Clay Allison -- "Never Killed A Man That Did Not Need Killing"

Clay Allison was a cattle rancher, cattle broker, and shootist. He fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, and was known for violence.

Some would say he had an extreme concept of justice? Some would say Allison was involved in several violent confrontations because he didn't back down. Some would say he didn't take anything off of anyone when he was felt wronged.

On August 6th, 1878, the Ford County Globe noted that "Clay Allison, one of the Allison Bros., from the Cimarron, south of Las Animas, Colorado, stopped off at Dodge last week on his way home from St. Louis. We are glad to say that Clay has about recovered from the effects of the East St. Louis scrimmage."

On September 10th, the Ford County Globe mentioned that Clay Allison was again in Dodge on September 5th.

Then on March 2nd, 1880, the Ford County Globe printed a letter written by Clay Allison in which he defended his reputation by explaining what took place during the "East St. Louis scrimmage."

As published in the Ford County Globe, March 2nd, 1880:

A CARD FROM CLAY ALLISON

To the Editor of the Globe:

About the 26th of July there appeared in one of the St. Louis papers an account of an altercation between myself and one Tisinger, in East St. Louis, in which account there appeared several gross misrepresentations which I desire to contradict.

1st It was alleged that I was murderer of fifteen men. In answer to this assertion I will say that it is entirely false, and that I stand ready at all times and places for an open inspection, and anyone who wishes to learn of my past record can make inquiries of any of the leading citizens of Wayne county, Tennessee, where I was born and raised, or of officers of the late rebellion, on either side. I served in the 9th Tennessee regiment, Co. F, and the last two years of the service was a scout for Ben McCulloch and Gen. Forrest. 

Since the war I have resided in Mexico, Texas, and Kansas, principally on the frontier, and I will refer to any of the tax payers and prominent men in either of the localities where I have resided. I have at all times tried to use my influence toward protecting the property holders and substantial men of the country from thieves, outlaws, and murderers, among whom I do not care to be classed.

2nd, It was also charged that I endeavored to use a gun on the occasion of the St. Louis difficulty, which is untrue, and can be proven by either Col. Hunter, of St. Louis, or the clerk of Irwin, Allen & Co. It was also stated that I got the worst of the fight. In regard to this I also refer to Col. Hunter. I do not claim to be prize fighter, but as an evidence of the correct result of this fight. I will only say that I was somewhat hurt but did not squeal, as did my three opponents.

My present residence is on the Washita in Hemphill county, Texas, where I am open for inspection and can be seen at any time.

Clay Allison.
Dodge City, Feb. 26, 1880.
St. Louis and other papers please copy.

-- end of article

The final reference to Clay Allison being in Dodge City was this short item in the Ford County Globe, August 17, 1880: "Clay Allison came up from the Pan Handle Sunday."

In 1881, Clay Allison married and moved his ranch to the Texas Panhandle. His wife eventually bore him two daughters. While it is speculated that family life mellowed him some, but it is also said that he still had his moments of violent rage. For example, there is the story of him visiting a dentist in Cheyenne, Wyoming. 

The story goes that the dentist began drilling on the wrong tooth. After having his bad tooth repaired by a different dentist, Clay Allison returned to the offending dentist. It is said he pinned him down, and extracted a few of his teeth, although one report said it was just a single tooth, with a pair of pliers. Imagine that!

"Never killed a man that did not need killing"

So now, a reader wrote to ask about Clay Allison's famous quote about how he "never killed a man that did not need killing." My reader asked, "how did he know who 'needed' killing?

The simply answer is that every one of his gunfights, and his knife-fights, every one of his opponents wanted to kill him. So yes, every opponent of his "needed killing" if he wanted to stay alive.

If in a gunfight, whether it's Clay Allison, or you and I, the first rule is that we need to survive. So yes, an assailant who wants to kill you really does in fact need killing. 

This is something that I was taught more than 40 years ago in the Marine Corps and I find that it still holds true today, So yes, to me, it sounds like Clay Allison understand the basic common sense law of survival in that we either kill those who want to kill us -- or get killed.

Yes. it's very understandable how he would see an opponent as someone who "needed killing." And remember, he did not put himself in the same class "thieves, outlaws, and murderers." He believed it was all self-defense.

Of course there is another point to be made. Contrary to the way movies depicted shootouts for many years, no one shoots someone to "wound them" in a gunfight. If you are in a gunfight, your brain better tell you that that person shooting at you needs killing -- and needs killing quickly.

If there was someone out there who had the time and skill to actually place a round in the desired spot on an opponent to inflict what movies called a "flesh-wound," then they never fought in a gunfight in the Old West. Besides, it's relatively impossible to try to do such a thing if you are serious about staying alive.

That's why the ludicrous idea of a police officer shooting someone "just to wound" them is so ludicrous. If an assailant attacks, there are only seconds to respond in a manner that will keep you alive.

The harsh truth is that in those seconds, that assailant needs killing. And frankly, if a police office does not think so -- he will be a victim of a shooting and not a survivor of a shooting.

Most gunfights in the Old West were no different than what takes place today in that an armed confrontation occurs as a close encounter situation between 3 and 10 feet. Of course, there were those shootouts in the Old West were bullets were flying -- all fired with the hope of just hitting who's shooting at you.

The idea that any assailant needs to be stopped, "needs killing" so that you may live, is just common sense survival. And while no one really knows what Clay Allison was thinking when he said that, one can only hope that he meant that he never killed a good man and only killed bad men.

And frankly, I can accept the killing of bad men as a consequence to their bad ways. And as for his train of thought to kill and not be killed in a fight, whether it's a gunfight or knife-fight, I can understand and appreciate his honestly and desire to stay alive. After all, Clay Allison was known to have survived several one-on-one knife-fights and gunfights. So frankly, it just makes sense that he thought the way he did. 

That's just the way I see it.

Tom Correa

WikiLeaks Founder says, "Saying Russia Is Responsible for DNC Leak is a 'Diversion'"

In the wake of the massive leak of internal emails from within the Democratic National Committee, the Democrats are not addressing the substance of the emails, or even who in the DNC wrote such horrible things. Instead, Democrats want to know "who" leaked the emails and who ratted them out?

They don't care what the emails show or that their Party has been shown to be unethical, criminal, ultra-Racist, anti-Gay, or anti-Jewish. Yes, they only want to know to who squealed on them. And guess what, they want us to think the Russians did this. Imagine just how stupid they think we are.

So now, there Diversionary Tactic is to now blame the Russians and Donald Trump in an act of collusion against the Democrats.

It's true, I watched Governor of Maryland Martin Joseph O'Malley repeat the Democrat diversionary line of crap that the Russians had made a deal with Donald Trump because they want to see NATO disbanded.

Martin O'Malley on historic nomination, DNC chaos, Trump

Click the above link to see the person in my opinion is the dumbest ass in a party that uses the jackass as it's symbol! 

Yes, it does not matter that Donald Trump said that he wants NATO members to "contribute more" to the cost of NATO or that Trump wants NATO to be active against Islamic Terrorism, the Democrats lie and lie.

Yes, instead of just coming out and saying that they are going to clean house on those in the DNC who have show themselves, by way of the evidence of their emails, that they are in fact anti-Gay and anti-Jewish, or extremely Racist, they refuse to do so and instead blame Trump.

Now the Democrats have another problem which they refuse to acknowledge. While the Democrats are holding to the story that Russian intelligence and Donald Trump is responsible for the hacked emails, the founder of WikiLeaks said there is "no proof whatsoever" of that.

WikiLeaks Founder says, "Saying Russia Is Responsible for DNC Leak is a 'Diversion' By the Clinton Campaign."

"There is no proof of that whatsoever,"Julian Assange told NBC’s Richard Engel in an interview on Monday.

"We have not disclosed our source, and of course, this is a diversion that’s being pushed by the Hillary Clinton campaign. That’s a meta-story. The real story is what these emails contain and they show collusion."

"The very top of the Democratic party, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is now being forced to resign," he continued, referencing the impending resignation of the DNC’s current chair, "and other people from the party, which is meant to be neutral, subverting the process in order to make sure Hillary Clinton won the campaign."

Mr. Assange is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a government watchdog publication founded in 2006.

