Thursday, August 25, 2022

Alferd Packer -- The Beloved Hatchet-Murdering Cannibal Of Colorado


Many years ago while driving through Colorado, I was sort of surprised to hear about a local celebrity of sorts. I say, "of sorts," because that man who seems to be quite the Colorado celebrity was a mass murderer and cannibal. His name was Alferd Packer and his horrid acts of crime have not stopped people in Colorado from celebrating his name in some very interesting ways.

For example, folks knowing that Alferd Parker killed five men and ate them hasn't stopped someone from creating the Alferd E. Packer Memorial Grill at the University of Colorado in Boulder. And if that's not enough to make you wonder what's wrong with some folks out there, there was once a writer who actually published a book titled, "Alferd Packer's Wilderness Cookbook." In Littleton, Colorado, the folks there hold the "Alferd Packer Cannibal Fast Food 5K/10K Run/Walk." And not to miss a chance at 15 minutes of fame, believe it or not, a sculpture once created a bust of Alferd Packer that somehow ended up sitting in the Colorado State Capitol right next to Colorado's more prestigious citizens.

So why would anyone make a mass murderer and cannibal famous, and in fact, do it so much so that a whole town celebrates "Al Packer Days" as is the case in one Colorado town? Frankly, there's no rhyme or reason why the macabre and gruesome interests people like it does. It's true. Just as there is no telling why anyone would start a restaurant and name it the "Packer Saloon & Cannibal Grill." No, there is no telling why anyone would make a mass murderer and a cannibal famous -- especially a man who is said to have killed and eaten five of his traveling companions,

As in any story, whether it's a story in the newspapers or found in a good book, our learning the who, what, when, where, how, and why of a story is the key to our understanding of all that took place. When writing, the who, what, when, where, how, and why of a story ensures that we examine all aspects of a story.

As for the who, what, when, where, how, and why of the story dealing with Alfred Packer, we know who he was. Alferd Packer was born sometime in 1842. Different sources give different months and days of his birth that year. While that's true, there's no confusion about him being raised in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh.

We also know that he was in Minnesota by the time he was 19 years of age. We know that because he was 19 when he enlisted in the Union Army with the 16th US Infantry in Wynona, Minnesota at the outbreak of the Civil War. Sources say that he received an Honorable Discharge in late 1862. His short time in the Union Army was supposedly due to him having epilepsy. If true, that didn't stop him from trying to enlist again in June of 1863. It's believed that he was able to join the Union Army's 8th Regiment of the Iowa Cavalry until he was again mustered out due to epilepsy.

From there, it is sort of a mystery what he did for about 10 years. Some say he traveled West to California. Some say he turned into a drunk while taking whatever job he could find. Some say he went from mining camp to mining camp looking to strike it rich like so many others.

We do know that by late 1873, Alferd Packer and about two dozen other prospectors left Utah and headed to the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Traveling late in the year to the mountains is not the smartest thing anyone can do -- even today. The Winter of 1873 and 1874 was one of the worst on record. To find shelter, the men stayed at the Ute Indian village of Chief Ouray. It is said that they got there in January of 1874, hungry and desperate.

The Ute Indian hospitality was what kept Packer and the others alive. It's too bad they didn't heed the Ute Chief's warning about continuing on and waiting until Spring to travel. The snow was deep and the mountains were treacherous. The Ute Chief tried to warn them, but the lust for gold was too much for a few. Soon, five of the men made plans to go on. For some reason, they believed that Packer was their man to hire as their guide. That being the case, on February 9, 1874, Alferd Packer, Wilson Bell, James Humphrey, Frank Miller, George Noon, and Israel Swan, left the Ute Indian village and headed into the San Juan Mountains. The lure of gold and riches waiting for them had blinded their senses.

Soon, they found themselves with 10-days of food trapped in the mountains with snow up to their shoulders. It wouldn't be long before they would be buried in snow and out of food. Packer was their guide, and now they were lost and on what has been described as a gravel terrace just up from what is present-day Lake City, Colorado.

What happened next had everyone there trying to piece the story together in an effort to find the truth of what really took place. Most things simply didn't add up at first. Then the stories started to make less and less sense. Soon, no one believed a work Alferd Packer had to say pertaining to the deaths of Packer's traveling companions.

