Reply to S.L. Toddard: The Murder of Bill Sparkman and The Vision of the Anointed
posted at 9:33 am on September 29, 2009 by The Other McCain
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MANCHESTER, Ky. — Thomas Sowell’s book, The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy, is the best single-volume analysis of the liberal worldview ever written. One of Sowell’s chapter titles is “The Irrelevance of Evidence,” which came to mind this morning when I read a liberal’s comment on my first American Spectator report from Kentucky:
S.L. Toddard 9.29.09 @ 8:49AM
What if it turns out that the murderers *were* hard-core Right Wing militants, 9/12ers, “birthers” and so forth. What if it were proven beyond any doubt that these men were inspired by crazy-talk about Marxist takovers, Liberty Tree-watering and Islamofascist Manchurian Candidates? In that case, RSM and everyone else would just say “We can’t control how some individual nuts misinterpret our message, or what they do afterward”.
My point being that no matter who committed the murder, and no matter for what reason, no one at AmSpec, NRO or any other establishment GOP organ will blame the poison flowing from the right wing media sewer anyway, so why go through the motions here? There is absolutely NO scenario whereby anyone here will blame anyone on (what now passes for) the right, so why bother?
Mr. Toddard, what you are doing is what psychologists call “projection.” Evidence and facts are irrelevant to your own worldview, yet you wish to be considered a rational, well-informed person, so you project onto scapegoated “Right-Wing militants” your own faults and errors. You should seek professional help.
Quite obviously, a man who drives 570 miles to Clay County, Ky., to find out what’s actually happening here cares more about the facts than a man who just sits around ranting about “poison flowing from the right wing media sewer.”
Bill Sparkman is dead. We don’t know who killed him or why. The decent, hard-working, honest, law-abiding citizens of Clay County have been indicted by liberals as being complicit in some sort of fever-swamp redneck jihad which — according to people like S.L. Toddard — is the real motive for Sparkman’s murder. Well, I’m here and S.L. Toddard is not, and the folks down here in Kentucky are getting tired of being smeared:
Rodney Miller has lived nearly all his 56 years in Clay County, the only exception being when, as a young man, he moved to Indianapolis. He lived in the big city for two years without ever knowing his neighbors‘ names.
“The best people in the world live here,“ says Miller, sitting in the office of the Manchester Enterprise, where he directs advertising sales. “Down here, everybody knows everybody else.“
Bill Sparkman was not from Clay County. A 51-year-old Florida native, Sparkman lived in neighboring Laurel County. Yet when Sparkman‘s body was found hanging Sept. 12 in a cemetery a dozen miles west of Manchester, the media seems to have placed blame for the apparent murder on Clay County. . . .
Read the whole thing. I’ll be working today, trying to get the facts, whatever those facts may be.
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Interesting concept, you actually going to the scene of a crime to do some real investigative journalism.
BadgerHawk on September 29, 2009 at 9:58 AM
Badger Hawk, this is not “real investigative journalism.”
The Other McCain is not “covering” this story. He flew down there to collect fodder to attack “Left-wing bloggers” and the “MSM,” the latter target being a bit curious to me.
The Other McCain, a few questions:
You end your American Spectator piece by claiming people (and by strong implication the “MSM”) has found Clay County guilty of something. You imply that there’s a broad caricature of local hillbilly culture being spread, and that people are attacking Clay County. Would you please cite examples of this?
You say there are — gasp — Starbucks and Walmarts in Clay County. Given the ubiquitousness of both franchises, I doubt that comes as a surprise to anyone. You seem to be responding to caricatures of what you think “liberals” think of the area of the country. But I haven’t personally seen the MSM do anything to spread any thing like that. Again, what exactly are you reacting to?
The one direct attack on the “MSM” you include is that “officials” were critical of the AP for reporting that that the FBI was investigating whether anti-government sentiment was a motive in this case (a small leap of faith considering the evidence at the crime scene). Exactly what officials were critical of the story? And how were they critical of it?
Tom_Shipley on September 29, 2009 at 10:05 AM
I bet they have damn fine bourbon there too!
Mr. Joe on September 29, 2009 at 10:10 AM
RSM you are so old school. I mean actually physically going there? Wow. That is so 20th Century.
But I loved that you did a bleg for gas money and cigaretts. Nice blend of retro with today.
Mr. Joe on September 29, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Also, I find this amusing. I’ve read on your site a couple references about Andrew Sullivan just sitting behind his computer.
