For a Gore Prosperous Tomorrow

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McCain Administration Looking Back Pt2
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    The Accomplishments of the McCain Administration Pt. 2

    Immigration
    The McCain administration's stance on immigration was to be expected. Calls to further regulate immigration and to further increase border security. Of course, this became harder to justify when the Great Recession kicked in and while some portions of the border were reinforced, it would come at the cost of of some political points toward the McCain Administration and moreover, drops in reputation. After all, it became harder to justify the unwillingness to assist in stimulating the economy or helping out those in need because of a need to not increase the debt yet invest more in border security that seems not to accomplish as much. Even with some slight increase of accusations at illegal immigrants regaridng job theft, it became drowned out in regards to the fact about what jobs are being lost and moreover, the focus shifting back to the rich, elite and powerful. After all, it wasn't their fault for the Recession. Beyond that, there were some concerns about refugee crisises regarding the Iraqi-Syrian War and later the Arabic Civil War and even the North Korean incident. The first two did have some caps though the civil war was easier to deal with thanks to the various other Middle Eastern nations assisting in the endeavor. The North Korean incident though was a pretty complicated affair though Canada and even Mexico helped out thanks to the new Catholic pope wanting to make a strong good impression and taking in the people from the camps to recover. Overall, his stances on immigration and so on were viewed with a somewhat negative view though nothing very provactive.

    Healthcare
    Healthcare was someting that the McCain administration avoided really touching, knowing it would be political suicide to try and mess with Gore's accomplishments regarding the expansions of Medicare. Despite this, this did not try and stop them from finding other ways to try and discredit government-funded health to everyone. While this attempted with efforts over championing for workplaces to try and provide insurance, this did end up hurting them in the long run. While attempts were made like offering businesses credit for providing health insurance for employees along with trying to cut rates, it did little to approach the wider frame of doing so. The growing view was that the McCain administration's approach with healthcare was inadequate or insufficient, especially when it came to emergancy costs. However, looming over that was the data that was showing that Gore's Medicare for Kids program did save money in the long run and thus there was further empirical evidence for champions of universal single-payer healthcare. Beyond that, not much else was done though the McCain administration did work with Layton's government over importing medicine from Canada to try and force competition among the domestic ones, which also worked to expose alot of the corruption within the pharmeceutical industry.

    Environment
    While McCain did maintain environmentalist policies, he did so under the approach of more incentivizing businesses to follow green policies while trying to cut down on certain actions or requirements of the EPA, though this leaned more toward the ideal of "simplyifing" matters as per his stance of being a libretarian conservative. Of course, while the incentives did provide some influence (namely to try and increase some reputation after the Exxon-Mobil scandal), there was still corners being cut and being harder to report, forcing independent groups, journalists and other individuals to try and keep up though the growing social media presence assisted with spreading the information quickly. Unsurprisingly, this did lead to further accusations of various government officials colluding with big business and in fact influenced people more onto government oversight along with a further view on not just big business, but more on consumption culture and capitalism in general. Despite this, the growing environmentalism on both sides, including a fair bit of populists, did mean that on local levels and state levels, there were a few victories and it was a matter of making people more aware of the situation along with solutions. However, one positive was McCain maintaining funds for R&D for renewable energy (including nuclear) along with various other developments. Around the time did come greater awareness of the nunances of the situation. After all, wind and solar power were renewable, but still required expensive components that need to be mined and caused a bit of pollutions while trying to recycle them was a problem. Other issues included sufficient biofuel to be inexpensive (though advancements in genetics have helped) along with the chain of productions. While the McCain administration did not do much on those issues other than maintain investment for jobs, they were willing to bring out the criticisms (if in a somewhat cynical way) that would help push the need for greater action.
     
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    The McCain Administration in Retrospect

    The McCain Administration had a lot to live up to after the Gore Administration. It would end up succeeding in being a time of great change and culture revelations for the people, but very much unintentionally. Perhaps the absurd humor in it is that the McCain Administration would be more impactful than Gore's regime through their missteps and the revelations of the deep rot, problems and corruption within the American politcal and economic systems, along with growing revelations on the cultural trends.