That all started in April of 1874 when only one of the six men made it out of the mountains. That was Alferd Packer who walked out looking too well for someone who said he had been living on rabbits and shrubs. Of course, Packer would tell many versions of what took place before coming out of the mountains that April. All of his stories were different.

When I went driving through the small town of Saguache, Colorado. I was told about Alferd Packer who served time in the Saguache Jail as a suspected "cannibal." I was told that Alferd Packer, Wilson Bell, James Humphrey, Frank Miller, George Noon, and Israel Swan, became stranded in the mountains and that Packer killed them -- and ate them while stuck there for a couple of months. That's what I was told.

I was told that most from around those parts at the time believed that the six died in the blizzard high in the mountains. It surely wasn't that unusual for those hunting gold to get so involved in their search for gold, that they put off eating, sleeping, or even seeking shelter when they should. There are stories of travelers finding prospectors frozen, just dead where they lay or sat. I know of one story about two travelers who found a prospector dead near his sluice box. There was no foul play involved. The prospector simply decided to work his claim in the harsh weather instead of finding shelter and warmth. It's believed he may have simply tired and died from the cold. So no, there was no reason to believe that Packer and the other men were still alive.

In mid-April, to everyone's surprise, Alferd Packer surfaced. He had come out of the mountains. And yes, he was alone. Things started going downhill for Packer almost as soon as he walked out of the mountains. Whether he was ready for it or not, folks wanted to know what happened to the other five men that he was last seen with in February. And sadly for Packer, his stories of what took place in the mountains didn't add up. In fact, as I said before, he gave several conflicting stories about the fate of the other men.

Packer initially said that he had been abandoned by his party. Then he said that he had hurt his leg and that they had dropped and left without him. He then admitted that those were lies. After a few more tales that didn't add up, he said that the whole party had resorted to cannibalism of a dead member. He said they did it to stay alive when they became lost. But really, even that was a lie.

He changed his story a number of times and even confessed to him being the only one who lived off of the flesh of his companions. He said that one of the others in his party, Shannon Bell, had killed the others. Packer said he had to kill Bell in self-defense. He also confessed to eating Bell and the others while stranded in the mountains -- and while he was walking out of the mountains. Yes, almost two and a half months later. That's probably why everyone commented on how good he looked for someone who said he'd been struggling through heavy snow for ten weeks.

I found it interesting that the authorities forced Packer to lead a search party into the mountains in an effort to try to locate the bodies of his companions. Packer is said to have led them to the wrong place where nothing was found. Since no one believed Packer's stories, it didn't take long before this all landed him in jail in Saguache. Actually, I was told that he was held somewhere just outside of Saguache and not in jail. He was held while people there were trying to piece together what really happened.

But then in August, with the help of someone there, he escaped. The day of his escape is important because it was the same day that the authorities found the remains of his missing companions. Evidence pointed to foul play and worst -- cannibalism. As the word spread of what took place, the area where the bodies were found soon became known as the "Cannibal Plateau."

For the next nine years, the authorities tracked him down. He was believed to have been living in Washington, Montana, Wyoming, and as far South as Arizona. After those long nine years, he was found living under the name John Schwartze in Fort Fetterman, Wyoming. The story of how he was found is sort of interesting. It is said that a member of Packer's original 20-man party that had started out with him from Utah, a man by the name of Frenchy Cabizon, was in a saloon when he heard Packer laughing in that same saloon. When Cabizon realized who it was, he turned him in to the authorities in Wyoming. Packer was then returned to Lake City, Colorado, where he was tried for the hatchet-murders of his five companions. Surprisingly, Packer was never charged with cannibalism.

On April 6, 1883, Alferd Packer's trial began at the Hinsdale County Courthouse in Lake City, Colorado. During the trial, among other information, witnesses said that Packer walked out of the mountains with several items in his possession that belonged to the men that he killed. He also walked out with what was described as "rolls of money" on him.

Packer took the stand in his own defense and went on for more than two hours. The whole while telling new lies about what supposedly took place. It is interesting that Packer is said to have supposedly lied about his age, what he did while in the Union Army, and even the cause of his epilepsy. I was told that no one could confirm anything he said.

On the stand, Packer also claimed that he had a struggle with Bell and had shot him in self-defense. But Swan's remains showed evidence of a hand-to-hand struggle, not Bell. That inconsistency was in itself enough evidence that there was much more violence than what Packer said there was. While he denied killing anyone except Wilson Bell in self-defense, he did in fact admit to eating portions of Bell and Miller.

