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AH Run-downs, summaries and general gubbins



"The Concrete Python" was a derogatory term for a series of brutalist-architecture 'New Towns' constructed across northern England and south Scotland. On one map in the 1980s, the completed and mostly-completed towns had a curvy snake-like shape and so The Sun ran with an image of them as a great grey python strangling the local countrysides and communities. When the Tories returned in 1988, they stopped construction of the rest of the planned settlements and thus the 'python' shape remained.

In the 2010 election, the 'Concrete Python' became a major political issue again as it screwed up the Conservative's "Op North" plan to win over disgruntled Labour voters in the North and rural Scotland. A number of key constituencies went Lib Dem instead due to the 'Python' resident voters, who'd been cannily wooed by the local Lib Dems as an alternative to Labour ("they take you for granted") and Tory ("they look down on you"). This was enough to keep the Tories in minority government and kickstarted the Lib Dem's current regional pivot.
 
First Round of Greatest Romanians,11 July 2006

1. Stephen the Great

2. Carol I

3. Mihai Eminescu

4. Michael the Brave

5. Richard Wurmbrand

6. Ion Antonescu

7. Mircea Eliade

8. Nicolae Ceaușescu

9. Alexandru Ioan Cuza

10. Gigi Becali


Advocates during second round:

Stephen the Great
-Răzvan Theodorescu,PSD MP,former Culture Minister and Member of the Romanian Academy

Carol I-Ion Bulei,head of the Department of Romanian History and director of the Institute of Political Science and International Relations of the Romanian Academy

Mihai Eminescu-George Pruteanu,PRM MP and philologist

Michael the Brave-Adrian Păunescu,PSD MP and poet

Richard Wurmbrand-Iosif Țon,Baptist preacher and founder of the Evangelical Alliance for Romania

Ion Antonescu-Gheorghe Buzatu,PRM MP and history teacher

Mircea Eliade-Răzvan Voncu,poet

Nicolae Ceaușescu-Dan Zamfirescu,literary historian and Dacist

Alexandru Ioan Cuza-Dinu C Giurescu,historian

Gigi Becali-Dan Pavel,writer,journalist,philosopher and political scientist


It really shouldn't have ended this way. In theory,it could have all gone a lot better.

In practice though it was a disaster. One that anyone,let alone Valentiu Nicolau,couldn't have dealt with.

Granted,Nicolau didn't necessary made things easier for himself. Already viewed as turning TVR into PSD's personal TV state propaganda (outside the private TV propaganda,during the Năstase Years no one dared of even farting without asking PSD first for approval),Nicolau had to deal with many of its staff protesting his leadership and resigning from TVR after Năstase's victory in 2004 on one hand and the constant plots from his rivals in PSD to remove him as GM and put someone even more obedient in charge on the other hand. Cornel Mihalache's resignation,the violent end to the protests in Carol Park,the massive corruption of the government-all made it harder to hide the truth in a way that pleased his masters and also didn't led to everyone else competent in TVR from leaving. And that's not mentioning his desperate attempts to somehow put a positive spin of Romania's entry into the EU being delayed til 2010 due to,well,obvious reasons and Bulgaria entering early instead. Or the many failed TVR TV shows that either no one watched or no one liked. He really needed Greatest Romanians to be a success.

Unfortunately,reality kicked in.

When the voting ended,almost everyone was shocked by the result. Wurmbrand at 5 due to every Evangelist in and outside the country rigging the vote in clever way,Antonescu and Ceaușescu only at 6 and 8 respectively due to TVR casting out some votes out of desperation and Gigi fucking Becali at 10,solely because he owned Steaua and it had just won the UEFA Cup against Sevilla. Even worse was the fact,revealed by the few remaining independent newspapers,people close to President Năstase and PSD officials rigged the vote in order to have him be in the first ten,only for him to only end up at 12th because,well,it would have needed too much poll rigging to do without people noticing. (that it was hard for him to beat Brâncuși at 11-it was a miracle he didn’t lose to Dică at 13).Privately,the Prez was angry as hell over him not ending up in the second round (not to mention having yet another corruption scandal revealed in public and Iliescu starting his own splinter party over this last straw) and lashed out at Nicolau for bloody Wurmbrand,Antonescu,Ceaușescu and Becali being in there (and also because he didn’t help him being in the top 10),with the latter career being definitely over and Horia Alexandrescu taking his job.

Nicolau tried everything in his power as GM over the years to be both a butler to PSD and run the place in an acceptable-ish manner. He made more and more moral compromises to keep the job,deluding himself that he’s doing it for the right reasons,for the greater good of TVR (and himself but let’s not get into that).

And now it was all for nothing.
 
Available from Orbis Books (Birmingham), 2023:

Fifty years ago, Ronald Reagan took the reins of American government. The social democratic state forged in the fires of the Depression, the New Deal, the Second World War, and the Emergency was put in the hands of a man many assumed to be merely a figurehead. They were proven wrong. The Reagan Presidency not only institutionalized Communism as the state ideology of the only developed country since the first Soviet Union ever to practice it; in a very real sense, it created much of what is unique about modern America, from its manic focus on the satisfaction of the 'citizen-worker-consumer' to its hyperactive media environment to its comfort with informal, 'passive' planning. With the Communist Party (Reaganist) likely to form part of the British governing coalition after next year's general election, it's worth taking a look at the fruits of the Reaganists' labor at home...

