says:

    jumping to a Wrong Conclusion would also be dangerous. Fox news would run with it for a Month.

    It’s not jumping to conclusions to think that right wing extemists could very well be responsible for this.

    Actually pinning it on them may be a little harder but they have said time and time again that they intend to resort to this kind of violence and they are the prime suspect.

    Faux cannot spin that.


  70. Chickenbone Bill says:

    Kneel Boortz,the “Chicken Little” of Atlanta!


  71. Fred says:

    Homeland Security Report Warns Of Rising Right-Wing Extremism

    The report concludes, unsurprisingly, that we have to worry more about “lone wolves and small terrorist cells” than anything else.


  72. Fred says:

    what’s the matter coward troll? Afraid to post, rather just vote people down without commenting?

    Truth hurts doesn’t it?


  73. Purple State says:

    Gee, and you already have a fan who voted you down, Fred. So early in the morning, too. Gave you a nudge back to zero.

    Look, we can’t jump to conclusions right away, even though I do want to have the book thrown at Rep. Dining Room Table (R-MN) for pushing these ideas about the census. Her words were three months ago, and they certainly may have stuck in the craw of an idiot or two, but I’d say that Beck’s more to blame than Shelley. Neither would ever be convicted of any wrong-doing in my mind regarding this case, and I doubt it would silence either from their loony-tuney conspiracies.

    Once again though, if there IS evidence that the fuel Beck and Bachmann threw on the fire managed to force a flame to spread to lunatics, I think we should be ALL over them. Call it “indoctrination” of dumb Fox viewers.


  74. Fritz says:

    Isn’t Glenn Beck a rapist and murderer? Perhaps Bachmann is hiding something too.


  75. Fred says:

    Purple State says:
    Look, we can’t jump to conclusions right away

    No, but it’s not jumping to conclusions to understand that this man would not have had “fed” written on him without the enviornment of anti-government, violent rhetoric that the right is spewing.

    Even if it is not what it appears, it appears the way it does because they encourage it.

    Until we make that connection for the public it will be ignored.


  76. Witch1 says:

    Good Morning Fred, ,,,Just flying over….Blessings


  77. Fred says:

    Good day to you too Witch1, Hope you are doing well.

    I’ve missed you lately.


  78. Badger says:

    Even if it is not what it appears, it appears the way it does because they encourage it.

    That’s a good point, Fred….

    But, if it turns out that Mr. Sparkman was murdered by a Fox News watching Goverment Hater….It WILL NOT be ignored. The connection will be Obvious.

    One of the Right’s Favorite Tools… is to derail a consequential situation with a sideshow. I, for one, am willing to be patient to avoid giving the Right this opportunity.


  79. JustADumbFireman says:

    “What the GOP REALLY means … says:

    The government has no goddamn right to know my social security number. Period.”

    Even if the government issued it.


  80. Purple State says:

    The reason I don’t want to jump to conclusions, Fred, and I hate to make the connection, is due to the phantom “B” during the election.

    I’m not saying that scratching a backwards “B” on one’s cheek to stage a fake attack is the same as this case, but I want ALL of my doubts alleviated. I want the police to tell me that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is a HATE crime due to a personal hatred towards the government and merely not a prank from the murderer.

    That way, the vitriol I have penned up towards the conservative bonkers out there will come out directed the correct way and not blindly.

    By the way, Fritz, I myself don’t like fighting rumor with rumor. Let’s call Beck for his bluffs and not play his game.


  81. Fred says:

    JustADumbFireman

    What the GOP REALLY means is a parody troll. He is actually a progressive making fun of the gop.


  82. Fred says:

    I agree with you guys on the specifics of the case.

    I see no reason why we cannot hold them responsible for the atmosphere that makes this possible. They are guilty.

    It is two seperate issues but linked to this story regardless of the outcome.

    As for the backwards B, no progressive would ever think of anything so devious. I might buy a murder made to look like a hate crime but anything beyond that would truly be spin.


  83. Purple State says:

    Well, never say never, Fred. I feel that sometimes extremism drives people to do crazy things in the name of anyone, whether it be liberal or conservative.


  84. galmud says:

    If you feed these crazy conspiracy theories to paranoid nutjobs day in and day out this is what you get.

    The scary racist communist President from Kenya will employ his community organizing ACORN army to gather information about conservatives and ultimately round them up in concentration camps. If you truly believe this whats the next logical step? Are you really gonna let ACORN and the Census workers mark and target you as a political enemy of the Obama administration and have the Presidents union thugs sent after you if you dare oppose him, or are you gonna draw a line in the sand and send a message to all people involved with the Census echoing Michelle Bachmann that “enough is enough”, “government intrusion stops here”?


  85. Fred says:

    Purple State says:

    The problem with that is that we don’t have to manufacture incidents to make our point. There is plenty of legitimate information and facts to back it up to make our point about the right.

    They on the other hand, have no choice but to distort the facts just to keep from looking like the evil ba$tards that they are.


  86. RantingTommy says:

    paranoia is common among the fearful, ignorant, cowardly, misinformed little right wingers

    they are easily frightened, easily manipulated, and easily lied to

    they love to be outraged but cannot be bothered to learn the details of what they are told to be outraged about

    the right wing corporate owned main stream media loves these fools because they are easily swayed by advertising


  87. flight says:

    hey Kenneth, good morning. I am still waiting for your justification of Bill Sparkman’s death.

    I really want to see just how sick the right wing has become!!!!!!


