and Ulster is still divided between TTL Sinn Féin analogue and TTL DUP analogue?
The American System Expanded Universe
- Thread starter TheHedgehog
- Start date
2006 Chinese presidential election
The 2006 Chinese presidential election was held on August 10 and 17, 2006 and marked the return of democratic rule following the 2005 military coup. The ruling Republican Salvation Council heavily restricted the eligibility of candidates, including banning deposed former president Liu Bao from running for his old office. Zhang Jiahou, the Governor of Zhejiang Province, led the Tongmenghui to a narrow victory over former National Deputy Liao Cheng of the opposition Villagers' Party.
The campaign was dominated by the 2005 coup, in which General Deng Zemin led units of the New Army to depose president Liu, who led a traditionalist, regionalist, and rural-populist administration, after Liu agreed to negotiations with the Tibet Liberation Front. Deng justified the coup as an act in defense of the Three Principles of the People and the modernist Maoist foundation of the Chinese state. The Tongmenghui, traditionally the party supported by the army and partially founded by General Hanfu Mao Zhanfeng, was placed in the uncomfortable position of distancing itself from the coup while agreeing with General Deng on most issues. The Villagers' Party, which had been ousted from power during the coup, condemned the coup in strong terms while also moderating its social policies and taking a stronger position on internal security.
In a close election, marred by opposition allegations of military intimidation and unfair media coverage, Governor Zhang narrowly defeated Liao in the runoff by just 4 percentage points. Liao claimed that the army had scared voters into supporting their preferred candidates, pointing to reports of violence in Tibet and Mongolia as proof. The courts refused to authorize a full recount, and Liao reluctantly conceded. Protests continued for several weeks after the results were certified, but the declaration by foreign governments that the election was "free and fair" placated most of the opposition. Since the elections, Chinese politics have stabilized, as Zhang and his successors moved to curb political activism in the military, though separatist terrorism and media biases continue to be a major issues.
Claire W. Huntington
The daughter of longtime Lakota Attorney General Oliver Wolcott and niece of president Edward H. W. Wolcott, Huntington was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, but her father moved the family to Minnehaha, Lakota. After graduating from Lakota State University in 1976, Huntington earned a JD from New York Central University and practiced law in Minnehaha before running for congress in 1984. She retired in 1996 to successfully run for governor. As governor, Huntington reformed the education system, encouraged the growth of the tech industry, and developed the state's renewable energy industry, primarily wind power.
In the 2004 United States presidential election, Huntington defeated Democratic incumbent president Harlan H. Hampton by a wide margin amid a severe financial crisis. Upon taking office, Huntington signed a major economic stimulus program and a crime bill, the Securing American Communities Act. As the economy recovered, Huntington turned her attention to what the news media termed the "Fifth American System," centered on reforming Warren Burke's regulated private-sector healthcare system towards a public option in competition with private insurance. Negotiations on what would become the Healthcare Modernization Act were deeply contentious, with vice-president Greg DeNunzio announcing he would vote no if the Senate was tied and over a dozen Red Whigs breaking the whip in the House. Huntington involved herself heavily in the process, attacking Whig opposition as "the weak link" and threatening to relocate government facilities in the districts of wavering Red Whigs. The HMA was ultimately signed into law in June 2006.
Huntington was comfortably re-elected in 2008, defeating the scandal-ridden Mike Paxton. Her second term was dominated by education reform and the 2010 redistricting process. While the Saving Our Schools Act was uncontroversial, Huntington was widely accused of using the Federal Redistricting Board to reduce the Liberal party's chances of a House majority. The controversy over the FRB's rejection of district maps proposed by Liberal legislatures, along with her uncompromising leadership during the HMA negotiations, have led to Huntington's nickname of the "Iron Lady". She shocked many by supporting Neil Ahrendt, the Secretary of Public Works, to succeed her in 2012 rather than the front runner, Secretary of State Tom Pepper.
During Huntington's terms as president, the United States underwent a period of economic expansion not seen since the 1970s and she left office with the highest approval rating since Warren Burke, but political polarization increased markedly, and scholars criticize Huntington's strong rhetoric and harsh attacks on political opponents as key factors. Huntington left office on January 20, 2013, and returned to Lakota. Her presidential library in Minnehaha was completed in 2022. Since leaving office, Huntington has remained active in Whig politics, including campaigning for candidates in various American elections, and she remains popular with the public. Outside of politics, Huntington has published two bestselling books: American Promise (2002) and No U-Turns (2016). Rankings by historians and scholars place her in the middle to upper tier of American presidents.
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2023 Italian legislative election
The 2023 Italian legislative election was a snap election held in Italy on 8 April 2023, with all 440 members of the People's Assembly up for election.
Following the 2020 elections, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) formed a minority government with confidence and supply from the Catholic Democratic Union (UDC) and Civic Forum (FC), which was enabled by the abstention of the Fascist Party (PF) from Ettore D'Agostino's investiture, in turn triggering a party crisis that ousted Enrico Morelli as leader. The PSD's term of office was undermined by a series of climate disasters, chiefly the 2021 Super-Cyclone Joseph, which caused a particularly extreme acqua alta that left large swaths of land in Venezia and Emilia-Romagna permanently inundated. The 2022 European heatwave and drought caused further instability, as the Po river dried up and thousands died due to heatstroke, wildfires, and the effects of widespread blackouts. The PSD government was widely criticized for the chaos and uncertainty that followed these, and faced protests from those displaced by the ecological disasters. Amid the chaotic aftermath of the heatwave and with the drought still ongoing, the PSD government was dealt another blow when they lost the October 2022 Consular election to Republican Regeneration (RR), a major political upset. In September 2022, a judicial investigation revealed that the PSD had known that the state-run power company lacked the capacity to cope with heavy usage of air-conditioning units but had declined to finance major upgrades in order to cut costs.
