PFAW:

There are many unanswered questions about the tragic hanging death of Bill Sparkman, a US Census Bureau employee, in rural Kentucky. But one thing is clear. Right-Wing leaders like Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and media outlets like Fox News have whipped up hysteria and paranoia over the 2010 Census.

Mr. Sparkman's untimely demise may or may not have been the doing of an anti-government fanatic, but it’s clear that the Right is creating an environment that is hostile to Census workers and the Constitutionally-mandated Census.

A steady stream of conspiracy talk by Beck, Bachmann, and others on Fox News has legitimized and propelled conspiracy theories among many everyday Americans who are now terrified of their own government. Talk of rounding up dissidents into concentration camps and nefarious plots by ACORN to steal Congress has fed anti-government sentiment, which could boil over at any moment.

This should be an important wake-up call to those national outlets that have employed fear in pursuit of ratings.

It's amazing to me that the party that presided over the biggest growth in government are now stark raving loons over aprogram that has been in place since 1790. Of course, it could be a classic case of Freudian projection, where they project exactly the kind of fascist tendencies in their own little heart and they panic at someone else being able to use the information the way they would if they have a chance. Or perhaps it's the very scary notion of information and facts that has their collective knickers in a bunch. God forbid we actually know that there really aren't 40 million illegal immigrants in this country, what could those wingnuts use to fear monger? Or that thanks to GOP policies, wages are down across the country? Or that those comfortably gerry-mandered seats in the House should actually be changed to the disadvantage of the GOP? [[Shudder]]

Facts are scary things to those wingnuts.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (979)

PLAYS: (2973)

Rachal Maddow talks to the AP's Devlin Barrett about the apparent homicide of Census worker Bill Sparkman.

From the AP:

A U.S. Census worker found hanged from a tree near a Kentucky cemetery had the word "fed" scrawled on his chest, a law enforcement official said Wednesday, and the FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment.

The law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word on the chest of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and teacher. He was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky.

The Census has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation. An autopsy report is pending.

Investigators have said little about the case. FBI spokesman David Beyer said the bureau is assisting state police and declined to confirm or discuss any details about the crime scene.

"Our job is to determine if there was foul play involved — and that's part of the investigation — and if there was foul play involved, whether that is related to his employment as a Census worker," said Beyer.

Attacking a federal worker during or because of his federal job is a federal crime.