Was Stanton a murder target?

[John Fazio]

(11-05-2016 10:28 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  

(11-04-2016 10:59 PM)John Fazio Wrote:  Kees:

Thank you for your offering. Frankly, I cannot make sense of it. That leaves two possibilities: either it doesn't make sense or I am not equipped to understand it. How can "potential", which is an abstraction, i.e. not material, be "dense and hot". Further, I do not understand what "spark points" are; I do not know where the "space" came from; and, according to Sagan, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. Still further, Sagan says that the laws of nature, as we know them, must be the same everywhere. Please send your metaphor, etc., to 3420 South Smith Rd., Fairlawn, Ohio 44333. Thank you in advance.

As for O'Laughlen, yes, your theory is possible, but I believe it is highly unlikely. I find it hard to believe that Booth's friend from childhood, who enjoyed a special relationship with Booth, would betray him or do anything that was contrary to his interests, including trying to talk him out of his mission. Booth was boss; the leader of his immediate action team. O'Laughlen was merely a subordinate. If he wanted to talk him out of it, he would have done so in Baltimore when Booth came there on the 13th to fetch him. The fact that he went to Washington and then, while there, went twice to the National, proves, to me, that he was still playing Booth's game.

John

John,
I did not say that potential was dense and hot. I said: “In our beginning there was nothing but infinite potential, dense and hot” ---- three things necessary for the creation of our universe: 1. infinite potential, 2. dense and 3. hot. Infinite potential is a concept from quantum mechanics. I think Sagan said that MATTER cannot travel faster than the speed of light (in a vacuum). BTW, it’s not from Sagan, but from Einstein. Quantum entanglement moves faster than light. Spacetime itself expand at a rate such that objects within it are separating faster than the speed of light. And indeed the laws of nature must be the same everywhere IN OUR UNIVERSE. But there are probably more universes with totally other laws of nature. It’s my pleasure to give you my opinion. Please send me your private E-MAIL address via the contact page of this forum, because (I think) this is not the place to discuss this and snail mail is too slow.

Back to O’Laughlen, Booth, Stanton, Grant

All is possible, but why was O’Laughlen still Booth’s “partner in crime”? Yes, he had (from childhood) a very special and close relationship with Booth. Booth was a “good friend”, BUT turned a bad friend, a toxic friend, who tried to manipulate him and others. He had bad intentions. That’s why O’Laughlen left the group after the meeting in Gautier’s and returned to Baltimore. Yes, it’s possible that Booth still wanted O’Laughlen in his team. He travelled to Baltimore on April 13, but maybe found O’Laughlen still unwilling to join again (why would he have changed his mind?). Maybe O’Laughlen warned Booth of the consequences of his actions; that he would end up on the gallows. Therefore, as a lifelong friend, O’Laughlen tried to change Booth’s mind. That’s are friends for. That’s also the reason he went twice to the National. In all honesty, I don’t think, O’Laughlen was Booth’s “subordinate”, and did not see Booth as his “boss”, who “ordered” him to go to the National.

Another thing. As far as I know Booth told Powell, Atzerodt and Herold of his plan to kill Lincoln c.s. at the final meeting in Herndon House, in the early evening of April 14. What was his reason to tell O’Laughlen his plan on April 13?

Kees:

The scenario you set forth--O'Laughlen trying to persuade Booth to call it quits-- is certainly possible, but I believe it to be less likely than the scenario in which he is still part of Booth's plans. If O'Laughlen tried to talk Booth out of proceeding with his plans, he would have told his lawyer this, would he not? In that case, his lawyer would have made that argument to the Commission, but there is no evidence that he did. His lawyer addressed only his client's whereabouts on the 13th and 14th, trying in this way to demonstrate that his client was not guilty of what he was charged with in the indictment and specifications. Your belief that O'Laughlen was not Booth's subordinate is off the mark. Please read the evidence against him in Pitman, especially Booth's letters to him dated March 13 and March 27 ("Don't fear to neglect your business. You had better come at once"; "Get word to Sam. Come on, with or without him, Wednesday morning. We sell that day sure. Don't fail". These orders are consistent with his going to the National on the 13th and 14th of April. He would not have gone unless he felt obligated to go.

There is persuasive evidence that all three of them already knew what was expected of them that night. That was certainly true of Arnold, who later told his captors that he had been given his assignment in the morning. The meeting was held merely to clarify roles and to tie up loose ends. Because push had finally come to shove, Atzerodt objected, but he put his head into the lion's mouth anyway. O'Laughlen and Arnold were always kept separate from the others, except at Gautier's and Campbell Hospital. Booth most likely gave O'Laughlen his assignment(s) in Baltimore. There was therefore no reason for him to attend the Herndon House meeting.

John