The DNC has faced increased scrutiny since the leak for emails seeming to show a concerted effort by many party officials to damage Bernie Sanders' campaign and to aid Hillary Clinton in her race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Moments after the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia began, incoming interim DNC chair Donna Brazile issued a statement, apologizing to Sanders and his supporters for the "inexcusable remarks" revealed in the internal email hack.

But friends, other than Democrat Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz jumping ship and coming out of the closet to formally join the Hillary Clinton Campaign -- which of course that in itself speaks to the caliber of people on the Clinton staff -- no one in the DNC has been held accountable.

And yes, that seems to be the message that we should get loud and clear. The message is: Democrats can be criminals, unethical, racists, anti-Gay, anti-Jewish, and even anti-American, and be not held to any sort of accountability.

Their actions are inexcusable and would be held unacceptable if they were Republicans. This just shows the world how low Democrats will stoop to win an election -- especially when they know they can get away with it.

And yes, that's just the way I see it.
Tom Correa

Old West Ghost Town Emerges In Nevada

Main Street in St. Thomas, Nevada

Lake Mead has become a popular public attraction. Visitors are drawn by the sight of its shimmering body of water. It appears as a mirage atop an unforgiving desert.

The effects of extreme drought on Lake Mead, actually the largest reservoir in the United States, is incredible as the water level to fall to record low levels. Lake Mead was created during the Great Depression with the construction of Hoover Dam in the 1930s.

The water there is meant for the surrounding area including the city of Las Vegas which has seen a population growth from 160,000 to 670,000 in just the past thirty years.

Some who understand the seriousness of the problem complain about the water used in gigantic hotel pools and water parks, or in all of the many pools owned by private residents. Lake Mead supplies water to all of Las Vegas, other cities and towns in Nevada, and to cities in Arizona, California, and even northern Mexico. 

While the low water levels is a major concern, the low water levels has enabled an Old West ghost town to emerge from its watery grave. The town now visible is St. Thomas, Nevada, which has been under Lake Mead since the 1930s.

Yes indeed, the town of St. Thomas, Nevada, which has been submerged under water is now exposed. And yes, there is a lot to see.

Founded in 1865, St. Thomas was initially settled by Mormons who settled there next to Muddy Creek which is a tributary that flows into the Colorado River located 22 miles away. When the Mormons abandoned the town in 1871 for a safer place, the outlaws who plagued the area moved in and took over.

Later, the town quieted down and was eventually settled by people attracted by the region’s prime farming land. And yes, for a time the small town of St. Thomas became a key stopping point between Salt Lake City, Utah and Los Angeles, California.

That was fine until the late 1890s and early 1900s when people recognized that there was a need for water storage, and with that the federal government decided to build a dam to harness the power of the Colorado River in an effort to develop the area and create large-scale irrigation. Soon, the small pioneer town would find itself under tons of water.

Yes, the Old West town of St. Thomas has been submerged when the Colorado River began to fill the surrounding canyons and valleys.

In 1928, President Calvin Coolidge signed the bill authorizing the building of what would become the Hoover Dam. St. Thomas residents were ordered to relocate and the U.S. government reimbursed them for their property. Residents abandoned the town as Lake Mead began to fill in 1935. The last resident to leave St. Thomas rowed away from his house in June of 1938.

When it is at capacity, Lake Mead is the largest man-made reservoir in the United States. At the lake’s highest point, St. Thomas was 60 feet below the water’s surface. But then came the fluctuation in water levels. Over the decades, drought conditions have given visitors repeated glimpses of the once-thriving wild west town and, since 2002, St. Thomas has remained exposed.

So what was the town like? Well at its peak, the town’s population reached about 500. There was a school, a church, a post office, grocery stores, and even an ice cream parlor.

Group of people in front of Gentry Hotel in St. Thomas, Nevada.

A salvage crew rafts through the town of St. Thomas near the ruins of a building as Lake Mead begins to submerge it in June 1938.

The foundation of the St. Thomas Schoolhouse, which once looked like the black and white photo, sat underwater for many years after Lake Mead filled. Due to declining water levels, the town resurfaced in 2002.

Building remains in St. Thomas, Nevada.

Aerial photo over Lake Mead National Recreation Area taken May 2015.

Today, you can still see the steps of the local schoolhouse and the wall of the St. Thomas ice cream parlor, as well as other foundations of the buildings.

Christie Vanover, public affairs officer for the Lake Mead National Recreation area. said, "It's kind of ironic that this town was initially settled because of water. Water was the source that started this town and then it was water that defeated the town when the lake filled up, And now it's water that is helped us to rediscover the town because of the drought and the lack of water. There are still artifacts on the ground in addition to the foundations. There’s also wheels, engines or other car parts that are still present from people who just abandoned their cars when they left the town."

Visitors are free to wander around the area but are prohibited from touching or moving any objects long-ago residents left behind; those pieces are considered protected cultural artifacts. And yes, federal officials expect St. Thomas to remain exposed for at least the next two years or more because of the ongoing drought.

But since Lake Mead gets its water supply from snow melt-off in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, it could eventually refill itself -- again sending St. Thomas back to its underwater tomb. Until then, from time to time, former residents and family members continue to hold reunions at St. Thomas. Believe it or not, the last one being in 2012. While they remember old times, the rest of us who come to St. Thomas enjoy a unique chance to revisit history.

I posted this article for a few reasons. I love ghost towns as well as historic small towns being preserved today. And yes, I even love the buildings that we see that are in decay -- their stories lost to time.

But whether it's one of those old building leaning toward falling but refuses to, or the preserved downtown of Jackson California, or an infrequently seen St. Thomas, Nevada, they allow us a glimpse into the past. They give us a physical reminder of things back when. They provide us a connection to our past as Americans. They provide a first hand indisputable evidence of how things were once upon a time.

Ghost towns, like other historical towns and artifacts of sorts, disprove the rewrite of history. They are proof of the technology that existed in another time, the way people lived in another time, and the values and the motivations of another time.

I find it absolutely incredible that there are whole towns along with schools, churches, stores, gas stations, and even graveyards under lakes. I find it absolutely incredible that people were made to pick up their lives and relocate and that un-populated areas couldn't have been used instead of them. Some of who were forced to leave, left knowing their families had lived there for generations. And yes, I find it absolutely incredible that in many instances some who were buried in their graveyards were simply left behind.

Tom Correa

Laura Bullion -- The Thorny Rose

By Terry McGahey

Associate Writer/ Old West Historian

Laura Bullion was born between 1873 and 1876 in Knickerbocker, Tom Green County, Texas. Her actual birth date is not known but it is known that she was of German and Native American decent. 

Laura became part of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch in the 1890s where she was tagged with the nickname, "The Thorny Rose", while running with the likes of the Sundance Kid, Black Jack Ketchum, and Kid Curry.

Laura had been around the outlaw life since she was a child, her father was an outlaw who was friendly with the likes of William Carver and Ben Kilpatrick. So naturally, she had met these two desperados when she was around thirteen years old. 

Laura's aunt Viana Byler married Carver in 1891, but died shortly afterwards of the fever. At that point Carver began a romantic relationship with Laura when she was only fifteen years old but it was a very short fling.

Still in the year of 1891, William Carver began a relationship with a prostitute by the name of Lillie Davis who he had met at Porter's Brothel in San Antonio, Texas. 

At that time Laura began a short romantic relationship with Ben Kilpatrick and during this time period Laura also worked as a prostitute at Madame Fannie Porters Brothel until she was sixteen or seventeen years old. Laura became involved with Carver again in 1901 and While on the run in Utah. 

Carver became involved with the Wild Bunch led by Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay. At this time Laura met Kid Curry's girlfriend, Della Moore, which was shortly before the Great Northern Train Robbery.

After the train robbery in Montana near the town of Malta, although unclear, Laura was under suspicion of disguising herself as a male because she had masculine features and would have easily passed as a boy. 

One Montana Police Chief stated, "I wouldn't think helping to hold up a train was too much for her. She is cool, shows absolutely no fear, and in male attire would readily pass as a boy."

Laura had several flings with other gang members but stayed with Carver until he was killed on April 1st of that year. After his death she picked up with Ben Kilpatrick once again. 

Laura helped to support the gang by selling stolen goods and keeping them supplied with fresh horses which was of utmost importance. On the run again, Kilpatrick and Laura, along with Kid Curry and his girlfriend Della Moore, ended up in Knoxville, Tennessee where the four stayed together for several months. 

