Rumsfeldia: Fear and Loathing in the Decade of Tears

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"Hey", shouted Spiro and the Libertarians, "what about us?!"

Spiro's New England and the Libertarian West aren't completely isolated economically and militarily unlike Alabama. Wallace is fighting much more actively because Alabama appears to be the main target of the CV government at the moment.
 
Spiro's New England and the Libertarian West aren't completely isolated economically and militarily unlike Alabama. Wallace is fighting much more actively because Alabama appears to be the main target of the CV government at the moment.

Fair point. Wallace is considered heroic because instead of doing anything for power, he is resisting the horrific direction his region has gone in for power.

But this also was reflected a bit with the Nebraska sheriff refusing to turn over the gay community, at the risk of his own life.
 
but considering the hard-to-learn nature of Cyrillic

Seeing as how a third of Russian letters are just Latin letters, and the other third are also Latin letters but make a different sound, I can't imagine it'd be that hard.

But to be honest, any chance of a non-constructed language other than English becoming the lingua franca is pretty much gone after the Napoleonic Wars. I can, however, imagine that it won't be as powerful as OTL, with French, Russian and Spanish being stronger globally than IOTL.
 
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Now that's a rare sentence. What has this world come to when George freaking Wallace is not only one of the good guys but seemingly the only good guy that's actively fighting the bad guys?

As I noted before, Wallace is basically The Hero of this story.
 
Could Russian replace English as a lingua franca after the 2ACW?

The rise of English as a global lingua franca IOTL was due to the political, cultural and economic strength of Britain and America. The Anglophone nations have suffered significant decreases in their influence, with the US crippled by a bloody, nuclear civil war and balkanized for the foreseeable future, with the UK, Canada and Australia Soviet allies who probably use English with other but Russian with the Russians, and South Africa a radioactive wasteland.

One might take a look and say that even if the English-speaking nations of the world were destroyed, the language might prosper in the Third World where large numbers of people speak it as a second language. However, these nations are isolated, as in the case of West Africa, subordinate to some other non-Anglophone bloc, such as the Phillippines, or completely balkanized and destroyed like India.

In conclusion, English-speaking countries will continue speaking the language and may continue as a lingua franca between these nations, but will not have the pull of English. This raises the question: What language will replace it?

Russian is the most obvious candidate, with the USSR the heart of an Eurasian alliance stretching from the UK to North Korea, from Finland to Iran. Given the position of dominance, the USSR can start with promoting Russian as a second language, much like how China promotes Mandarin through Confucius institutes. Once enough countries speak it as a business language, they will begin to use it as a lingua franca in mass media contexts and other means. Even with the arrival of the *Internet and personal computers, inputting Russian won't be much of a problem if Russian developers use some romanization system like the GOST system devised by the USSR, or use diacritics probably supplied through input mechanisms from the languages of Europeans who devise PC keyboard layout in the first place.

This is something I’ve wondered about as well. English may serve as a useful lingua franca regardless but there may be a deeper meaning to this; rejecting English might be seen as a way of combating previous American influence, and so might be discouraged for symbolic reasons.

Within Europe at least French was always the language of diplomacy and internationalism well into the 20th century, and, along with German, was already the primary working language of the EEC (until very recently actually, English took over during the 90s as the Union expanded AFAIK). I can imagine it might try and make comeback as America’s influence wanes; the Alliance Française and other organisations will probably go into overdrive to fill the niche left by English. More than any other European country, France underwent a major identity crisis in the 20th century as their language lost out to English in the international sphere, and so their leadership will be keen to push for French to “regain” its position.

Russian will probably become quite important as well but I’m not sure if it’s prominence as a lingua franca will grow outside of the Communist bloc, it will probably seen as too partisan and directly linked to Soviet interests. Which is why I think if any language is to replace English, French is more likely as it has less political connotations and is already used universally to some degree. The growth of English also went hand in hand with widespread American cultural influence/Americanisation which is an advantage I think Russia and the Russian language would lack outside of its direct sphere.
 
I'm wondering what the following politicians are doing in this TL up to this point:

Thad Cochran (he joined Congress along with Trent Lott as a Nixon Republican, did he remain tied to Rumsfeldism or did he switch to CV?)

Jeff Sessions

Roy Moore (almost certainly a CVer, either as an attorney or in a Holy Battalion)

Walter Mondale

Mike Pence (almost certainly a Holy Battalion member)

Rick Santorum

John Boehner

John Kasich

Dick Lugar

Paul Ryan

Trent Lott after leaving Congress (I doubt he'd return to Mississippi. Hiding in the Northeast?)
 
