2018 Presidential Election

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Saturday, 26 October 2019

Muzenda impeached in absentia on conspiracy, sedition charges


The Senate of Equatorial Kundu voted to impeach and remove Vice President Adeola Muzenda from office today after convicting her on three counts, including sedition and conspiracy to overthrow the government of her husband and former political ally President Uzochi Nzele. Muzenda, who fled to Libya earlier last week, was not present for either the trial, which concluded yesterday, or the vote, and has proclaimed her innocence in effective exile in Libya.

Senators heard testimony from Kundunese military officers who had interrogated survivors from an attempted coup last month who testified that political allies of Muzenda had orchestrated the coup with the former vice president's tacit approval. Nzele's Arkutu Patriotic Party controls a super-majority in the Senate, and were joined by the body's few unaffiliated members to remove Muzenda by a 25 to 5 margin on each vote, with only senators from Muzenda's Arkutu Freedom Party voting against.

Nzele addressed the nation after the vote, calling on his wife to "return to face justice", with the promise of mercy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already declared Nzele's sister Taraba Nzele to be "acting First Lady" and said that Muzenda's diplomatic immunity as the spouse of a president had been revoked. Neither Nzele nor the ministry has answered questions on whether the couple would divorce.

The Kundunese constitution does not have a provision for appointing a vice president besides elections, with the President of the Senate becoming first in the line of succession for the presidency should a vacancy occur. Currently, that office is held by Benjamin Nwulu, a staunch ally of the president. With Nzele pledging not to run for re-election in 2020 and Nwulu's advanced age, it is expected that Nzele will look elsewhere for his anointed successor.

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Friday, October 25th 2019

World Series returns to Canada for first time in 26 years as Astros top Expos 4-1 in Game 3

Montreal —
The World Series left American soil for the first time since 1993 today when Game 3 of the World Series kicked off at Olympic Stadium tonight. A sold-out crowd of Canadian fans were disappointed when the hometown Montreal Expos fell to the Houston Astros 4-1 in their first loss of the series. After Marie Niveau, Canada's former prime minister and a Quebec native, threw out the first pitch, the Expos struggled after Houston leaped to a 2-0 lead at the end of the third inning before the Expos responded with Ryan Zimmerman being driven in on a triple in the fourth. An inning later, the Astros responded with a two-run home run off Aníbal Sánchez to increase the lead to three runs. Astros closer Roberto Osuna got the save after pitching a ninth inning that gave up only one single and no runs.

This series marks the first time the Expos have made the World Series since the franchise was created in 1969. The only other Canadian team in Major League Baseball, the Toronto Blue Jays, appeared in and won the 1992 and 1993 World Series. Game 6 of the 1993 series, the last World Series game played in Canada prior to tonight, is especially memorable for Joe Carter's game- and series-winning home run at the bottom of the ninth inning.

The series will return to Montreal tomorrow for Game 4 and Sunday for Game 5 before returning to Houston if Games 6 and/or 7 are necessary. Canadian Prime Minister Leslie Van Merhalls is expected to attend Monday's game.

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Nation Not Buying Seaborn's JFK Halloween Costume

October 26, 2019

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Despite what some observers say is a concerning level of commitment to the costume, the nation is not buying President Sam Seaborn's costume of former president John F. Kennedy.

"I just don't see it," Nate Grunder, a welder from Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Grunder, noting that the attractive, young Democratic president with an elite educational background was nothing like Kennedy, said that the president's Halloween costume "really needed work."

Management consultant Sharon Bronstein from Yonkers, New York, similarly expressed confusion at the president's choice of costume. "I mean, he expects us to believe that he's a young Democrat who narrowly won an election against a Republican who was publicly exposed for being extremely mean-spirited in private compared to his public persona? Really?" Bronstein then went on. "I bet he wants us to believe that he also took office on an optimistic note in some sort of contrast with an older, conservative Republican predecessor with a military record. Unbelievable."

Local businessman Marshall Lafontaine from Los Angeles shook his head when learning of the news. "I voted for him, but man, does he need a reality check. We're supposed to believe that he's a president with a glamorous young wife, who was elected from the Senate, and whose first year in office had some controversial policies regarding Cuba? Come on."

At press time, a skeptical nation looked on as First Lady Lauren Parker-Seaborn was seen trying out pillbox hats and Chanel suits.
 