Della Moore was arrested for passing money that was linked to one of the gang's robberies, and on November 6th, 1901, Laura Bullion was arrested at the Laclede Hotel in St. Louis on federal charges for forgery of signatures to bank notes. At the time, she had in her possession $8,500 of the stolen bank notes from the Great Northern Train Robbery.

On December 12th, Kilpatrick was also arrested but Kid Curry escaped on December the 13th by killing two Knoxville policemen in the process. Both Laura Bullion and Ben Kilpatrick were convicted of robbery with Laura receiving five years behind bars and Kilpatrick receiving twenty years. 

Laura was released after four years in 1905, and Kilpatrick was released in 1911 after serving ten years. By the time Ben Kilpatrick was released Laura had already been with at least four different men.

The two stayed in contact through letters but they never did get back together before he was killed on March 13th, 1912 while trying to rob a train outside Sanderson, Texas. 

In 1918, Laura Bullion moved to Memphis, Tennessee making a living as a seamstress, dressmaker, and interior designer. She was listed as a seamstress for Jennings Furniture Company in 1920 within the Memphis City Directory.

From 1927 to 1948, Laura was listed as a householder at 1374 Madison Avenue. By 1959 she had lived in several different locations in Memphis, the last one being 278 Cossit Place where she lived until her death on December 2nd 1961. 

While in Memphis Laura lived under the assumed names of Freda Lincoln, Freda Bullion Lincoln, and Mrs. Maurice Lincoln.

As it turned out, Laura Bullion was the last surviving member of the Wild Bunch. She is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery and her headstone reads as such:

Freda Bullion Lincoln

Laura Bullion

The Thorny Rose

1877 - 1961 

Terry McGahey is a writer and Old West historian.

This once working cowboy is best known for his fight against the City of Tombstone and their historic City Ordinance Number 9, America's most famous gun-control law.

He was instrumental in finally getting Tombstone City Ordinance Number 9 repealed and having Tombstone fall in line with the state of Arizona. 

If you care to read how he fought Tombstone's City Hall and won, please click: 

The Last Gun Fight -- The Death of Ordinance Number 9 (Chapter One)

Dissatisfied Democrats Migrating To Trump

Back on April 24, 2016, the Duluth News Tribune's Washington Bureau reporter Lisa Mascaro wrote how more than 60,000 disgruntled Pennsylvania Democrats switch parties. She wrote:

BEAVER, Pa. — A retired middle school principal was so moved by Donald Trump that he switched his Democratic Party registration so he can vote for him in Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary.

So did the daughter of a steelworker, who twice voted for President Barack Obama but says she is “over” the Democrats’ political correctness.

And a husband-wife team of Trump volunteers — she’s a laid-off airport worker, he’s a laid-off truck driver — were Democrats for 30 years, until recently.

“We always voted Democrat,” said Laurie McGinnis, as her husband Ricky hung a Trump banner outside their South Greensburg home. “But not any more.”

Some of these newly minted Pennsylvania Republicans are formalizing a process that began with Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980, when conservative-leaning Democrats began shifting away from the party in the faded industrial state.

Others moved abruptly, inspired by Trump and fed up with a party they say no longer speaks their language.

Together the result is one of the most sizable shifts of partisan allegiance ever in Pennsylvania: 61,500 Democrats have become Republicans so far this year, part of a 145,000 jump in Republican registrations since the fall 2015 election, according to state figures analyzed by both parties. It’s more new Republicans than in the previous four years combined.

The onslaught has helped make Trump the favorite heading into Tuesday’s primary, helping put Pennsylvania, which voted for Obama twice, in play in the November presidential election.

“The party-switching has been going on in an evolutionary way for two decades. This just propelled it faster,” said G. Terry Madonna, a professor at Franklin and Marshall University in Lancaster, Pa. “Many of them are Reagan Democrats – white, working-class, blue-collar, incomes of $35,000 to $40,000 or less, high school educations or less.”

“They feel frustrated, they feel left behind,” Madonna said. “They feel Trump is sticking it to the man.”

East of urban Pittsburgh, at Trump headquarters in Monroeville, volunteer Tricia Cunningham said that half the people who walk through the door are party switchers. So many supporters have come in to pick up lawn signs or volunteer that the office has had to open a second floor, and signs are limited to just one per person, Cunningham said.

Even her mother, a lifelong Democrat now living in a nearby nursing home, made the change, she said.

“I look in the mirror and I say, ‘What the hell are you doing?’” Rox Sarrao, the former principal, said with a laugh. He voted for Obama in 2008 and had kept his party affiliation so he could back Democrats in local elections even though he was once a Republican. He went to the county courthouse last month to switch to the GOP. He now drives 40 miles daily to volunteer at the Trump office.

In some ways, it’s no great political mystery what has happened in Pennsylvania, where the remains of the long-gone steel industry rust the landscape and coal country fights for its life.

The mostly white electorate here comes from an earlier iteration of the American melting pot –– Eastern Europeans, Italians, Irish –– who have little resemblance to the newer Democratic coalition of young people, minorities and urban white-collar professionals. Many families have stayed here for generations, as the nation’s economy and demographic trends have moved on.

“We voted Democrat for 59 years,” said Eleanor Kanick, a retired postmaster, with her husband Stanley, a welder, in Avonmore. “Our parents were Democrats, too. I said they’re going to turn over in their graves.”

Tom Balya, a former Democratic County Commissioner in Westmoreland who hosts a local radio show, said callers often voice fears about shifting socioeconomic conditions that have left them struggling to keep up. It’s going take a generation for Democrats to recoup their losses, he said.

“They see this world changing around them,” he said. “It’s a generational thing. You’re not going to get people over 50 to change their beliefs. It’s not going to change quickly.”

But others see a deeper disconnect in a Democratic Party that has put its emphasis on attracting moneyed metropolitan voters and fast-growing minority groups while taking its core blue-collar electorate for granted, a theory spelled out by author Thomas Frank in his new book, “Listen, Liberal.”

Dorothy “Sissy” Aukscunas grew up not far from where she lives now in Beaver. Her father, a Serbian immigrant, was a foreman at a steel mill, the kind of job that enabled his wife to stay home and raise four children.

During the 2008 Democratic primary, she gathered her own young granddaughter to watch history unfold on TV, and cried when Hillary Clinton lost to Obama.

At a coffee shop downtown with her 33-year-old son Micah –– who also switched from Democrat to Republican— she said she’s tired of the Democraatic Party championing “politically correct” issues, like who should bake a cake for a gay wedding or whether to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” at a time when terrorism is intensifying and families are struggling to live on wages that haven’t budged from what her husband earned 30 years ago.

“I would say the Democratic Party moved away from me,” she said. “I didn’t move away from it.”

The more she watched Clinton this time, the less she liked, sensing an opportunist politician moving too far to the left to keep pace with the popularity of rival Bernie Sanders.

“One of the main things I noticed was how intolerant tolerant people had become,” she said. “I noticed it in me as well.”

It was a difficult decision to switch, she said, but when her driver’s license came due last fall, she was at the motor vehicle office when she checked the box.

Her grandchildren, who align more with Sanders, have not been pleased.

“I had to go from being a cool Mimi to now I’m a fogey,” she said. “I’m OK with it.”

Democrats downplay the shift as notable but insignificant. When matched with 89,000 new Democrats registered since fall, the overall boost was 56,000 new Republicans in a state with more than 8 million voters. Democrats still hold a more than 900,000-voter advantage over the Republicans in Pennsylvania.

“It fits nicely with the narrative that Trump’s going to bring out this whole cadre of voters … and bring in states like Pennsylvania and the Rust Belt that haven’t been in play for a while,” said Democratic Party spokesman Preston Maddock. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

At the same time, Republican officials are not necessarily doing backflips over the registration surge. They are very much aware that enthusiasm is more a vote for Trump than an affirmation of the their party. The state’s closed primary system forces voters to choose parties or sit out Tuesday’s contests.

The Republicans know knows its hold on these voters is tenuous.

“Both parties have lost track of how to reach out to middle-class voters,” said Michael T. Korns, Republican Party chairman in Westmoreland County, the next county over from Trump’s headquarters. “I don’t think anyone has been talking directly to voters in Westmoreland County. What we’ve been getting for a long time is basically ignored.”

Laurie McGinnis, 49, and her husband, Ricky, 57, who grew up in the area and met as school bus drivers, were watching the first Republican debate last summer when they began thinking about switching.

