alternatehistory.com
Gore Presidency- January 2002
January 2002
2002... a new year... new possibilities. There was a renewed sense of optimism for the year. After all, the infamous terrorist group Al-Queda lost many leaders and key members, including 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden, thanks to the hard work of many brave men and women and master-minded by President Al Gore, who was currently enjoying massive favorable ratings for his accomplishments abroad, thus allowing him the political clout and capital to execute domestic decisions he had wanted to tackle. Having pushed more for gay rights since his time as presidency, he decided to go forward. After all, 73% of the people were in favor of protection for the LGBT against hate crimes back in November, and this was before the political clout gained by the reinforcements assisting them in Tora Bora. However, during a bit of the talk with the soldiers, President Gore realized he would need to broaden his scope for their protection. Discrimination took on many shapes and forms, the bitter scars of Jim Crow and segregation loomed over on both parties. Acts that were harassment, but not necessarily criminal, such as verbal abuse or the spread of material. Regardless, Al Gore would fight and get what he wanted with a little more. In the returning session of Congress, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed successfully. To many people, it seemed cut and dry. It was a popular notion and given the boost from the victory, it seemed mroe than fair to protect. However, Al Gore's use of wording was key. In his time in office, he saw how it all grew and change. It was not just the gays and lesbians, but also the bisexuals. Then during his time talking to the soldiers, one was a Native American who introduced to the concept of "two-spirit" people. It was a reminder that the situation was more complex than he initially thought and it would only grow as such. His Hate Crimes Prevention Act was worded to include the various minorities within. It would be this act that would come into play more down the line, especially since the protection included from not just people, but also institutions, done to prevent discrimination. As such, it was the very basis of this act that he used to justify ending "Don't Ask Don't Tell", especially since the success of the soldiers meant the flimsy justifications could not hold up. However, Gore did omit the mention of marriage since he knew that it would draw too much ire. Plus, he would leave that up to the Supreme Court, one that he would plant more liberal judges on. For now though, 2002 saw the beginning of protections for the LGBT community and the end of DADT.
A 2 km long Pride Flag in Key West, celeberating the 25th anniversary of the flag itself along with the first anniversary of the passing of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the end of DADT in 2003.
Of course, many of them would not be able to enjoy said victory for a little while. Some of the soldiers remained in Afghanistan over the holidays to ensure a "thorough job" while also assisting in stablizing the new Afghan government with the fall of the Taliban. While some have questioned the necessity for this, others have noted the associated problems of the Taliban, namely the production of opium that was produced into heroin. Given how a rogue state was able to operate, some of Gore's advisors suggested they would need to change tactics in regards to dealing with the opiate crisis. One noted how hashesh or marijuana was produced in the region beforehand and while the substance was still viewed with harsh scrutiny, it was less maligant than heroin. Gore's recollections of taking the substance as a young man did make him a bit softer toward this idea. Alternately, there was the idea of producing morphine and codeine from legalizing poppy, but that would require a good deal of investment in infrastructure and development. After all, his statement in nation-building remained prominent. This was a long-term problem that needed to be solved and would require the cooperation of the United Nations. The solution would likely not be simple. The heroin trade was prosperous for the terrorists and it needed to be ended. However, the notes recovered and interviews done prompted one to recall moonshining durining the Prohibition. This and its similarity to the War on Drugs has been causing Gore to rethink some prior policies on dealing with drugs back at home.
Picture of Daniel Pearl
In the meanwhile, more urgent manners also justified the focus in Afghanistan. The kidnapping of Dainel Pearl, a prominent reporter who was in the area to report the successes in Afghanistan from Pakistan had caught the attention and thus some of the forces in Afghanistan were sent to try and find him from his last location alongside with intelligence agencies trying to find him. The hopes would be in trying to recover and find him. While some were confident to do so, others were not as sure as they were caught by surprise. Regardless, it seemed as attention to the Middle East would remain prominent for the foreign offices of the Gore Administration. Meanwhile, back domestically, the big issue dominating politics was that of Enron. After the fate of Micorsoft, it seemed that Enron would be in just as deep if not deeper trouble. The Justice Department began their criminal investigations of Enron, one that had a bit more of a vested interest than expected. Now Gore was trying to maintain the business friendly approaches that Clinton also had yet Enron was a fossil fuels company and thus, he had a stake to claim here. Plus, the precedent set by Microsoft meant that the government had a duty to deal with companies doing such acts to the full extent of the law to ensure such practices would not happen once more. Beyond that, the large issue was on education, namely with the "No Child Left Behind" Act, one that has been delayed due to concerns over financing the improvement of education.
