If Lincoln had not died

[Thomas Thorne]

Dear Wild Bill
The new year has only begun and you are contemplating giving unnecessary work to EMS people-heart attack-and morgue attendants-suicide. We need you.

Dear Rob
I must respectfully disagree with yr statement about our current struggles with racism. Its prevalence today is greatly exaggerated. Suppose you had told Jefferson Davis in 1861 that the 2 major party candidates for president in 2012 were an African American incumbent and a Mormon. The 2 VP candidates were both Roman Catholics. The African American was reelected. Given his relative inexperience observers thought he would not been nominated by his party in 2008 if he were white and the nomination would have gone to a more qualified woman.

The opposition party was accused by some of this president's supporters of being racists. Most of the evidence cited were "code words" uttered by the president's opponents that by some alchemy could only be construed as racist by the president's supporters. Two code words actually cited were references to the president coming from Chicago and his fondness for playing golf.

The most recent president of this opposition party had 2 African American secretaries of state. The opposition party had two governors of former Confederate states whose parents were born in India. One of these governors was from South Carolina and just appointed an African American to the United States Senate.

In 2012 all nine members of the United States Supreme Court were Roman Catholics.

Please quantify the amount of smelling salts the EMS people-who would otherwise be devoted to caring for Wild Bill's rhetorical injuries-would need to revive Jefferson Davis?
Tom