#0: William Gibson, 1948-: Notes on America
William Gibson's explorations of technology and society have made him one of the most prominent voices in science fiction since his 1976 defection to Canada, but he has also been known for his non-fiction, much of it about his birth country and its transformation. 1948- is a non-fiction book in three parts: "Down and Out in Manhattan and Montréal" reprints and contextualizes selections from Gibson's diary to paint a portrait of his time as a draft dodger, beatnik, and underground journalist in the early Reagan era, "First Person Shooters" aggregates decades of Gibson's cultural criticism and writings to present 'a grand unified theory of modern American media', and "Great World with the Guillotine" describes Gibson's visits to a vastly-changed America since his 1999 pardon.​

#1: Athena Dimitriou, Selling the Socialist Society: Modern Marketing Without the Market
The United States has not had a free market in nearly a century, but its marketers and market researchers - funded and employed by and on behalf of the American party-state - are among the most skilled and innovative in the world, with their insights making their way overseas to British, French, and Japanese corporations. Despite the fact that the Popular Front fights its elections against a palette of deliberately unelectable parties, despite the fact that there is virtually no separation between the management of formally independent and formally state-owned corporations, their researchers still field-test their messaging and products with a methodical and energetic eye. Athena Dimitriou, an academic at Friedrich Wilhelm University, takes readers on a tour of the history, ideology, and practice of American marketing in an attempt to understand how - and why - its practitioners do what they do.​

#2: June Lange Johnston, The Polite Panopticon: Surveillance, Society, and Social Media America
Since the passage of the 35th Amendment in 1975, American citizens have a legal right to privacy, and while many observers assume that that right - like many other features of the American legal system - is a dead letter, June Lange Johnston, an American-Australian journalist and former editor of Spark!, takes a different perspective. With a legal system, for ideological reasons, quite deferent to the defendant's right to privacy, American social media has taken a different direction - government has quietly promoted its use and cultivated its culture and norms to serve its interests, tailoring it so that individual citizens will tattle on themselves or each other and 'organic' pressure campaigns will self-organize against 'anti-social behavior' by individuals or institutions.​
#3: Sidney Mendenhall, The Road to Haymarket Square: The American Protest Reconsidered
The 2022 election of Agnes Burch, formerly spokesperson for the Occupy Chicago movement against corruption and sexual misconduct at the highest levels of American society, as Representative for California's 66th congressional district has shone a light on the nature of protest in America - far from being suppressed, it takes on an almost talismanic quality in American media, even as cynical observers note that notable protestors frequently find their way into positions in the Peace Party or AFL-CIO without their causes receiving more than a few symbolic gestures. Sidney Mendenhall, an investigative radio host and former political prisoner, argues that this is no coincidence. The American party-state idolizes protest on an ideological level and uses it on a material level as a way of performing magnanimity and finding new, energetic recruits for its machinery, co-opting its aesthetics and personnel in the process - most notably, Norman Podhoretz' critique of sclerotic classism in the first generation of American communists and Steve Kerr's leadership of student sports protests against the War in Ethiopia launched them on their paths to the Presidency.​
#4: Julian Obrador, The Life and Death of a Process Man: A Novel
It is easy to state that Marxism-Leninism-Reaganism, uniquely among varieties of Marxism, analyzes the proletariat as consumers who happen to work rather than workers who happen to consume. It is harder to understand the practical and individual ramifications. Julian Obrador, a pseudonym for an unknown author or group of authors living somewhere in California, tells the story of Julian Obrador, a member of the American Job Corps attached to an oil refinery in coastal California, whose monotonous working life is complicated by a series of encounters with the mysterious Dr. Slate.​

And more to come with our spring tranche of books in April!
 
Regions of Planet Ryska

Ryska is an atmospheric, semi-arid, xanthophyllic planet in the region near the edge of explored space called the Achaean Reach. It was primarily settled by settlers fleeing wars in the Rindaal Sector in the 23rd century of Ereporg reckoning [about 400 years prior]. It is known as a fractious but stable planet, mostly dominated by small collections of farming republics, with more centralized nations near the rivers. Ryska is divided into five major regions: the Icecap at the North Pole, the Glacial River Valleys, The Prairies, the Southern Coast, and the Roaring Ocean.

The Northern Icecap is home to the Miner’s Republics, which both are some of the most independent-minded states on the planet, but also the ones with the most communication off-world. True habitation doesn’t penetrate very far onto the icecap itself, with settlements ringing its edge, and rail lines connecting them to the mines. These mines are predominantly one of two types: ice mines and coal mines, both of whose products are immediately exported, explaining this region’s contact off-world. The most notable is the Republic of Schwartzhorn, in the shadow of the namesake peak, home of the planetary headquarters of Achaean Consolidated Mining Enterprise, owner of most of the planet’s mines, granting Schwartzhorn outsize soft power around the Cap

The Glacial River Valleys are born of the meltwater from the Icecap glaciers, in three strands descending the prairies until they flow into the Roaring Sea at Elisabeth Bay, Vochtigmond, and Geraldston. It is not strictly accurate to call this a single region, as the three rivers start, run, and meet the sea without ever intersecting; but they share many characteristics. They all flow north to south, they all have eroded large, fertile valleys, and they have all become centers of habitation on Ryska. The largest and most populated valley is the Vochtig River, which flows from its source in the glaciers around the Schwartzhorn to the sea. The valleys by their nature lead to political centralization, with each of them having larger nations, but the nations of the planet are fractious, and no such project has succeeded in any real centralization efforts.

The Prairies cover most of the planet but ironically are less inhabited than the Roaring Ocean; this sparseness renders government above the town level nonexistent. They are hard to make a living on, its soils, if a farmer could pierce the thick sod atop it, are so poor they cannot support more than grasses. Due to these limitations, farming is impossible, and these wild plains are dominated by massive cattle herds, fiercely guarded resources of the massive beef concerns. These most uncivil of corporate employs, everyone has some reason they end up a Ryskan cattleman, even the ones running the enterprise on-site were kicked upstairs, often for reasons involving other executives’ spouses. But make no mistake, everyone out here is well-armed, and there’s lots of space for troublesome cattlemen to disappear on the frontier’s frontier.