OOC: Couple of referendum/election infoboxes before I head off to work:

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Cast
Lee Geung-young as Kim Kyung-young
Kim Byeong-ok as Yi Jae-sung (new character)

  • Yes, TTL's Britain did a Brexit referendum before it was cool. Notably, though, this time the British public (barely) decided to stay in the EU, which to put it mildly, has probably led to TTL's UK politics to be a bit less chaotic than OTL.

    The voting area results map was created matching the TTL regional referendum results to the OTL ones and using swings to get each voting area's results.
  • The Italian constitutional referendum is a retcon I'm throwing into explain why we've had just a few Italian PMs compared to the OTL constant churn of different people running The Boot. Essentially it's just Renzi's 2016 referendum, but only aimed at ending perfect bicameralism (Italy's OTL system that means a government has to have both the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate) and making the Senate a smaller body with its members appointed by regional governments.
  • Kim was previously established, but the circumstances of his election weren't. Essentially, ITTL South Korea had a relatively boring election where South Koreans wanted a change of pace after two consecutive non-descript conservative presidents (SK does not allow re-election, so that's saying two five-year terms of conservative rule). IOTL, in contrast, turns out electing the daughter of a former military dictator might not be the best idea.

    Hence the conservative party in South Korea is still known as "Saenuri" and not "Liberty Korea", and the 2017 election was held at its scheduled time, not early because the previous president was impeached and removed.
 
That is hilarious to me. (the "casting actors, i mean") Holy shit!

The President will have one of the deepest and raspiest voices ever! He can't not sount like a villain.

TFW you give a speech trying to promote democracy and healing with the North, but no one listens because they think you have an evil plan you're not telling them about.

Wait you guys did a Brexit vote before there was an actual Brexit vote?

That's what David Cameron gets for shamelessly trying to copy Mark and disputed.
 
TFW you give a speech trying to promote democracy and healing with the North, but no one listens because they think you have an evil plan you're not telling them about.

I can't even remember a kdrama where he is the "good" guy. He's always antagonistic somehow, and that deep raspy voice that can send chills down your spine. But yet, very articulate and direct way of speaking.
 
TFW you give a speech trying to promote democracy and healing with the North, but no one listens because they think you have an evil plan you're not telling them about.



That's what David Cameron gets for shamelessly trying to copy Mark and disputed.
:):):)
It was disputed idea to hold it, and we went with a narrow remain win.
 
I can't even remember a kdrama where he is the "good" guy. He's always antagonistic somehow, and that deep raspy voice that can send chills down your spine. But yet, very articulate and direct way of speaking.
My logic was we needed a Korean President and I saw him in the film Steel Rain. I realize now I borrowed his name from the film but I felt he'd be a good choice for his voice and going against type (playing villains so have him be a good guy)
 
My logic was we needed a Korean President and I saw him in the film Steel Rain. I realize now I borrowed his name from the film but I felt he'd be a good choice for his voice and going against type (playing villains so have him be a good guy)
You knoiw, its weird, But I watched that movie and I don't even remember him in other for some reason. I have gone blank.

I like him though. Its a good choice., Kudos to you.
 
You knoiw, its weird, But I watched that movie and I don't even remember him in other for some reason. I have gone blank.

I like him though. Its a good choice., Kudos to you.
The thread was lacking in that part of the world and but I also wanted a Korean actor to play a Korean president. So went with an older actor. It worked out. One of my castings I am happy with.
 
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Tuesday, October 29th 2019

House passes revised Civil Rights Act of 2019, bill goes to Seaborn's desk

The House of Representatives passed a revised version of the Civil Rights Act of 2019 today, sending the bill out of Congress and to President Sam Seaborn's desk for approval. The House voted 231 to 174 on the bill, with almost a dozen Republicans voting in favor of the Senate's version of the bill, which adds sexual orientation to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The president is expected to sign the bill, which will make it illegal across the United States to discriminate against individuals based on their sexual orientation in employment, housing, education or public accommodation. Currently, 24 states and the District of Columbia already have some form of civil rights protections for gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals, but a majority of states, largely centered in the South and West, do not explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

A previous provision that would extend the same protections to transgender individuals was removed in the Senate to appease moderate Republicans and Democrats from red states facing tough re-election fights next year. A case is on the Supreme Court's docket on whether the Civil Rights Act's prohibition on discrimination on the basis of sex covers discrimination against transgender people. Court watchers say oral arguments for that case may be delayed by the additional protections this legislation would add to the landmark 1964 bill.
 
