Blue Skies in Camelot: An Alternate 60's and Beyond
- Thread starter President_Lincoln
- Start date
To be honest I just cant see it happening,not with Russell Long,Robert Byrd and Ted Stevens all in the same Senate....Always happy for another BSiC chapter.
Good chapter, @President_Lincoln.
I don't know about the coal industry, but you did a good job here...
The blizzard of 1978 canceled my mom's 30th birthday party and was one of the reasons she moved to South Texas (where it's warmer in the winter than northern Kentucky, but the springs and summers are hot) IOTL...
Like that Udall is trying to pursue alternate forms of energy ITTL...
BTW, the song "The Promised Land" by Bruce Springsteen was recorded in October of 1977 and released in October of 1978, so congrats for continuing the pattern, @President_Lincoln, and waiting for more...
I don't know about the coal industry, but you did a good job here...
The blizzard of 1978 canceled my mom's 30th birthday party and was one of the reasons she moved to South Texas (where it's warmer in the winter than northern Kentucky, but the springs and summers are hot) IOTL...
Like that Udall is trying to pursue alternate forms of energy ITTL...
BTW, the song "The Promised Land" by Bruce Springsteen was recorded in October of 1977 and released in October of 1978, so congrats for continuing the pattern, @President_Lincoln, and waiting for more...
Good stuff! It'll be interesting to see how the coal unions respond to the publicization of global warming and the rise of green energy.
Always happy for another BSiC chapter.
"Death" might be a touch dramatic for what lies in store... What is coming will be something that these gentlemen can likely get behind, but will simply be packaged as such. Stay tuned.
Thank you Unknown! Glad you liked the update.
I'm sorry that your Mom's 30th birthday was cancelled by the storm. I hope she enjoyed her time in South Texas and was able to enjoy the warmer weather.Thanks Worffan! I think initially the coal unions will be reluctant to pursue the energy policies that Udall is going for. After all, anything that will eventually lead to fewer coal mines and coal jobs is going to make them understandably nervous. But having won their friendship and affection for his actions during the strike, Mo is going to try and persuade them that slowly transitioning to cleaner, renewable forms of energy (over the course of several decades) will lead to not just a cleaner environment, but a better world, and an even more productive economy in the long-term. While Udall's administration is still largely in the R&D phase of Green Energy at the moment, as the forms become more widely available and practical, expect the White House to plan for re-training programs and investments to transition coal communities to be hubs of alternative energy production. Much of the infrastructure for a green manufacturing economy is already in place in Appalachia and other "coal country". The nation needs only the will to see it implemented.
President Udall will also seek to prove that again, in the long run, keeping coal forever is bad for miners' health and safety, something most miners already know and accept in their hearts to be true, after watching their fathers suffer from "black lung". Though it will not be an overnight transition, if Mo has his way, expect places like Kentucky, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and other states to be leaders in alternative energy production and manufacturing ITTL.
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She did; she passed away a few years ago, sadly, due to health issues...
My apologies for missing this post way back when @Kennedy Forever! Allow me to answer real quick:
Scoop Jackson - Junior US Senator from Washington State, leading legislative expert on Defense/Military issues, and environmental issues. An ally of President Udall in many respects, Senator Jackson is, however, quite opposed to Udall's foreign policy.
Malcolm Forbes - Publisher of Forbes magazine. Not too different from OTL.
Eugene McCarthy - Recently retired former Senator from Minnesota, whose affair with a Reporter ruined his Presidential campaign in '76. He's currently sliding into obscurity and registered as a member of the Libertarian Party.
Walter Mondale - Junior U.S. Senator and former three-term Governor of Minnesota.
Gary Hart - junior US Senator from Colorado and rapidly rising star in the Democratic Party. Hart is a leader in the moderate wing of the party, what will one day come to be called the "Atari Democrats".
Windows95
Banned
I hope they at least inspect the station. It would stop the anti-nuclear sentiment.
What are Angela Davis, Yuri Kochiyama, James S. Allen, Bill Ayers, and Assata Shakur up to ITTL? Have butterflies affected the reputation and status of the Communists and other far-left communities in the USA?