The Southern Coast is a harsh place, battered by the omnipresent storms of the Ocean it borders, and thus it has never been a popular destination for settlement. Nonetheless, nations have been established, most subsisting off maritime produce, with fishing and canning providing most of the economy of this region. Generally, the stability of the coastal republics decreases the further from the Rivers you get, it’s often said that a man on the Far Coast is one of the toughest on Ryska because he chooses to be far from Civilization. It is not the sparsest populated region, but it shares the independent spirit of the Prairies, rejecting any major corporatization of its industries.

This is not true about the Roaring Ocean, mostly because no one lives in an ocean of constant maelstroms by design. But the drillers get paid lots of money to man the offshore rigs that extract the glowing fuel known as Luminor. These rigs are basically floating small towns, and many have struck up a trade with the coastal towns, in goods both legal and illicit. They ship their barrels on the Company Convoy, the most heavily guarded airship system on the planet, where it’s distributed through all of Space.
 
Political Parties of Hong Kong, 2045

Administration / United Nations Committee Chair Javier Kovic (Nonpartisan, de facto Pro-Democracy):
United Nations Transitional Authority
: Trying to please everyone and so far have pleased none. Though to be fair it is the fourth consecutive unelected government installed by foreign powers in a hundred years, so you’d think people would have learnt that lesson by now.

Legislative Assembly / Administration of Lam Cheuk-ting (Reconstruction Coalition) (Pro-Administration, Pro-Democracy):
Also known as most of the people in government. Which isn’t really surprising, but also means we have to cover a lot of people.
People Power: For once, the pan-democrats actually have enough power to remake Hong Kong. Considering the fact that half of it has been blown up, set in fire, or shot at in some way, that statement is mostly literal. The cabinet is reshuffled every other week and most of the MPs spent the last five years in exile or prison, but that's just everyday politics in post-uprising Hong Kong.
Independence: Mostly just a party faction in that they vote with People Power and only differ in that they call for immediate independence. To be fair, it’s not as if the issue isn’t the first thing on everyone’s minds. Also they've absorbed most of the left-wing (so the Trots, the Sanderistas, the Maoists, the tankies...okay maybe not) which is pretty damn neat for the next election.
New Democracy: Pretty much the resident centrists in the assembly (super)majority. And as much as they insist their view on the future of Hong Kong is totally nuanced guys please vote for us we promised UBI and everything, having your position be “surely Beijing will keep their promise on autonomy this time” is pretty damn weak.

Opposition / Shadow Administration of Adrian Ho and Tsui Hiu-kit (Opposition Compact) (Anti-Administration):
Pretty much here so the tankies don’t REEEEEE about how this “western-funded Color Revolution false state” is “just as authoritarian as the PRC”.
I mean it's not like they won't anyways
Alliance: A party split evenly between “nonpartisan” business interests, rich kids who came back after spending the 20s and 40s overseas, people who liked John Tsang, and leftover DAB supporters (by 2055 it'll just be the first two). Currently hedging their bets on the "Three Fewers": "Fewer Taxes, Fewer Regulations, and Even Fewer Questions on China".
Trade Unions Alliance: The successor to the FTU, the guys who started the Communist riots in the 1960s, now willingly work with the guys who want to cap increases in social security payouts to be below the inflation rate. Hong Kong politics was an absolute show before the NSL and I suppose it can only keep being a show after.
Consensus: Pretty much the epitome of Radical Centrism (TM), and not even the cool version when you have views from all over the place; it’s the one when you claim to be nonpartisan and unbiased then keep voting for the assholes. Also founded by Ronny Tong, who is the literal definition of the phrase so why am I even surprised

Non-administration (Pro-Administration, Pro-Democracy):
Ecology
: Not in government, but pleased with all these new eco-friendly startups gaining traction (and thanks to the U.S. government, subsidies).
Professionals' Union: Turns out, all that union-busting by John Lee means that labor rights in Hong Kong are a complete mess. Not exactly a party owing to the fact that pro-Renminbi flunkie votes functional constituencies are no longer a thing, but were given the Labour, Healthcare & Public Services, Welfare, and Governmental Oversight Departments, so that's cool.

Others:
United States of America
: The laughter from the Oval Office can be heard in Sweden as the president shouts "I TOLD YOU DESTINY ALWAYS ARRIVES, BITCH" to no one and everyone in particular. On a broader note: giving the army and Peace Corps more to do that just clear out yet another burnt-out village in Vietnam is cool. Having to bail a collapsed financial hub out as German investors actively try to sink it even more, not so much.
On the more "no shit, sherlock" side of things, preoccupied with recovery efforts, considering that its closest, biggest trading partner is either buried in a civil war or would rather raze it to the ground and make it a monument to Liu Xiaobo than acknowledge it as more than 'rightful Chinese clay'.
People's Republic of China (Nationalist): REEEEEEEing about how Hong Kong is 'inalienably Chinese land' and salivating over 'liquefying' the city's "roach-like rabble-rousers and foreign assets". Then they wonder why the 'full independence' option has risen to 53% in polls.
People's Republic of China (Maoist): Officially want Hong Kong back, but if they end up needing foreign aid to root out Hu Haifeng's faction their negotiating power over it will be — like the amount of power LegCo had over the National People's Congress Chris Tang — kinda fucking weak.
 
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My first attempt at one of these, from an electoral-reform thought experiment I've been making a few, as-yet unposted, maps for. President Romney is suffering from the six-year itch and an economy which has just smashed into a brick wall.
I'm going to make a run-down based on this, but for the whole country. Here goes.

