October 15, 2008
Secret Service: Media Claim of "Kill Him" Unfounded
Don't have any proof of rage-filled bigots at McCain-Palin speeches, even though you just know in your shriveled little heart that they have to be there?
Never fear. You can always just make it up.
The agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Scranton said allegations that someone yelled "kill him" when presidential hopeful Barack Obama's name was mentioned during Tuesday's Sarah Palin rally are unfounded.The Scranton Times-Tribune first reported the alleged incident on its Web site Tuesday and then again in its print edition Wednesday. The first story, written by reporter David Singleton, appeared with allegations that while congressional candidate Chris Hackett was addressing the crowd and mentioned Oabama's[sic] name a man in the audience shouted "kill him."
News organizations including ABC, The Associated Press, The Washington Monthly and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann reported the claim, with most attributing the allegations to the Times-Tribune story.
Agent Bill Slavoski said he was in the audience, along with an undisclosed number of additional secret service agents and other law enforcement officers and not one heard the comment.
"I was baffled," he said after reading the report in Wednesday's Times-Tribune.
He said the agency conducted an investigation Wednesday, after seeing the story, and could not find one person to corroborate the allegation other than Singleton.
But... but... we all KNOW the Secret Service is a BushCheney MACHINE!
They CAN'T BE TRUSTED!
Posted by: Conservative CBU at October 16, 2008 12:00 AMWell, if the Palins, with their incredible combined income of $200k, can bully a hospital into covering up the birth of Bristol's kid, the mere Federal Government is obviously putty in their hands.
Heck, they've probably bought off Obama's protection detail already.
Posted by: Steve Skubinna at October 16, 2008 03:49 AMThose dang cops and Treasury agents! Always verifying things. I noted your entry in my blog.
Posted by: The Warpiper at October 16, 2008 06:41 AMSo a reporter probably lied? Wow!! Like it's not what he(and they) do everyday day. Of course the real story won't get any of the play that his lie did, but what else isn't new.
Posted by: emdfl at October 16, 2008 07:45 AMOk, that's one "kill him" proven false. Now we need to debunk the one from Oct 6.
Posted by: Sphinx at October 16, 2008 10:45 AMI'm not "baffled". This fits the Big Lie template the Dems have been using for years: Lie Big, Lie Everywhere, then when you are caught, call it "functionally correct", claim "Well, maybe it didn't happen here, but it happened over There", decry the horrible lowering of standards, and stick with the story until you have to issue a retraction on page 95. Then claim it is all "old news" and that we need to "move forward".
Looks like Salvage is pushing the story into Phase 2.
Posted by: Georg Felis at October 16, 2008 12:59 PMWhen there is some equivalent press attention to the years of Bush-murder chic there might be some point. The Dem/Press objects on matters of tone? I think Barry needs to be burned in effigy a few hundred times by Freepers before there is any danger of the Left having moral standing to make such a gripe.
Posted by: megapotamus at October 16, 2008 01:18 PMReporter and paper stand by story, offer more details:
http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/10/16/news/sc_times_trib.20081016.a.pg11.tt16newsecret_s1.2018812_top8.txt
Mr. Singleton, who was assigned to the rally to produce updates for the newspaper’s Web site, said he was standing behind a small set of orange bleachers, which were behind the main part of the crowd. He was about 70 to 80 feet from the stage where Mr. Hackett was speaking, he said.
“(Mr. Hackett) was discussing Obama and the guns and religion comment (made by Mr. Obama earlier this year) and talking about how (Mr. Obama) didn’t have Pennsylvania’s values and basically inviting him to come here and learn, get educated about Pennsylvania’s values,” Mr. Singleton said.
Mr. Singleton said the remark came from his right, amid booing that followed Mr. Hackett’s mention of Mr. Obama.
“(I) very distinctly heard, ‘Kill him!’ Male voice,” he said. “It was definitely back in the back.”
Mr. Singleton said other people were in the bleachers he was behind and in similar orange bleachers to the right.
He moved toward the area where he thought the remark came from to see if the person who said it would repeat it. That didn’t happen, and he was unable to identify the speaker, he said.
“I didn’t hear anything else at that point,” he said.
Posted by: Bill at October 16, 2008 05:50 PMSo what else is he going to say, Bill? Oops?
Naw, the reporter stuck by his lie and the paper stuck by the reporter. The reporter should be flipping burgers in a while--maybe he is planning on getting some of that loot Obama promised from those rich folks....
Posted by: iconoclast at October 16, 2008 11:23 PMSo what else is he going to say, Bill? Oops?
Naw, the reporter stuck by his lie and the paper stuck by the reporter. The reporter should be flipping burgers in a while--maybe he is planning on getting some of that loot Obama promised from those rich folks....
Posted by: iconoclast at October 16, 2008 11:23 PMIcono, as one who has both trained and supervised others, I'd have a lot more respect for the reporter if he had said "oops."
I guess that kind of honor and integrity are now extinct in the MoveOnMedia. I agree with Hannity, 2008 is the year journalism died.
Posted by: C-C-G at October 17, 2008 09:16 PM