  88. RantingTommy says:

    Chickenbone Bill says:

    Kneel Boortz,the “Chicken Little” of Atlanta!

    he’s a pussy

    the guys that change his motorcycle tires make fun of his oversized “chicken strip”

    (the “chicken strip” is the part of a motorcycle tire that never wears because the rider doesn’t lean far enough to touch it, indicating a fear of riding or severe inexperience)


  89. benji85 says:

    I think it’s funny that the party of family values and all that does not want a census taken, even though it actually helps get more of the everyday stuff they use like roads.

    But then again these people want everything privatized, I am sure they would privatize government too if it were somehow possible.


  90. Ashen Shard says:

    When they catch the bugger(s) responsible for this I hope, that among other charges, they add a count of terrorism, because what else could this be? Terrorism is not just the use of bombs, but any use of violence or threat thereof to cause fear.

    The way this poor man was displayed can only be that. It was meant to cause fear, to terrorize people who are doing their constitutional duty. If it had just been a random killing, as some suggest drug related, then they would not have displayed his body but would have tried hiding it.

    BTW, to all those who scream privacy, you don’t have to answer all their questions, you can decline. Also, how many of you do family histories? Such research is heavily dependent on census data, not totally, but you get more information more easily than you would otherwise.


  91. Shayne says:

    Let us not forget that Sarah Palin initiated much of the hate speech against President Obama during her campaign. And she continues her lies in Hong Kong. She, Bachmann and Beck need to be held accountable for inciting crazies. Families of victims should file civil suits against them.


  92. The Scarlet Pimpernel says:

    This year, a county manager in New Mexico warned that many people take their property rights seriously, and some might shoot at census takers who trespass.

    I don’t know if this county manager consulted the county attorney or not, unless it was one from the same correspondence law school as Orly Taitz, but how in the Hell can a census taker by ‘trespassing’ on anyone’s property when they are performing a constitutionally mandated function. People in positions like this, Michelle Bachman and Glenn Beck need to be taken to task when the misuse terms of art of the legal profession to try to make themselves sound more sophisticated and erudite. All it does is make them sound more ignorant to us in the effete corps of intellectual snobs masquerading as intellectuals. There, see how many of you out there in the blogosphere can place that quote.


  93. Wayne A. Schneider says:

    It’s ironic that the right wing media likes to claim that it is so influential, but whenever anyone acts upon the hate and rhetoric coming from them, the right wing media likes to pretend that they aren’t that influential.


  94. Witch1 says:

    Back at ya Fred…Been out of the political mush on purpose lately…Have been working on saving another property owners land from the thieves I use to work for,,,Resigned my position of managing this tiny resort, still live here and it has been a daily nightmare filled with noise and constant monatering the distruction..Batteling lazy government employees that should have stopped the madness has also been of great concern….Only keeping up with wildlife and anti war work on the political front…I have become weary and worn out so not posting much any more…The one good thing is I managed to save all the cedar trees the idiot’s wanted to cut down….Good to read you here today…Will try to keep you all informed as this thing goes on….Many Blessings


  95. Shayne says:

    Republicans never do anything positive. The only way they know to get votes is to demonize somebody else. It is time to hold them responsible for the damage they do using this technique. We cannot move forward as a country trying to combat all the lies they tell.


  96. dixie blood says:

    One of the interesting facts yet to come to surface is the location and condition of the vehicle that Bill Sparkman used to travel to KKKlay County, KKKentucky.

    The county is dry so there are stills in the area along with meth labs and fields of pot. Makes you wonder if law enforcement ever even travels over there.


  97. katy says:

    new thread… “comments closed”… hmmm…

    i hope faiz finds the clip from ‘jesus camp’, where the children are blessing the cardboard cutout of the profit dubya…

    very creepy…


  98. Wayne A. Schneider says:

    katy,

    And the trolls didn’t even have a chance yet to post their usual hate-filled stupidity. Then they’ll start claiming some kind of censorship even though we can’t post anything, either.


  99. Witch1 says:

    Not my fault Katy, I was just making a quick fly over and the broom’s running fine..LOL….Blessings


  100. pbeeg says:

    1) It’s possible that the guy stumbled on a meth lab, or something worse. It may be misdirection on the part of the killers. I’m with the FBi on this.

    2) The decennial census is required by the Constitution. Article I, Section 2, Clause 3. Disrespect for the Constitution?


  101. Xisithrus says:

    Focks Snooze – - so tedious as to be torturous


  102. katy says:

    dixie blood says:
    One of the interesting facts yet to come to surface is the location and condition of the vehicle that Bill Sparkman used to travel to KKKlay County, KKKentucky.

    no mention of what condition the truck was in, but i thought it peculiar that his laptop computer was left inside… and his clothing was in the rear bed…

    it really hurts knowing the horror that poor man went through his last hours…


  103. pags2 says:

    Badger says:
    I think We should go slowly, with this story…and Not jump to any conclusions.

    Nevertheless, Ms. Bachman’s incendiary fear mongering is dangerous. Chickens coming home to roost is a very likely possibility.
    But…the Potential Backfire that would result from jumping to a Wrong Conclusion would also be dangerous. Fox news would run with it for a Month

    You are correct. We cannot jump to conclusions. This type of post is suggesting cause and effect and there is no basis for that conclusion. The complete facts have not been published so it would be better not to give any opinions. Let the FBI do its job and then we will know the truth.


  104. fletc3her says:

    There was a time in America where being a civil servant was a matter of pride. Today, one class of civil servants is actively promoting violence against another class of civl servants. It is a spectacle to behold.

    Pat, why not bring up Clinton while you’re at it? Deranged much?


  105. RantingTommy says:

    poor little PP, still can’t get his argument to stand up

    I hear there are some pills for that


  106. Purple State says:

    P.P., if you want TP to cover all of the progressive news, here’s a good thought; CONTRIBUTE.