Democratic Party:
Forty-eight congressional gains, five senate gains (not to mention all the red-state Democrats hanging on), eight gubernatorial flips, at least ten new trifectas and god knows how many state-level seats gained. It would be probably better if the party wasn't split between the re-energized progressives, the establishment and the somehow-not-dead Blue Dogs. Good luck, whoever ends up as the next President-designee Democratic nominee. You're going to need it.
Jim Clyburn: Very much happy with being Speaker. Most likely will keep being happy with it when Bustos goes for his job in 2021.​
Chuck Schumer: Finally able to flex his leadership muscles now that the Senate majority exceeds 60.​
Donna Edwards: The de-facto leader of the Senate progressives now that the Bern has sadly gone home to Vermont, and one of the leading Democrats for the 2020 primary race.​
Barack Obama: Flattered by all the "Obama would/should have won" chatter. Probably won't run anyways.​
Beto O'Rourke: The new Great Moderate Hope for Democrats in 2020. Sure, why not, we all remember how well Martin Heinrich's campaign did in the primaries. Not his fault, but still.​
Jason Carter: Another rising star in the South, he has the advantage of having won more than once.​
Jim Justice: One of the highest-profile Blue Dogs who will likely run a campaign based entirely on coal. Great, another niche candidate who makes it into the top tier, why not. 2020 had better be the blue wave everyone insists that it is.​
Bill Maher: God truly has left us.​
The Other 2020 Candidates: Even I don't have that much time to waste, so no thanks.​
...Though to be fair I'd just be copy-pasting "has no chance but wants to be Governor / Senator / Secretary of [INSERT HERE] / CNN contributor" for 15 out of 31 candidates, so maybe.​
Republican Party:
Now I know the GOP has bounced back from much worse, but I can't help but shake the feeling that the GOP is currently ripping off the main plot points from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Not entirely surprising, considering that the party spends most of its time fighting itself. The halls of the congressional GOP echo with the sound of betrayal as the even-more-powerless Republicans fully collapse into chaotic disarray.
Unfortunately for everyone, the factions who stuck with President Romney suffered as much bloodletting as much as those who pretended 2012 and 2016 had both ended with Democratic victories. Ex-governor Mike Pence, who lost again the Indiana senate contest to Pete Buttigieg by a crushing 6%, has spent the past week ranting on Twitter, blaming a socialist-homosexual conspiracy - so clearly, he really did think he was running in the '50s. Meanwhile, Louie Gohmert, who survived comfortably, has become the first re-elected congressional Republican to call for the resignation not only of Romney, but also of Vice President Ryan, so that a 'patriotic conservative' can ascend to the Presidency. (yes, that's how the line of succession works.) None of this touches on the jostling for the various committee positions. Like I said, fall of the Roman Empire vibes.
Mitt Romney: Honestly, he probably prefers negotiating with Clyburn and Schumer more than with the heads of the House Freedom Caucus.​
Paul Ryan: On one hand, being Vice President under Mitt Romney pretty much guarantees his defeat in the 2020 election (assuming he even wins the primaries). On the other hand, staying in the House would have relegated him to being one of the many, many defeated conservative hotshots, or worse, in the house leadership team.​
John Cornyn: Just hoping to not lose in 2020.​
Steve Scalise: Does not enjoy being the leader of three seperate parties in one big party-coat. Doesn't have much of a choice.​
Kelli Ward: Declaring that the 'RINO shadow-Democrats' cannot win and only 'true patriots' can. Considering that her chosen candidates (Greitens, DeSantis, Mandel, etc) all lost in 2018 and Romney won two terms, sure, Kelli.​
Main Street Caucus: Yes, the GOP did get its shit kicked in across all fifty states, but as it turns out Republicans in D+10 seats are easier to beat than those in R+13 seats. Pretty much all went down in humiliating defeat from Brian Fitzpatrick to David Valdado.​
House Freedom Caucus: Divided bitterly between the Wardists (read: lunatics), the anti-Wardists (read: lunatics, but less so) and the libertarians (read: it's Amash). They will most likely challenge Scalise and lose. They will also most likely put a person up for Majority Whip and win. The only thing to look out for is if it's someone like Jim Jordan or Tom Price.​

Other Parties:
Libertarian: Far underperformed Sarwark's predictions of ten house seats and two senate seats, but they did come second in New Mexico, so as usual they will try to spin that as a victory.
Green: Pretty much made jack shit of their all-time popular vote high of 2.9% in 2016 so here they are. They did gain a few state house seats and city council spots so that's a win, I guess.
Socialist Alternative: Their party platform was written entirely in the form of a Bible-rap-like thing extolling the virtues of isolationism, Marxism, communism and supporting Putin's invasion of Georgia (one of these things is not like the other), and their spokesperson called the American electoral system "neo-fascist false democracy", so how well do you think they did?
Colours:
Democratic: #3366CC
Republican: #E04646
 
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I'm going to make a run-down based on this, but for the whole country. Here goes.
Oh wow, I love this!

Did you do some rootling around in my graphics thread - this is pretty accurate to what I had in mind and still have in a word document on my external hard drive somewhere for the national picture. Spot on re. Donna Edwards (although Bernie is still around), and Pete Buttigieg is also a Senator having beaten Pence, yes. There are some other bits of the 'canon' (using the term losely, there isn't really a canon and I never massively pursued it beyond these bits anyway) which crept onto the AH.com wikibox thread in chat over there but I don't think made it over here (Jason Carter as two-term governor of Georgia is the big one that seems to be referenced in your rundown) that you've nailed. I like the tone as well, three separate parties in one big party-coat is a brilliant line.

Good stuff and I'm glad the initial rundown served as a bit of an idea springboard!
 