A graph showing the decline of Enron
2002... a new year... new possibilities. There was a renewed sense of optimism for the year. After all, the infamous terrorist group Al-Queda lost many leaders and key members, including 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden, thanks to the hard work of many brave men and women and master-minded by President Al Gore, who was currently enjoying massive favorable ratings for his accomplishments abroad, thus allowing him the political clout and capital to execute domestic decisions he had wanted to tackle. Having pushed more for gay rights since his time as presidency, he decided to go forward. After all, 73% of the people were in favor of protection for the LGBT against hate crimes back in November, and this was before the political clout gained by the reinforcements assisting them in Tora Bora. However, during a bit of the talk with the soldiers, President Gore realized he would need to broaden his scope for their protection. Discrimination took on many shapes and forms, the bitter scars of Jim Crow and segregation loomed over on both parties. Acts that were harassment, but not necessarily criminal, such as verbal abuse or the spread of material. Regardless, Al Gore would fight and get what he wanted with a little more. In the returning session of Congress, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed successfully. To many people, it seemed cut and dry. It was a popular notion and given the boost from the victory, it seemed mroe than fair to protect. However, Al Gore's use of wording was key. In his time in office, he saw how it all grew and change. It was not just the gays and lesbians, but also the bisexuals. Then during his time talking to the soldiers, one was a Native American who introduced to the concept of "two-spirit" people. It was a reminder that the situation was more complex than he initially thought and it would only grow as such. His Hate Crimes Prevention Act was worded to include the various minorities within. It would be this act that would come into play more down the line, especially since the protection included from not just people, but also institutions, done to prevent discrimination. As such, it was the very basis of this act that he used to justify ending "Don't Ask Don't Tell", especially since the success of the soldiers meant the flimsy justifications could not hold up. However, Gore did omit the mention of marriage since he knew that it would draw too much ire. Plus, he would leave that up to the Supreme Court, one that he would plant more liberal judges on. For now though, 2002 saw the beginning of protections for the LGBT community and the end of DADT.
A 2 km long Pride Flag in Key West, celeberating the 25th anniversary of the flag itself along with the first anniversary of the passing of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the end of DADT in 2003.
Of course, many of them would not be able to enjoy said victory for a little while. Some of the soldiers remained in Afghanistan over the holidays to ensure a "thorough job" while also assisting in stablizing the new Afghan government with the fall of the Taliban. While some have questioned the necessity for this, others have noted the associated problems of the Taliban, namely the production of opium that was produced into heroin. Given how a rogue state was able to operate, some of Gore's advisors suggested they would need to change tactics in regards to dealing with the opiate crisis. One noted how hashesh or marijuana was produced in the region beforehand and while the substance was still viewed with harsh scrutiny, it was less maligant than heroin. Gore's recollections of taking the substance as a young man did make him a bit softer toward this idea. Alternately, there was the idea of producing morphine and codeine from legalizing poppy, but that would require a good deal of investment in infrastructure and development. After all, his statement in nation-building remained prominent. This was a long-term problem that needed to be solved and would require the cooperation of the United Nations. The solution would likely not be simple. The heroin trade was prosperous for the terrorists and it needed to be ended. However, the notes recovered and interviews done prompted one to recall moonshining durining the Prohibition. This and its similarity to the War on Drugs has been causing Gore to rethink some prior policies on dealing with drugs back at home.
Picture of Daniel Pearl
In the meanwhile, more urgent manners also justified the focus in Afghanistan. The kidnapping of Dainel Pearl, a prominent reporter who was in the area to report the successes in Afghanistan from Pakistan had caught the attention and thus some of the forces in Afghanistan were sent to try and find him from his last location alongside with intelligence agencies trying to find him. The hopes would be in trying to recover and find him. While some were confident to do so, others were not as sure as they were caught by surprise. Regardless, it seemed as attention to the Middle East would remain prominent for the foreign offices of the Gore Administration. Meanwhile, back domestically, the big issue dominating politics was that of Enron. After the fate of Micorsoft, it seemed that Enron would be in just as deep if not deeper trouble. The Justice Department began their criminal investigations of Enron, one that had a bit more of a vested interest than expected. Now Gore was trying to maintain the business friendly approaches that Clinton also had yet Enron was a fossil fuels company and thus, he had a stake to claim here. Plus, the precedent set by Microsoft meant that the government had a duty to deal with companies doing such acts to the full extent of the law to ensure such practices would not happen once more. Beyond that, the large issue was on education, namely with the "No Child Left Behind" Act, one that has been delayed due to concerns over financing the improvement of education.
A graph showing the decline of Enron
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