While I'm not going to go into the facts of the case regarding who he killed first, about how most of his victims were half-frozen and asleep when he took a hatchet to them, I'm sure there are writers out there who will furnish everyone with their suspicions of how the crimes were committed. Since no one was there, most of what's known about how he killed his five companions, and how he was still eating parts of them on his way out of the mountain, was pieced together in court. It was pieced together enough for the evidence to be clear to the jury for a guilty verdict. On Friday, April 13, 1883, Alferd Packer was found guilty. He was convicted of five counts of premeditated murder, and ordered to hang for what he did. 

In the next two years, he used whatever legal avenue he had available. He and his lawyers are known to have used the question of court jurisdiction because the murders may have been perpetrated on Indian Reservation lands, and they tried to say that because there was no murder statute in the Colorado Territorial law -- that he technically had committed no crime.

Using these sorts of legal ploys, Packer avoided hanging and actually won the right to a new trial with a change in venue to Gunnison which is 30 miles away. The Colorado Supreme Court overturned his murder conviction, just because he had committed the crimes in the Colorado Territory and the laws had changed when Colorado became a state. During the retrial, that trial in Gunnison went no different for Packer and he was convicted of five counts of voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In August of 1897, Packer wrote letters to The Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post. One particular newspaper columnist who took a definite interest in Packer was with The Denver Post. She wrote under the name of Polly Pry. She is said to have started an effort to get Packer's conviction overturned on the grounds that she was convinced of his innocence -- even though Packer confessed to committing the crimes. In fact, she believed that so much, that she published a series of heartfelt articles to get him paroled. And, while this might answer why folks in Colorado fell in love with their self-confessed hatchet-murdering cannibal, Polly Pry is the reason that public opinion turned in Packer's favor.

She did such a good job at making that killer look like the victim, that it wasn't long before other newspaper reporters and Colorado politicians got involved. Soon, there was such an outcry for Packer's release that Colorado Governor Charles S. Thomas is said to have looked forward to receiving Packer's request for parole. And yes indeed, Governor Thomas approved it as soon as he got it.

Packer, serving less than half of his 40-year sentence, was released from prison in 1901. So while many of us have this notion that murdering criminals didn't get off so easily in the Old West, it is interesting to note that he was paroled after only serving 17 years of his 40-year sentence in the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary.

After his release from prison, he took a job as a guard at The Denver Post. It's said he took that job instead of taking a job as a side-show freak with the Sells-Floto Circus. Of course, it is remarkable to think that he is said to have talked about his exploits and even told stories to children about his adventures in the Colorado Territory before he died at age 60 on April 24, 1907. It's also hard to believe that he was buried with full military honors all paid for at the government's expense since he was a veteran of the Civil War.

Over the years, it's said that grave robbers wanted to steal his body. Others say the concrete over his grave is to stop vandals. Whatever the reason, concrete was poured over his grave to keep him securely in place.

That is, minus his head. Yes, without his head. Believe it or not, a representative from Ripley’s! Believe It or Not confirmed that the company has Packer's mummified head in its collection. Imagine that. While we know that his head is not buried with him, we don't know who removed it from his body, when they did it, and where it went before the Ripley’s! Believe It or Not folks got it. We also don't know how they come into possession of his head, or why Packer's head was taken in the first place. It all remains a mystery.

Of course, even though the whole story of Alferd Packer and what he did is one of the most horrible crimes against nature in Old West history, some folks don't care about that. And really, I'm thinking that Packer not being buried with his head is a mystery that I'm almost certain will help the folks in Colorado celebrate their beloved hatchet-murdering cannibal just that much more.

Tom Correa



Friday, August 12, 2022

Democrats Danced When Lincoln Was Shot


Witnessing an event that has never happened before in our entire history is extremely rare. Most of what happens has happened before to some degree. To be a witness to an important event that has absolutely no precedent, an actual true first in American history, does not happen very often.

This week, an American first has been witnessed by all who keep up with the news. Sadly, this event demonstrates what sort of tyranny occurs when the politically powerful, those in control of the federal government, decide to use government agencies against private citizens. In this case, it is about using the weaponized power of the FBI and DOJ to raid a former president's private residence. And to no one's real surprise these days, it's an American first that has some filled with glee.