You some how think that going to Clay County and interviewing a couple locals and police officials gives your opinion more credence. But let’s be honest here. You aren’t in Clay County to find out what really happened. Your presence there is not going to give give special insight into this story. You didn’t drive down there because you “care about the facts” more. You have your opinion, and you want to reinforce it by gathering quotes and whatever else you can find down there.
The “MSM” and local beat reporting on the facts of this is just fine. We all will find out what happens in this case through them.
You just went down there in an attempt to be a “real journalist” and throw the fact that you actually went down there in other bloggers faces. The reality is, you’re no better than those bloggers. You’re a partisan in search of material to bolster your views and attack your opponents.
Tom_Shipley on September 29, 2009 at 10:24 AM
Love to stay and chat, Mr. Shipley, but I’ve got to go talk to the Kentucky State police, have lunch with sources in Manchester, visit the Hoskins Cemetery, etc.
Y’all have fun. I’ll be back this evening.
The Other McCain on September 29, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Shipley = Toddard?
In attitude, yes …
BD57 on September 29, 2009 at 10:32 AM
He drove all day in his 2004 KIA. Why must you always fudge the facts? And there is nothing wrong with questioning the reporting of the msm on this case, since it really has stunk.
Blake on September 29, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Way to jump to conclusions, just like the rest of the media. RSM’s stated multiple times that if the facts show it was some anti-government, far right extremist who did this he’ll report it.
BadgerHawk on September 29, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Tom_Shipley – anger issues, much? What’s with all the rage?
Track-A-'Crat on September 29, 2009 at 10:52 AM
He’s afraid Sparkman was murdered by drug-runners. His whole world will fall apart if it wasn’t right-wing hatred!
Project much, Mr Shipley?
Crawford on September 29, 2009 at 11:02 AM
RSM’s stated multiple times that if the facts show it was
Exactly. Whatever the facts are, those are the facts. So if it turns out that this heinous crime was committed by the Glenn Beck Bluegrass RepubliKKKan Militia, that’s what I’ll report. But nobody I’ve talked to here in Kentucky thinks it was anything like that. When I asked Rodney Miller about the Andrew Sullivan theory, his answer was: “bulls#*t.”
The Other McCain on September 29, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this “projection”? The point of the post?
uknowmorethanme on September 29, 2009 at 11:48 AM
But why go down there? That would be reported regardless of whether you’re down there or not. And you said yourself you’re not there to so the crime — even though you then start speculating on the facts of the case and what they may mean.
You seem to be down there because:
A) You think the reporting from there is unfairly portraying the community or poorly covering on the case. As I asked before, if this is the case, please show what reporting you find to be unfair.
B) You think that by going down there you’re opinion will somehow count more. I’ve already counted three times that you used the fact that you traveled down there to give your own opinion more credence.
I would also be very interested in hearing your response to my question of what officials (at least what kind of officials) criticized the AP story and what was the basis of their criticism.
Tom_Shipley on September 29, 2009 at 12:27 PM
And I’m sure once the killer is found, you can go interview his or her neighbor who will say “I never would have guessed it. He seemed like such a normal guy.”
By the way, you just proved my thesis that the reason you went down there was to gather fodder to attack “left-wing” bloggers.
Tom_Shipley on September 29, 2009 at 12:33 PM
There are things you can tell from a person-to-person interview that you can’t get from a phone call or email (much less a tweet). No amount of second-hand information can match the ability to use all of your senses in concert.
The Monster on September 29, 2009 at 12:41 PM
You do realize that by actually going there you are setting a precedent?
Will the MSM follow it?
petertheslow on September 29, 2009 at 12:42 PM
petertheslow on September 29, 2009 at 12:42 PM
Yeah, this “precedent” you speak of, I’m sure law enforcement just loves it: Citizen “journalists” snooping around crime scenes because they got into a flame war on the Internet.
Tom_Shipley on September 29, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Really? By whom? Who’s doing the direct reporting on this story? Links, please.
Pablo on September 29, 2009 at 12:59 PM
Just off the top of my head, nationally the AP and NYTimes are covering it. There are probably others. Plus, I have no doubt local papers are covering it.
This story is in no danger of going uncovered.
Tom_Shipley on September 29, 2009 at 1:02 PM
Actually, I should correct myself. Looks like the NYTimes was using the AP story. So, AP is at least covering it nationally. Plus the local papers.