Did you do some rootling around in my graphics thread - this is pretty accurate to what I had in mind and still have in a word document on my external hard drive somewhere for the national picture. Spot on re. Donna Edwards (although Bernie is still around), and Pete Buttigieg is also a Senator having beaten Pence, yes. There are some other bits of the 'canon' (using the term losely, there isn't really a canon and I never massively pursued it beyond these bits anyway) which crept onto the AH.com wikibox thread in chat over there but I don't think made it over here (Jason Carter as two-term governor of Georgia is the big one that seems to be referenced in your rundown) that you've nailed. I like the tone as well, three separate parties in one big party-coat is a brilliant line.

Good stuff and I'm glad the initial rundown served as a bit of an idea springboard!
I am surprised that I got Indiana exactly right (although I hope your idea for Pike Mence was to have him lose in 2016, and then again in 2018). I haven't actually seen your graphics thread, I'll go check that out.

Thanks for the praise!
 
The American Empire officially started in 1927 but is generally dated to 1833, when the attempted abolition of slavery in the British Empire failed due to objections from the Dominion of New England. This made it clear Philadelphia had equal power to London, and after the 1860s merger of New England and North America it had more. Philadelphia was given dominance in the New World so London could run the rest of the Empire in theory, but American troops and merchants would appear in Africa and Asia.

When the First World War broke out, Britain remained out. The Second World War saw Mitteleuropa invading South England, believing this would knock the Empire out, only for America to abandon the 'old country', declare itself formally running the Empire, and decisively crush Berlin's empire by 1929.

The American Empire controlled a third of the planet but that control became impossible to maintain without giving autonomy to locals. The short-term solution, sending Americans abroad to become 'locals', increased discontent with local elites, gave the homeland a 'brain drain', and didn't do enough to stop brushfire rebellions, but did cause the next generation of Overseas American to demand "representation for our taxation" in Congress. In 1963, armed rebellions by the colonial governments occured in the Asian and African colonies, those furthest from the Metropol, and the distraction resulted in a Carribean-wide uprising.

The Empire officially fell in 1966, with the Treaty of Jutland agreeing to recognise the lost colonies: Philadelphia decided to write them off to preserve the 'homeland', classifying all the continental colonies as part of America. Many have noted history rhymes here, as just as Britain found itself outweighed by America, northern Anglophonic Protestants are now outweighed by southern Hispanics Catholics and the centres of power & culture are shifting.
 
A list based on this, because I couldn't quite iron out the details
and with apologies to @Sideways

Party Rundown 23rd August 2020.
SisterSideways is on holiday so you lazy sods are only getting parties with MPs in the Commons or seats in the Senate. Fuck you, that’s why

Her Majesty's Government: I will say one thing at least COVID has given the Grand Coalition purpose rather than 2 years of good old fashioned hate fucking.
Labour: The papers are calling Cooper's expulsion of left wing MPs "Night of the Long Knives" huh? Well that's awkward given the circumstances.
Liberal-One Nation Union: Actually on the rise as some eurosceptics see the Union as more favourable than outright conspiracies. Have gained 15 MPs since March. Still a while off carrying out a coup on No. 10 though


Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition
Radical
: Corbyn crossing the floor to the Rads (well, after he was kicked out) and a solid dozen MPs abandoning the increasingly conspiracist PP for the Union mean Tamsin Ormond gets to face up against Cooper regularly. First LGBT leader of the opposition(1) and first non-cis party leader but not first LGBT+ party leader (2) (3, see end of list)). Doing very well on the backs of UBI and protection for renters


Other opposition:
People's: Okay while Fox isn't specifically a Covid denier he most definitely downplays it and his everpresent twitter downplays the need for masks and vaccines. Meanwhile his back benches are chock-a-block full of actual conspiracy theorists and more than one is in the shadow cabinet they aren't the shadow Health Minister


Alliance of Regions: Simon Hughes really took the wind out of their sails by granting Devo-Max, to Scotland and Wales huh? People just aren’t as bothered about full Independence
Plaid Cymru: Actually overtaken the SNP in seats as they bleed to the Salmondites. but...​
SNP: Sturgeon still heads up the AoR nationally though​
Yorkshire: The White Roses are screaming blue murder still about the lack of Devo Max for​
English Party: Gained an MP due to a PP defection, they’ve graduated from my “The Rest” section. Still the awkward right wing member of the AoR gang.​

DUP: Anyone see that transphobic blog that listed Arlene Foster alongside Tamsin Ormond as “Great Female party leaders”. I don’t know who is more offended by being compared to each other (but I know who SHOULD BE)
Sinn Fein: pretty sure theyve resorted to voodoo dolls of the DUP leadership ahead of next year’s election in Stormont
Alliance: Apparently Naomi Long brings biscuits for the Deputy Prime Minister whenever she visits AND Hobhouse keeps it in a biscuit tin with Shirley Williams’ face on it. Adorable
UUP: Are probably supplying the ingredients for the DUP Voodoo dolls at this point
SDLP: No news on whether Colum Eastwood brings biscuits for the Prime Minister
Scottish Independence Party: You can’t make me write about Alex Salmond Lena, you just can’t!
Ecology: The Rads have finally given up giving a fuck about the name their bitter ex keeps using. They only have 2 Mps and a single Lord-Senator anyway so fuck ‘em
Worker's: Fuck George Galloway, there's your list.