On Tuesday, August 9th, 2022, dozens of heavily armed FBI agents and DOJ personnel, along with someone described as a "safe cracker," raided the home of a former president with the pretense of recovering documents from that former president. The documents were supposedly being recovered so that they can be stored in the National Archive. 

Please understand that we are not talking about raiding a home suspected of being a Meth Lab or conducting a Child Sex Trafficking operation. We are not talking about former First Lady Hillary Clinton, who deleted over 30,000 classified emails and used a bleaching program and hammer to ensure her records were destroyed. We also not talking about President Obama, who still has not turned over his classified documents as the law requires. And he left office in 2017.  

We are, in fact, talking about classified and presidential papers relating to the Presidency of Donald Trump while he was in office. We're talking about some of the papers that should end up in his Presidential Library one day. 

So what was so important about those papers? What made the National Archives ask the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct an unannounced raid on a former president's private residence? Why did the agents go through his private safe, search through the former First Lady's closets and clothing, confiscate Trump's private tax papers, and confiscate other personal items that have nothing to do with what is supposed to go into the National Archives? 

Most believe it was a "hunting expedition" of government agents looking to confiscate anything that can be considered incriminating evidence -- all to stop former President Trump from running again for the presidency in 2024. 

That's huge! That is a gigantic first in our nation's history because it has to do with the federal government using its law enforcement muscle as a political weapon against the political opponents of those in control of the White House and Congress. That's the sort of use of political power that should frighten Americans. 

This event is something that should make every American, no matter what their political leanings, question how such a heinous act could take place here. This event is something that every American should understand is a real threat to our Republic simply because it shows that our government has no restraints and is completely out of control. This act points to the reason why many in America today fear our government and believe its power needs to be reined in. 

Please understand that the actions of armed men and women storming a home of a former president over papers that will one day end up either in Trump's presidential library or the National Archives show that the government can use any excuse to raid and illegally search someone's home. This event demonstrates that no one is safe when the government consciously violates its oath to abide by the Constitution. 

My friends, dictatorships are known to use the power of their government's police to attack and intimidate their political rivals. In some cases, in Third World countries, those in power have even gone so far as to use their police to assassinate their political rivals. In dictatorships, acts such as what was done to former President Trump are commonplace. It happens when those in power fear that a political opponent is a threat to their power and position. 

Because others, including former President Obama, have not had their homes searched in the dark of the night under the threat of armed agents for their not turning over documents to the Nation Archives, this first in American History is a step that no one ever expected the Biden White House and the Democrat-controlled Congress to take in their efforts to stop former President Trump from running again for office.

HEADLINE: FBI raid on former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence is the First in Presidential History.

The FBI execution of a sealed search warrant at Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago home in Florida. The raid on Trump's home is unprecedented. The dozens of armed federal agents who carried out the raid, in fact unannounced, used a sealed search warrant on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. The agents did not give anyone at the residence any information as to what they were looking for. The agents told the folks there to turn off the security cameras, which they refused to do -- and most believe this was an effort by officials in the Biden Administration to find criminal evidence to use against the former president. The former president has faced a number of direct or indirect probes since leaving office, including the House January 6 Committee, which is still attempting to connect the former president with January 6, 2022, protesters who breached Capitol security that day.

According to reports, as for his presidential paper is concerned, Trump's lawyers notified the National Archives and Records Administration in February of 2022 that there were 15 boxes of documents stored at the former president's Florida residence. Trump's lawyers were instructed by the National Archives and Records Administration to ensure they were secure out of concern that some classified materials were "possibly" included with that material. According to some news outlets, the DOJ and FBI were instructed to use the "possibility" that more classified materials remained at the location as an excuse for the raid and storming of former president Trump's home.

Now for the rest of the story ...

A couple of days later, I was contacted by a reporter asking if this has ever happened before. She said that she worked for a newspaper and wanted to fact-check the story that this sort of event has never ever occurred before in American History. As we spoke, I told her that such a thing has never taken place in the United States. But, I did mention how the gleeful reactions from Democrats and other Trump haters witnessing the raid are very comparable to the reaction that Democrats had when they learned that President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. Most back in 1865 were euphoric by the news.
 
We then talked about one staunch supporter of the Democratic Party who has a late-night television show. That show is "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." We talked about how the ecstatic host of that show expressed what has been described as "unbridled glee" over the news that former President Donald Trump's Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, was raided by the FBI.

