I can definitely see Mitt Romney being Vice President running as Mccain's successor in 2016
For a Gore Prosperous Tomorrow
- Thread starter CountDVB
- Start date
-
- Tags
- 9/11 al gore alternate 2000s
He's their only viable choice. Few other notable GOP members could have a chance given the shift from neoconservatism to a more centralist green-based paleoconservatism. There are no big names I could think of that would be influential GOP leaders
In hindsight this is mostly good but I'd change a few things
2003: During Iranian negotiations he's directly confronted; the Iranian negotiators directly point out a lot of the fallacies and suggest among other things Robert Malley's articles. Gore does this, and he gets some knowledge but is still somewhat naively hoping that Sharon will play fair.
2004: When Gore is confronted with how obstructionist Sharon is it's the final moment that really crystalizes just how misguided US policy has been. He throws himself into research on it and when his comments are leaked in June/July he stands by it and even commits political heresy by saying that the US has coddled Israel too much and that, painful as it is to admit it, the Oslo Accords failed because they fell short (even going into detail about how they were overly biased in favor of Israel AND how the 2000 Camp David Deal was actually rather unfair and ridiculous). He also accuses Sharon of intentionally using the withdrawal to undermine the peace process. In short, it's the kind of statement that if he hadn't already done a lot of good WOULD have cost him the election. However he lays it out calmly and analytically, and makes special care to point out the good he's done for Israel and to condemn Hamas as well. As such while Gore DOES get some blowback from AIPAC and those who are strong supporters of Israel, his points also gain a lot of traction. For instance, certain journalists say that "actually he's not wrong" and other people end up actually doing their homework on the issue.
Nonetheless Gore's victory, while still somewhat substantial, does take a hit (fewer Jews vote for him)
Sharon also formally endorses Gore's opponent in the election, furious at Gore attacking him. However, when Gore manages to WIN Sharon's in hot water, since he's basically insulted Israel's ally. This causes his party to purge him in a vote of no confidence, and, realizing that Gore is actually going to press the issue, forces them to actually negotiate.
This triggers an earlier election in 2005 (since the government, ya know, kinda collapsed.) Due to Gore's efforts in Iran and getting Saudi Arabia to cut the funding, more people in Israel are able to listen and as such the more left wing groups manage to secure a VERY narrow lead. This leads into negotiations in April with the peace camp involved. However it's a tough test and ultimately Gore is able to get them to agree to Gaza as a test run (they use updated Clinton Parameters). Gaza has all the settlers cleared out, and Israel is forced to, as a show of good faith, give control over ALL the infrastructure to the Palestinians (essentially forcing them to put their money where there mouth is and also putting the Palestinians into the spot of having to choose between building a state or getting revenge.)
Due to the ultimate success of the Gaza disengagement (very few attacks) they negotiate the West Bank which is.....trickier. Heck I'd have it that the negotiations for the West Bank take somewhat longer to accomplish but ultimately DO succeed (albeit a lot of Israelis are gnashing teeth). The israeli's are forced to make a painful decision to evict most of the settlers or where they can't be evicted, giving them over to the Palestinians (in short they aren't Israeli citizens any more, but citizens of the new Palestinian state). The US has grown more receptive of Palestine since the Gaza strip behaved itself pretty well. This.....causes controversy but ultimately in later years the Israelis are forced to admit "okay yeah Al was actually onto something.) Jewish settlers are amongst those who continue to be a problem, as some cannot accept the new arrangements (i.e. they get the same water as everyone else and can't just beat up locals and burn their farms anymore).
Gore will later reflect that the West Bank negotiations were probably among the top 5 most difficult negotiation's he'd ever taken part in.
Last edited:
Don’t stress too much on the details. Gore’s dealing with the Exxon-Mobil thing while here it seems to be more Israel having no real alternates since the whole thing came out of left field. Basically, let the hardliners dig their own grave.
Most Americans aren’t really gonna care and the Exxon-Mobil scandal is a juicer thing than Israeli politics for the media.
Well, you'll find that out, but I'm still trying to figure out who would win. This is all trying to be ground in realism as best I can
Israel has an irrational place in the hearts of many in the US. It's only relatively recently that people are starting to acknowledge that the Palestinians aren't just violent orcs out to kill the jews. If Gore breaks with tradition there will be some hell to pay. Not that he'd loose but it would be a challenge.