In the aftermath of the Power & Light Scandal, RR led the Fascists, leftist parties and FC in bringing down D'Agostino's government in October 2022 through a motion of no confidence. D'Agostino resigned as PSD leader and was subsequently succeeded by Pietro Capuano. The opposition parties were unable to form a government, mainly due to disagreements between the Fascist and RR parties. In December 2022, Consul Cecilia Santorelli invited Luigi Suozzi, the president of the Court of Cassation, to lead an interim government until elections could be held. The campaign period, held at the end of the driest winter in recent history, was met with issues regarding climate change, internal climate refugees, the future of Venice's administration, and the state of emergency still in effect in northern Italy. Midway through the campaign, the far-right 1848 Movement gained attention for its sudden rise in opinion polls as the traditional right fractured between the unpopular PDS and the centrist FC. Meanwhile, the Italian left was also splintering, as the insurgent leftist RR eclipsed the Fascists in polling amid the latter party's internal power struggles and lingering unpopularity from Morelli's centrist pivot in the 2020 elections. PDS was confronted by widespread popular discontent with its handling of these crises, while the Fascists were also saddled with blame because they had abstained during the 2020 government formation process.
On a turnout of 79.6%, the RR of Matteo Galletti won a victory—the first time since 1921 that a party other than PDS or the Fascists formed a government, with 30.3% of the vote and 142 seats—an improvement of 57 seats over its December 2020 performance. These gains mostly came at the expense of the Fascists, who returned with 15.3% of the vote and just 65 seats, down 32 from the last election. The PSD under Capuano recorded its worst result in history, reduced to 82 seats and just 17.2% of the vote in what was dubbed the worst electoral setback for a major Italian party since the collapse of the USC in 1937. FC saw a substantial increase of support which brought them within 0.8% of the vote and within 8 seats of the PSD, surpassing them in several major constituencies. The far-right 1848 Movement saw an increase of support, scoring 10.1% of the vote and 42 seats, although less than forecasted by opinion polls. The UDC also suffered a major collapse in support, losing 31 seats for 11 seats and 4.1% of the vote, effectively ending its traditional role as a kingmaker. Galletti's RR was the only party realistically able to form a government, and he was ultimately invested as Chief Minister on 14 June, with support from the Fascists and Social Liberals.
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Climate change is major issue in this TL (expanded universe?) an bringing the fall of governments… damn… and the fascists are going strong it seems. Ack.
Great work! I think a superhurricane hitting Venezia and Emilia-Romagna is quite improbable, hurricanes are mainly an oceanic phenomenon, and the Adriatic Sea is pretty small, super closed and placid.
Are these Fascist descendants of the Fasci siciliani dei lavoratori?
Yes, climate change is even worse TTL because of greater industrialization in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Thanks!
My thinking was that one of the mediterranean semi-cyclones forms and is more severe than usual because of climate change. It doesn't hit Venice directly, but the big tidal surge in the Adriatic that it causes is even more extreme than ever before and causes permanent flooding, I'll edit the text to be clearer.
The Fascists are the result of a coalition between the radical Workers' Party and the more reformist Progressive Party in the 1920s
In the US? I'm not sure yet but possibly.
Thanks so much! Glad you're enjoying the insanity.
Florence NE is indeed Omaha
This is, in the best way, one of the most batshit present day politics I’ve seen this side of “These Fair Shores”. Well done!
Super Bowl LIX
Tennessee finished the regular season with an NFC best 13-4 record, then extended their record Super Bowl appearances to twelve, their fourth in five years, and their sixth under the leadership of head coach Nate Lowell and MVP quarterback Hank Walton. Richmond secured a wild card berth with an 11-6 record to advance to their first Super Bowl appearance through the guidance of several new acquisitions, most notably rookie wide receiver Jordan Sharp.
Tennessee scored two consecutive touchdowns in the first quarter, taking a 24-10 halftime lead. However, in the second half, Richmond staged a comeback, scoring one touchdown in the third quarter and three in the fourth quarter, while Tennessee scored one touchdown and one field goal in the fourth. The game was settled after wide receiver Jordan Sharp caught a 71-yard Hail Mary pass as time expired to take a 38-37 lead, winning the game for the Chetniks. This play later became known as the Richmond Rally and joined NFL lore. Sharp, who caught four touchdowns, set the record for the longest completed pass in NFL history, also became the first rookie to be named Super Bowl MVP.
UBC's broadcast of Super Bowl LIX set the record for most-watched program in American history and is the second-most watched television broadcast of all time after the resignation of Montgomery Berryhill. The game was seen by an average of 101.3 million viewers. Average viewership for the halftime show, headlined by The Weathervanes, was 104.7 million American television viewers, 2 percent more than the previous year. This was the closest Super Bowl in NFL history. The game is also considered one of the greatest Super Bowl games of all time.
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Kinda surprised the Richmond Chetniks haven't faced off against the Chicago Ustashe.
Thanks so much! Glad you're enjoying the Silicon Plains haha
Lol, Chicago's just got the boring old Cardinals.
TTL, Richmond has a large immigrant population from Serbia and Bulgaria, and so when the AFL established a franchise in the city, they named it after the Cheta anti-Ottoman bandits of the late 1800s.