    While starting off relatively okay, the McCain Administration was always on a balancing act, trying not upset the relative bipartisan nature that was upheld thanks to Gore's successes, but their first true test came in the form of the Great Recession that would appear in the beginning of the new decade. A result of a variety of factors, from the housing market bubble burst, to the corruption of banks and unsavory loans to the actions and fraud of various individuals and organizations, it would define the new decade as the bursting of the American Dream. Furthermore, the fact that many of these banks were saved while the common man was left lying would come to leave a bitter taste and growing frustration at the upper class once the panic died down and people realized what happened. On the longer term, several political scholars would need that this led to the decline of both neo-conservatism and neoliberalism, in part because they were born from similar trains of thought that promoted the cooperation of government with big business along with enabling further consumption without regard for production or consequence. Flashbacks to Exxon-Mobil and other companies just created further parallels and along with an acknowledgment from Gore over how he did wish he count enact more along with growing closeness to the Green Party meant that it added some acceleration to the growing notion of both parties being corrupt.

    The phenomena of "going green" underwent changes thanks the Great Recession and some noted this is where the combination of labor reform and economic reform mixed with the green movement. People began going to grow their own food or trying to figure out how to be cost-effective while being green, and the growing influence of social media meant that the information was being spread around. The second wave of renewable energy continued on with addressing the problems, such as what goes into creating solar panels and wind turbines and thus searching for alternate venues of power. Geothermal looked promising and further development into tidal power and other water was looked into. However, it did inspire more radical ideals such as biological-based solar panels that began catching on with various science-minded shows being used to spread information and promote ideas. Others instead advocated for minimalism and simplicity to reduce consumption, an idea that grew partially thanks to pragmatism in regards to the stagnant economy. Both methods did find success as a result of growing cooperation and support amongst communities formed to help develop this and awareness spread.

    Despite the economic problems causing havoc for a large portion of the world, there were positives as well. The McCain Administration's "hot streak" when it came to military affairs abroad became a punchline, but still a success. While Nicaragua was the first bit, the real meat of it came in the Middle East, notably the Iraqi-Syrian War and the Arabian Civil War. The former saw a coalition interfere with Saddam's attempt to exploit the Syrian civil war to his ends and in turn, out-manuevered him and exploited the chaos to try and build somewhat stable nations along with the promised Kurdish homeland and even one for Assyrians. Saudi Arabia meanwhile would see its controversial government be brought down by the remnants of the Baathist movements from the former Syria and Iraq and order would be restored under a constitutional monarchy headed by a reformer with Iran cementing a more dominant approach. While some troubles remained such as in Yemen, there was genuine plenty of hope within the entire Middle East for peace and growth, something that even many critics of McCain had to acknowledge. At the same time, it was followed by reports and reflections on how past conflicts were extended and the origins of the Saudis' rise to power and how they played a large part in troubles in the Middle East, due to the connections to Wahhabism and Salafism. Beyond the Middle East, other nations saw vast change. China underwent some surprisingly large reforms after Xi Jinpeng's murder done on the orders of Bo Xilai due to suspicions on the latter's prior criminal activites and thus forcing new president and party chairman Li Keqiang to institute new reforms to combat corruptions along with dealing with the Kim administration's recent belligerence, resulting in North Korea under new management and undergoing "de-Kimificiation." Even Venezuela would undergo change due to the overreliance on petrol for funding of social welfare along with the growing strife and underlying reactionary tones of the Chavistas, resulting in them being ousted from the presidency and later from the legislation and rebuilding themselves.