Yeah, but domestic affairs tend to supercede foreign affairs. And here, it's basically Gore is doing little more but make Israel explain itself. He doesn't have to do that much in calling them out. Asking them potentially uncomfortable questions during a debate is not gonna be a big deal, especially since it'd be little different than toward the terrorists and they'll flounder in the spotlight since everyone but them is ready.
It's gonna be hard to try and spin that off and this is during a much juicier debate in regards to the president leading a law suit, especially since back in 2000, Bush would get some suspicious coverage over something.
McCain Administration- Winter 2015
Winter 2015
"Least the winter storm wasn't as bad as it could be..."
"What is going on in Yemen?!"
"Well, well, this is an interesting turn of events in the Supreme Court..."
As 2015 starts, the political turmoil from the previous year served as a warning sign for the years up ahead. While the economy has improved gradually since the start of the Recession in 2010, the pace of it along with the caveats of said recovery (which included corporate bailouts, a lack of certain individuals avoiding jailtime and so on) made the entire situation reek of unpleasant circumstances. Bittersweet was too generous a term for it. And the year started off with a rough winter storm though fortunately, it was not as bad as some experts initially predicted or feared to be, mainly thanks to new data. Originating from a disturbance just off the coast of the Northwestern United States on January 23, it initially produced a light swath of snow as it traveled southeastwards into the Midwest as an Alberta clipper on January 24–25. It gradually weakened as it moved eastwards towards the Atlantic Ocean, however, a new dominant low formed off the East Coast of the United States late on January 26, and rapidly deepened as it moved northeastwards towards southeastern New England, producing pronounced blizzard conditions. The winter storm then gradually weakened as it moved away into Canada. Also colloquially known as Blizzard of 2015, and Winter Storm Juno. While the storm came and went, little else happened with it outside of the federal government's reluctance to try and help out with some wondering if they could've done more.
Snowfall from Winter Storm Juno in Providence, Rhode Island | January 27
However, there was still plenty of action going on in the world. The US continued to assist the UK and Nigerian forces against Boko Haram over in Nigeria near Biga which saw growing heavy casualities against the terrorist group, especially when they attempted to overwhelm a military base. The latest news over in the war against terrorism emerged over in Yemen. After the Yemeni Revolution led to the ousting of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had led Yemen for thirty-three years. After Saleh left office in early 2012 as part of a mediated agreement between the Yemeni government and opposition groups, the government led by Saleh's former vice president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, struggled to unite the fractious political landscape of the country and fend off threats mainly from Houthi militants that had been waging a protracted insurgency in the north for years. In 2014, Houthi fighters swept into the capital of Sana'a and forced Hadi to negotiate a "unity government" with other political factions. The big picture came that when the Houthis would attempt to mount an attack over on the capital of Yemen with the attempt to do a coup. Unsurprisingly, the notion was extensively unpopular in the area, due to fears of this spreading. Various members of the Arab League along with Israel and Iran proposed resolving the matter rather than have the Americans involved and indeed, a coalition force of the various armies would be sent in to deal with the Houthi militants. American troops present in the area would act as potential reinforcements. It did seem to show that the new Middle East would be looking to improve its own matters and not rely on American intervention though aid through funding, information sharing and other means were still accepted. The fighting would come to go on into late winter, but it would see the Houthis being beaten back considerably though President Hadi would be encouraged to resign with the intentions of putting a new election to elect a new leader within the year while the Houthis were dealt with.
Interim President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi
There was one large bit of surprising news near the beginning of the year however. Namely, the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia. According to news reports, Scalia had been desiring to retire for a while now and decided that he would do so near the beginning of the year to enjoy the last years of his life in peace and quiet. However, other more political sources believed he did so to ensure that President McCain could try and pick his successor within the Supreme Court while there was a Republican president, especially with the losses of the GOP in the Senate and House. Of course, even now it would be clear that the pick would more than likely be a moderate and the Dems were willing to leverage their position of dominance to try gain some influence there. There were more than a few people on the shortlist though not many would be likely to try and pass through the Democrats or even a couple of the GOP, who were now more centralist than previously. Several other names were floated around, including the rumor that former Vice President Joe Lieberman was considered for the role. Ultimately, the position would end up falling to Consuelo Callahan, a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that was voted in way back during the Gore Administration. She had broad bipartisan support and unsurpirsingly, she would end up being brought in to take Scalia's vacancy. Some have speculated that this would lead to further retirements when a new president would be elected very soon. As of her promotion, the Supreme Court would consist of Callahan, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Merrick Garland, Stephen Breyer, Clarance Thomas, Brian Sandoval and Anthony Kennedy with Ruth Bader Ginsburg being Chief Justice.
New Supreme Court Justice Consuelo Callahan
"Least the winter storm wasn't as bad as it could be..."
"What is going on in Yemen?!"
"Well, well, this is an interesting turn of events in the Supreme Court..."
As 2015 starts, the political turmoil from the previous year served as a warning sign for the years up ahead. While the economy has improved gradually since the start of the Recession in 2010, the pace of it along with the caveats of said recovery (which included corporate bailouts, a lack of certain individuals avoiding jailtime and so on) made the entire situation reek of unpleasant circumstances. Bittersweet was too generous a term for it. And the year started off with a rough winter storm though fortunately, it was not as bad as some experts initially predicted or feared to be, mainly thanks to new data. Originating from a disturbance just off the coast of the Northwestern United States on January 23, it initially produced a light swath of snow as it traveled southeastwards into the Midwest as an Alberta clipper on January 24–25. It gradually weakened as it moved eastwards towards the Atlantic Ocean, however, a new dominant low formed off the East Coast of the United States late on January 26, and rapidly deepened as it moved northeastwards towards southeastern New England, producing pronounced blizzard conditions. The winter storm then gradually weakened as it moved away into Canada. Also colloquially known as Blizzard of 2015, and Winter Storm Juno. While the storm came and went, little else happened with it outside of the federal government's reluctance to try and help out with some wondering if they could've done more.
Snowfall from Winter Storm Juno in Providence, Rhode Island | January 27
However, there was still plenty of action going on in the world. The US continued to assist the UK and Nigerian forces against Boko Haram over in Nigeria near Biga which saw growing heavy casualities against the terrorist group, especially when they attempted to overwhelm a military base. The latest news over in the war against terrorism emerged over in Yemen. After the Yemeni Revolution led to the ousting of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had led Yemen for thirty-three years. After Saleh left office in early 2012 as part of a mediated agreement between the Yemeni government and opposition groups, the government led by Saleh's former vice president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, struggled to unite the fractious political landscape of the country and fend off threats mainly from Houthi militants that had been waging a protracted insurgency in the north for years. In 2014, Houthi fighters swept into the capital of Sana'a and forced Hadi to negotiate a "unity government" with other political factions. The big picture came that when the Houthis would attempt to mount an attack over on the capital of Yemen with the attempt to do a coup. Unsurprisingly, the notion was extensively unpopular in the area, due to fears of this spreading. Various members of the Arab League along with Israel and Iran proposed resolving the matter rather than have the Americans involved and indeed, a coalition force of the various armies would be sent in to deal with the Houthi militants. American troops present in the area would act as potential reinforcements. It did seem to show that the new Middle East would be looking to improve its own matters and not rely on American intervention though aid through funding, information sharing and other means were still accepted. The fighting would come to go on into late winter, but it would see the Houthis being beaten back considerably though President Hadi would be encouraged to resign with the intentions of putting a new election to elect a new leader within the year while the Houthis were dealt with.
Interim President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi
There was one large bit of surprising news near the beginning of the year however. Namely, the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia. According to news reports, Scalia had been desiring to retire for a while now and decided that he would do so near the beginning of the year to enjoy the last years of his life in peace and quiet. However, other more political sources believed he did so to ensure that President McCain could try and pick his successor within the Supreme Court while there was a Republican president, especially with the losses of the GOP in the Senate and House. Of course, even now it would be clear that the pick would more than likely be a moderate and the Dems were willing to leverage their position of dominance to try gain some influence there. There were more than a few people on the shortlist though not many would be likely to try and pass through the Democrats or even a couple of the GOP, who were now more centralist than previously. Several other names were floated around, including the rumor that former Vice President Joe Lieberman was considered for the role. Ultimately, the position would end up falling to Consuelo Callahan, a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that was voted in way back during the Gore Administration. She had broad bipartisan support and unsurpirsingly, she would end up being brought in to take Scalia's vacancy. Some have speculated that this would lead to further retirements when a new president would be elected very soon. As of her promotion, the Supreme Court would consist of Callahan, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Merrick Garland, Stephen Breyer, Clarance Thomas, Brian Sandoval and Anthony Kennedy with Ruth Bader Ginsburg being Chief Justice.
New Supreme Court Justice Consuelo Callahan
Sorry if this has already been addressed, but what will be the outcome of Obergefell v Hodges?
McCain Administration- Spring 2015
Spring 2015
"Well, this was not entirely unexpected for the British..."
"Looks like even Ireland is voting yes on gay marriage"
"So, the World Expo is now in Milan..."
The Winter thawed out into Spring and attention was turning over to the British isles in regards to the future elections. Polls were split between whether the conservatives could increase their lead to have a majority or if the dissatisfication over the handling of the Great Recession (though austerity measures) would be enough to sink them even lower. Furthermore, the rumors and speculations that the Tories were willing to try and leave the European Union was enough to get some interest. Initially, it did seem the Tories had a chance to expand their lead. However, the discussions over the problems of the economy along with the austerity measures were enough to sour opinions on them. Furthermore, there remained some slight but growing nostalgia for the time under the Blair administration. However, that did not mean that the Labor party were in the clear. There was conflicts over leadership between Ed Miliband, the current leader and the more prominent leftist in Jeremy Corbyn. Despite this struggle of leadership, they maintained unity enough for them to try and overcome the government in the elections. Furthermore, the Tories tried scare tactics in intimidating the voters by claiming that the Labour party would form a coalition with SNP. While this may have supposedly yielded results, this also led to a souring of relations between the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, who called out the Tories and tensions grew since they felt marginalized by the Tories. Ultimately though, the effects of the Great Recession and the dissatisfication with the Tories' handling (especially compared with the liberal governments of Canada and Australia) led to their undoing. The elections wielded a loss of over 20 seats for the British conservatives with the gains going primarily to the Labor. Like last time, there remained a hung parliament, but unlike last time, there was no clear route. The Tories lost their advantage with the Liberal Democrats getting creamed because of the SNP, meaning the idea of a coalition was out and their comments toward the SNP had burnt their bridges. However, Miliband had ruled out the possibility of a coalition with SNP and the Labour could not form a ruling coalition with the Liberal Democrats alone. Ed Milliband would be pressured to resign after his statements over the SNP; after over a week of discussions, he reluctanctly resigned after some talk with advisors A new round of electionsin the Labor party would result in self-proclaimed socialist Jeremy Corbyn becoming head of the Labor Party and thus Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by creating a coalition with the SNP. While there was now a government, tensions remained over and accusations toward some of the Labour, especially from the Tories. Meanwhile, rumors circulated that some of the Labour members had let Corbyn win out of hopes he would fail and discredit the more radical members of the Labour Party, though such fears would be countered by the rise in Labour membership. Corbyn meanwhile promised to undo the cuts done by the Tories and to stimulate the economy while allying closer with their fellow Anlgo-descended nations. Corbyn did ease some fears by saying he would remain in NATO after discussing with some advisors, with the main concern being Russian electoral interference and cyberwarfare (though remained adamant in scaling back the Trident program). One thing for sure is that many would be watching what would happen now.
Jeremy Corbyn, new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Meanwhile, that was not the only glimpse of noticeable news over from the Isles as Ireland would be hosting an election in regards to gay marriage. The vote was on for the Thirty-Fourth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, aka the Marriage Equality Act 2015. It would amend the Constitution of Ireland to permit marriage to be contracted by two persons without distinction as to their sex.Prior to the enactment, the Constitution was assumed to contain an implicit prohibition on same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland. At a turnout of 61% of people on a referendum on May 22, 2015, the votes came in at 62.07% yes and 37.93% no, thus resulting in the passing of the amendment. Gay marriage was now legalized over in the Republic of Ireland. It marked the first time that a state legalised same-sex marriage through a popular vote. Unsurprisingly, there were some attempts at legal challenges though they would be dismissed weeks later and the amendment signed into the summer. There was a cheer of jubilee and celeberation amongst the LGTBQ+ global community and their supporters internationally, with various nations giving their own approval along with various leaders. While President McCain remained relatively quiet on the affair outside of his approval of how the process was done democratically, various other American politicians send their approval, most notably Senators Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders, both of whom had recently declared their candinancy to become the Presidental nominee of the Democrats.