Tom_Shipley on September 29, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Why the quotes around “journalist,” Shipwreck?
What paper have you worked at? Care to point out the titles of any books you’ve written?
Only a complete idiot would argue that actually driving to the location and checking out the facts personally would have no impact on ability to cover a story.
If the sho fits….
cs89 on September 29, 2009 at 1:39 PM
Only a complete idiot would misspell “shoe.”
Sorry, that was cheap.
What bloggers do — what Sullivan and The Other McCain do — is not “cover” stories. They mostly, if not exclusively, opine on them.
To cover a story, one has to come into it without an agenda (of course, everyone has their own agenda, but for the most part you’re there as an impartial recorder). The Other McCain clearly has an agenda.
Andrew Sullivan opined on the facts as they have been reported so far. It seems that The Other McCain got upset over this opinion (as is known to happen on the Internets).
So, it seems, he’s gone down to the scene of the crime to…??? He’s spoken to a few locals and local law enforcement, explicitly asking them what THEY thought of Sullivan’s opinion. And has now he’s reported that at least one of them does not agree on that.
Other than that, I don’t know really what he’s going to report on. Maybe he gets a press credential from some sympathetic official and will be able to report on what the police or FBI reports, but going around asking law enforcement officials and locals what they think about what people are writing on blogs does not constitute “covering” a story.
Tom_Shipley on September 29, 2009 at 1:52 PM
I’m from Kentucky and spent last weekend in Lexington. While I haven’t been in Clay County lately, I have been there plenty of times and still know people who live there. R.S. McCain’s account of what he found and hear there certainly rings true to me; certainly more so than any of the speculation and derisive stereotyping of Kentucky that I have seen from the liberal blogosphere.
rockmom on September 29, 2009 at 4:09 PM
You really have no clue how these things work, do you?
There aren’t likely to be any “AP reporters” covering this story. The very reporters who work for the local papers will write articles, which the AP, under its contract with those papers, may choose to pick up.
The Monster on September 29, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Yeah, I’m well aware of that The Monster (if that in fact is your real name), but the AP also has reporters of its own, and in this case it has one of its reporters working in conjunction with at least one local reporter.
When I say the AP is covering nationally, I mean that the story will be dispersed nationally.
The overall point is that, there are reporters working on this story and there is a national news org putting out stories on it. There’s no need to worry about this case not being reported on.
Tom_Shipley on September 29, 2009 at 8:13 PM
Shipley on September 29, 2009 at 1:52 PM
I’ll ask again:
What papers have you worked at? Or did your MP duties keep you too busy for a real job?
/sarc
cs89 on September 29, 2009 at 8:16 PM
Boy, this really has Shipley’s panties in knots!
Blake on September 29, 2009 at 8:33 PM
RS McCain;
Kudos, for going to the place where the crime occurred. Too often today, we get stories that are based on either phone interviews, or reporting what the other reporter said.
Mr. Shipley seems to think he can impugn your work by pointing out;
1. You’re a blogger
2. You have a particular viewpoint.
In the age when there are no more ‘Woodward and Bernstein’ type investigative reporters, it seems, the idea that you need some sort of ‘official press credentials’ to get the story make no sense.
So, get the story; report it.
Then, it’s up to the readers to check it, disect it, and see if it’s valid reporting.
Mr. Shipley should be applauding; you’re doing the work.
massrighty on September 29, 2009 at 9:04 PM
Wow, something has got ol’ Shipley worked up.
Techie on September 29, 2009 at 9:48 PM
It is indeed my real name. It is every bit as real as any other name I’m called. It is, of course, not the one on my birth certificate, driver’s license, or the name by which my employer knows me.
That is by design. I have no desire to be Joe-the-Plumbered by Sorosassins willing to do anything to shut up dissenting voices.
The Monster on September 30, 2009 at 12:47 AM
Dear Mr. T. Shipley,
Unless you have travelled down to Clay County, KY to investigate this story, as Mr. McCain has, you and any comments you make are irrelevant.
But thank you for playing.
Sincerely,
Jakev
jakev on September 30, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Mr. Shipley, I call your attention to Mr. McCains most recent post on the situation: in which a local woman talks about how she was misquoted in the media.
See also the reaction of the left Liberal blogosphere, who have decided based on MSM misrepresentations that the culprit is the Right and Clay County.
Bruce NV on September 30, 2009 at 11:16 AM