    Accessing a website and criticizing them for not being in all places at once is overcriticism. If you want the news, pick up a newspaper or access an online newspaper.


  107. dbadass says:

    Pat Pomery is a fraud and a poser. That house bound weirdo should be totally denied the attention they seek Screw that loser. Let them wallow in their misery…


  108. RantingTommy says:

    time for operation FnF on poor little PP


  109. dbadass says:

    Absolutely. Let’s shut them down until they come up with their next incarnation or learn to be a productive contributor


  110. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    Let’s just keep the census workers out of the rural areas of states like KY, GA, MS, and SC. This will keep the population count low and will reduce the number of representatives in Congress from these red states.


  111. dbadass says:

    Did anyone hear something. It sounded sort of like the quiet noise of an insincere pretender. Those are so weak and useless…Maybe I was just hearing things.Either way f ucked up no life losers with no principles who dedicate their life to f ucking around electronically are truely pitiful…


  112. dbadass says:

    OT
    Morning Ms. Cats. Would you by chance have an oxtail soup recipe?


  113. USCKitty says:

    Pat Pomery says:
    Civilian deaths hit all time high in Afghanistan. No progressive outrage? Shocker!!!

    Just who is politicizing their deaths? Of course we care about them…but you don’t give a damn about them. To them, they’re just a political weapon to use to beat your political opponents. Let me guess, you call yourself pro-life as well…


  114. Purple State says:

    You know, Pat, we can express outrage at policies without having to write about them all the time.

    Are some of us outraged that innocent people are dying all over the world for the sake of military combat? Absolutely. No one should die for war purposes.

    However, might we remind you, this entry is all about the killing of a census worker. Likely, an INNOCENT census worker who did good for the community. Where’s your outrage about that?


  115. dbadass says:

    Multiple personalities disorders down on the farm… Pitiful it is…


  116. dbadass says:

    The more you respond to the mentally ill the more they feel significant. Speak of them not to them better yet ignore them. It tears them up inside to realize that they are no more significant in an electronic environment then they are in a real one!


  117. dbadass says:

    USCKitty
    As if a poser could know the nature of truth, a concept which has boggled the true thinkers and philosophers since the dawn of human cognition… Don’t waste your time on the pretender.


  118. Rich H says:

    Good Morning.

    I was just checking in to see if the coward Kenneth had the balls to come back. I guess he’s afraid the gov’t is checking his computer. What a chickenshi*.

    And I’d just like to add Witch1, I had no idea what you do (as with most everyone), but that’s pretty admirable. Keep up the good fight and save your energy for where it can do the most good.


  119. Leftside Annie says:

    Like many of you, the first thing I thought of when I heard this story was Michelle Bachmann’s incendiary rhetoric against the Census.

    I find it ironic in the extreme that a member of government, a person elected to government office by the people she has sworn to serve – Michelle Bachmann and other wingnut Republicans like her – are working so hard to bring down our government from the inside.

    They are like a parasite that kills its host…and frankly, I am beginning to think that we need to take the same kind of steps to rid ourselves of these wingnut parasites as we do to rid our human bodies of regular parasites.

    They are a deadly infection in our body politic, and we the people need to find a way to get rid of them and disinfect our government.

    These extremist hatemongers should have no place in a civilized nation.


  120. evangenital says:

    Bachmann is a vile scumbag.


  121. dixie blood says:

    evangenital says:

    ——————————————————————————–

    Bachmann is a vile scumbag.

    And Christian too!


  122. The Moderate Squad says:

    It’s no surprise, but it is endlessly disappointing, that she feels absolutely comfortable spewing her scary nonsense with the complicity of Beck and Boortz, who will never challenge her as long as she doesn’t rain on their crazy parades.

    At what point does irrational rhetoric become criminal?


  123. Purple State says:

    Gee, nothing to say about this topic, Pat? No outrage over a census worker being killed for apparently no reason?


  124. Chyron HR says:

    The funny (and by “funny” I mean “revolting”) thing is that if TP actually declared something as obvious as “civilian deaths are bad”, we’d just be treated to 600 posts of the usual psychopaths screaming that “the Afghans actually deserved to die so shut up, libtards”.


  125. pags2 says:

    The national media is putting her silliness on display for everyone to see. If the voters in Bachmann, Wilson, et al, districts do not have enough common sense to toss these people out of office, then the blame rests on the people who vote for them. Bachmann was re-elected so we can only conclude that the voters in her district have not been embarrassed enough.


  126. dbadass says:

    Gee, nothing to say about this topic, Pat?
    – Screw Pat. That clown is looking for their next name. Ignore that one too.


  127. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 15. cd says: To the best of my knowledge the Census was used to help inter Japanese Americans. September 26th, 2009 at 12:23 am

    That was a rather sorry episode in our history; I suspect that any tool that came to hand was used. I wouldn’t be so sure that census records were used; that data wouldn’t have been as easily retrieved at it might be today; in fact, the Census bureau was probably still in the process of getting the written data transcribed to punch-cards so that it could be run through card sorters when the Pearl Harbor attack occured. As far as governmental sources went, there was probably a greater reliance on property ownership and tax rolls and voter and school registrations, all of which are state and local.

    By the way, the word is intern, not inter. We sent the Japanese-Americans off to internment camps, not to be intered in cemetaries.


  128. flight says:

    Come on Right Wing, I want to hear your justifications for Bill Sparkmans death.

    All the fear mongering, all the rhetoric for six months, the brilliant diatribes from your leadership, where does it end?

    Let us hear the justification, I am very curious and disgusted!


