Presidential Power

"Who shot Abraham Lincoln?" little kid asked.

Big Kid answered, "John Wilkes Booth."

"Why?"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
"I guess he didn't like how he was doing things. You know, if I could bring anyone back to life, it would be Abraham Lincoln."

I was surprised, "Really? I would have guessed Ben Franklin or Teddy Roosevelt. Why Abraham Lincoln?" I was dying to know if Big Kid had some big civil rights question or assassination mystery to solve.

"I'd bring him back to watch Lincoln: Vampire Hunter with him. Just to see what he thinks."

I laughed. "He'd probably think it was pretty weird. Like, 'Really? After all that I did, this is how they've chosen to remember me?'"

"I'd bring back George Washington. He would be the best at killing zombies," little kid interrupted.

"That makes no sense, this has nothing to do with zombies," Big Kid clarified.

"Still couldn't hurt to bring someone back who could fight zombies real good. He was a war general. I'd ask him how he died, nothing I read ever tells me."

"We looked it up on Wikipedia, remember? It sounded like pneumonia and then they kept draining blood out of him and we decided that was probably the ultimate problem." I reminded him.

"Oh right. Well I'd still pick him because of the zombies. What if you brought him back and then he just had a heart attack and died of the surprise? That would be a bummer." I agreed that yes, that would be a bummer.

"I think Ben Franklin would think we were lazy but would be amazed by the technology. I don't think Lincoln would be impressed with us or the movie. We're kind of terrible people," Big Kid offered.

"Really? We're doing pretty well with civil rights, I think, comparatively speaking. He might be impressed," I said.

"Maybe," he conceded. "But definitely not with the movie."

No, probably not with the movie.

I think it's safe to say that if we ever get the power to bring one person back from the dead, my kids shouldn't be the ones who get to choose who and why.