For anyone that's interested in comparing the results between our fictional 2013 EU Referendum and the one. We did well actually, the Leave victory in East of England: 58.79 -41.21 in 2013 (17.58%) to 56.48 - 43.52 (12.96), although the results in the North West and South West where almost the same Leave wins: 52.71-47.29 (5.42%) to 53.65-46.35 (7.30%), a difference of only 1.88%. In the South West it was 52.89-47.11 (5.78%) to 52.63-47.22 (5.41%) just 0.37% difference.
 
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Wednesday, October 29th 2019

President Seaborn signs Civil Rights Act of 2019, outlawing discrimination on basis of sexual orientation

At a ceremony at noon Eastern Time, President Sam Seaborn signed the Civil Rights Act of 2019, adding sexual orientation to existing civil rights protections. Surrounded by leaders from GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign and members of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, President Seaborn signed the bill in the White House, giving the first pen to the family of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, who was murdered in 1978 and became an icon in the gay rights movement.

In a brief speech before signing the bill, the president said that the bill was the culmination of "decades of struggle and sacrifice by members of the gay, lesbian and bisexual community for the civil and human rights to which they were entitled to, but denied unfairly because of the prejudices of others." He cautioned supporters that the work of ensuring equality for all regardless of gender or sexuality was not done, saying that the country had "long neglected" issues disproportionately affecting the LGBT community such as HIV/AIDS or youth homelessness and that the country could do much better.

"This bill is just one step in the long journey to ensuring that the Pledge of Allegiance's call of 'liberty and justice for all'," Seaborn said. "We cannot, and should not, take this to be the end of the fight for a fairer and more just society."

Supporters of gay rights flooded social media in celebration, with the hashtags #CRA and #Equality trending once the bill signing began.

Notably absent from the ceremony was Vice President Jack Hunter, who sources say privately disagreed with the implications the bill has for the tax-exempt status of religious groups that refuse to employ openly gay or bisexual members for non-religious positions such as teachers. Secretary of Transportation Matt Skinner, who is the first openly gay person in American history to be in the presidential line of succession, attended the ceremony but did not comment to the media because of Hatch Act concerns, his office said.

With the bill's passage, state bans on same-sex marriage will likely face a renewed legal assault according to legal observers. Tennessee Attorney General Paul Stirling has already taken the occasion of the bill's passage to state that his office will drop its defense of the state's ban on same-sex marriage in ongoing court cases, paving the way towards legalization in the Volunteer State. Same-sex marriage is still forbidden in ten other states, all of whom except Mississippi have Republican attorneys-general who were elected on anti-gay marriage platforms (Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is a Democrat, but has not publicly commented on whether he thinks the state should legalize same-sex marriage).
 
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Friday November 1st 2019

Gubernatorial Preview
Below we preview the five gubernatorial races being held this coming Tuesday, November 5th.

Kentucky
Incumbent: Ed Barrie (Rep)
Opponents: Jack Lucas (Dem) & Leo George (Independent Progressive)

The former General was not expected to win the nomination in 2015 let alone beat incumbent Democratic Governor Chris Mannix, but thanks to a disciplined campaign and a poor campaign from Mannix, Barrie won by the narrowest of margins (1,429 votes just 0.17%) with independent progressive Leo George winning almost 9% of the vote. Four years later, Barrie has established himself as a defender of the "Conservative Right", and was the Republican Governor who was the most opposed to the Civil Rights bill, which has earned support and endorsements from the likes of Mary Marsh and former Alabama Governor Wesley Burke. His Democratic opponent is Jack Lucas, Lucas failed in his Senate run three years ago, he is smart and a good campaigner, but he seems almost certain to go down to defeat once again. Leo George is running once again, but his polling numbers are down on his figures from 2015, polling on average of around 6%. He does seem to pull voters from the Democratic side rather than the Republicans.
NBS Latest Polling
Barrie (53%)
Lucas (41%)
George (6%)
Prediction: Barrie wins re-election with around a 6.5% swing to him.
Mississippi
Incumbent: Alan Fisk (Dem)
Opponent: Katie Hodder-Shaw (Democratic Former Governor)