“We were just sitting there with our mouths open, in awe,” said McGinnis, who, like her husband, now collects disability benefits after both were laid off.

They were impressed by Trump’s willingness to talk critically about immigrants and others in a way that other politicians wouldn’t dare. “The silent majority’s been kept quiet by all the political correctness in the world,” she said, reading from some notes she had jotted in a notebook to organize her thoughts.

Even though thieves stole their Trump yard sign, she was stapling a new one to a flagpole Friday evening. Ricky hung it outside their tidy home, as the 4-year-old granddaughter they are raising looked on.

“I don’t care how many signs they steal,” she said. “It’s not going to change the voters."

-- end of article.

So now, what are my thoughts on this?

Friends, Democrat dissatisfaction is creating a migration to Trump that America has not seen since the Democrats were fed up with Jimmy Carter and flocked to Ronald Reagan back in 1980.

The migration was so intense in 1980, that it carried on in 1984, when even the "Bluest" of Liberal states California turned "Red"! Can that happen again? I believe it can.

The above Duluth News Tribune report was one of many over the last six or eight months. And sure there are Liberal websites that are saying nothing of the such is taking place, but that is just the Democrat Party trying put a good face on a bad situation. Yes, there are people in the Democrat Party who are trying to get us to believe that the Titanic really isn't sinking when in fact it is.

Like it or not, even Democrats can't hide the fact that Hillary Clinton is a liar and criminal who allowed people to die in Benghazi and committed a breach of National Security which the FBI said she did. And yes, even Democrats are sick and tired of Obama's policies of hate and division which Hillary Clinton said she wants to keep in place! Imagine that!

That is the reason for the migration of dissatisfied Democrats. That's why they are coming over to vote for Trump. And yes, by some reports, the number of Democrats jumping ship is in the millions.

Yes, according to what I've researched, annalists believe that anywhere between 10 to 12 million Democrats and Independents voted for Trump in the primaries and plan to do it again come November.

Friends, president Obama is always touting how Black Live Matter is a "movement," which is defined as a group of people working together to advance their shared political, social, or artistic ideas. In the case of Black Live Matter it is to push Black Supremacy.

Well, voting for Donald Trump has truly become a "movement." We are Americans determined to retake America and undo all of the crap that's been going on for far too many years now. And yes, with us are dissatisfied Democrats who are migrating to Trump for the same reasons.

That's just the way I see it.
Tom Correa

Bat Masterson's Pocket Watch Auctioned Off

Last week, on July 12th, The Wichita Eagle reported that a pocket watch given to Bat Masterson by the citizens of Dodge City was to hit the auction block in Boston on Wednesday, July 13th,

The watch that is said to have belonged to Bat Masterson was auctioned online through RR Auction in Boston.

There is no doubt that legendary lawman Bat Masterson created a name for himself and left his mark on Kansas history.

He must have been a very good lawman at some point before his last shootout in Dodge City at what became known as the "Battle at the Plaza" when the citizens of that town wanted him out of Dodge City and never allowed to return.

Yes, he must have been so good at one point that the citizens of Dodge City presented him with an Elgin pocket watch during a Fourth of July celebration in 1885. That was when he was voted the "most popular man in Dodge City."

The pocket watch is said to be inscribed "To W.B. 'Bat' Masterson from the Citizens of Ford Co." 

"Whenever you get an artifact like this that (belonged to) a famous person, it really kind of brings that person back to life. It humanizes them. It’s one of those little tidbits of a man’s life that is captured in time," said Robert Livingston, who is the executive vice president of RR Auction,

"The lawman’s legend lives on today through romanticized images of the lawless days of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The American West and Kansas during this period has captured the imagination of America and people around the world. These Old West figures for whatever reason are still resonating in the imaginations of Americans.He was a legend during his lifetime all the way to today." said Livingston.

"The Masterson family first came to Kansas in the 1870s. They settled on an 80-acre farm 14 miles northeast of Wichita. From there, Bat Masterson headed West with his older brother Ed to hunt buffalo. The two eventually ended up in the railhead and cattle town of Dodge City, where they made their legacies as lawmen and met up with other legendary figures," said Lara Brehm, executive director of Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City.

"The friendships between Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday were formed in Dodge City," she said.

"The Old West of Masterson’s time was known for its lawlessness, gunfights and drunken bar brawls. Much of what Masterson dealt with as sheriff involved mediation between anti-alcohol and boomtown cowboy factions. They were having a little bit of a problem with drinking, They had a lot of drunkards, so a lot of what Masterson was doing at the time was keeping peace in the town." said Livingston.

OK, so that's how he thinks it was. It's not for me to write Mr Livingston to correct him. I think he's mixing up the duties of a City Marshal with the duties of a County Sheriff, but most folks don't know the difference between the two.

As for a City Marshal "involved mediation between anti-alcohol and boomtown cowboy factions" that's not the way it was either, but what do we expect from someone who thinks the West was made up of "a lot of drunkards"? And frankly, there are a lot of folks out there who think as he does.

Many see the Old West as a violent place where, as Mr Livingston put it, "The Old West of Masterson’s time was known for its lawlessness, gunfights and drunken bar brawls." Of course compared to today's society, most Western towns were down right peaceful. But frankly, people will believe what they will.

Besides, as the editor of the Shinbone Star is quoted as saying in the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." And so the legend of a violence, lawlessness, gunfights and drunken bar brawls remains what most think, even though they are wrong.

As for who wants Bat Masterson's watch and the speculation on what it would fetch on the auction block?

Lara Brehm said, "Dodge City’s Boot Hill Museum would love to have Masterson’s pocket watch for its display, The story of Bat Masterson is integral to our early history, and it's a story that we're well known for. However, the price may exceed the museum’s budget."

She went on to say, "We're just talking about it at this point. It’s hard to anticipate what it will bring."

"The watch is expected to sell for around $15,000," said Livingston.

The auction opened online at www.rrauction.com. The opening bid for the watch was $5,000. 

Other items involving Masterson that were up for auction included three documents related to a lawsuit brought against Masterson in 1879. The three lawsuit documents were said to sell together and were expected to sell for $4,000. The starting bid was $500,

"The real action in the bidding process for these items begins at 6 p.m. on Wednesday," said Livingston.

At that time, the 30-minute rule begins, which means the bidding process would officially close after 30 minutes of inactivity, according to the auction house’s website. The 30-minute timer would reset after each new bid.

Livingston said "Masterson’s pocket watch captures the imagination of history lovers throughout America. Something like this can appeal to that type of person who loves history, loves the Old West, and has an affection for this sheriff."

He is very right about that. There are some people who are fans of Wild Bill and Wyatt Earp, there are Bat Masterson fans, and there are fans like me who are simply fans of the Old West. And yes, I believe all would love to own such a piece of history.

For me, if we're talking about pocket watches that have had a lot of significance to a story of the Old West -- then that would surely be the pocket watch that Dave Tutt took from Wild Bill Hickok over a gambling debt.

After losing it to Tutt in a card game, Bill warned Tutt not to wear it. The next day when Tutt did show up wearing it, Bill killed him. Of course, there is a great deal more to that story, a lot more than a supposedly precious watch.

As to what happened to the watch? It wasn't on Wild Bill after he was shot dead in Deadwood. Some say Wild Bill pawned it for gambling money. Some say he lost it in another game of cards. Either way, I'd like to see a pocket watch that's so important that you'd kill someone over it -- or at least use it as a reason to kill someone over it.

As for what Bat Masterson's watch fetched?

Well, on July 14th, The Wichita Eagle reported that Bat Masterson's pocket watch was purchased for $15,893 by an anonymous collector who is believed to be from Kansas on Wednesday, July 13th, 2016.

As for the other items belonging to Masterson which were auctioned off last Wednesday? Well the three documents related to a lawsuit brought against the lawman in 1879 were sold to the same collector for $3,368. 

For me, I've always admired collectors of history. While it's a safe investment, I believe collectors see these sorts of items for other much larger reasons than simply that of great investments. The few collectors who I've known have believed they were keeping history alive and well. And yes, some see their owning a piece of history like Bat Masterson's watch as a way of safeguarding historical artifacts. 

Tom Correa

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article89700067.html#storylink=cpy

more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article89700067.html#storylink=cpy

Democrat "Gunphobia"

Dear Friends,

I wrote this for my other site but I was asked to post this here as well, so here it is. I'm sharing this data with you because it's important to know what's really going on with gun ownership as it relates to the overall homicide rate in the United States today.

