Was it murder?

Investigators are still trying to determine whether the death was a killing or a suicide, and if a killing, whether the motive was related to his government job or to anti-government sentiment.

Call me naive, but I doubt this hard working man would have killed himself over a part time job he's held since 2003.

Friends, this has escalated to a point of seemingly no return. A hard working federal employee, just doing his job, no politics even involved, was probably murdered for taking down CENSUS data. Has the right wing gotten so craven that they now refute the existence of the census?

It's amazing how willing they were to have government wiretap us or send our brave soldiers into an unwinnable war, but now, they potentially murder, in cold blood, a door to door census taker?

Honestly, how do we even fight back? How do you talk reason to crazy people? It seems only law enforcement can perhaps make a difference, but then again, they are government actors, too.

Updated: Someone in the comments asks the probability of the right wing establishment condemning this. I ask: what's MORE probable, them blaming it on liberals or condemning it?

Updated II: away from the computer for a while, but I wanted to draw attention to this article a commenter linked to. Such a sad story. He's not just a symbol of right wing violence, he was a father and cancer survivor and an example of the American dream.

Sparkman spoke with Greene at length about his being diagnosed with cancer. Sparkman assured her that he wanted her to continue to call him for work. They went over in detail what he would have to do throughout his treatment, particularly on Fridays, when he would be unable to work due to the lengthy chemotherapy treatments. Greene said Sparkman was very conscientious as a substitute teacher and did not want his treatment to hurt his chances of being called into work. Greene described Bill Sparkman as a man with a great attitude and added that someone with his enthusiasm and willingness to work is remarkable, given the situation.

And one final update, for those debating, legitimately, whether this was a murder or not, updated AP story: