Medieval America Mark III

The History of the FBI
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The History of the FBI

After the long death of industrial civilization, America was plunged into chaos as governors declared war against Washington and each other in their own quests for power. In the midst of this, the Federal Bureau of Investigations quickly fell into disarray as their offices across America came under siege by rival factions. However, the ascension of President George Washington II and the drafting of the Articles of Emergence would allow the FBI to experience a massive resurgence. Agents would rally around the Non-Denominational Church to become the shadowy enforcers of the Chief Justice, utilizing disreputable methods such as blackmail, kidnapping, or outright assassination.

It was said that the agents of the FBI shot an arrow into the back of George Dinwiddie as he marched across the James River and poured Charlie Coleman a glass of poisoned wine during his Siege of Dallas. It was the FBI, clad in long black frocks that terrorized the countryside, seizing land from nobles who dared speak against the Chief Justice, even behind closed doors. Eventually, the agency would reach its peak of infamy during the Tchaktaw Investigations, as the agency rounded up and massacred thousands of Evangelist heretics across Dixie. While the Southron nobles first welcomed these strange men in black, the FBI would link several knightly orders to the Evangelist heresy, in an apparent attempt to destroy institutions which threatened the President in Baltimore.

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The FBI’s investigations into the noble defenders of Dixie quickly drew the ire of Grand Wizard Earl Schexnayder, who argued that the agency had damaged the ability of Southron warriors to defend the heartland against Cowboy savages. This grand feud between the White Knights of the Klan and the Men in Black would force the Non-Denominational Church to put an end the Tchaktaw Investigations. However, earning the ire of Dixie would not be enough to destroy the FBI as three centuries of enforcing the Church’s will had left them nigh untouchable. This would all change after the rise of John Kennedy III, a former Mayor of Boston before his election to the Presidency. Kennedy’s relationship with FBI Director Harold Dillinger was reportedly difficult as the agency had been openly hostile to the growing influence of New England before Kennedy’s election.

Eventually, Director Dillinger would release a dossier regarding the Esoteric Order of Lovecraft, an occult heresy amongst New Englanders which worshipped dark tentacle gods and committed carnal acts with sea life in the name of the “Deep Ones”. Dillinger requested Chief Justice Caldwell that the FBI be allowed to investigate this diabolical blasphemy and put an end to the dark practices of the Esoteric Order. After briefly skimming the dossier, Caldwell decided these outrageous claims were clearly fabricated by the Director himself and formally denied his request. Eventually, the Supreme Court would be forced to disband the FBI after being pressured by the forces of Dixie, New England, Chesapeake, and New Jersey (who had always hated the agency for cracking down on their gambling operations).

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After Director Dillinger was burned at the stake for treason, chroniclers of the Non-Denominational Church revealed the dark and terrible practices common amongst the Men in Black. It was written that agents grew strains of ergot in secret laboratories and fed the drug to political prisoners in an attempt to make them more susceptible to brainwashing. Other times, executives of the FBI would ritually dress as women while participating in disturbing sexual orgies with other men. However, many of these claims are rather doubtful and many scholars see them as fanciful propaganda written to tarnish the reputation of the FBI, just as the agency attempted to tarnish President Kennedy’s name.

Despite the sheer oddity of these accusations, this propaganda proved to be highly effective as thousands turned against the valiant protectors of the faith overnight. As the years passed, the FBI would soon be remembered as a dark society of spies and assassins who sought to corrupt the holiest of institutions under the shadow of secrecy. However, the Great Midwestern War has seen the rapid ascendance of Ohio and fears that the President in Cincinnati may be building his own Supreme Court to rival the influence of Baltimore. With shadowy plots threatening the unity of the Church, a few anxious judges have begun advocating for a revival of the FBI to put an end to the apostates of the Midwest.
 
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tehskyman

Banned
Thinking about the electoral college for the new USA and elections. I was thinking that the electoral college, would become the college of electors, anyone who had the ability to vote in elections for the president.

So when a new president is chosen, electors would be able to cast ballots for their choice in president. Presidential electors basically include, wealthy landowning families, military officers, some churchmen, wealthy merchant families and guild leaders. If the electors do not vote in a majority for the president, it gets kicked to the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives is made up of representatives chosen by all citizens of the USA. Now in many places, there aren't many free citizens at all. Usually though, most voters pay elections very little mind. They cast their ballot and present the proof to that candidate to get some small bribe. The House of Representatives will vote on who becomes president. If no candidates receive a majority of votes, they are bumped off and the remaining candidates are voted on. This continues until a president is chosen, though usually there are two maybe 3 candidates tops.

The Vice President is chosen by the Senate. Sometimes the senate will choose the 2nd place to the President. Usually they choose a Churchman. The VP doesn't have a big role, usually serves as regent for the President while he is away. The President usually replaces the Senate's VP choice anyways and their own choice (usually a family member or close ally) gets rubber stamped through


Thoughts?
 
Cuba could have communism used to justify feudalism, with the "people" as the serfs in the sugar cane fields, and a cult based on Castro and Che Guevara overthrowing the demon king Batista. But the real Castro family died out and the new rulers just use it to keep the status quo.
 

tehskyman

Banned
The First Session and the Government of the USA Draft One

After President George Washington II was anointed the President of the USA, he called on the elites of the Non-Denom Church and the Chesapeake Bay area to convene and decide upon the structure of the renewed nation. While waiting for the delegates to arrive, President Washington sat down with the Supreme Court to discuss their place within the USA and to help draft the Articles of Emergency.

Though the exact details of those meetings is not known, from some of Chief Justice Knox II Harrison's surviving writings, the new President was very concerned about balancing the ties of the old USA and crafting a document that would adequately address the issues of the new. By the time the first delegates arrived, the President was ready to present the document to the delegates and allow the scribes to copy it. In addition, the President and the Chief Justice had agreed upon a division of powers between the two poles of the new USA. The Appalachian Guard, the Supreme's court personal army would not be allowed within the Baltimore Beltway unless the President gave the order to do so. Similarly, non-church soldiers would not be permitted within the Washington Beltway unless the Supreme Court assented to it. Furthermore they agreed that the two chambers of Congress would be separated between the secular and spiritual halves of the government, and physically separated too.

The Senate, with its control and concern over judicial and thus ecclesiastic matters, would become a body populated solely by churchmen and continue to sit in Washington DC. Half the Senators would be the district supervisors of the church or their representatives, so as to ensure that the church heard from all its adherents. The other half would be churchmen appointed by the governors of each district supervisory so as to ensure that the state retained some level of control over the judicial branch. The Western Emergency, as the new medieval era would be termed, meant that the states west of the Mississippi could not be contacted and thus could not be represented in the Senate. To preserve the quorum of the Senate, and to appease the many political families who had been stranded in the DC area since the beginning of the Regression, "Courts in Exile" were set up to represent the 9th and 10th circuit courts. These courts would be populated by those old families and from them, the President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court could appoint new senators to represent the lost states.

The rest of the circuit courts would be set up by the church in their respective locations, serving to adjudicate disputes between churchmen, noblemen and peasant alike. These rulings can then be bumped up to the Supreme Court if need be.

Vacancies in the District Supervisors would continue to be appointed by the Supreme Court, selected from qualified local churchment. And in an important compromise with the Supreme Court, vacancies in the Supreme Court would no longer be filled by the President. Instead the Senate would select and vote on replacements for the Supreme Court and the President would agree to pass any candidates that passed by his desk.


The House of Representatives would become the secular chamber of congress, populated by representatives of all free citizens of the USA and would move to Baltimore where a new Presidential palace and accompanying legislative chamber would be constructed. In theory, all the governing of the USA occurs here. But like the old Congress, the new USA is also split by factions.

Elections for the President would continue. However, the Presidency would be a lifetime term this time around. Voting would be restricted to the electoral college which would be expanded. The College of Electors would no longer be attached to states and instead would be populated by men of suitable standing. Military officers, landowning nobility, merchants, churchmen, guild leaders and other men of high standing would be allowed to enter. One's status in the College of Electors could be passed down from a father to a male heir and new applicants were permitted. On the chance that the Electors could not agree with a majority among themselves, election of the President and Vice President is given to the House of Representatives and Senate respectively. The Senate will usually choose a churchman, to govern the USA until the President is selected. Consequently, whoever is the current Vice-President administers the country until their replacement is selected (or they are reappointed). Presidents usually change their Vice President upon their ascension, making a close relative or trusted ally their Veep, though sometimes the losing candidate is made Vice President. The amount of authority the Vice President has varies from administration to administration but usually, the Vice President is trusted as a regent, marshal, chancellor and any other position they may excel in.

If the Electoral College cannot choose a president, it is given to the House of Representatives. Here the factionalism of the USA comes out as the various factions negotiate with each other to place a candidate in charge. A great amount of horse trading happens, often times for weeks at a time to ensure that one candidate gains enough support among various factions and sub factions.

George Washington II set another precedent with his presidential name as future presidents would now take the names of past presidents upon their ascension to the Resolute Desk as a way of honoring the old patriot saints. Eventually in 2351 the Supreme Court would decree that presidents could take the name of any of the patriot saints of the histories including but not limited to Douglas MacArthur, William Sherman, Alexander Hamilton, Colin Powell, etc.
 
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And in an important compromise with the Supreme Court, vacancies in the Supreme Court would no longer be filled by the President. Instead the Supreme Court would select and vote on replacements for the Senate and the President would agree to pass any candidates that passed by his desk.
Did you mean that the Supreme Court selects people to fill empty Court seats by drawing from the pool of churchmen in the Senate?

Are the District Supervisors picked from local candidates? Because if they are picked from local candidates and then they personally pick all staff members below them, that could make for a fairly self-contained local-church structure. And then these self-contained units contribute Senators who are formally subordinate to them, or at least expected to stand up for their interests in the national arena-- and it's these people that then become Court members. The Court may, under the current structure, wax and wane in relevance over time-- sometimes the Court gets to draw on several Senators who have served for a long time and now have their own opinions on how national-scale affairs should go, but maybe sometimes it's forced to elevate less experienced or indepedendent-minded people. And in the latter situation Non-Denom may be more like a confederation of mostly autocephalous churches, something more like Eastern Orthodoxy.

And are dissenting opinions still a thing, can a subgroup of the Justices submit a reasoned opinion explaining their case even if it's the majority opinion that becomes part of church canon? Because then, with contrary arguments at least around and free to be voiced (would the opinion of a Justice ever be considered as irredeemable heresy?) different church subunits can really take inspiration from different and new doctrinal viewpoints in addition to local tradition.

I think the Electoral College and the House of Representatives are too similar in composition-- how are you supposed to explain to someone of high standing (merchant, soldier, noble) that they belong in one and not the other, and how do you make sure that they don't take it as some kind of insult to be in one but not the other? I think there should be some more ironclad criterion that distinguishes the College from the House, or else dual membership will make them blend into the same institution. Maybe the Electors are all blood relatives up to a certain generation of previous Presidents, allowing for the periodic emergence of dynasties (but if the election goes to the House, they can displace the dynasty by electing whoever they want). I'm imagining something like the House of Saud, where being a prince of the family puts you in a separate tier politically and the succession can pass laterally instead of vertically between them.
 
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Cuba could have communism used to justify feudalism, with the "people" as the serfs in the sugar cane fields, and a cult based on Castro and Che Guevara overthrowing the demon king Batista. But the real Castro family died out and the new rulers just use it to keep the status quo.
I made a post like this a while back
I'm thinking about making a post about Cuba. I believe that other posters on this project wrote how Cuba's position, resources, and natural wealth would make it a powerful nation after the fall of civilization. The country would probably be ruled by the descendants of party members and an offshoot of the Catholic Chruch syncretized with communist ideology (something like the People's Chruch or the Order of Saint Marx). The ruling class would occasionally council with each other at the Popular Assembly to discuss trade disputes, land distribution, and the election of the next Castrós to rule the People's Republic (a bit like how Caesar became Csar and Kaiser). Of course, the nation is communist in name only with an ever-present slave trade, religious inquisitions, and the Politburo ruling as feudal lords.
 

tehskyman

Banned
Did you mean that the Supreme Court selects people to fill empty Court seats by drawing from the pool of churchmen in the Senate?

Are the District Supervisors picked from local candidates? Because if they are picked from local candidates and then they personally pick all staff members below them, that could make for a fairly self-contained local-church structure. And then these self-contained units contribute Senators who are formally subordinate to them, or at least expected to stand up for their interests in the national arena-- and it's these people that then become Court members. The Court may, under the current structure, wax and wane in relevance over time-- sometimes the Court gets to draw on several Senators who have served for a long time and now have their own opinions on how national-scale affairs should go, but maybe sometimes it's forced to elevate less experienced or indepedendent-minded people. And in the latter situation Non-Denom may be more like a confederation of mostly autocephalous churches, something more like Eastern Orthodoxy.

What I meant to say was the Supreme Court selects from among several candidates for vacancies in the Senate and the Senate selects from among themselves or from the circuit courts to fill vacancies in the supreme Court

And are dissenting opinions still a thing, can a subgroup of the Justices submit a reasoned opinion explaining their case even if it's the majority opinion that becomes part of church canon? Because then, with contrary arguments at least around and free to be voiced (would the opinion of a Justice ever be considered as irredeemable heresy?) different church subunits can really take inspiration from different and new doctrinal viewpoints in addition to local tradition.

Yes

I think the Electoral College and the House of Representatives are too similar in composition-- how are you supposed to explain to someone of high standing (merchant, soldier, noble) that they belong in one and not the other, and how do you make sure that they don't take it as some kind of insult to be in one but not the other? I think there should be some more ironclad criterion that distinguishes the College from the House, or else dual membership will make them blend into the same institution. Maybe the Electors are all blood relatives up to a certain generation of previous Presidents, allowing for the periodic emergence of dynasties (but if the election goes to the House, they can displace the dynasty by electing whoever they want). I'm imagining something like the House of Saud, where being a prince of the family puts you in a separate tier politically and the succession can pass laterally instead of vertically between them.

So the House of Representatives and the Electoral College are supposed to be similar. Except that the House of Representatives is always having meetings and the Electoral College only meets when the President dies. If you died relatively young and President reigned for a while, then you might never use your electoral college vote.

Think of the Electoral College like a new secular Senate. Something like 70% of the US's population can vote for the House of Representatives. Usually, they vote for whichever faction bribes them to vote one way or another. The Electoral College is maybe 5-600 people.

Also the House of Reps mostly rubber stamps legislation that passes them. The members of the Electoral college generally comprise the people the President would listen to as other men with considerable power. I'm going to change it so that membership in the Electoral College is not hereditary.

I will clarify this
 
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70% seems rather high - shouldn't it be like colonial America, and only be open to Christian property owners*?

*With the obvious change that black people (or just about any ethnic group for that matter) and women can vote
 

tehskyman

Banned
70% seems rather high - shouldn't it be like colonial America, and only be open to Christian property owners*?

*With the obvious change that black people (or just about any ethnic group for that matter) and women can vote
Honestly idk how many people can vote, that seems like pretty much anyone can vote. I think we need more discussion.
 

tehskyman

Banned
Colonial America seemed to have 70% of adult males as qualified voters. So making sure that landowning men and women of good standing can vote probably means 60-70% of the population can vote?

Considering that most of the USA's land is outside of the deep south, most farmers can vote.
 