Fianna Fáil poster in favour of the amendment
Of course, even beyond the British Isles, there was plenty of hustle and bustle going on over in the rest of the world. Beyond the revelations in Britain and Ireland, the big event going on right now was in Milan. It was a World Expo, the second time they would be hosting it. However, what was prominent about it was the theme of the expo: "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life". Encompassing technology, innovation, culture, traditions and creativity, it was centered around food, sustainability and dieting. The exposition developed themes introduced in earlier expos (such as water at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza) in light of new global scenarios and emerging issues, focusing on the right to healthy, secure and sufficient food for the world's inhabitants. Futuristic concerns about food security are compounded by forecasts of increasing uncertainty about the quantity of food which will be available globally. The seven subthemes were: Science for food safety, security and quality, Innovation in the agro-food supply chain, Technology for agriculture and biodiversity, Dietary education, Solidarity and cooperation on food, Food for better lifestyles and Food in the world's cultures and ethnic groups. However, various side-discussions were held along with a variety of guests, including former US President Al Gore. Talks of innovation such as in vertical farming and new greenhouse developments were among the surface, but perhaps the bigger talks were in economics. The discussions over the questionable ethics of factory farming and Big Agriculture compared to smaller farms and businesses along with the concerns of how various industries, such as the sugar industry, influenced politicians and scientists. While this train of skepticism was continued as a result of the concerns about other big companies doing similar actions as to what Exxon-Mobil and its fellow fossil fuel companies did, it picked up among the various social media facets as veterans and newcomers recorded their thoughts, panels and some scandals, such as the anti-austerity protests outside. As one Italian analyist put it: ""organizing circuses is politically risky when bread is hard to come by".
2015 Expo Milan logo
"Well, this was not entirely unexpected for the British..."
"Looks like even Ireland is voting yes on gay marriage"
"So, the World Expo is now in Milan..."
The Winter thawed out into Spring and attention was turning over to the British isles in regards to the future elections. Polls were split between whether the conservatives could increase their lead to have a majority or if the dissatisfication over the handling of the Great Recession (though austerity measures) would be enough to sink them even lower. Furthermore, the rumors and speculations that the Tories were willing to try and leave the European Union was enough to get some interest. Initially, it did seem the Tories had a chance to expand their lead. However, the discussions over the problems of the economy along with the austerity measures were enough to sour opinions on them. Furthermore, there remained some slight but growing nostalgia for the time under the Blair administration. However, that did not mean that the Labor party were in the clear. There was conflicts over leadership between Ed Miliband, the current leader and the more prominent leftist in Jeremy Corbyn. Despite this struggle of leadership, they maintained unity enough for them to try and overcome the government in the elections. Furthermore, the Tories tried scare tactics in intimidating the voters by claiming that the Labour party would form a coalition with SNP. While this may have supposedly yielded results, this also led to a souring of relations between the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, who called out the Tories and tensions grew since they felt marginalized by the Tories. Ultimately though, the effects of the Great Recession and the dissatisfication with the Tories' handling (especially compared with the liberal governments of Canada and Australia) led to their undoing. The elections wielded a loss of over 20 seats for the British conservatives with the gains going primarily to the Labor. Like last time, there remained a hung parliament, but unlike last time, there was no clear route. The Tories lost their advantage with the Liberal Democrats getting creamed because of the SNP, meaning the idea of a coalition was out and their comments toward the SNP had burnt their bridges. However, Miliband had ruled out the possibility of a coalition with SNP and the Labour could not form a ruling coalition with the Liberal Democrats alone. Ed Milliband would be pressured to resign after his statements over the SNP; after over a week of discussions, he reluctanctly resigned after some talk with advisors A new round of electionsin the Labor party would result in self-proclaimed socialist Jeremy Corbyn becoming head of the Labor Party and thus Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by creating a coalition with the SNP. While there was now a government, tensions remained over and accusations toward some of the Labour, especially from the Tories. Meanwhile, rumors circulated that some of the Labour members had let Corbyn win out of hopes he would fail and discredit the more radical members of the Labour Party, though such fears would be countered by the rise in Labour membership. Corbyn meanwhile promised to undo the cuts done by the Tories and to stimulate the economy while allying closer with their fellow Anlgo-descended nations. Corbyn did ease some fears by saying he would remain in NATO after discussing with some advisors, with the main concern being Russian electoral interference and cyberwarfare (though remained adamant in scaling back the Trident program). One thing for sure is that many would be watching what would happen now.