  129. SlappyBastinado says:

    This comment has been voted down. Click to read.


  130. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 15. cd sez… cd, The Scientific American article you linked specifically points out, and I quote;

    “… The Bureau previously has acknowledged that it provided neighborhood information on Japanese-Americans for that purpose, but it has maintained that it never provided “microdata,” meaning names and specific information about them, to other agencies.

    “A new study of U.S. Department of Commerce documents now shows that the Census Bureau complied with an August 4, 1943, request by Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau for the names and locations of all people of Japanese ancestry in the Washington, D.C., area, according to historian Margo Anderson of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and statistician William Seltzer of Fordham University in New York City. The records, however, do not indicate that the Bureau was asked for or divulged such information for Japanese-Americans in other parts of the country.”

    If you follow through on this, I think you’ll find that the 1943 microdata from Washington D.C. represents a miniscule number of people in comparison to the numbers of Japanese-Americans who were rounded up in California, Oregon, and Washinston (state, as well as other states and in various municipalities without the benefit of Census Bureau microdata; furthermore, all of those people had been rounded up and were behind barbed wire in internment camps before 1943. Obviously, that doesn’t absolve the Census Bureau; they were able to provide neighborhood data and that sort of thing in 1942, but I’d still say that most of the information used to round up people came from local and state sources. That’s without getting into the snitching that went on, where various and sundry individuals, mostly but not exclusively European-Americans, snitched off their Japanese-American neighbors, businessmen, and farmers/ranchers, because they resented them or wanted to profit from their dispossesion.

    We may be a great people in a great nation, but that’s never stopped us from acting like a pack of arseholes.


  131. Buckie Boy says:

    Pat Pomery, SlappyBastinado, Haggis Farmer are excellent examples of just how immoral, unethical and criminal the Reichwing has become.

    Keep showing your Unamerican Moronworld posts, boys, your intelligent posts are very telling.


  132. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 137. correction. should read, in part, as “… rounded up in California, Oregon, and Washington (state), as well as…”


  133. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 55. What the GOP REALLY means … says: You libs think the GOP causes hell in the majority? You keep forgetting what they’ve done in the minority. September 26th, 2009 at 2:20 am

    Nah. I don’t forget about what they do in the minority. I’d just rather not think about what they do, period. When I consider Craig, Ensign, Vitter, et al, my neurons make a wheezing sound that’s somewhere between “ick” and “eewwww” and I find that irritating. This isn’t off topic though, because some house twits like Shelley Bachmann and Eric Cantor are in that crowd that give me pause for nausea, and what grabs me is the headspinning confusion and hypocrisy. Does something to my middle ear and I have to lay down or go outside and sit and look at the horizon.

    I think Crazy Shelley should quit badmouthing Federal employees; some people might get bad ideas, and in her own unenlightened self-interest, she might remember that she’s on the Federal payroll too. And going after the Census Bureau isn’t a good idea either, unless she’s hoping to be gerrymandered toward a safer seat.


  134. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 59, 60. USCKitty says: 58…with all due respect, the poster you’re replying to is a parody troll and a damn good one…
    September 26th, 2009 at 2:41 am

    USCKitty, you don’t have to repeat yourself, but I love it when you say ‘parody troll’.


  135. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 62. bluesunflower says:

    “Earlier this summer, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) waged a high-profile, wildly-dishonest campaign against the Census. The Minnesota congresswoman said she was so worried about the threat of the government asking “very intricate questions” and collecting information that she would illegally refuse to fill out the form.”

    Dude…this is specifically written into the Constitution! We’d need an amendment in order to stop it! What’s worse is that Rep. Bachmann IIRC took an oath to uphold the Constitution when she was elected! Crimineys. September 26th, 2009 at 4:03 am

    I concur, BSF, but OTOH, I think Crazy Shelley is well advised to fear those “very intricate questions”. Jeez, they might ask her whether she resides on this planet or something, yanno…


  136. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 66. KayInMaine says: MICHELE BACHMAN & GLENN BECK BOTH NEED TO BE ARRESTED FOR INCITING VIOLENCE & TERRORISM ON AMERICANS!September 26th, 2009 at 6:03 am

    And that should be followed up by a hearing on competency and being locked away in an institution for the criminally insane.


  137. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 76. Fritz says: Isn’t Glenn Beck a rapist and murderer? Perhaps Bachmann is hiding something too. September 26th, 2009 at 8:43 am

    Are you saying … ahem… uh … we might get a Bachmann cootchy dance out of this? Couldn’t be a pole dance. That can get a little too explicit and what with Bachmann hiding something… well, maybe inquiring minds don’t want to know everything, eh?

    As for Beck, who the hell knows? He doesn’t. It’s all just an alcohol washed haze and a drug addled confusion, from which he’s never recovered.


  138. just the bleepn facts says:

    Sounds like Mizz Pee didn’t get laid again last night. She should have just jo’d to KO again like she really wants to. That would calm her incessant whining and angry silly posts down… ;)


  139. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 94. The Scarlet Pimpernel says: This year, a county manager in New Mexico warned that many people take their property rights seriously, and some might shoot at census takers who trespass. I don’t know if this county manager consulted the county attorney or not, unless it was one from the same correspondence law school as Orly Taitz, but how in the Hell can a census taker by ‘trespassing’ on anyone’s property when they are performing a constitutionally mandated function…
    September 26th, 2009 at 9:54 am

    Scarlet, I live in NM and saw that story. I don’t know which county manager that was, but he wasn’t advocating doing that. He was just stating a fact, and it’s a fact that’s true of other states as well. There are people out there who consider any unknown person entering their property to be trespassers and they reserve the right to deal with trespassers in any way they feel justified. If someone on official business drops by and is not identifiable as being on lawful business, they run some risk. That’s true of more states than NM, and the problem is probably greater in some of those states. Most New Mexicans will probably at least ask you who you are before they start shooting or throwing rocks. Anyway, the point is that the county manager, in stating a fact, doesn’t have to consult the county or district attorney; OTOH, he may be speaking from experience or pretty close to first hand knowledge.


