Booth's Escape Route

[MaddieM]

(01-28-2013 10:37 PM)My Name Is Kate Wrote:  I just discovered this thread!

There are lots of good posts being made and much to think about. Some of the things being said, I can't agree with, like saying that, at least in some cases, a person should forever be labeled and defined by their worst moment or worst action. Granted, that is probably how history will label some people, as in the case of Powell, but he paid the ultimate price for his sin. He said he was sorry, he seemed to be sorry, his actions lent credence to his being sorry, so does anyone really have the right to say that his remorse wasn't genuine? Isn't that between him and his Maker?

Maybe he did understand fully in an intellectual way, what he was getting into and what the consequences would be if he were caught. But he may have learned to think more or less like a robot after four years of war. Then, when he was in Seward's home, in a family setting, with a young woman (who may have reminded him of his sisters) screaming bloody murder, his forgotten religious upbringing and his emotions kicked in, and it finally dawned on him in full force, what he was doing.

Or, it could be that he was just a cold-blooded killer. If so, he got what he deserved. In any case, he paid the price for the crime he committed. And if there is an afterlife, he hasn't even paid the worst price that is in store for him and all the suffering he caused the Seward family and his own family. But I don't know why anyone would wish that on someone. I prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt and leave the rest to the law and God. History will always remember him first and foremost for his crime.

It seems that even Powell could not fathom his own actions that night. Cold blooded killer? I definitely don't think so. I don't even think JWB was that.

Too, I think that the more our historians dig into the past, the more comes to light that banishes untruths and hyperbole written at the time. And we do know for certain that some events recorded by the press at that time were just not true. Such is the nature of the media.

The afterlife? Hell is right here on earth.