(1) Nick Boles is leader of the One Nation Party but wasn’t leader of the opposition for the Union, that was Simon Hughes… moving on
(2) Lets reel them off shall we, Ruth Davidson (Technically, Scottish Conservatives) Nick Boles (One Nation) Adam Price (Plaid Cmyru) Patrick Harvie (Scottish Greens, later co-Convenor of the Radicals)
(3) While Co-leader of the rads, Ormond is their designate for PMQs (and indeed going into number 10, like Shirley Williams with the Alliance in 84) I feel a little sorry for Patrick Harvie though. Either way we’d get an LGBT+ LoTO

Party rundown April 2022

So the new PM has dissolved parliament and called a new election for next month. After four years of Grand Coalition we’re theoretically on the mend from COVID. Except for Covid-Kappa. That’s still a thing.

His Majesty’s Government
Labour: With Cooper gone over that Chinese takeway Nandy has stepped up to bat (I was hoping for Izzard, but oh well). Whether Cooper “doing the right thing” and resigning is enough for government to be forgiven remains to be seen.
Progressive Conservative Party: It finally happened the bastard child of liberalism and one nation conservativism has come of age and is hoping to put Rory Fucking Stewart in No.10. After several women Prime Ministers and a bi Prime Minister. We will get our first prune prime minister.



His Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition
Radical Party: Ormond going for the jugular on this one. Running on the slogan of “No More Normal”. They might’ve picked up on the anger following COVID that things have just returned to normal after the dramatic upheaval of society. UBI, rent control, nationalising utilities and fully nationalising the railways (just don’t ask the Rads about High speed rail).



Other Opposition:
People’s: Now we are coming out of lockdown Fox has lost some of his shine. Instead going full culture war, especially against Ormond and the rads while his front bench team desperately try to talk about the economy. Trans conspiracies replacing COVID conspiracies he might hand the PCP No.10.



Alliance of Regions
SNP:
Have recovered from the SIP as they hit scandal after scandal but really failed to get a second wind post Devo Max
Plaid Cymru: We’ve had first Devo Max, but what about Second Devo Max (IDFK. They’re not getting independence)
Yorkshire/ English Party: same comment on both Actually getting a lot of attention (and several MPs) from the more moderate but still populist bits of the People’s Party. English Devolution might be the new populist cause. Could see common ground with the rads in negotiations
Mebyon Kernow: Also gained an MP from the Implosion of People's.


DUP: Lol, Deputy First Minister
Sinn Fein: Currently trying to summon Madb to grant a border poll
Alliance: Yikes did you see that interviewer who asked Naomi long about the formation of the PCP? Lotta Unionists still in the PCP
UUP: Flegs for some, abortions for others!
SDLP: Are also there
Scottish Independence Party: Have they only just noticed their leader has a show on Russia Today.
Workers: fuck George Galloway, then, now , forever


EDIT: Fuck, I just realised in the Original list and these two rundowns I forgot about the continuity SDP around 2013. @Time Enough I have failed both you and Jason Zadrozny.
 
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Figured he had enough votes under STV to get him a seat, whatever vehicle he's running at the time
...aaaand that's a position no one can get behind, well done

with all that said though, good scenario

also very concerning that Her Immortal Majesty was, shockingly, quite mortal indeed
 
Federal UK, 1974

Political Parties of Scotland



Scottish Labour League - yes we are Socialist but we are Scottish. Nothing to do with the other lot, we’ve never even heard of Gerry Healey

Scottish Modern Democrats – modern if you think Gladstone is a good role model.

Crofter’s Party – can we have more land please?

Democratic Scottish Unionists – Ian Paisley with a Scottish accent

Scottish Conservative Party - Enoch Powell with a Scottish accent

Clyde Labour – Joe Stalin with a Scottish accent

Communist Party of Scotland (M-L) – Mao with a Scottish accent

Orkney & Shetland Alliance – would quite like to be Norwegian.

Còmhla* (Together) – membership has now reached double figures,
 
Nazi Victory (Sieg der Nazis, originally Lord of the Swastika in first English translation) was a 1972 alternate history novel. The story hinges on an aborted plan by Franz von Papen and President Hindenburg to bring Adolf Hitler into the government in early 1933, leading rapidly to a Nazi-led dictatorship in Germany, widespread antisemitism, and the sacking of Czechoslovakia over the Sudetenland. The book ends with plans to invade Poland, Hitler and his cabal drawing up plans of genocide, and the book's heroes all dead or compromised.

At the time, this was a highly controversial (and commercial) book. While the Nazi Party had collapsed years ago, various members were still around in newer parties and condemned the book as agitprop. Other Germans didn't appreciate how quickly the book had the country go along with Hitler's rule - "we're not Italy" as the general consensus - or the barbed comments the author was making about the contemporary Sudetenland Question. In translations, there were complaints in France and Britain that Nazi Victory portrayed their 1930s governments as unrealistically feeble in the face of a newly militaristic German government.

Audiences in Germany and abroad felt the book had greatly exaggerated Hitler's racial ideas. A resurgence of interest into Hitler resulted from this book and contemporary audiences were shocked to realise the book was, in fact, accurate.

Nazi Victory was followed by several sequels, depicting a Europe-wide war and Nazi dictatorship that ends with America's President Morgenthau breaking up Germany into deindustrialised chunks to prevent it from "ever threatening the civilised world with its sickness"; an award-winning TV series ran from 1978 to 1981, one that was more stoic and less lurid than its pulpy book origins. Ever since the late 90s, various tie-in books and spinoffs have come out authorised by the author's estate.
 
Here's one from my test thread on the Other Place.