  140. LibertyLover says:

    I hold Bachmann responsible for this man’s death.


  141. SnoBird says:

    Michelle,

    Given your particularly paranoid brand, I’m curious:

    1. Would you prefer not to know the Americans living in this country, perhaps the number of unregistered voters in your community;

    2. You are front-stage center in the national discussion about a brutally murdered census worker whose murder took place in the aftermath of your comments . . . have you any words of condolence or contrition?

    Yes, Senator Bachmann, you incited hatred toward the census, have you any regrets?

    Speak.


  142. SnoBird says:

    Wonder if Sarah Palin can offer perspective.

    She’s always such a wealth of information.

    Sarah, speak.

    Your mentor, John McCain . . . comments?


  143. SnoBird says:

    Surly,

    Rush or Beck can bloviate on how Bachmann’s comments didn’t incite murder.

    Waiting . . . .


  144. SnoBird says:

    Everyone knows (;>)) West Virginians are children left behind. They watch cartoons, not cable news, and they are meth-heads, far to enthused about what’s cooking on the stove to care about what Michelle Bachmann says on C-Span. We just get a little pissy when a dough-boy substitute teacher shows up on the front porch asking how old we are . . . any rational person sees that the only course of action is to strip that sucker down to his ankles, get the handy roll of duck tape, get that yard of rope out of the barn and lynch him. No . . . no-one suggested the idea . . . we’re just a bunch of meth heads, trying to keep it low. we thought of it all by ourselves.


  145. kwsventures says:

    If you really fear the census, don’t answer every question. Name, rank, serial number.


  146. SnoBird says:

    If you really fear the census, don’t answer your door.


  147. SnoBird says:

    What, is the 51-year-old substitute teacher, dough boy going to chase you? I think not.


  148. ElBruce says:

    rsalier says:

    Has anyone told this stupid person the reason we do a census every ten years?

    It is explicitly mandated by the U.S. Constitution, which right-wingers claim to “love.”

    Article 1, Section 2

    Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

    The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.

    Some “love” these people have for the Constitution. They seem to hate everything it actually says.

    .

    Kenneth says:

    Christ never said to pay your fair share of taxes. That is your Liberal misguided opinion.

    Christ said to “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and render unto God what is God’s”.

    The question asked to Him, which that is the response was whether they should pay their taxes. In fact, I find his response to be a fine description of the necessity of the separation of church and state. You only owe God your soul. Religious affiliation does not abrogate the necessity of your civic duty.

    .

    Fred says:

    Homeland Security Report Warns Of Rising Right-Wing Extremism

    The report concludes, unsurprisingly, that we have to worry more about “lone wolves and small terrorist cells” than anything else.

    And remember with the wingnuts, including Bachmann, complained that this report was unfair. We’ll see what they have to say now that it’s coming true.

    .

    Pat Pomery says:

    Civilian deaths hit all time high in Afghanistan. No progressive outrage? Shocker!!!

    I personally believe that we need to get more boots on the ground there. However, we were not unjust in going there in the first place, so it doesn’t exactly “outrage” me. The difference between Afghanistan and Iraq is that we had no justification to invade Iraq in the first place. It’s a difference you still don’t seem to grasp.


  149. Fred says:

    kwsventures says:
    If you really fear the census, don’t answer every question. Name, rank, serial number.

    The information will come from somewhere. They always get the answers. You have neighbors, clergy, employer’s, etc.

    If you don’t want to answer them, fine.


  150. SnoBird says:

  151. Virtual Pebble says:

    Maybe someone ought to let the righties know that the Census Bureau isn’t the Spanish Inquisition. Oh, sorry, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition, how daft of me, and apart from that, aside from being Catholic to the core, the Spanish Inquisition was a fine upstanding Christian organization, so Crazy Shelley would surely have no objection to an encounter with them, eh? Not that it’s much help to the inquis… oop, census.


  152. ElBruce says:

    kwsventures says:

    If you really fear the census, don’t answer every question. Name, rank, serial number.

    kws, do you love the Constution?

    From Article 1, Section 2:

    The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.

    The Constitution states that you have to answer all of the questions that the Congress puts on the census. Now, you can oppose that idea if you want, but don’t ever tell me again that you “love the Constitution” while you oppose the duties of citizenship placed on you by it.



  153. SnoBird says:

    ElBruce,

    Nowhere does the Constitution mandate that you answer your door. Your’re the man . . . don’t answer, don’t tell.

    No violence necessary.

    Problem is, you just can’t shut your trap. . . . and a fine trap you suggest.


  154. Mr. Sonia Herecomestheangst says:

    Lets just get to the gist of the matter:

    Bachmann is hoping a lot of the citizens in her state won’t do the census so that the King of Cartoons will come to her Playhouse and let her do all the gerrymandering with her coloring book and crayons. Bachmann thinks she’s Predator Bugs Bunny and all the census workers are Elmer Fudd unholy turkeys that need to be born again in the holy lakes of the Mississippi.


  155. conservative guy says:

    I will tell the census how many people live in my house and nothing more. If they want more they can pound sand.


  156. SnoBird says:

    Mail in your response. No one is required to answer their door, their phone or their e-mails.