Jeremy Corbyn, new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Meanwhile, that was not the only glimpse of noticeable news over from the Isles as Ireland would be hosting an election in regards to gay marriage. The vote was on for the Thirty-Fourth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, aka the Marriage Equality Act 2015. It would amend the Constitution of Ireland to permit marriage to be contracted by two persons without distinction as to their sex.Prior to the enactment, the Constitution was assumed to contain an implicit prohibition on same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland. At a turnout of 61% of people on a referendum on May 22, 2015, the votes came in at 62.07% yes and 37.93% no, thus resulting in the passing of the amendment. Gay marriage was now legalized over in the Republic of Ireland. It marked the first time that a state legalised same-sex marriage through a popular vote. Unsurprisingly, there were some attempts at legal challenges though they would be dismissed weeks later and the amendment signed into the summer. There was a cheer of jubilee and celeberation amongst the LGTBQ+ global community and their supporters internationally, with various nations giving their own approval along with various leaders. While President McCain remained relatively quiet on the affair outside of his approval of how the process was done democratically, various other American politicians send their approval, most notably Senators Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders, both of whom had recently declared their candinancy to become the Presidental nominee of the Democrats.
Fianna Fáil poster in favour of the amendment
Of course, even beyond the British Isles, there was plenty of hustle and bustle going on over in the rest of the world. Beyond the revelations in Britain and Ireland, the big event going on right now was in Milan. It was a World Expo, the second time they would be hosting it. However, what was prominent about it was the theme of the expo: "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life". Encompassing technology, innovation, culture, traditions and creativity, it was centered around food, sustainability and dieting. The exposition developed themes introduced in earlier expos (such as water at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza) in light of new global scenarios and emerging issues, focusing on the right to healthy, secure and sufficient food for the world's inhabitants. Futuristic concerns about food security are compounded by forecasts of increasing uncertainty about the quantity of food which will be available globally. The seven subthemes were: Science for food safety, security and quality, Innovation in the agro-food supply chain, Technology for agriculture and biodiversity, Dietary education, Solidarity and cooperation on food, Food for better lifestyles and Food in the world's cultures and ethnic groups. However, various side-discussions were held along with a variety of guests, including former US President Al Gore. Talks of innovation such as in vertical farming and new greenhouse developments were among the surface, but perhaps the bigger talks were in economics. The discussions over the questionable ethics of factory farming and Big Agriculture compared to smaller farms and businesses along with the concerns of how various industries, such as the sugar industry, influenced politicians and scientists. While this train of skepticism was continued as a result of the concerns about other big companies doing similar actions as to what Exxon-Mobil and its fellow fossil fuel companies did, it picked up among the various social media facets as veterans and newcomers recorded their thoughts, panels and some scandals, such as the anti-austerity protests outside. As one Italian analyist put it: ""organizing circuses is politically risky when bread is hard to come by".
2015 Expo Milan logo
Does this mean the Mao-esque bicycles are going to be a trend?Spring 2015
"Well, this was not entirely unexpected for the British..."
"Looks like even Ireland is voting yes on gay marriage"
"So, the World Expo is now in Milan..."
