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:

Outside of Franklin County High School in Kentucky, students protested an email sent to their teachers instructing them not to allow homosexuals to use the restroom during class.

The email sent by Asst. Principal Karen Buzard was in response to an incident where two female students were caught kissing in the school restroom.

From Kentucky Equality Federation (KEF):

“I have been in contact with one of the parents of the children involved in the protest, and we support and encourage their constitutional right to assemble peacefully,” stated Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer. “We call on the media to investigate this issue further and shed light on the discrimination gays and lesbians face throughout the Commonwealth. Kentucky Equality Federation will also be contacting the other parents of the children involved in today’s protest.”

Laura Reed, Managing Director of KEF is concerned because they have also received complaints from other counties.

“I’d like to know what level this mentality, that gay and lesbian students should not be treated equally is coming from. An incident in one county could be called an isolated incident, but we now have similar reports in three other Kentucky Counties. I’d certainly like to know what Education Secretary Helen W. Mountjoy has to say about these incidents.”

How odd. According to the school’s website, April is the month for tolerance. Doesn’t sound like a very tolerant school if you ask me.

More at Kentucky Equality Federation.

I’m not really suprised that Bush took home the coveted prize as I feel it was the Democrat’s race to lose. In putting up a candidate that refused to define himself, the Democratic ticket was vulnerable to this outcome. I think they also over-estimated the importance of the war among voters.

I was however surprised by the strength of Bush’s evangelical base, buoyed by such issues as stem cell research, abortion, and particularly gay marriage. I think this is key. Eleven states on Nov 2 passed resolutions to ammend their constitutions to ban same sex marriages (list at the bottom of this post), and Ohio in particular went as far to ban civil unions. I feel strongly this was a central issue to many of those who voted for George W. Bush. Exit polls seemed to indicate that moral leadership and the economy rated more important than the war in Iraq and more broadly the war on terror. I think it is safe to say that mainstream America is simply not ready to accept homosexuality, rooted either in their faith or their homophobia.

While discouraging, it’s not suprising that this happened. Gay activists (and certain mayors) pushed so hard for this equality that it backfired. You can’t force something like gay marriage — no matter how reasonable or fair-minded the argument — down the throats of people who barely tolerate homosexuals in the first place. Many of which would prefer to have us shipped off to some island (and those are the nices ones) then deal with us walking down the aisle, revering that which they frequently take for granted.

But please don’t get the wrong idea. I’m all for gay marriage, or gay civil unions — which ever gives us the same rights and privliges as heterosexual couples without jumping through hoops and causing undue financial stress. I just feel there is a right time and place for these things, and doing them in climate that is condusive to change. The climate during a war, is not one of them.

Only history will tell if the strong push for gay marriage ultimately tilted the election one way or the other. It would be presumptious of me to declare that. But I do know that I don’t feel quite as safe today, as I did yesterday.

States Banning Same Sex Marriage on Nov 2:
Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah…

which join existing states…

Wisconsin, Kansas and Missouri (please let me know if I have missed any).