    The mandate that he espouses violates every tenant of democracy, every principal upon which America was founded . . . he would like to be in your bedroom . . . burn the heathens!

    Big old suprise Bruce. Perv without morals who feels free to impose his own upon you and me.

    Truly, a scary dude.


  157. Fred says:

    conservative guy says:
    I will tell the census how many people live in my house and nothing more. If they want more they can pound sand.

    I’ve worked for the census and they will find out what they want to know. They will talk to your employer and they will find out who it is, they will talk to your neighbors, etc.

    They will get what they want about you whether you like it or not.

    pound sand all you want. You’re only fooling yourself.


  158. Purple State says:

    conservative guy says:

    I will tell the census how many people live in my house and nothing more. If they want more they can pound sand.

    Frankly, CG, if I was a census taker, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere near your house, but it would be my job to get information for the U.S. government so that we can accurately count and represent your area. You’d like to be counted for the sake of the good things that come from censuses, wouldn’t you?


  159. ElBruce says:

    SnoBird says:

    Nowhere does the Constitution mandate that you answer your door.

    conservative guy says:

    I will tell the census how many people live in my house and nothing more.

    Don’t want to pay their taxes, don’t want to help the census, etcetera etcetera. You know, there used to be such a thing as “citizenship” in this country. Now, if you are going to be unpatriotic, go ahead. It is a free country, after all.

    But if you also are going to talk about loving America, loving the Constitution, loving the flag and all of the other things you like to talk about, then know that you are a hypocrite.

    You simply can’t call yourself a patriot while you shirk the duties of citizenship. Well, you can, but I’m going to be there to brand you as a hypocrite every time.

    You are the exact opposite of patriots. And that’s OK too. America is strong enough to let you ride on its coattails while the rest of us do the heavy lifting. It’s your right to be a hypocrite if you want.

    But for you to behave so and then turn around and think that anybody should listen to your “opinions” on politics, which merely amount to nothing more than an expression of greed and laziness, is hypocrisy squared.

    And I’m going to call you on that too.


  160. SnoBird says:

    conservative guy says . . . you fool. No one is that interested in what you and your family do.

    I’ll be making love in the sand . . . will you watch? Of course you will. You will watch, you will judge it horrible and you will wish that your evangical bride weren’t such a prude . . . or maybe you’ll seek outside assistance . . . seems a trend.


  161. SnoBird says:

    Elbruce,

    Noone here is talking about not paying taxes.

    Conversation is about the Census guy who knocks on your door. . . a door you don’t have to answer . . .

    and the right of an American to mail in a Census response rather than murdering a nice man who came to your door in order to pay his college tuition.


  162. cec says:

    So Kenneth does’t want to pay his taxes.He is obviously a deadbead,right up there with the illegals that he maligns. Conservative guy thinks that every should obey the law,well,with one exception—Conservative Guy! What a great country.


  163. SnoBird says:

    This murdered man paid his taxes and maligned noone.

    WTF


  164. dasm says:

    This year, a county manager in New Mexico warned that many people take their property rights seriously, and some might shoot at census takers who trespass.

    Such anti-American murder-inciters as this county manager need to be investigated. And any county which makes such statements should be denied any funding a census might provide. What horribly violent morons.


  165. dasm says:

    Bachmann is, by definition, a terrorist. She invoked fear & hatred to bring on the death of a government worker. She is terrorism personified & needs to be tried for her inciting of hatred towards government workers.


  166. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 169. SnoBird says: Elbruce, No one here is talking about not paying taxes. Conversation is about the Census guy who knocks on your door. . . a door you don’t have to answer . . . and the right of an American to mail in a Census response rather than murdering a nice man who came to your door in order to pay his college tuition.
    September 26th, 2009 at 5:55 pm

    I concur on all that, Snobird. I’ll let elBruce speak for himself, but I suspect that his sharp response to you came because the brevity of some of your comments seems ambiguous – you might be a decent soul or you might be some sort of crazed troll. For myself, having looked at enough of your posts, I think the former, but if you should happen to be a troll, that’s OK too.

    I tend to err on the side of overly long responses, myself, and can make them pretty ambiguous when so desired, so either brevity or ‘longwindedness’ are only something to be concerned about if you’re taking too much flak for something you thought was innocuous.


  167. SnoBird says:

    May he rest in peace.

    I hate to think what his last moments were like. Michelle Bachmann, thoughts?

    He was a good man trying very hard to live a good life. That’s the American dream.

    May he rest is peace. God bless his family and friends.


  168. cec says:

    Ah! Righteous indignation feels so good.Immigration2008 #7 .Remember Vince Foster and the nitwits who claimed that the Clinton’s were somehow involved?Of course that wasn’t about politics. Right.


  169. Virtual Pebble says:

    @ 172. dasm says: “This year, a county manager in New Mexico warned that many people take their property rights seriously, and some might shoot at census takers who trespass.” Such anti-American murder-inciters as this county manager need to be investigated. And any county which makes such statements should be denied any funding a census might provide. What horribly violent morons. September 26th, 2009 at 6:12 pm

    dasm, see my comment @ 146 on this issue. I think the manager was probably just stating a fact – that there are flakes out there who will do crazy shit to you if you come on their property and they don’t know you or why you’re there. He’s probably NOT inciting anything or suggesting that such behavior is tolerable; he’s probably had county staffers assaulted or shot at.

    I can’t tell you that it’s absolutely the case that he was just stating fact, but I am in the process of trying to fact check it. It’s of interest to me because I live in NM.


  170. bluesunflower says:

    Pat Pomery says:

    ——————————————————————————–

    Civilian deaths hit all time high in Afghanistan. No progressive outrage? Shocker!!!