Granted, FBI statistics are at least two years behind what's taking place today. But though that's the case, and even with what has been taking place with Black on Black crime and gang warfare in Chicago and other cities, as unbelievable as it sounds, the good news is that the FBI reported that the U.S. homicide rate in 2014, the most recent year available, was only 4.5 people per 100,000 .
That means that the 2014 total follows a long downward trend and is the lowest homicide rate recorded since 1963 when the rate was 4.6 per 100,000. To find a lower homicide rate, we must travel back to 1957 when the total homicide rate hit 4.0 per 100,000.

Homicide rates were considerably higher in the United States during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, but over the past 25 years since more states have approved citizen carry laws, rates have fallen nearly continuously:

Americans Are Unaware That Homicide Rates Have Fallen

As Pew has reported in recent years, in fact, the American public is "unaware" that the homicide rate in the United States has fallen by 49 percent over the past twenty years. And while Pew doesn't report on it, it's also a safe bet that the public is also unaware that homicide rates have collapsed as total gun ownership in the United States has increased significantly.

So can this drop in the homicide rate be contributed to ownership? Yes.

Over the last 20 years, the number of new guns in the United States that were either manufactured in the U.S. or imported into the U.S. increased 141 percent from 6.6 million new guns in 1994 to 16 million in 2013. Friends, that means a gross total of 132 million new guns were added into the U.S. population over the time period when the homicide rate was falling.

So does more gun ownership mean less crime? Yes!

As we can see, an armed public means a safer public! The ability to defend one's self and family deters crime. The data indicates that to be true.

So now, how can we get Democrats to understand the data and appreciate the findings when it goes against what they think they know about guns? Remember, they see guns on an emotional level as a "Gunphobia." They don't see guns as a tool or a simply a mechanical object. They see guns as living breathing things which function on their own without the need of a person.

To Democrats, the bad guy who uses a gun in a criminal act is not responsible for what he or she did do. No, to them, the fault belongs to the gun. And no, there is no convincing anti-gun Democrats that guns are nothing more than mechanical objects unable to function on their own.

So how can we get Democrats to understand the data and appreciate the findings when it goes against what they think they know about guns?

We can't so forget it trying! Seriously, forget about trying to enlighten Democrats about anything -- espeically about guns! Their views on guns are deep seated and irrational. So forget about trying to change their minds!

With president Obama telling crowd after crowd that "guns are the problem" and that it's easier to buy a gun than it is to buy a computer, or a toaster, or a microwave oven, or a roll of toilet paper, or whatever else Obama comes up with next week, his followers believe him no matter what he says! And no, they do not question his exaggerations or his out and out lies.

So frankly, I say don't try to educate Democrats. Don't because they just won't accept it. They will not accept anything shown to them by Conservatives. That's just the way it is.

So my advice, don't try to educate them and instead concentrate on buying guns for yourself and your family members. Buy ammo before it can't be found. Buy what you need to be safe in case of an intruder.

Teach your family gun safety and to respect firearms. And yes, give your family a sense of well-being and security by teaching them how to use a firearm and what it takes to safe. Teach them that doing the right thing means protecting those you love.

Teach your family that guns can be used to shoot for fun as well as used as a tool for hunting to put meat on your table. Teach them that a gun in the hands of a law abiding citizen is not a threat to no one except those who want to harm you or your family. Teach them that guns save lives.

Remember, a homicide is justifiable when we use deadly force to protect ourselves and our family from mortal danger.

As a last thought on this, I've always found it ironic, and very hypocritical, that Democrats only learn the importance of guns when it's they and their families who needs protecting. And frankly, shame on them for not thinking that they and their families are more important than us and ours. But then, that's the way Democrats are!

And yes, that's just the way I see it.
Tom Correa

The Killing Of Dora Hand, 1878

A dance hall singer, a jealous young suitor, a powerful older rival, an ambush in the dark of the night, a wealthy family, and a posse made up of today's legends of the Old West, all are included in this story.

Dora Hand is said to have been born back East somewhere as early as 1840. From what I could find out, some say she was a descendant of a prominent unnamed Boston family and had supposedly studied music in Europe and had once performed opera in New York City. Of course, no one really knows.

The times were different and people were known to create their own history depending on how they wanted to live in the future. Like many coming West, it was not unusual for people to "re-create" themselves and put their past behind them. And like Doc Holliday, she supposedly came West for the fresh dry air to battle tuberculosis.

She arrived in Dodge City in either May of 1877 or in June of 1878. It's believed she was divorced from Theodore "Ted" Hand who was a musician. When she first arrived, it's believed she used he stage name Fannie Keenan.

On October 4th, 1878, Dora Hand was supposedly mistaken for someone else and shot to death by a suitor, Texas cowboy James W. "Spike" Kenedy who was 23-year-old and 11 years younger than Dora. And yes, James Masterson was in on tracking down Kenedy.

Just as it is today, money and power have a way of helping people evade justice when in fact they should hang. So was the case with James Kenedy who was acquitted of criminal charges in the case even though he was "laying in wait" to ambush a rival suitor.

His rival suitor was none other then 45 year old James H. "Dog" Kelley -- the mayor of Dodge City from 1877 to 1881.

The problems between Kenedy and Kelley started when they became interested in the same woman. It escalated inside the Alhambra Saloon when Kenedy became aggressive toward Dora. Mayor Kelley didn't like it and physically evicted Kenedy from the Alhambra. The two would tangle again later.

As with most actual killings in the Old West, a deadly ambush was what Kenedy had in mind for Mayor Kelley. So after following Kelley's daily routine, he found out that Kelley spent many nights in a crude two-room cabin near the saloon.

After positioning the fastest horse possible to make his escape, on the morning of October 4th, 1878, Kenedy decided to make his cowardly move by firing gunshots into the cabin. But as with all devious plots, something can go dreadfully wrong. In this case, the intended victim was not killed while another was.

Since Kenedy did not know that Mayor Kelley had changed his routine because he needed to get some medical help for a stomach disorder, fact is Kelley was not there and instead was at Fort Dodge which was the Army post about five miles from Dodge City.

Inside Kelley's cabin were Dora and her friend Fannie Garretson who was also a saloon singer. Fannie had encouraged her friend Dora to come to Dodge City in the first place. The two were earning $40 a week, which was a large amount of money at the time, at the Lady Gay Dance Hall and Saloon, which was co-owned by Ben Springer and the Assistant City Marshal James Masterson.

An article in the Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City describes Dora Hand as "of medium height and build, with a face of classic beauty. There was a grace and charm in her walk. She dressed plainly, usually in black, and this color seemed to accentuate the ivory whiteness of her soft skin.".

One of Kenedy's bullets is said to have passed through Fannie Garretson's bedding and then through a wall before it struck and killed Dora Hand instantly.

Kenedy, thinking he just shot his rival, jumped on that fast horse he had waiting and fled south. Kenedy did not hear that he had killed Dora until he was apprehended by a Dodge City posse which included Charlie Bassett, Bat and James Masterson, Wyatt Earp and others.

Kenedy is said to have resembled his Mexican Roman Catholic mother, Petra Vela de Vidal Kenedy, more so than his European father, Mifflin Kenedy, the former captain of a ship and a Quaker from Chester County, Pennsylvania.

For a while Mifflin Kenedy who was the namesake of barely-populated Kenedy County, between Corpus Christi and Brownsville in South Texas, had partnered with Richard King in the King Ranch. Still one of the largest outfits in Texas.

When the partnership with King ended in 1868, Kenedy purchased Laureles Ranch, a 172,000-acre tract near Corpus Christi. Cowboys from the King and Kenedy ranches in 1878 alone drove 15,000 longhorns to Dodge City and were a financial power in the community. So yes, James W. "Spike" Kenedy came from a very wealthy family with a number of political connections.

And no, this wasn't the first time that James W. "Spike" Kenedy was in trouble with the law. After rescuing his son from an earlier scrape with the law in Ellsworth, Kansas, Mifflin Kenedy moved Spike to a new ranch in the Texas Panhandle with a crew and two thousand head of cattle.

He was based at Tascosa in Oldham County, now a ghost town. But in its heyday, Tascosa was the center of business for ten Panhandle counties. It is said that with an athletic physique, dark hair and eyes, that James W. "Spike" Kenedy was considered the handsomest bachelor in the Panhandle.