During his show, Colbert giggled excitedly about the raid on former President Trump's home and then went on to say that the headline "FBI Agents raided…Mar-a-Lago" is the "most beautiful sentence America has ever produced." Believe it or not, the hate-filled host compared the raid on Trump's home to feeling like "It's Christmas."

The extremely animated Colbert, who is usually as dry as toast, was one of the most visible Democrats who were outright gleeful over the raid on the former president's home. Colbert, in fact, said on television that Trump had so many crimes to answer for. Yes, as stupid as it sounds, Colbert said, "I wonder which of his crimes they're investigating? Cause he's done so many." While Colbert used his television show to attack the former president, other Trump haters took to social media and other outlets to share their glee.

The reporter called and then asked me how Colbert and the reaction of Democrats, those who are extremely violent Trump haters, compared to President Lincoln being assassinated. I explained to her that the myth that "everyone in our nation was in mourning" after President Lincoln was murdered -- is just a myth. 

Let's remember, in 1854, Americans witnessed a historical first when they saw the creation of the anti-slavery Republican Party. What made the Republican Party different from other anti-slavery political organizations which were around for many years is that no one could have imagined that a president could have been elected on an ant-slavery platform. That was huge at the time. 

Democrats in the South broke away from the Union after Lincoln was elected. Those in the North, especially the Copperhead Democrats who ran many of the Northern newspapers, wanted to keep African slavery intact. They even fought to split the nation in two and allow slavery to remain in the South. During the Civil War, the Northern newspapers ran by Copperhead Democrats of the time were really no different than what CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, and other Democrat-controlled media disseminate what they call the truth today. They hated Lincoln back in the day in the very same way that Democrats hate Trump today. And yes, they ruthlessly attacked and vilified Lincoln at every opportunity. 

That is not a myth, nor is it an exaggeration. Copperhead Democrat editors conducted smear campaigns against Lincoln, spread horrible rumors and straight-out lies about the president, incited violence against Lincoln's policies, called for Lincoln's impeachment, and even called for Lincoln's assassination. Yes, it wasn't really much different than what took place while President Donald Trump was in office.

President Abraham Lincoln was the first president to ever run and hold that office as a member of the Republican Party. He was also the first president to be assassinated. His killer was a Southern Democrat, an actor, a man who is said to have been influenced to carry out his deadly plot to kill the president by Copperhead Democrats who ran many of the Northern newspapers during the Civil War. 

While I've talked about firsts in American history and how Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865, was a first in American history, another first in our history has to do with the vile reaction of Democrats after President Lincoln's assassination. The fact is that Democrats actually praised John Wilkes Booth for shooting President Lincoln. So yes, while some did mourn after the assassination of the president -- others who hated Lincoln actually lauded his assassin. 

In fact, it was reported at the time that some supporters of John Wilkes Booth "publicly danced in the streets and rejoiced at the assassination of President Lincoln."

Political hatred is nothing new in American History. There have always been haters. And yes, my friends, on April 15th, 1865, a lot of them were Democrats who danced when they found out President Lincoln was shot to death. 

While most in the North conveyed what can only be considered "profound grief" at the news that Lincoln was killed by an assassin, it might be a surprise to many that President Abraham Lincoln was considered a "tyrant." One newspaper wrote at the time that he was "a tyrant who needed to be killed."

Instead of being seen as he would later as "the great emancipator" and the man who worked tirelessly to preserve the Union, Copperhead Democrats in the North echoed the sentiment of their brothers in the South, who wrote about how Lincoln "deserved a tyrant's death." In Texas, The Galveston News printed, "In the plentitude of his power and arrogance he was struck down, and is so ushered into eternity, with innumerable crimes and sins to answer for."

While it's understandable to expect such things coming out of Southern Democrats, one Copperhead Democrat in Massachusetts was reportedly so gleeful to hear of Lincoln being murdered that he horrified his neighbors by shouting, "They've shot Abe Lincoln! He's dead, and I'm glad he's dead." 

If you think it was only Democrats who universally enjoyed the news of Lincoln's assassination, George W. Julian, who was a Republican congressman from Indiana at the time, what we today would call a RINO, a "Republican In Name Only," is known to have said, "Lincoln's death is a God-send."
 