    We’re in a legal and justified war with Afghanistan. Tell them and Al Queda to hand over Osama bin Laden, and then maybe Obama will talk to them about ending it.


  171. bluesunflower says:

    Now if you’d said *Iraq* OTOH, Pat….


  172. ElBruce says:

    I find it interesting how wingnuts don’t care about 9/11 any more, now that using victims of state-sponsored terrorism to bang their war drum is no longer convenient to them. They don’t care about stabilizing Afghanistan because they never cared about stabilizing Afghanistan. 9/11 and Afghanistan were just stepping stones to Iraq, contracting money, and oil.

    .

    SnoBird says:

    Conversation is about the Census guy who knocks on your door. . . a door you don’t have to answer . . .

    Sorry if I lumped you in with the “I don’t have to do my civic duty” wingnuts. Of course, just avoiding the census or mailing it in is better than committing violence against census takers. But ideally, anybody who calls themselves a patriot should cooperate with their Contitutionally mandated responsibility.


  173. SnoBird says:

    Elbruce,

    We’re good. Thanks.


  174. Maine iac says:

    I pay taxes, don’t they get all the info they need off of those forms? This is the 21st century people..do we need people going door to door?


  175. SnoBird says:

    Maine iac,

    Good for you. You pay your taxes. Some people don’t, some people can’t. Good to have a better sense of who we are as a country than just the reporting of tax payers.

    Corporations are considered citizens. Many corporations employ thousands and yet report no taxes. You and me are now bailing them out. Don’t you want to know who they are?


  176. Maine iac says:

    All i’m saying is there is no need to go door to door. Putting your life at risk for information. Getting info the same way that it was originally obtained sine the 1700’s. Makes no sense.


  177. Maine iac says:

    I am all for the census don’t get me wrong here..I just wonder if there are alternatives to door to door bothering people.


  178. SnoBird says:

    You’ll have to talk to Michelle Bachmann and her cohorts to determine the reason that a danger is posed by dough boys knocking on doors to fulfill a Constitutional mandate.

    Lynching a man trying to pay his college tuition? Yeah, surly that’s what our forefathers supposed.

    “All i’m saying is there is no need to go door to door. ”

    All I’m saying is that you are a child left behind” . . . you are abhorrant.


  179. Maine iac says:

    I’m the bad guy for looking for ideas?


  180. SnoBird says:

    Un f*** believavle.

    UnMaine iac says:

    I am all for the census don’t get me wrong here..I just wonder if there are alternatives to door to door bothering people

    Gotta stamp?


  181. Maine iac says:

    I have a birth certificate if that’s what you mean.


  182. SnoBird says:

    Oh, the bothering.

    Boink, boink . . . are you a complete idiot? or do you just seem like one when you post?


  183. Maine iac says:

    oh no..insult after insult..


  184. SnoBird says:

    Tool . . you got me.


  185. Maine iac says:

    clearly since I never called you names, you had to shout me down like you probably are used to at town hall meetings.


  186. SnoBird says:

    Must say, you have the distinct stink of a Russian. Don’t mean that as a dis on Russians, just a palpable feel for the culture.


  187. cd says:

    “You’re trying to use a 65 year old occurrence as your basis as some sort of “proof” ?

    Funny how you and all the other GOP backing asswipes are so against the “all-revealing” Census , but have absolutely ZERO PROBLEM with an anti-Constitutional bill like the laughable “Patriot Ac”

    Does someone have a problem reading English?

    At no point did I say anything other than what I wrote in those two posts and you know it.

    You’re alot like a freeper you know that?

    Anyone dares to speak the ugly truth and you jump up and start screaming they must be part of a group that you hate.

    You should be ashamed of yourself as should everyone that gave your insane glenn beck style rant a thumbs up.


  188. Maine iac says:

    Usually I don’t like republicans, but you snobird are kind of entertaining.


  189. SnoBird says:

    If your gonna blend, you must try harder.


  190. SnoBird says:

    Yeah,

    If I were to try to blend,the US Congress would pass single payor health insurance.

    We get all lobbyists out of the halls of Congress.

    Politicians would be forever banned from working for any outfit they ever supported.

    And Bin Laden would be dead.

    Let my freak flag fly. Yeah, I’m a GOP tool.


  191. Maine iac says:

    blend by saying going door to door might not be the best method seeing as people are getting killed. and maybe in the next ten years they can come up with a safe way to get info without putting lives at risk, maybe some security or something for the people out in the field.


  192. SnoBird says:

    Oh yeah,

    When you scream “Pound Sand”, may Jimmy Buffet be your point man making marguritas, may Tom Delay be shaking his tush, and may I be making love to a run-way model many years my junior. May Obama be in the Whitehouse making sure that the world is a safer place and may polar bears be thriving in the Antartic.

    Lead poisoning be damned, in my ideal world, any hiker will be able to drink from a mountain stream.

    One can only dream.


  193. Maine iac says:

    “pound sand” i don’t recall saying that…you better put down the cool-aid asap


  194. SnoBird says:

    I think that it was Elbruce, but we’re all good now.


  195. SnoBird says:

    Maine,

    Yes, the world revolves around you. Drink up.


  196. Maine iac says:

    yes yes, and the census workers have to deal with alot of crazy people like you don’t they.


  197. SnoBird says:

    Eh?

    Having never had a problem with census workers . . . they are innocuous people with whom you deal, like the postman, love them, but they are not players in my life, nor do they want to be . . .they are census workers: Do you live here? When were you born? Are you married? Do you have children? Thank you very much for your time.”

    Oh, so scary!

    I have dealt with census workers in the same manner in which I have dealt with with my meter reader, Fine, you have a job to do, my dogs need kibble, see you later.