How do CV’s feel about Catholics? I don’t think Robertson was a fan IOTL, and I can’t see them having a rosy view here either, given the Vatican’s lurch towards the left. That could determine how Pence is treated, but given that Pence in real life seems (to me) like an evangelical who became one mainly because he saw where the wind was blowing, maybe he became a full on fundamentalist earlier in the game
 
I'm wondering what the following politicians are doing in this TL up to this point:

Thad Cochran (he joined Congress along with Trent Lott as a Nixon Republican, did he remain tied to Rumsfeldism or did he switch to CV?)

Jeff Sessions

Roy Moore (almost certainly a CVer, either as an attorney or in a Holy Battalion)

Walter Mondale

Mike Pence (almost certainly a Holy Battalion member)

Rick Santorum

John Boehner

John Kasich

Dick Lugar

Paul Ryan

Trent Lott after leaving Congress (I doubt he'd return to Mississippi. Hiding in the Northeast?)
I think it's been established that Lott was in the Capitol when it gets demolished, killing him along with the Last Congress.
 

no one

Banned
I have 2 questions: first, did rumsfeld help Manuel noriega in 1986 like Reagan did IOTL? and also what happened to angola? did savimbi win this time?
 
I think it's been established that Lott was in the Capitol when it gets demolished, killing him along with the Last Congress.

No, Lott lost re-election, and is no longer speaker. Besides, do you think, based off his behavior ITTL, he would be that brave to resist the will of the CV?
 
No, Lott lost re-election, and is no longer speaker. Besides, do you think, based off his behavior ITTL, he would be that brave to resist the will of the CV?
Okay, someone must have gotten something wrong with the TV Tropes page. It says he gets killed when the CVs obliterates Congress.

But in any case, I seriously doubt anyone in the USA (the Northeastern states, as opposed to the current government/CSA) would want him after he helped Rumsfeld and the CVs destroy America. He'd have better luck going into exile abroad, probably in one of those states with a lot of sleazy connections, like Morocco.
 
Okay, someone must have gotten something wrong with the TV Tropes page. It says he gets killed when the CVs obliterates Congress.

But in any case, I seriously doubt anyone in the USA (the Northeastern states, as opposed to the current government/CSA) would want him after he helped Rumsfeld and the CVs destroy America. He'd have better luck going into exile abroad, probably in one of those states with a lot of sleazy connections, like Morocco.
Heh, I remember asking about Trett Lott as well, and expressing disappointment that he was voted out of office and wouldn't be present when the CVs destroyed Congress.

He did hitch his wagon to the Fusion ticket, though, which is why I thought the Northeast would still welcome him. But yeah, one of those third-world tax haven countries seem more likely. I can foresee the CEOs of TRW fleeing to these places, too.
 
Heh, I remember asking about Trett Lott as well, and expressing disappointment that he was voted out of office and wouldn't be present when the CVs destroyed Congress.

He did hitch his wagon to the Fusion ticket, though, which is why I thought the Northeast would still welcome him. But yeah, one of those third-world tax haven countries seem more likely. I can foresee the CEOs of TRW fleeing to these places, too.
Former CEOs, perhaps. Their HQ was in Cleveland, OH, and that got nuked. Anyone still in there... yeah...

Seriously, is it a bit too much to call for a bit of karma to hit the people responsible for this ungodly mess?
 
He did hitch his wagon to the Fusion ticket, though, which is why I thought the Northeast would still welcome him. But yeah, one of those third-world tax haven countries seem more likely. I can foresee the CEOs of TRW fleeing to these places, too.

The Northeast didn't really welcome him...or Fusion.
 
I can understand that, but I thought Winter was pushing for amnesty? That would have included the Rumsfeld faction of the GOP.
Yes it would have, which is why it got tarred so badly by the same brush as Rumsfeld. I think the intent was noble; an attempt to compromise, to come towards a united path and block attempts by the CVs to seize power. Problem was, while the intent was noble, it was all too easy for a jaded, cynical public to see it as a way to let the fat cats off scot-free. And many of the Rumsfeld bunch would have seen it not as a way to prevent the collapse of the state, but a way to protect their ill-gotten earnings. Overall, few were going to give it the benefit of a doubt.
 
How do CV’s feel about Catholics? I don’t think Robertson was a fan IOTL, and I can’t see them having a rosy view here either, given the Vatican’s lurch towards the left. That could determine how Pence is treated, but given that Pence in real life seems (to me) like an evangelical who became one mainly because he saw where the wind was blowing, maybe he became a full on fundamentalist earlier in the game
Well, Pence was a Democrat back in the early 80's. Maybe the radicalization of the Republican Party caused him to stay liberal or join the CVs.
 
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