One of the three of the five elections which are re-matches from 2015. Alan Fisk, a former Congressman and President Bartlet's second Attorney General caused an upset when he defeated Hodder-Shaw by 3.24% of the vote. Fisk has balanced his democratic principles with those of running one of the most Conservative states in the nation (Henry Shallick won the state at last years Presidential election by 35.69%, winning 66.27% of the vote to Seaborn's 30.57% with Straus getting 3.16%), with compromise, but managing to keep the backing of more moderate "Vinick" style Republican voters. Hodder-Shaw who ran a nasty negative campaign four years ago has tried to be more moderate this time around, but she has remained behind Fisk in the polls, in what looks to be in result terms if the polls are proved right, a repeat of 2015.
NBS Latest Polling
Fisk (52%)
Hodder-Shaw (48%)
Prediction: Fisk wins re-election with much the same result as four years ago.
Oregon
Incumbent: Walter Collins (Rep)
Opponents: Candice McColl (Democratic Secretary of State) & Debbie Kelly (Socialist Party, Salem City Councillor)

Four years ago Walter Collins, came out of virtually no-where to win the Republican nomination and then upset incumbent Democratic Governor Paul Chang. Collins, like Governor Barrie, a former combat vet, but he sits much on the "Vinick" wing of the party. Collins win four years ago was helped by the fact former Democratic Senator Ricky Rafferty certainly did help spilt the Democratic vote running as an Socialist, with Collins picking up 55.71%, Chang 28.87%, and Rafferty 15.42%. This time Rafferty declined to run with Socialist Councillor Debbie Kelly running, but she clearly doesn't have Rafferty's name or support. Democrat Candice McColl was the surprise winner of the Democratic primary, and seemed during the summer to be making real ground on Collins, but all that support seems to have drained away following a frankly awful performance in the only TV debate between Collins and McColl, with Kelly excluded from it.
NBS Latest Polling
Collins (55%)
McColl (40%)
Kelly (5%)
Prediction: Collins wins re-election with very much % of the vote as 2015.
South Carolina
Incumbent: Ethan Butler (Rep)
Opponent: Nat Singer (Democratic Former Governor)

The second of our re-matches. Governor Butler has been impressive, as he has moved out from under the shadow of his famous father, Don Butler. Ethan Butler has impressive compassion, and work he has done in improving the conditions for the homeless in the state, especially homeless veterans. He has worked with not only charties but also private businesses, to open new shelters and providing a pathway back into the workplace. Even many Democrats in the state has been impressed. Nate Singer's pitch is that Butler is only interested in getting photo in the papers and on the news sites, that he is all "spin and prayer" and not much else. Butler who clearly has one eye on the 2022 Presidential race, said that Singer did nothing as Governor, and left him to clear up the mess he left behind.
NBS Latest Polling
Butler (57%)
Singer (43%)
Prediction: Butler wins re-election with an increased share of the vote.
Vermont
Incumbent: Janet Lorton (Dem)
Opponents: Patrick Cleacy (Former State C&C Secretary & 2015 Republican Gub nominee) & Oswald Pollock (Marijuana Party)

The third and final of our re-matches from 2015. Lorton won by 30% four years ago and it seems she will win re-election, although it does seem Patrick Cleacy is performing better than 2015, he has not a hope in defeating Lorton. As always in Vermont, Oswald Pollock is standing once again for the Marijuana Party.
NBS Latest Polling
Lorton (57%)
Cleacy (36%)
Pollock (7%)
Prediction: Lorton wins re-election with a slightly reduced share of the vote.






 
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November 1, 2019

Fires in California threaten Reagan, Lassiter Presidential Libraries

The wildfires that have burned nearly two hundred thousand acres in California this autumn are now threatening both the Ronald Reagan and Owen Lassiter Presidential Libraries. Officials with the Ventura and Orange County Fire Departments say that the presidential libraries are threatened by different fires heading towards the libraries. The libraries, which contain the graves of both former presidents and their late wives, as well as documents and historical objects from both men's presidencies, have been closed and evacuated since noon yesterday.