It is also said that young James Kenedy could not "withstand the temptations of the underworld." It is also said that whenever he left his Panhandle ranch for Dodge City, he would abandon all caution.

In Dodge City, young James Kenedy had already twice run afoul of authorities there in 1878 when on July 29th, deputy city marshal Wyatt Earp arrested him for carrying and brandishing a pistol. By 1878, Dodge City has a city ordinance against wearing guns in town at the time.

Of course, on August 17, city marshal Charlie Bassett arrested Kenedy for disorderly conduct -- but a judge gave him a mere warning.

The posse that tracked down Kenedy was made up of some of today's legends of the Old West. Among those in the posse were Charlie Bassett, Bat Masterson, James Masterson, and Wyatt Earp.

There must have been some gun play during the arrest because Bat Masterson is known to have shot Kenedy in the shoulder during the arrest for the killing of Dora Hand. The wound was not fatal but would be a permanent injury.

Kenedy was returned to Dodge City two days after the death of Dora Hand and jailed to protect him from irate citizens who wanted young Kenedy to dance at the end of a rope.

When his father got the word of what his son had done and how he was being held, it is said that Mifflin Kenedy rushed to Dodge City with a large amount of cash in hand. And yes, in my opinion, that cash must have worked like a charm.

On October 29th, 1878, the Ford County Globe reported that Kenedy, "the man who was arrested for the murder of Dora Hand was examined last week before Judge [R. G.] Cook and acquitted. His trial took place in the sheriff's office, which was too small to admit spectators. We do not know what the evidence was or upon what grounds he was acquitted."

I read where On March 20th, 1951, in a letter to historian Stanley Vestal, author of Dodge City: Queen of the Cowtowns, Stuart Lake claimed that Mifflin Kenedy had paid as much as $25,000 to town founder Robert M. "Bob" Wright, a member at the time of the Kansas House of Representatives who made and lost a fortune in the cattle business.

According to Stuart Lake who is not a very good source to go to, he is reported to have said that "other monies were likely paid to Bat Masterson and other Dodge City officials to buy James Kenedy an acquittal due to lack of evidence".

You can take that with more than just a grain of salt, because frankly I wouldn't believe anything Stuart Lake says. Remember, Stuart Lake was the official biographer to the infamous Wyatt Earp. And frankly, in my opinion, what Lake wrote about Earp in that biography is mostly just exaggerated nonsense.

So really, who knows what arrangements were made behind closed doors to get him off. All in all, I believe it is pretty safe bet to think there was big money involved.

As for the rest of the story regarding Dora Hand? Well it was reported that her funeral was well-attended. A cowhand was quoted as having said, "Every store, saloon and gambling house in Dodge closed during the funeral, and four hundred men with their sombreros on their saddle horses rode behind the spring wagon that carried Dora Hand up Boot Hill."

On October 5, 1878, the Dodge City Times reported that Dora Hand was "a prepossessing woman whose artful winning ways brought many admirers within her smiles and blandishments."

Within the decade, Mayor Kelley lost his holdings in a series of financial reversals. He spent his last years at the Kansas Soldiers' Home at Fort Dodge. He died there in September 1912, at age 79 of tuberculosis. Yes he died of TB, the disease that some say plagued Dora Hand during her last days.

Tom Correa

The BLM Goal -- To Rid The West Of Wild Horses

The best-known Oregon wild horses are the Kiger mustangs. The Kiger mustangs are genetically related to the original Spanish mustangs and exhibit similar color characteristics known as the "dun factor," which may include dorsal stripes, zebra stripes on knees and hocks, and bi-colored ears, mane, and tail. 

The Kiger mustangs are admired for their color and quality, and seeing the beauty of wild and free-roaming mustangs in the wild is an unforgettable experience. They are living symbols of Oregon’s diverse history and the spirit of the state's western heritage.

They are noted for their beauty, intelligence, and stamina. Because the Kiger herd may be one of the best remaining examples of Spanish mustangs, their preservation is important. And while that is the case for Kiger mustangs, not all wild horses in Oregon get the same respect and concern. 

It was announced on July 11th, that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Vale Oregon District plans to gather up more wild horses. The gathering is said to last two to four days with an expected start date of July 26th.

The BLM said its objective is to capture 100 wild horses from the Three Fingers Herd Management Area (HMA) and return 50 horses, which breaks down to 25 stallions and 25 mares, to the range to re-establish the appropriate management level following the gathering. The BLM currently estimates the herd population at 202 animals. The BLM estimates the appropriate management level for the area is 75 to 150 wild horses.

The Three Fingers HMA is approximately 25 miles south of Vale, Oregon. The HMA is bordered on the west by the Owyhee Reservoir, on the south by the Leslie Gulch Road, and on the north by the Owyhee Dam.

It has been reported that because of extended drought conditions in the region and a horse population exceeding the appropriate management level have resulted in horses from the Three Fingers herd grazing well outside of Three Fingers in search of water and forage.

The BLM said, this grazing outside of Three Fingers has extended into areas affected by the 2015 Soda wildfire, which burned nearly 280,000 acres in Oregon and Idaho. The BLM said grazing in these areas is especially destructive as the fire rehabilitation efforts are vulnerable to activity of any kind in the affected area.

The BLM says it is necessary to protect these fire rehabilitation areas to prevent the spread of exotic annual weed species, which can potentially convert a burned area to a weed-dominated community. Additionally, the BLM believes that heavy grazing by Three Fingers horses outside the Three Fingers jeopardizes the health of surrounding rangelands, wetlands, wildlife habitat and the health and well-being of the horses themselves.

To me, it sounds like just another excuse being used in their attempt to round up more horses. And yes, I really believe with over 50% of all wild horses in BLM facilities right now, the BLM has a goal of getting rid of wild horses in the West.

A little background on this:

In the 1950s and '60s, a concerned American, Velma B. Johnston, who became known as "Wild Horse Annie" for her dedication to wild horse welfare, led a grassroots campaign in Nevada that led to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. 

The law directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to carry out a program that includes protection, management, research, and adoption of wild horses and burros in a humane manner.

In southeastern Oregon, the BLM manages seventeen Herd Management Areas (HMAs) and co-manages one Wild Horse Territory with the U.S. Forest Service. 

Oregon's wild horses are known for their quality and color and are popular with those who adopt wild horses in the United States. In 2009, the BLM estimated that approximately 2,600 wild horses were roaming on Oregon’s Herd Management Areas and the Wild Horse Territory.

BLM Herd Management Areas expert believe it is necessary for three to five of Oregon's herds to be gathered annually in an effort to remove "excess" animals and to balance population numbers with the range’s capability to sustain them. 

Animals removed from the Oregon range are taken to the Wild Horse Corral Facility near Burns, where they are prepared for the adoption program. Those animals that are not suitable for adoption are sent to federally funded sanctuaries or long-term holding facilities, where they live out their lives on the prairie. 

The BLM says that despite these measures, the wild horse population currently "exceeds the official carrying capacity" of Western rangelands.

Controversy still surrounds the BLM’s methods of managing the population numbers and sharing the land and resources. Managers must decide how to allocate scarce resources among horses, domestic livestock, and wildlife. 

Since wild horses reproduce fast enough to double their population every four years, the BLM experts believe that the result could be an ecological disaster if left unchecked. Because of this belief, the BLM's management goal is to remove thousands of animals each year and put them up for adoption to individuals who agree to take good care of them. 

As a result of what many consider the folly of what BLM policies are doing, the adoption program has never kept pace with the number of animals available. This is so much the case that there were approximately 34,500 horses and burros being kept in holding facilities at a cost of 29 Million Dollars a year, as reported in fiscal year 2009. 

Due to the ever increasing cost of feed and personnel to care for the horses, the BLM is now selling off older and unwanted horses. So now, to save money on expenses that the BLM created by way of their screwed up policies, some of America's Wild Horses are being sold directly to horse slaughterhouses and are being euthanized instead of simply being left to live out their lives on the open range.

The Vale District manages 5.1 million acres of public land in eastern Oregon, a number of Americans believe that federal rangelands could support more wild horses. Friends, we're talking about 5.1 million acres. That is bigger than the entire size of the state of Massachusetts or the entire state of New Jersey. That is about the size of Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island combined. That is almost twice the size of the Big Island of Hawaii.