    Culture began undergoing changes from here. The effects of 2008-2010's #MeToo reverberated as the industry began making changes to fix the damage and prevent similar actions from happening again along with requiring of higher standards. The YA novel craze began dying down and was being replaced with the rise of superhero fiction, present in cross-media platforms in film, televisions, graphic novels, video games and even literary novels. Film would be dominated by the growing Marvel and later DC cinematic universes though reboots of some film franchises along with remakes or long sequels have begun to show some of the problems and trends within it that people hope will be shaken with fresh blood and the growing prominence of indie-films. Television saw a rise of quality programming that would match or exceed film such as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and plenty of other shows. Television animation saw a renaissance across the board with memorable story-telling, well-rounded characters and pushing boundaries. Many view this starting with Adventure Time and continuing on with plenty of other shows across the three main channels and beyond. Adult animation saw a revive through shows like The Orville, Bob's Burgers, Archer, Rick & Morty and Bojack Horseman especially, being reflections of the complications and problems of adulthood told through fantastic settings though it did lead the question to how said animation will be able to handle a potential shift into more opitmistic affairs into the future. Video games continued to push boundaries through exploring new mechanics, telling deeper stories or just simply indulging in fun gameplay, especially as mobile devices grew more powerful. At the same time, this brought their own problems in shedding light such as unfair business and labor practices along with the ethics of certain microtransactions such as the "lootbox" among others. Another commonality was in the representation of minorities and LGTBQ+ characters within the medium and working to establish it as part of the norm, working to combat backlash from reactionary groups though several steps remained, such as working to further diversify the people working behind the scenes along with addressing the cultural infrastructure of animation and video games along with inherent biases. Indie works in games and animation also began rising in popularity and the established model in being crowdfunded meant that there was a chance to really grow without much concern of having content be influenced though problems did remain due to the economic situation and working to try and get organized.

    The internet world reflected these changes. The various cultural eras of the Internet changed with the rise of mass video websites like Youtube, Veoh and Newgrounds. Each worked to try and establish their own niche and aiming at their audiences, especially with the success of Myspace, Artistshare, and Youtube's collaboration with the later inclusion in OpenFilm. The contract would be renewed for a third time after analysis. Internet culture would see forums remain somewhat prominent, but also the decline of traditional sprite comics and some of the old guard to the rise of new blood. Sprite animations saw rise and falls though manage to stablize thanks to Newgrounds mimicking the aspects of crowdfunding, especially in portions done through a subscription set (which would be compared to Patreon). Webvid stars became increasingly common whether it be Youtubers, Veohstars or whatever platforms they appeared on. Music remained a prominent aspect within it and indeed led to the rise of strange and new genres that would spread across. People with shows maintained their work and while some ended or declined, others game to take their place such as Let's Players or even independent news groups, mentors or even webshows. It was a new platform that was growing independent of the mass market groups and their influence and there were many people working to keep it that way, which including combatted some ill-written legislation on trying to control some of the more problematic aspects of the Internet. The net culture itself had to deal with certain Internet personalities being exposed for troublesome, offensive or even criminal behavior. The subcultures remained prominent though the "GIFT" phenomenon did fade considerably with more than a few people crediting Fred Rogers' influence in shaping the internet cultural landscape. Advterisements did remain a prominent problem even with crowd-funding if due to decisions made in the early years people hope to change along with dealing privacy, security and data sharing. Webcomics saw an increase an prominence through a few getting adaptations as webshows, being discussed or even advertised or plugged in and so on.

    Over half into the new decade and it seemed as if the political spectrum began leaning more to the left. Leftist politicians would end up in thanks to promises of changes, but the rise of Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn and the election of Bernie Sanders hinted at a potential return of the social democrats along with a new wave of populism and the hopes of addressing long-standing politics and the hope for change.

    Join me in the last chapters of this timeline...

    A Gore Prosperous Tomorrow was shown...

    and after overcoming the Years of McCain and Suffering...

    ... The Future Berns Bright...
     
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    Kennedy Forever said:
    Your welcome I'm excited to see what comes next but also sad because TTL will come to an end
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    Than you! I will be happy yo answer any questions on pop culture or some other things as best as I can or perhaps suggest what could happen here. A fun look back at this alternate 2008-2016
     

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    Kennedy Forever said:
    How's the James Bond movies going in TTL?
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    I reckon the Daniel Craig films would've been relatively the same for the first few films. I am thinking Spectre might be different though because of the growing political and culture climate and likely more reflective of the times. At the same time, it is still its own self-contained universe.
     
    Sanders Administration- Winter 2017
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    Winter 2017

    "Well, I wonder how future President Sanders will deal with this thing from McCain..."