And yes, if you're wondering, there were even those in the Union Army who celebrated that Lincoln was shot. Probably one of the most noteworthy was a soldier by the name of James Walker, who was a member of the 8th California Infantry. The 8th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the Civil War. It was a unit that was raised late in the war, actually in the last year of the war. The 8th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry had its headquarters located initially at Alcatraz Island and spent almost all of its existence serving in posts around San Francisco Bay, the California Gold Country, and later in Washington Territory and Oregon. 

Upon hearing the news, James Walker allowed his hidden sentiments to rise to the occasion. In front of his Union Army comrades, he declared that Lincoln was a "Yankee son of a bitch who ought to have been killed long ago." Believe it or not, Walked was arrested, given an immediate court-martial, and sentenced to death by firing squad. He was very fortunate that an appeals court later commuted his sentence. 

Of course, he wasn't the only person in the Union Army to voice his glee that his Commander-In-Cheif was shot. Believe it or not, it's recorded that military officials dishonorably discharged dozens of enlisted men right after Lincoln's assassination for voicing their joy at hearing the sad news. One was a Michigan soldier stationed in Lincoln’s hometown. He was heard shouting, "The man who killed Lincoln did a good thing."

But really, let's be frank here, it shouldn't be surprising that some people celebrated Lincoln's death just as they celebrate that Trump's home was raided. President Lincoln became a martyr to freedom and nationalism alike. Yes, like Trump, Lincoln was a champion of nationalism. He held the nation together through the worst years that our nation has ever faced. While many issues caused the Civil War, and it was not just the issue of slavery, President Lincoln's opponents were Democrats who would have rather the United States dissolve itself than lose their precious Antebellum life.

As Democrats praise the attack on former President Trump's private residence, believe it or not, there are partisan politicians like the former head of the CIA who actually suggested that Trump should be executed if the FBI finds enough evidence to do so.

To such vile individuals, President Trump is a tyrant and an enemy. But really, what did President Trump do to deserve such hatred? Trump understands that Americans believe that we should address our problems and care about America first before we cater to the needs of other nations. He started a movement to refrigerate the American spirit, rebuild our nation's economic strength, and reestablish our manufacturing base. He sought to invigorate the belief that our founding principles are still valid and that our Capitalist system, a system that the rest of the world is embracing, is worth fighting for right here at home. To the Left, Trump and his supporters merely think that way is criminal.

President Trump's opponents are Democrats and other Leftist Anarchists who are against Americans looking after the needs and cares of America first before we worry about others. They are against American nationalism and those of us who identify and support our interests. Trump believes that our young people should be taught to love our country, honor our National Anthem, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, learn our Constitution, understand the Bill of Rights, and always remember that the government works for us -- and not the other way around. Democrats are against these things.

As in Lincoln's day, Trump's enemies are America's enemies from within. Today, their goal is to see the destruction of the United States while creating a Socialist America. As with those who would have been okay with destroying the United States under Lincoln, there are those today who would destroy America rather than lose their political power and see their dreams of a Socialist America end. 

I find it ironic that Democrats, and those Republicans In Name Only, fear former President Trump and the Republican Party today. Trump and the Republican Party are what are stopping the Democrats from creating a Socialist America. Democrats in the 1860s fought to keep slavery intact. Copperhead Democrats in the North during the Civil War tried to ensure that slavery would remain in place if the South rejoined the Union. 

Of course, the issue of slavery is extremely ironic when we consider the basic truth about Socialism. Socialism is slavery. What is the difference between the sort of slavery that Lincoln ended and the slavery which is Socialism? In a Socialist nation, the government would be our slave master. And of course, as we all know, historically, the Democratic Party 

So yes, when a reporter contacted me in regards to the reaction of Democrats today over events that happened with President Trump compared to their reaction to the assassination of President Lincoln, I explained to her that such an act excites those who vehemently hate someone for no rational reason. Their hate for Trump and his supporters is visceral. 

But then again, as I told the reporter, we should keep in mind that Democrats belong to a political party that has a history of being the political party of slave masters and hate for America and Capitalism. I explained to her why we should never forget that the Democratic Party has always been an oppressor of our individual rights and freedoms. After all, our history is replete with examples of their centuries-long fight against Women's Rights -- as well as their war against Civil Rights for Blacks. 

The point is that the euphoric reaction of Democrats to what happened to Trump recently or Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre should not surprise anyone. Actually, the reaction of Democrats is very predictable.

Tom Correa