    Who in their right mind could be offended by the census taker . . No one.

    Loons did terrible things to a nice man who was working an odd job to fund his college tuition.

    How sad.

    My heart and prayers go out to his family and friends.


  198. SnoBird says:

    Maine Iac,

    Frankly, I find you offensive. I don’t know whether you mean to come off like a completely crazy person or if that just happens because you are who you are . . . one way or another, I don’t want any further contact with you.

    Erase me from your lists and do not make any effort to contact me. I find you offensive.

    Best regards,

    Gwendolyn


  199. SnoBird says:

    I completely agree,

    Donatella


  200. ElBruce says:

    Maine iac says:

    All i’m saying is there is no need to go door to door. Putting your life at risk for information. Getting info the same way that it was originally obtained sine the 1700’s. Makes no sense.

    Typically they do a mail survey, then they compile a list of people who haven’t mailed back the surveys yet and only go door-to-door with the remaining non-responders. It’s actually pretty efficient and thorough. Without the canvassers to back-up the survey, you’d lose the thorough-ness.

    Jeez, they only did one ten years ago, and ten years before that. Does everybody in the country forget how this works every decade? Are we in the Matrix?


  201. bluesunflower says:

    Maine iac says:

    ——————————————————————————–

    All i’m saying is there is no need to go door to door.

    It’s called a stamp. Choose not to use it and they WILL come to your door. That’s the way it’s been since the 1790s.

    And unfortunately, the answer is yes, they MUST get you. The Constitution specifies that the census must count each person individually, which is a problem since it’s also one of the most inaccurate and cumbersome ways of collecting information (our current method grossly underrepresents minorities and the poor).

    But alas, we’d need an Amendment in order to change it to a more accurate – and less biased BTW – method of statistic sampling.


  202. ElBruce says:

    bluesunflower says:

    (our current method grossly underrepresents minorities and the poor).

    Man, you know what would totally help with that problem? If some community organizing group got involved in helping who had prior expertise in reaching minorities and the poor. Man, that would totally help to mitigate that problem.

    What? You say the right wing has been slandering and demonizing them for the past two years in order to get them cut out of being able to assist? Huh. I guess the right-wingers are trying to to skew the census.


  203. faustianslip says:

    I say deal with these issues in the following way: any state that has a census taker physically assaulted or killed has every last census worker yanked out of that state, no ifs, ands or buts. The fine, upstanding citizens of Kentucky don’t want to participate in the census? That’s just fine. They’ll probably think a little differently when they lose their representation in Congress and Federal funding, but them’s the breaks.

    I’m fed up with the insanity coming from the far right- they have no compunctions about spreading this garbage far and wide, but heaven forbid they look at something like this and at least dial things back just a little (I’m not even asking for them to take responsibility- that would obviously be out of the question). They’re not going to knock it off until something forces them to do so, and the loss of their precious congressional jobs just might be the trick.

    Pull the census workers out of states where violent incidents are reported, let the natural consequences of no one in the House of Representatives follow, and the whole lot of them can go screw. I suggest we start with Kentucky.


  204. mari2RR says:

    As I have already stated to my friend. let this woman blab on and on. Anyone listening to her would have to be a far right wing hysterical person. Numbers of Representatives are apportioned on the basis of numbers counted by the Census. No doubt, this woman needs a refresher course in the legal issues concerning census totals in any given district and why is it advantageous to count every last person in the area. She is actually precluding better representation in any district where people overwhelmingly listen to her silliness about fearing census takers. Can you imagine someone this dumb that even gets elected as a Representative. Amazing!!! My suggestion is that she check back in to my 7th grade Civics class (which I had in 1944) so she does not sound so clueless about the US government. One wonders how this woman was ever elected! As a Republican I find her very embarrassing.


  205. i aint you says:

    you all are very quick to jump to conclusions, i have not found anywhere where it says anything bout who or why, or even if he was working at the time. show me the prof and i’ll be more than happy to listen.

    How bout we let the police do their job first and then figure out what to do with it


  206. i aint you says:

    the following was taken from the USA today paper—
    usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-30-census-role_N.htm

    The Census Bureau turned over confidential information including names and addresses to help the Justice Department, Secret Service and other agencies identify Japanese-Americans during World War II, according to government documents released today.
    Documents found by two historians in Commerce Department archives and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library confirm for the first time that the bureau shared details about individual Japanese-Americans after Japan’s Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.

    The Census Bureau played a role in the confinement of more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent who were rounded up and held in internment camps, many until the war ended in 1945. In 1942, the Census turned over general statistics about where Japanese-Americans lived to the War Department. It was acting legally under the Second War Powers Act, which allowed the sharing of information for national security.

    The newly released documents show that in 1943, the Census complied with a request by the Treasury Department to turn over names of individuals of Japanese ancestry in the Washington, D.C., area because of an unspecified threat against President Franklin Roosevelt. The list contained names, addresses and data on the age, sex, citizenship status and occupation of Japanese-Americans in the area.

    “The issue is how ethical is it to use the Census to target people,” says William Seltzer, a statistician at Fordham University in New York who co-wrote the report with Margo Anderson, professor of history and urban studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Sharing the information was not illegal, he says, but “it was ethically questionable.”

    I would be inclined to say that she is right


  207. Ape-Man says:

    manager in New Mexico warned that many people take their property rights seriously

    Stupidest comment i’ve ever heard.


  208. cd says:

    “The Census Bureau turned over confidential information including names and addresses to help the Justice Department, Secret Service and other agencies identify Japanese-Americans during World War II, according to government documents released today.”

    pwned!




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