California Governor Abbie Heilemann (D) said that firefighters are working to create firebreaks surrounding both libraries, but that highest priority is being given to fires expected to move towards residential areas. "We are working diligently with both local and federal officials to work in fighting this fire," Heilemann said at a press conference in the town of Geyersville, which was devastated by fires last week, "And the priority has always been to contain and combat fires that endanger the lives of living people first, and property and infrastructure second." The governor said that both localities and the Seaborn administration have cooperated well to streamline the fire-fighting efforts.

Since both Reagan and Lassiter were Republicans who are lionized by conservatives today, Heilemann says that political concerns are playing no part in her effort to fight the fires. "The idea that I would allow a presidential library to burn because I disagree with a president's politics is absurd and insulting," she bristled when asked. "I am not going to politicize the efforts that will be made to stop, then recover from these fires and to more strongly regulate our energy sector to mitigate the severity of these fires," she said. The governor's office put out a statement after the press conference stating that Governor Heilemann "is committed to serving out the term California voters elected her to", ending speculation that she will run in next year's special election to fill the Senate seat left by President Seaborn's election (Heilemann appointed former Democratic governor Gabe Tillman to serve until the special election) and use issues surrounding the fire season, such as energy regulation and climate change, against potential Democratic primary challengers.

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Friday, November 1st 2019

Canada celebrates second victory parade of the year after decades of sports frustration

Montreal —
After the first World Series win in franchise history, the Montreal Expos will take a victory lap in Canada's second largest-city, the second such celebration this year for Canadian sports fans. After toppling the Houston Astros in an exciting seven-game series, the Expos will parade through downtown Montreal, the first time since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup that the city has won a championship in one of the three major North American sports leagues with Canadian teams. Montreal Mayor Mélanie Croteau will have the honors of sharing the stage with the victorious Expos, as Toronto Mayor Tim Hackett did with the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors after their Finals victory over the Golden State Warriors in June.

With ten Canadian teams (seven in the NHL, two in Major League Baseball and the Raptors in the NBA) out of 91 in leagues with at least one Canadian team, there is approximately a 10% chance in any given year that a Canadian franchise will win at least one title. But between 1995 (when the Toronto Raptors and then-Vancouver Grizzlies entered the NBA as expansion teams) and this year, no Canadian team managed to win a crown. The last Canadian team to win a title, the Toronto Blue Jays (who repeated as champions in the 1993 World Series) failed to make the playoffs again until 2015, and the Expos themselves were threatened with both contraction and relocation before putting together a playoff run in 2012. In basketball, the Raptors became the sole Canadian team when the Grizzlies relocated to Memphis in 2001 and frustratingly made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before begin defeated three times in a row before their 2019 run.

In the national sport of hockey, though, Canadian ambitions have been most cruelly thwarted. Despite over 40% of all players being from Canada, no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since the Canadiens in 1993. Five times (1994, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011) have Canadian teams made it to the Stanley Cup and all but once came within one game of winning. Vancouver, whose Canucks lost both the 1994 and 2011 Stanley Cups, experienced riots after both Game 7 losses. The league also saw the relocation of two Canadian teams on the Canadien's last championship, with the Quebec Nordiques becoming the Colorado Avalanche and the original Winnipeg Jets becoming the Phoenix (now Arizona) Coyotes. The former Nordiques would win two championships, one in their first season away from Quebec City. The Jets would later return after the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg in 2011.

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Wilton to resign after daughter's diagnosis

November 1, 2019

Representative Ulysses Wilton (R) from the Seventh District has announced that he will resign from the House of Representatives after his youngest daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Wilton, who has represented the Canton-based district in the northeastern portion of the state, said that his daughter Melody, aged 3, was diagnosed this past weekend and that the family's doctors recommended she begin treatment immediately. "We are devoting all of our energies to seeing our family through this," Wilton said with his wife, Sarah, at his side. "I would be remiss in my duty as a father if I did not devote my full energy and devotion to this task, and as such, I will be resigning as a member of Congress."

Both House Speaker Daniel Maddox (D-IL) and Minority Leader Mitchell Harris (R-IN) expressed their sympathies for Wilton and his family. Minority Whip Andrew Casey (R-NY) said that he has asked the majority chairmen to excuse Wilton from further committee work in light of the circumstances. A spokeswoman for the congressman said that he will focus on constituent services and finalizing district office staffing hires before he leaves office.

The five-term representative's resignation will take effect November 21, the last day Congress is in session before Thanksgiving. Governor Art Scheider will declare a special election to be held before next year's midterm elections.
 
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