    "Holy hell the thing about the interview about Till..."

    "That ends the Dakota pipeline..."

    The final weeks of the McCain Administration were unsurprisingly quiet since it seemed to reflect the lack of activity from the executive branch in the last year or so. A growing number of people have attributed this to McCain's decline in health, with some believing he may die within the year. Despite this, they still have managed to try and do some actions in the last days of the administration. A notable instance in the middle of Janury, which would see a large influx of a few thousand American soldiers to Poland to ensure protection from any possible future aggression from Russia. According to the McCain administration, the plan is to rotate the forces every nine months. Other nations involved in the rotation are Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The US Armoured Brigade will also carry out military exercises in the Baltics, all part of President McCain's response to Russia's intervention in Ukraine and to reassure nervous Nato allies. Russia in turn responded by calling it a threat to national security along with it being a destabilizing factor for European security. The McCain Administration responded with recalling the past transactions of Russia such as the Georgian-Russian War along with the invasion of Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. President elect Bernie Sanders has noted that while he will honor McCain's choice and let the soldiers remain there for the alotted time put in, he noted that his administration would be more focused on domestic affairs and improving the well-being of the American citizens. However, he did make a rather sly remark encouraging Russia to try and do the same.

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    Vechicles moving into Poland

    However, beyond the prepations for Bernie Sanders to be sworn into office, there were relatively few other events going on in the beginning of the year. However, one event that would be thrust upon would be new revelations regarding the case of Emmett Till. Emmett Louis Till was a 14-year-old African American who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery store. The brutality of his murder and the fact that his killers were acquitted drew attention to the long history of violent persecution of African Americans in the United States. Till posthumously became an icon of the civil rights movement. The new revelations would come as a result. Author Timothy Tyson released details of a 2008 interview with Carolyn Bryant, during which she disclosed that she had fabricated the most sensational part of her testimony. Tyson said during the interview, Bryant retracted her testimony that Till had grabbed her around her waist and uttered obscenities, saying "that part's not true". The jury did not hear Bryant testify and the judge ruled it inadmissible, but the court spectators heard.. Meanwhile, the defense wanted Bryant's testimony as evidence for a possible appeal in the case of a conviction. In the 2008 interview, the 72-year-old Bryant said she could not remember the rest of the events that occurred between her and Till in the grocery store. The entire thing sent some pretty big shockwaves throughout the media in regards to how innocent people of color will die because of the lies of whites as well as the horrific bias in the Justice system, which started rapid talks for the Sanders administration to begin working to address the various issues.

    Emmett_Till.jpg

    Picture of Emmett Till during his final Christmas

    Before long though, President Bernie Sanders would be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States and he would already be planning sweeping changes and various decisions. One that came out on the spot was on the Dakota Access Pipeline, a controversial oil pipeline protested because of the potential environmental harm along with the encroachment into Native American land, specifically that of the Standing Rock Sioux. Unsurprisingly, among his first days sworn in office, President Sanders would see over the US army corps of engineers, along with a number of federal agencies, to halt permits for construction along with working to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline to begin with. Additionally, Sanders would work for federal agencies to investigate additional projects threatening native American lands and would quickly end up in the news over his bold and brash statements along with actions. He spoke against the environmentally damaging side effects and the total disrespect toward the indigenous people along with the protestors. While this did earn him the ire of some police officers, it did also cement his popularity with his support base, viewing him as following through along. It would become clear that Sanders is willing to do what it takes to pass through and deal with various problems, even at the cost of controversy or issue, such as preparations to pardon Edward Snowden regarding the issues of the NSA though at the very least offering clemency. It would be a growing shock on how much would come to change under the Sanders Administration.

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    Standing Rock protest march from September 2016
     
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    Kennedy Forever said:
    Good going President Sanders
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    Yeah, he's gonna be doing alot though the details are bit complicated given how I don't know how far he can go regarding politics. Not my strong suit though he still has the same goals and ambitions as OTL, which will help ehre so I welcome feedback and questions so i can write this as plausible as I can.
     
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