February 20, 2045 American Party System Rundown
“The Big Two”

Democratic Party
: Show of hands here — who's actually surprised that the Democrats nabbed a third term? Sure, the leftist pessimists and Jack Francis' Patriot News 2044 special were all acting as if a red wave was imminent, but it's not like Andrew Tate is some kind of sweet-talking political whisperer.
... Well, he is, but only to self-hating wannabe-dudebros, and that's 0.46% of the voting population.
Jonathan Cheng-Willis: Is anyone surprised at how quiet the “neo-birtherism” narrative is in the sane political sphere? I suppose being born outside the U.S. does limit the range of applicable racist dog-whistles to only good-ol' racial slurs. He is settling in quite nicely as a policy wonk, though. God knows he's no campaigning whiz. Winning the nomination by virtue of existing hasn't helped with his base approvals either, but that can't be helped.
Jack Schlossberg: Having taken great-uncle Ted's path-not-taken and moved to the west, Schlossberg has managed to bring the Kennedy name back into the White House after 82 years. Pity he has to settle for VP though.
[redacted]: Turns out having an army of swing-seat blue-collar voters and urban progressives on your side makes the Democratic leadership listen to you quite a lot because he still has the gavel, some-fucking-how. Again. The most shocking thing is still his 250-seat strong majority, though, and the fact that the three people on the SOTU podium are all men for the first time since (checks notes) 2018 is incredibly useful for the political nerds at quiz night. Which, surprisingly, makes up 0.47% of the voting population.
Jon Ossoff: All things considered, ending up as Secretary of State was a pretty good outcome for Starmer-Down-South; that military buildup along the Russo-Estonian border is looking a bit iffy though.
Brian Schatz: Still going strong after 32 years in the Senate. Probably retiring in 2049, which will inevitably kick off a high-stakes leadership fight between AOC and Chris Pappas.
Which AOC will inevitably win.
Brace Belden: Still salty about losing the nomination, but the Democrats privately promising to clear the lane for CA-Sen after Porter retires softens the blow a bit.
Republican Party: The Party of Lincoln indulged their Trumpist wing so much it cost you every election sans one since 2020, huh? Let a guy being investigated by three countries for human trafficking get nominated for president, huh? Decades of rhetoric finally coming home to roost in the form of a huge intra-party fight, huh?
Kiera O'Brien: Probably drinking on the job at this rate, considering the size of the mess she has to patch up.
Benji Backer: Courting support for his inevitable 2048 run after coming in third against Tate and Vega. And that was with most of his endorsers switching to a tentative thumbs-up for the ex-VP nominee. Honestly, a Backer presidency would probably not suck, though even that's high praise for the man who slashed Washington's UBI system to pay for the seawalls.
Mike Gallagher: Very much enjoying his “I told you so” tour across the first primary states (that's Empty, Frosty, Sandy, and Swampy). Less enjoying how he went from being within two seats of a full majority to losing fucking Idaho to the Democrats.
Andrew Tate: Screaming about evil gay Democrat oppression against manly men or whatever. I assume that because he's finally been arrested for the whole “human trafficking” thing.
Good luck, Taint, even the GOP has had it with your shit. Considering how you sent them to third place in the popular vote, that's not really a surprise.
Ashley Hinson: The once-and-former Speaker has fully shat the bed this time. Despite even MSNBC saying that her chances of staying as Speaker were “pretty solid” (and that was after Tate!) the GOP was still flushed out of the House, which makes [redacted] “Deep Chocolate” congressional HPV fucking [redacted] Speaker of the House. Again. Good luck with the backbenchers, I guess, you deserve this.
Mallerie Stromswold: Leading the “all hands on deck” uprising against HML Hinson. How long this coalition of Romney Republicans, techbros and Trumpists lasts is another story entirely.
Braxton Mitchell: The leading Trumpist left in the Senate is trying to “moderate” (hah) between Backer's “sellouts” and Tate's “crazies”, he's trying to piss off nobody and is being forced to settle for everybody.
Jake Paul: The ex-president is back in the GOP fold, which is odd considering how they literally just nominated his once-arch-nemesis.

“Minor Parties”
Our FutureLibertarian
: They've made it! Honestly pretty glad for their presence, if only for the interesting electoral maps.
Carrick Flynn: Actually learned some lessons from Forward's trash fire of a run and now they've actually won electoral votes. Most of them were probably due to Tate's equally-disastrous presidential bid, but it's something.
Kyle Musk: The party's main backer who seems to be in equal parts saner and less-saner than his dad — who actually considers “Kyle” to be a good name?
Jasmine Collins: The party's resident leftist. Considering the shitshow that is the Peace Party I'm honestly not surprised she ended up saying “yes, the 'not-like-other-girls' centrists are the better option”.
Ziad Ahmed: Pretty much just selling Democratic policies without the “Democratic” label, and if that doesn't sum up the party's ex-Forward presence I don't know what does.
Katie Zolnikov: The party's token Republican, and surprisingly the lead-polling candidate for Montana's 2nd congressional district.
Democratic Socialists of America: Promising to be the “True Left” option for 2034, which doesn’t seem promising considering the whole “joke” about leftist infighting.
Summer Lee: The party's elder(?) stateswoman is still part of the Democrats, which is fair enough, I suppose.
Carlos Ramirez-Rosa: Democratic socialism is about the issues, not the spectacle. Carlos, what are you doing here? It would make a lot more sense to just stay with the Democrats if you were trying to be President, but no, you're just here for the debate around Medicare waiting times, as one does. Good for you.
Peace: The seemingly-encroaching European war between Prigozhin's Russia and someone in Europe has one upside — Brittany Ramos DeBarros is becoming increasingly visibly uncomfortable with sharing a party with Jackson Hinkle, which is probably a lot more entertaining than it is significant.
Calla Walsh: Still pretending that she didn't call for letting Estonia and Vietnam be annexed for wOrLd pEAcE. Still hasn't been banned from Twitter either — how exactly is calling for the murder of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong within the Twitter rules, Citron?
Jackson Hinkle: Went to Belarus and praised both Lukashenkos, which would very much sink a normal politician. After the "my main campaign donor was a key funder for the Wagner militia" thing from last year, though, I don't especially think anyone who still supports him cares.
Brittany Ramos DeBarros: Pretty much just this close to bailing on the party.
Rainer Shea: Rainer Shea is not a thing, even if he did manage to lose a congressional special election by, like, half a percent. Then lose again in the general election by 30 points but that's not the point —