It is often said that 'uneasy lies the head that wears a crown'. That goes for presidents, too. I fear that Udall is going to have some serious headaches in the months to come.
The accident would be butterflied away, no? Construction on the plant didn't start until 1969 IOTL, so it might not have even been built ITTL. Even if it was, different people would be working at the plant and treating the machinery differently, meaning the odds of a meltdown are drastically altered.
I had some private correspondence with President_Lincoln regarding Star Wars.
I put down a few ideas for how the films can be developed.
ESB: stays as is, except maybe nix the Leia kissing Luke. That makes the sister reveal less dumb.
Return of the Jedi: I think a few suggestions are in order to make it a better film.
1.) Rather than the prolonged action scene Jabba’s dealt with very carefully. Luke and the others sneak in. Luke uses his Jedi powers to wipe the floor with Jabba’s goons and than threatens Jabba. He offers Jabba a deal. Let Han go and he not only gets to keep his empire but gets interest for what he lost, or he looses everything. Jabba, being arrogant, refuses and gets killed in the ensuing fight.) There. You get it wrapped up in the first 20 minutes.
2.) Luke confronts Yoda and Obi Wan about their deception. Rather than giving that “point of view” nonsense they give clear reasons. For instance they were scared that Luke might hold back or try to redeem Vader. They also admit that they Were to ashamed to acknowledge that they played a role in Vader’s fall. They give a cliff notes version of Vader’s downfall. We find out that Vader was a slave who the Jedi rescued. However Yoda also admits that while the Jedi WERE the guardians of peace and justice they’d kind of lost their way, pursuing the law over justice. Vader, having lived in slavery, felt like the Jedi weren’t doing enough to fix things. Yoda admits that while in some ways Vader was naive (if you focus to much on small scale stuff you can’t fix anything) he wasn’t entirely wrong either.
We also find out that when Anakin wanted to be promoted to the rank of master, he was not only refused but refused in such a way that Anakin came to the conclusion that he was being treated like property....and always had been (this is based on belated media’s idea. His idea was that Mace says “we agreed to honor Qui Gon’s request to train him but there was nothing in that promise that guaranteed he’d be raised to the rank of master”. That caused Anakin to think that his brotherly relationship was always a lie). Obi Wan even laments that had things gone differently they might have been able to resolve the misunderstanding.
It gives a more satisfactory explanation for Vader and adds more ambiguity. While Vader made his choices the Jedi could have done some things differently.
3.) Vader’s redemption: I’d have it that when Luke rejected Vader’s offer in ESB the way he did so (throwing himself down the shaft) rattled Vader. That his own son was willing to potentially die rather than work with him kinda punctures his righteous pretensions, and as such he’s starting to, for the first time in years, doubt whether he made the right decision. He’s reflecting on his actions and is starting to wonder..... Palpatine notices and comments on it, saying “maybe your commitment to the cause has wavered.” Vader, in a rare showing of fury, screams “I sacrificed EVERYTHING for the cause,”
4.) Han dies. It really completes his arc, and it allows Harrison Ford to bow out. It also shows that victory has a price and if Harrison does do Indiana Jones this allows him to not be bitter. Leia may be pregnant with Han's twins before the end but otherwise it's good.
5.) Palpatine tries to use actual arguments (saying the Republic was broken and that he’s brought order and stability.) Luke, in a sign of maturity, refutes this.
6.) Luke goes off to try and rebuild the Jedi
Also depending on how things go (i.e. whether they do death star II or something else) I was wondering if a.) as a bookends Kasshyyk is where Vader fell to the dark side b.) if they fight on Coruscant we keep the idea of Palpatine converting the Jedi Temple into his new palace as a middle finger to the jedi)
In OTL part of the reason Lucas rushed things was that making Empire was a nightmare behind the scenes and he felt kinda burned out. He also wasn't able to get the director he wanted. His marriage with Marcia also fell apart.
Now this may be radical but I think there's a way. Basically Lucas gets badly injured in a car accident, and has to undergo physical therapy. This gives him time to decompress and try to work things out with Marcia, which ultimately helps make sure that things end in a somewhat more amicable stance (i.e. they divorce but it's under more amicable terms.) Anything that allows him to decompress and work things out.