Please understand why I have such a hard time with the BLM saying that they don't have enough room for these horses. I'm from the island of Oahu, Hawaii. That island is only 382,000 acres in size. Today that island has over 1 million residents.

So why does the BLM need to round up 200 horses in an area that is 5.1 million acres in size? It makes no sense unless they are determined to get rid of those horses.

And by the way, I also agree with the claim that rounding up and transporting the horses waste important funding that could be used for more humane management options. But let's not even start talking about how our government wastes our tax dollars! 

Bottom line, many Americans like me hate the idea that wild horses and burros have ended up in slaughterhouses. And yes, I believe, as many others do, that the BLM's has plans for the horses which will ultimately result in the end of wild horses in the West. To me, that seems to be their goal whether there is a law protecting them or not.

This article is compiled using many sources.

Tom Correa

Obama Promotes Hate And Division

He Is Responsible For The Racial Divide In America Today

Back on March 3rd, it was reported that President Barack Obama said, "I certainly have not contributed to dividing the country."

Instead of owing up to his hate-filled rhetoric, his condemnation of police officers before the facts are in, and his stirring up racial tensions between Black and White Americans,

Obama blames the division in our nation on Republicans, Fox News, Conservative talk-radio, Conservative bloggers, and of course the Tea Party. Yes, during a White House press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Obama had the nerve to say just that: 

"I’ve said at the State of the Union that one of my regrets is the degree to which polarization and the nasty tone of our politics has accelerated rather than waned over the course of the last 7 1/2 years. 

I do all kinds of soul searching in terms of, are there things that I can do better to make sure that we are unifying the country. 

But I also have to say that objectively it’s fair to say that the Republican political elites and many of the information outlets, social media and news stations, talk radio, television stations have been feeding the Republican base for the last seven years a notion that everything I do is to be opposed, that cooperation or compromise somehow is a betrayal, that maximalist, absolutist positions on issues are politically advantageous, that there is a ‘them’ out there and an ‘us’ and ‘them’ are the folks who are causing whatever the problems you’re experiencing and the tone of that politics, which I certainly have not contributed to. 

You know, I don’t think that I was the one to prompt questions about my birth certificate, for example. I don’t remember saying, ‘Hey, why don’t you ask me about that?’ ‘Why don’t you question whether I’m American or whether I’m loyal or whether I have America’s best interests at heart.’ 

Those aren’t things that were prompted by any actions of mine, and so what you’re seeing within the Republican Party is, to some degree, all of those efforts over a course of time creating an environment where somebody like a Donald Trump can thrive."

Obama Does Not Understand Our System Of Government 

Friends, after reading that statement from Obama, I couldn't help but think that he just doesn't get it! He just doesn't understand us, our system of government, our way of doing things, or simply how Americans think. And worse, he doesn't understand that what he says has influence -- especially to other Black Americans. 

Obama does not understand that we Conservatives elect people to fight for us and our beliefs and simply give in to him and his. As he said, "everything I do is to be opposed, that cooperation or compromise somehow is a betrayal, that maximalist, absolutist positions on issues are politically advantageous." I say that's great! 

Yes, I've never been for the sort of "change" that he's had in mind for America -- never have been and never will be. The very last thing I want is some weak kneed slack jawed "Republican in name only" bowing down and kissing his ass. Like most Conservatives, I didn't want any cooperation or compromise to allow his ideas of some sort of "fundamental change," Socialism, Communism, Islam or other ideas that he has had in mind for us.  

As for him saying it's seen as "Betrayal"? Damn right it would be betrayal. The Republicans who have gone along with him have certainly betrayed fellow Republicans. But more importantly, they have betrayed Americans who need people to fight policies that are unreasonable and over-reaching. 

That is the system of an elected republic! Why doesn't he know that? One party says they want one thing, but if another party thinks that is unreasonable or over-reaching than they stop it from taking place. 

That's the way our system should work if the system is working correctly. Some scream and call it "gridlock!" But the one's doing the screaming are usually the politicians who can't get their way and now scream to get support. 

As for an "us" and "them"?  Obama blames everything that he cannot do, or has refused to do like his refusing to actually use the legislative process as the system was designed, on "them". In his head, he is "us" and we are "them"!  He said, "and 'them' are the folks who are causing whatever the problems you’re experiencing and the tone of that politics, which I certainly have not contributed to."

Republicans have because we don't agree with him. Imagine that for a moment. He is saying that the hate and division in America is just because Republicans won't kiss his ass and give in to him. Yes, that's what we get from having a president who has never had to run a business and has a "my way or the highway" attitude when it comes to working with others. 

In his time as president,  other than ObamaCare, he has never had to work to get legislation pushed through Congress. And frankly, let's be honest, he had his Democrat controlled Congress do that for him regarding ObamaCare "without even reading it." 

Fact is, he has resorted to "executive orders" in the same way that Dictators issue edicts demanding changes that he knows damn well would never fly in a democratic form of government where it would normally be picked apart. Yes, that's the spoiled brat demanding he get his way! 

According To Obama: All Whites Are Racists And Whites Should Be Hated!

Yes, this is how all of this "racist" crap started in today's America. It started when Obama didn't get his way! He started calling everyone who opposed his policies names like "racists."

After any legislative resistance, Obama would tout how the "only reason" his demands are not being met is because those opposing him are "racists"! They can't just be people with different opinions as with other presidents. No, they have to be "racists"!

Friends, after years of race relations being pretty good in the United States, Obama is the reason we have the racial divide, the Black hate for Whites and Police Officers that we have today. Obama is the reason that race relations are the worse they have ever been. 

As for his name calling, his offensive personal jabs at others during his speeches, his lies and con games, his criminal behavior, and his turning Americans against each other? Well, that's just who we have as a president in Obama!

And yes, he is given a pass. The Liberal media says he can get away with it because he is Black. And like it or not, there are those who are afraid of being labeled "racist" if they report what he has been doing in a negative manner. He successfully intimidated Americans into allowing him to do wrong, just so they wouldn't be called "racist". 

Obama has never been made to answer why he feels that it's OK for the President of the United States to divide the nation on racial lines as he has? Sure he can lie to all and make statements like how he has "not contributed to dividing the country"? But that is a lie. And yes, he lies even though he has encouraged Black hatred for White Police Officers.

To me, Barack Obama is the number one reason for America being dangerously divided today. And frankly, one has to start when he became president. The problem started when he became a "Black president" and not simply "Mr. President."

My point is, in a nation seeking a "color-blind society" -- the last thing we needed was a president who focuses on his color. 

Many of us did not care what color his is, and still don't. Many of us don't give a damn if he is black, half-black, or purple. Many of us don't care because we consciously focus in on his policies, horrible judgement, and lies, while refusing to take the bait and get sucked into the diversions that he and his administration has put forward.

Yes, diversions such as his constant use of a "race card" which is meant to divide our nation. Yes, diversions meant to distract us from addressing our problems -- whether it is the economy or his lack of strategy dealing with his Muslim brothers who want to kill us.

His favorite diversion is his constant use of a "race card." What he doesn't seem to understand, or wants us to forget, is that White or Black, Asian or Hispanic, Native American, European, or Slavic, if a person's character is in question -- color and ancestry doesn't mean a thing.

Obama's War On Whites And The Police

Obama's conscious efforts to divide our nation are shown in his actions and what he says. Remember, on the day before a Black man who was affiliated with the New Black Panther Party shot 11 Police Officers, killing 5 of them, Obama stirred up Black hatred for the Police by addressing two incidents still under investigation.

He has done this his whole time in office. He started criticizing the Police handling of a professor which lead to what the media called a "Beer Summit" with the White Officer who he criticized and the Black perpetrator who was a friend of Obama.

In that instance, Obama said, "The Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. . . . What I think we know — separate and apart from this incident — is that there is a long history in their country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that’s just a fact."

Since then, when a Black thug attacked a Police Officer in Ferguson Missouri, and even later after that Officer was found to be in the right, Obama's rhetoric was meant to stir up racial tensions, incite riots, and encourages attacks on White Police Officers.

Of course, when 4 Black men and one Black woman torture, rape, mutilate, and then murder a White couple such as in the case of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, nothing is heard from Obama or his administration because they were White.