Everyone Else
Amazon: Still dealing with the flack from having the Wide-Awake protestors nearly mowed down by dronefire. Namely, the thirty-one federal charges, which might actually go somewhere this time.
American Workers: Red-brown pact seething as usual
Twitter: Still alive and are still shit. Moving on...
Hustlers: The cultists might actually get Mar-A-Lago-ed soon if they keep going after feminist activists. There's only so many B&Es, attempted rapes, actual rapes, kidnappings and murders you can claim happened thanks to, well, not your calls for violence.
Green Front: Eco-terrorists turn out to be in support of eco-terrorism, more at 11...
 
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...I see. Or rather, I wish I didn't see.
Look man, life is about choices. You want the Democrats to be in power for all but one term from 2021 to 2045 and beyond, you gotta make a few sacrifices.

I for one would take a Paul presidency if it means Democratic wins in 2022, 2024, 2028, 2036, 2040, and 2044.
 
The Estates of the Realm

A lot of people complain that the British constitution is too complicated to understand, so here's an explainer that even a Fleming can get to grips with.

At the top is the Moderating Power, consisting of: the King (Henry XVII) who lives in the Royal City to the west of London, and is seen on certain ceremonial occasions; and the Lady High Stewardess (Simone de Montfort), who settles disputes between the elected bodies and holds a casting vote between them, as well as administering the Censors. These offices have been hereditary in the Plantagenet and De Montfort dynasties since the 12th and 13th centuries respectively - although the monarchy can pass through female lines, the practice of avunculate marriage has kept the Plantagenets securely on the throne. Some Moderns ask what the point of an expensive monarchy is when they don't really do anything, but the answer is fairly simple: they and their advisers have expanded the Kingdom through judicious exogamy, thereby inheriting other Kingdoms like Scotland, Dahomey and the Argentine and incorporating them into the Realm.

Then comes the Executive Power, the Council of State. The Lady High Stewardess is ex officio the President of the Council, but by convention the Stewards have sent their apologies to every meeting since November 1675. Members of the Council of State are elected by a Special Purposes Committee elected by all branches of the legislature, and the Acting Presidency is passed from member to member every seven months. The current Acting President of the Council of State is Sir George Osborne, Lord High Treasurer. Members of the Council draw up legislation to pass through the legislature and issue Decrees when it isn't sitting, and they serve for life unless impeached by three Estates.

This brings us neatly on to the Estates of the Realm. The First Estate is that of the clergy, which traditionally consisted of Bishops in the Catholic Church. However, with the incorporation of Calvinist Scotland and the Manning Reforms of the 19th century, representatives of the clergy are elected by proportional representation in each diocese (although the Calvinists would prefer other electoral boundaries) by all ordained clergy of a recognised church. The majority of the seats in the First Estate are held by the Christian Democratic Party, although most Diocesan Circles on the Great British mainland elect at least one member of the Anti-Revolutionary Party, which tends to bring together Calvinists, Lutherans and other minor denominations (Jews and Mohammedans, while tolerated now, are not permitted to vote in this or any other Estate). Additionally, there is a panel of 12 delegates from the National Union - these were added in 1957 as a compromise solution to the demands of the Press for their own Estate.

The Second Estate consists of the nobility. As with the First, it initially comprised senior title-holders only, but since 1732 there has been greater recognition of the aristocracy as a class. The House of Blood is a large neo-Gothic building which dominates the Thames and earns conspiratorial mockery from foreigners who willfully misunderstand the context of the name. It plays host to the College of Arms, a university dedicated to the research of things like heraldry and the scientific identification of the gene for nobility, and also to the Chamber of the Second Estate, which has to be stupendously large because over ten thousand people have the right to speak in it. The Estate is divided into three Classes: the titled nobility, untitled members of titled houses, and the baronetage. Any member of these categories can attend and be heard, and when voting, each Class votes separately. Two of the three Classes must approve a measure before it can be said to have been passed by the Second Estate. Two parties operate among the nobility, the Coveters and the Adulterers, although the differences between the two factions are too complicated to be discussed here.

The Third Estate, by contrast, is really simple. Members of guilds in the Boroughs come together to elect their representatives, with the Boroughs being established by Royal Grant or by the Time Immemorial clause, hence the existence of 'shit towns' like Old Sarum and Papakura. The members elected to the Third Estate are all formally independent, although since the 1930s all have - in practice - been endorsed by the Council of Corporations. This may change in future, though, with the organisation of the oppositional Worshipful Company of Chavs and Layabouts (the name they requested was not approved by the Council of State).

Finally, the Fourth Estate represents the peasantry - traditionally, electors had to own land, but since the liberation struggles of the early 19th century, the vote has been extended to all men not enrolled in the Second Estate or resident in a Borough (although borough-dwellers who don't have the Borough franchise but own land to the value of 40 shillings in a rural area are also permitted to vote, hence the practice of selling off one-square-meter plots to townies on condition that they vote in a particular way). The Knights of the Shire party is by far the oldest in the world, dating its foundation to the 1260s, but it has faced challenges in the last couple of hundred years from the Country Party, which seeks to represent underprivileged interests.

Between 1927 and 1931, there was also a Fifth Estate of women, but this was disestablished for obvious reasons.

So maybe, now you've got a little education on the subject, you won't shoot your mouths off so much.
 
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