[Vision2020] Clerk left letters calling Obama "black Hitler"

[Chasuk]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IN_OBAMA_HITLER_LETTER_INOL-?SITE=ININS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-10-23-17-59-23

 FRANKLIN, Ind. (AP) -- A Republican county election clerk distributed
copies of an apparent chain letter referring to Democratic
presidential nominee Barack Obama as a "young, black Adolf Hitler" to
two employees but later told police she intended it to be a joke.

The employees, who had voted for Obama in Indiana's Democratic
primary, discovered the letters at their desks after returning from
Labor Day weekend, Deputy Sheriff Doug Cox said in a police report
made public this week. One of the workers complained, and surveillance
video showed Johnson County Clerk Jill Jackson placing an item one
worker's desk at 5:27 p.m. on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, Cox
said.

"She admitted to being responsible for the letter, but only did it as
a joke," Cox said. Jackson told police she had intended to speak with
the workers upon returning to work but forgot.

Jackson could not be reached for comment Thursday. She told the Daily
Journal in Franklin, which first reported the letter's contents, that
the issue was a personnel matter.

Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said Jackson did not violate
any laws. One of the employees also filed a complaint with County
Coordinator Kathleen Hash, who said Thursday she didn't know the
status or disposition of the complaint.

Officials from both parties called the incident unsettling.

"I don't find anything funny about Adolf Hitler," said Jonathan Swain,
Indiana campaign spokesman for Obama.

Doug Lechner, Republican Party chairman in the county just south of
Indianapolis, said the letter was unacceptable and taints Jackson's
ability to appear unbiased in administering this year's election.
County clerks are responsible for training poll workers, providing all
voters an opportunity to cast their ballot without influence, and
overseeing vote counts.

"She's in a sensitive position and she has to give all the appearance
of fairness," Lechner said.

The letter does not mention Obama by name but makes references to his
ties to a Chicago church whose pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright,
adheres to black liberation theology. It is heavy with racial
references, criticizing the candidate's parentage with such comments
as, "He is proud of his 'African heritage' (a father who got a white
girl pregnant and deserted her)" and asking, "Where is the pride in
his 'White heritage?'"

The unsigned letter urges readers to send it to everyone they know.

"The U.S. citizens are just not ready to give up their country to this
young, black 'Adolf Hitler' with a smile, poor direction and
absolutely no experience!" it said.

Indiana this year is considered a battleground state, and Obama
campaigned there Thursday, drawing an estimated 35,000 people to a
rally in downtown Indianapolis.

Johnson County is heavily Republican, with nearly three-quarters of
the votes cast in the 2004 presidential election going to President
Bush.