I put down a few ideas for how the films can be developed.
ESB: stays as is, except maybe nix the Leia kissing Luke. That makes the sister reveal less dumb.
Return of the Jedi: I think a few suggestions are in order to make it a better film.
1.) Rather than the prolonged action scene Jabba’s dealt with very carefully. Luke and the others sneak in. Luke uses his Jedi powers to wipe the floor with Jabba’s goons and than threatens Jabba. He offers Jabba a deal. Let Han go and he not only gets to keep his empire but gets interest for what he lost, or he looses everything. Jabba, being arrogant, refuses and gets killed in the ensuing fight.) There. You get it wrapped up in the first 20 minutes.
2.) Luke confronts Yoda and Obi Wan about their deception. Rather than giving that “point of view” nonsense they give clear reasons. For instance they were scared that Luke might hold back or try to redeem Vader. They also admit that they Were to ashamed to acknowledge that they played a role in Vader’s fall. They give a cliff notes version of Vader’s downfall. We find out that Vader was a slave who the Jedi rescued. However Yoda also admits that while the Jedi WERE the guardians of peace and justice they’d kind of lost their way, pursuing the law over justice. Vader, having lived in slavery, felt like the Jedi weren’t doing enough to fix things. Yoda admits that while in some ways Vader was naive (if you focus to much on small scale stuff you can’t fix anything) he wasn’t entirely wrong either.
We also find out that when Anakin wanted to be promoted to the rank of master, he was not only refused but refused in such a way that Anakin came to the conclusion that he was being treated like property....and always had been (this is based on belated media’s idea. His idea was that Mace says “we agreed to honor Qui Gon’s request to train him but there was nothing in that promise that guaranteed he’d be raised to the rank of master”. That caused Anakin to think that his brotherly relationship was always a lie). Obi Wan even laments that had things gone differently they might have been able to resolve the misunderstanding.
It gives a more satisfactory explanation for Vader and adds more ambiguity. While Vader made his choices the Jedi could have done some things differently.
3.) Vader’s redemption: I’d have it that when Luke rejected Vader’s offer in ESB the way he did so (throwing himself down the shaft) rattled Vader. That his own son was willing to potentially die rather than work with him kinda punctures his righteous pretensions, and as such he’s starting to, for the first time in years, doubt whether he made the right decision. He’s reflecting on his actions and is starting to wonder..... Palpatine notices and comments on it, saying “maybe your commitment to the cause has wavered.” Vader, in a rare showing of fury, screams “I sacrificed EVERYTHING for the cause,”
4.) Han dies. It really completes his arc, and it allows Harrison Ford to bow out. It also shows that victory has a price and if Harrison does do Indiana Jones this allows him to not be bitter. Leia may be pregnant with Han's twins before the end but otherwise it's good.
5.) Palpatine tries to use actual arguments (saying the Republic was broken and that he’s brought order and stability.) Luke, in a sign of maturity, refutes this.
6.) Luke goes off to try and rebuild the Jedi
Also depending on how things go (i.e. whether they do death star II or something else) I was wondering if a.) as a bookends Kasshyyk is where Vader fell to the dark side b.) if they fight on Coruscant we keep the idea of Palpatine converting the Jedi Temple into his new palace as a middle finger to the jedi)
In OTL part of the reason Lucas rushed things was that making Empire was a nightmare behind the scenes and he felt kinda burned out. He also wasn't able to get the director he wanted. His marriage with Marcia also fell apart.
Now this may be radical but I think there's a way. Basically Lucas gets badly injured in a car accident, and has to undergo physical therapy. This gives him time to decompress and try to work things out with Marcia, which ultimately helps make sure that things end in a somewhat more amicable stance (i.e. they divorce but it's under more amicable terms.) Anything that allows him to decompress and work things out.
Thanks for the information Mr President and another great update. President Udall is fast becoming one of my favourite Presidents in Blue Skies. Liked his approach to energy and the union. I do wonder if he pushes more progressive policies too much i could see Biden and the more conservative Democrats maybe cause a spilt in the party. Also I was wondering what happened to Bush's Senate Seat after he became Romney's Vice president?