Bill Sparkman, a part-time Census field worker in Kentucky, was found hanging from a tree in a Clay County cemetery with the words “fed” scrawled across his chest.

FBI spokesman David Beyer said the bureau is helping state police with the case.

“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.

Beyer declined to confirm or discuss any details about the crime scene.

Lucindia Scurry-Johnson, assistant director of the Census Bureau’s southern office in Charlotte, N.C., said law enforcement officers have told the agency the matter is “an apparent homicide” but nothing else.

Census employees were told Sparkman’s truck was found nearby, and a computer he was using for work was found inside it, she said. He worked part-time for the Census, usually conducting interviews once or twice a month.

Video below is from Sept. 15, before details of Sparkman’s death were released…

It’s certainly to early to say whether growing anti-government resentment played a role in this “apparent homicide.” Clay County is part of the fifth district of Kentucky which happens to be one of the poorest in the nation. The region has been led by Republicans for decades, and is currently represented by Harold Rogers (R).

It is curious however that the body was found on Sept 12, 2009, tea party day. And folks like Glenn Beck and Rep. Michelle Bachman are heroes of that movement, aren’t exactly fans of the Census either… as in the clip below:

Sarah Palin’s attorney came out swinging this weekend , threatening legal action against bloggers and various media outlets for publishing fraudulent claims about the governor, who announced her intention to resign as governor last Friday.

Almost immediately afterwards [announced resignation], several unscrupulous people have asserted false and defamatory allegations that the “real” reasons for Governor Palin’s resignation stem from an alleged criminal investigation pertaining to the construction of the Wasilla Sports Complex. This canard was first floated by Democrat operatives in September 2008 during the national campaign and followed up by sympathetic Democratic writers.1 It was easily rebutted then as one of many fabrications about Sarah Palin. Just as power abhors a vacuum, modern journalism apparently abhors any type of due diligence and fact checking before scurrilous allegations are repeated as fact.

…

To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as “fact” that Governor Palin resigned because she is “under federal investigation” for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation. This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law. The Alaska Constitution protects the right of free speech, while simultaneously holding those “responsible for the abuse of that right.” Alaska Constitution Art. I, Sec. 5. “These falsehoods abuse the right to free speech; continuing to publish these falsehoods of criminal activity is reckless, done without any regard for the truth, and is actionable.”

Palin also went out on the offensive over the 4th of July weekend, decrying her critics through Facebook:

The response in the main stream media has been most predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans who are sick of the “politics of personal destruction”. How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it’s about country. And though it’s honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. But every American understands what it takes to make a decision because it’s right for all, including your family.

and Twitter (during the Sunday AM news shows)

Critics are spinning, so hang in there as they feed false info on the right decision made as I enter last yr in office to not run again….

so I’ll make attempt to keep up w/attaching corrected info. I head 2 West AK villages today, look forward to their busy comm fish activity!

Trying to keep up w/getting truth to u, like proof there’s no “FBI scandal”, here’s link http://tinyurl.com/nzlae8 Thanks, AK!

Palin’s news conference announcing her resignation is presented in all  its rambling, uncomfortable entirety below. It’s a struggle but worth the scenic and family cutaways…