April 13, 2009--The End of Hope

You would be horrified at the weapons that are available on the open market. There are place, generally 3rd World, but not always, that you can get everything up to and including heavy armor for cash on the barrel.

What prevents this is that the bubble around the 1st Family tends to be much more robust than is imagined. Getting something like an RPG or an ATGM into effective engagement range is extraordinarily difficult.

This sort of scenario might be difficult for a domestic group to arrange (although AT-4 do walk away from NG armories from time to time), but it could be done. It would be easier for an international group, or for a domestic one with connections to either radicals or organized crime.

It is much more of a logistical challenge than the easier to obtain, although far less selective, truck bomb.

There is a reason that the Chief of Detail tends to get very little sleep.

I think this sort of thing would probably be easier to pull off in a foreign country. Some more than others.
 
An interesting twist would have it be a serial killer or mass murderer type doing it rather than radical racists or Muslim extremists.



I can't believe someone said this is a timeline they'd want to live in......
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
I can't believe someone said this is a timeline they'd want to live in......

A TL in which assassinating the President's Family is a thing that just happens. Who the hell would want to live in that? Who would praise that?

That said, to the OP I am curious about where this will go. Undoubtedly this will have a massive effect- the ownership of military grade weapons will come under massive scrutiny, and presumably Obama's psych is going to have been shattered by such a violent and random act.
 
From the first post, and the 2 sentences from the father and son, this seems to be a attack from disgruntled southern patriots, from the looks of it. They know how to use anti-tank weapons, since the father said something about taking a oath (most likely the Oath of Enlistment), and saying Obama was weak (fitting in with the southern message).

This means that the father and son were most likely part of the militia movement, from the sounds of it.
 
This reminds me of my favourite part of Clancy's Executive Orders, where the Secret Service fights off an abduction attempt of the President's daughter at her nursery school.

Can I suggest that Obama's kids survive this ATL? It's more likely, IMO. The President is still impacted and the US will still be looking for vengeance.
 
This reminds me of my favourite part of Clancy's Executive Orders, where the Secret Service fights off an abduction attempt of the President's daughter at her nursery school.

Can I suggest that Obama's kids survive this ATL? It's more likely, IMO. The President is still impacted and the US will still be looking for vengeance.

From the way the author described it, the two girls had a snowball's chance in hell of surviving.
 
From the way the author described it, the two girls had a snowball's chance in hell of surviving.

He said they died along with 12 secret service agents. Only a retcon could save them now.

If he changed it and made them live I'd lose all interest in this timeline. Reading about a failed assassination isn't nearly as interesting as reading about one that was successful. Not every story needs a happy ending.

My suggestion would be to make the killers someone other than the usual white supremacist or Muslim extremist suspects that everyone suspects.
 
I wonder how conservatives will react to this. I'd hope they'd show some empathy, but they'll most likely just kick Obama while he's down.

Just as an aside, I think that Obama's policies have not been good for the country--but his kids dying in an terrorist attack would be hideous. Whatever your political beliefs, wishing physical calamity on people you disagree with will kill the soul of the nation.

As a moderate libertarian who leans slightly to the right, I second Vikingstar's sentiment. No matter what disagreements with someone's politics, wishing harm on them or their family (especially young children) is just wrong, I don't care who you are.

Last Freeway, don't judge all of Obama's critics by a few whackadoodles. The bat majority may not be ready to embrace his politics in the face of tragedy but they would certainly be sympathetic and empathetic.
 
"I do not know if this is right, Father. This man is weak. He does not have the stomach to confront us. He WILL not. This will be the one thing that will move him to--"

"My son, I have doubts too. But we have our orders, and we swore an oath. We must carry them out.
I would hope this isn't supposed to be Veterans, nor active duty military personel.

I will be following this one, just to see where you take it.
 

MrP

Banned
From the first post, and the 2 sentences from the father and son, this seems to be a attack from disgruntled southern patriots, from the looks of it. They know how to use anti-tank weapons, since the father said something about taking a oath (most likely the Oath of Enlistment), and saying Obama was weak (fitting in with the southern message).
So they would be Oath Keepers? I see from the date that this would be about a month after the official founding of the group. Not very long, but long enough to plan this kind of terrorist strike.
 
So they would be Oath Keepers? I see from the date that this would be about a month after the official founding of the group. Not very long, but long enough to plan this kind of terrorist strike.
Maybe. Many members are current and former military and law enforcement members, who could get the weapons used in the killing. But the goal doesn't really fit. The group is advocating for its members to disobey any order that violates the constitution of the United States, and to organise a revolt against the United States Federal Government if they receive orders that are against the constitution. If they really did kill Malia and Sasha, what did Barack Obama did to somehow 'violate' the constitution in their eyes then?
 
And if it is?
Well, then I would have to say that the tone seems a bit off.

Mind you, I am toying with a TL that is based upon the oath of enlistment as an integral part of the POD, and it just doesn't seem to me too realistic that a father and son assassination team is likely within either the military or veterans communities.

"...Against all foes, foreign and domestic..."

Would seem to be the part referenced, if indeed this is what is being posited, but I would find it much more likely that such a team wouldn't need to cross generational lines. In other words, why not a couple of soldiers/veterans that served together, rather than a family group?

The talk of, "He is weak, and will not confront us" doesn't to me sound like either the military nor the veteran communities, IMO at least.
 
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