When 17 Black men raped and murdered, actually burned to death, Jessica Chambers , nothing is heard coming from Obama or his administration over the horrible acts. Yes, the thugs doused her with gasoline and then burned her alive. But frankly, she wasn't worth Obama's time because she was White. That's the way Obama operates.

You say you don't agree that he hates Whites? Well, here are some of his racist statements meant to stir hate for Whites and Police Officers. Ask yourself if this is appropriate coming from a President of the United States?

"It was usually an effective tactic, another one of those tricks I had learned: (White) People were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied, they were relieved -- such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn't seem angry all the time." -- Barack Obama

"The point I was making was not that Grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person." -- Barack Obama

Obama believes "typical" white people are out to get blacks, and can’t control their White inner racism. In reality, from his comments, Obama has proven himself a racist -- not White people.

Imagine if a White politician called someone a "typical Black person." Imagine the out-rage over a statement such as that. But since Obama is insulting White Americans, the Liberal mainstream media grants him a pass and doesn't report the story.

"I don’t believe it is possible to transcend race in this country. Race is a factor in this society. The legacy of Jim Crow and slavery has not gone away. It is not an accident that African-Americans experience high crime rates, are poor, and have less wealth. It is a direct result of our racial history." -- Barack Obama

"That's just how white folks will do you. It wasn't merely the cruelty involved; I was learning that black people could be mean and then some. It was a particular brand of arrogance, an obtuseness in otherwise sane people that brought forth our bitter laughter. It was as if whites didn't know that they were being cruel in the first place. Or at least thought you deserving of their scorn." -- Barack Obama

Then Of Course, There's His Spin On An Incident Depending On The Perpetrator's Race! 

In the wake of the killings in Charleston, and after a few instances of police officers killing Black thugs, Obama said, "The legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination in almost every institution of our lives — you know, that casts a long shadow. And that's still part of our DNA that's passed on. We're not cured of it [racism]."

While he focused on White racism when the perpetrator is a White person, Obama's statements after the planned racial attack on White Police Officers by a Black man affiliated with the Black Panther Party had nothing to do with Black racism. In fact, he first tried diverting the attention off of Black racism and onto Gun Control.

Yes, he did the same thing when gay Black racist Vester Lee Flanagan, whose used the alias "Bryce Williams" as a journalist, viciously gunned down White reporter Alison Parker and a White cameraman Adam Ward -- because they were white,  In that instance, like that of what just took place in Dallas Texas as a result of Obama's racist, hate-filled, violence-inciting progressive rhetoric, Obama came out to show his hypocrisy and attack gun ownership and Second Amendment rights instead of addressing Black hate of Whites and Police Officers.

Regarding the Dallas planned attack on White Police Officers? Obama said "it’s hard to untangle the motives of the shooter." 

Imagine that for a moment. We all know what his motives were. We all know that the gunman  Micah X. Johnson killed five Dallas police officers and that he told the Dallas Police that he "wanted to kill white police officers."

Dallas police said Johnson told them before he was killed that he specifically was targeting white police officers for killing, and he was upset about the Black Lives Matter movement. Obama knew this and instead of saying so -- he said, "it’s hard to untangle the motives of the shooter." 

That is a huge contrast between this and when Obama was quick to denounce the actions of Whites doing racist acts -- such as when a White man murdered nine Black Christians in Charleston, South Carolina. 

In that instance, Obama used it to stir racial tensions by saying, "The motivations of the shooter remind us that racism remains a blight that we have to combat together." 

And if you think I'm exaggerating his stirring the pot, remember that just a couple of months ago President Obama said, "White folks have been the problem all along." Yes, that is as racist a statement that one can say.

And yes, Obama Has A Real Hatred For The Police

He was talking about voting rights, but one really wouldn't know that since Obama clings to racism and has a personal hatred for Whites.  Racism and hatred against Whites and the Police is his stock and trade. It's what he believes in more than anything else. That is other than Islam and protecting Muslim terrorist.

And yes, like appointing Muslim Brotherhood members and others with ties to Radical Islam to positions in his administration and the Department of Homeland Security, Obama's anti-Police ideology was demonstrated for all to see when he nominated Debo Adegbile to head the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice back in 2014. 

Friends, the DOJ Civil Rights Division that investigates and brings lawsuits against police departments and officers around the country. Debo Adegbile is an anti-Police activist who is known for having volunteered to defend America’s most notorious cop-killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal. 

More than 30 years ago, Abu-Jamal was convicted of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner who was just 26 years old. Abu-Jamal shot Officer Faulkner multiple times -- including in the face. All for no other reason than vile hate, yet Adegbile volunteered to represent him.

In February 2014, six major law enforcement organizations representing more than one million law enforcement officers across the country, including the Fraternal Order of Police, sent scathing letters to Obama to voice their united opposition at the nomination of Debo Adegbile. 

Adding insult to injury, it was later revealed that these Law Enforcement organizations weren't even consulted before Obama put Adegbile up for the confirmation for that position. Maureen Faulkner, Officer Faulker’s widow, was also left in the dark. No one in the Obama administration bothered to talk to her.

Adegbile’s nomination was such an affront to justice, the rule of law and the law enforcement community, that his confirmation was in fact voted down by the Senate. And what was Obama's reaction to the vote not to confirm him? Obama called his failed confirmation a "travesty." 

Frankly, the real travesty was Obama nominating such a man in the first place. And yes, it is believed that when Obama’s time in office finally ends on January 20th, 2017, he will pardon the cop-killer Abu-Jamal on his way out.

Right after a New York grand jury decided not to indict the New York Police Officer who killed Eric Garner, Obama said "bad training" and a police "fear of folks who look different" in police departments across America have contributed to the ongoing mistrust between law enforcement and minority communities.

He said, "The vast majority of law enforcement officers are doing a really tough job, and most of them are doing it well and are trying to do the right thing, But a combination of bad training, in some cases, a combination in some cases of departments that really are not trying to root out biases, or tolerate sloppy police work; a combination in some cases of folks just not knowing any better, and in a lot of cases, subconscious fear of folks who look different -- all of this contributes to a national problem that’s going to require a national solution."

He went on to say, "This country is at its best when everybody is being treated fairly. We have a history and a legacy of people not being treated fairly in all kinds of walks of life. It is particularly important for people to feel like they’re being treated fairly by law enforcement and police, because the consequences when they’re not treated fairly can be deadly."

Let's remember that Obama's hate for Police and especially White Police Officers is nothing new. Obama has been quiet as more and more Police officers have become sitting ducks since Ferguson.

After the Black Lives Matter hate group increases up their hate speech, they were invited to the Obama White House and told by the president how great a job they are doing. No, Americans then just as today had no leadership at that meeting to tell them to knock it off.

Friends, 23 law enforcement officers were gunned down in the line of duty in 2015, and it's no secret that the Obama War On Police is partly to blame. Police Officers know full well that there is a lack of support of law enforcement by this administration, and its making their lives on the street tougher and a lot more dangerous.

Imagine this for a moment, at one point last year America saw eight officers killed in a nine-day period. Yes, eight police officers killed in the line of duty and Obama did not come forward to even acknowledge what was taking place.

Remember that Obama sent multiple representatives from the White House to attend the funerals of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner. He did not send a single representative to the funerals of those slain Police Officers.

And frankly, he has had opportunity after opportunity to say something to positive to stop the killings -- but instead all he's done is escalate things through rhetoric meant to incite racial division and more hate.

Yes, Obama should own his actions because he is responsible for playing the Race Card over and over and over again. He has created this atmosphere of hate and distrust of races. He has created an America where Blacks simply want to kill Whites and Police Officers for no other reason than to go along with a White and Police hating President Obama.

Yes, Obama's America is one where Blacks want to join hate groups like the New Black Panther Party just to have the chance to kill Whites and Police Officers.

Does the lives of all Americans matter? Yes they do. Yes, in the very same way Police Lives Matter and White Lives Matter. Obama loves to hear himself talk, but he never speaks up when it matters most in a way that would help stop violence. He never uses his position to encourage sane and civilized behavior, instead using his position to incite violence and divide us.

Friends, we have over 900,000 law enforcement officers in the United States. While it is true that there are going to be a few bad apples, the vast majority, the vast majority, are good and noble people trying to do a tough job that is thankless in many cases. They certainly do not deserve the disrespect and hate coming from President Obama. It is just uncalled for.  

And yes, that's just the way I see it.

Tom Correa