Colonial America seemed to have 70% of adult males as qualified voters. So making sure that landowning men and women of good standing can vote probably means 60-70% of the population can vote?

Considering that most of the USA's land is outside of the deep south, most farmers can vote.
I'd think rates of outright property ownership are bound to go down in a neo-medieval neo-feudal society as compared to a proto-capitalist land like colonial America.
 

tehskyman

Banned
I'd think rates of outright property ownership are bound to go down in a neo-medieval neo-feudal society as compared to a proto-capitalist land like colonial America.
Thats probably true, probably closer to 30-40%

Still 300k to 300? voters for the House of Representatives vs 5-600 electors in the Electoral College
 
It's possible that voting rights on a local level vary widely, in accordance with local charters. There may be certain federal property minimums, though. The House would at the very least demand the power to design taxes or veto Presidential suggestions on that; it may also pass symbolic resolutions like urging the President to declare war on whoever.
So the House of Representatives and the Electoral College are supposed to be similar. Except that the House of Representatives is always having meetings and the Electoral College only meets when the President dies. If you died relatively young and President reigned for a while, then you might never use your electoral college vote.
If the President picks the Electors as people he trusts, a few hundred seems like too many for him to know/trust to agree with his preferences for the succession. If he is the one picking Electors he'd probably try to pick as few as he can get away with, a hundred or so (around the same number of Cardinals trusted to elect the Pope). If the number of Electors is too large and membership is non-hereditary then appointing them all becomes a big task and the resulting institution may demand more of its own powers
Would also be fun if some Electors were picked secretly, to keep them safe from assassination and such
Considering that most of the USA's land is outside of the deep south, most farmers can vote.
The James River hosted plenty of tobacco plantations in the early colonial era, but to get more votes compared to New England they may be more lax with the property requirements. Meanwhile New England is too worried about which urban guilds could be partisans of which great family to consider expanding the franchise too much.
 

tehskyman

Banned
It's possible that voting rights on a local level vary widely, in accordance with local charters. There may be certain federal property minimums, though. The House would at the very least demand the power to design taxes or veto Presidential suggestions on that; it may also pass symbolic resolutions like urging the President to declare war on whoever.

If the President picks the Electors as people he trusts, a few hundred seems like too many for him to know/trust to agree with his preferences for the succession. If he is the one picking Electors he'd probably try to pick as few as he can get away with, a hundred or so (around the same number of Cardinals trusted to elect the Pope). If the number of Electors is too large and membership is non-hereditary then appointing them all becomes a big task and the resulting institution may demand more of its own powers
Would also be fun if some Electors were picked secretly, to keep them safe from assassination and such

The James River hosted plenty of tobacco plantations in the early colonial era, but to get more votes compared to New England they may be more lax with the property requirements. Meanwhile New England is too worried about which urban guilds could be partisans of which great family to consider expanding the franchise too much.
I intended the College of Electors to be a separate body/institutation from the president, where the gentry could choose the president.
 
Thats probably true, probably closer to 30-40%

Still 300k to 300? voters for the House of Representatives vs 5-600 electors in the Electoral College

Is that a lot for a feudal society where voting's based on land ownership, especially considering descent from the USA to naturally push it up? I ask out of genuine curiosity.
 
I intended the College of Electors to be a separate body/institutation from the president, where the gentry could choose the president.
The Electors could be chosen by the state legislatures, as it is currently. But that leads to another issue-- if Boston sends Electors to the College, isn't that like saying that the Boston city government is the real State of Massachusetts and not the autonomous state based in Hartford? To keep all the legal claims in order, the Electors may have to be decoupled from the states-- every one of the effective subunits of governments (counties, municipalities) sends Electors, varying with population.
There's also the question of whether the Electors should be totally free to vote their conscience or totally bound by choices made elsewhere. This probably varies over time, as the sub-unit legislatures pick predictable or unpredictable people as Electors.
 
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