The Winter thawed out into Spring and attention was turning over to the British isles in regards to the future elections. Polls were split between whether the conservatives could increase their lead to have a majority or if the dissatisfication over the handling of the Great Recession (though austerity measures) would be enough to sink them even lower. Furthermore, the rumors and speculations that the Tories were willing to try and leave the European Union was enough to get some interest. Initially, it did seem the Tories had a chance to expand their lead. However, the discussions over the problems of the economy along with the austerity measures were enough to sour opinions on them. Furthermore, there remained some slight but growing nostalgia for the time under the Blair administration. However, that did not mean that the Labor party were in the clear. There was conflicts over leadership between Ed Miliband, the current leader and the more prominent leftist in Jeremy Corbyn. Despite this struggle of leadership, they maintained unity enough for them to try and overcome the government in the elections. Furthermore, the Tories tried scare tactics in intimidating the voters by claiming that the Labour party would form a coalition with SNP. While this may have supposedly yielded results, this also led to a souring of relations between the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, who called out the Tories and tensions grew since they felt marginalized by the Tories. Ultimately though, the effects of the Great Recession and the dissatisfication with the Tories' handling (especially compared with the liberal governments of Canada and Australia) led to their undoing. The elections wielded a loss of over 20 seats for the British conservatives with the gains going primarily to the Labor. Like last time, there remained a hung parliament, but unlike last time, there was no clear route. The Tories lost their advantage with the Liberal Democrats getting creamed because of the SNP, meaning the idea of a coalition was out and their comments toward the SNP had burnt their bridges. However, Miliband had ruled out the possibility of a coalition with SNP and the Labour could not form a ruling coalition with the Liberal Democrats alone. Ed Milliband would be pressured to resign after his statements over the SNP; after over a week of discussions, he reluctanctly resigned after some talk with advisors A new round of electionsin the Labor party would result in self-proclaimed socialist Jeremy Corbyn becoming head of the Labor Party and thus Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by creating a coalition with the SNP. While there was now a government, tensions remained over and accusations toward some of the Labour, especially from the Tories. Meanwhile, rumors circulated that some of the Labour members had let Corbyn win out of hopes he would fail and discredit the more radical members of the Labour Party, though such fears would be countered by the rise in Labour membership. Corbyn meanwhile promised to undo the cuts done by the Tories and to stimulate the economy while allying closer with their fellow Anlgo-descended nations. Corbyn did ease some fears by saying he would remain in NATO after discussing with some advisors, with the main concern being Russian electoral interference and cyberwarfare (though remained adamant in scaling back the Trident program). One thing for sure is that many would be watching what would happen now.
Jeremy Corbyn, new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Meanwhile, that was not the only glimpse of noticeable news over from the Isles as Ireland would be hosting an election in regards to gay marriage. The vote was on for the Thirty-Fourth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, aka the Marriage Equality Act 2015. It would amend the Constitution of Ireland to permit marriage to be contracted by two persons without distinction as to their sex.Prior to the enactment, the Constitution was assumed to contain an implicit prohibition on same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland. At a turnout of 61% of people on a referendum on May 22, 2015, the votes came in at 62.07% yes and 37.93% no, thus resulting in the passing of the amendment. Gay marriage was now legalized over in the Republic of Ireland. It marked the first time that a state legalised same-sex marriage through a popular vote. Unsurprisingly, there were some attempts at legal challenges though they would be dismissed weeks later and the amendment signed into the summer. There was a cheer of jubilee and celeberation amongst the LGTBQ+ global community and their supporters internationally, with various nations giving their own approval along with various leaders. While President McCain remained relatively quiet on the affair outside of his approval of how the process was done democratically, various other American politicians send their approval, most notably Senators Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders, both of whom had recently declared their candinancy to become the Presidental nominee of the Democrats.
Fianna Fáil poster in favour of the amendment
Of course, even beyond the British Isles, there was plenty of hustle and bustle going on over in the rest of the world. Beyond the revelations in Britain and Ireland, the big event going on right now was in Milan. It was a World Expo, the second time they would be hosting it. However, what was prominent about it was the theme of the expo: "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life". Encompassing technology, innovation, culture, traditions and creativity, it was centered around food, sustainability and dieting. The exposition developed themes introduced in earlier expos (such as water at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza) in light of new global scenarios and emerging issues, focusing on the right to healthy, secure and sufficient food for the world's inhabitants. Futuristic concerns about food security are compounded by forecasts of increasing uncertainty about the quantity of food which will be available globally. The seven subthemes were: Science for food safety, security and quality, Innovation in the agro-food supply chain, Technology for agriculture and biodiversity, Dietary education, Solidarity and cooperation on food, Food for better lifestyles and Food in the world's cultures and ethnic groups. However, various side-discussions were held along with a variety of guests, including former US President Al Gore. Talks of innovation such as in vertical farming and new greenhouse developments were among the surface, but perhaps the bigger talks were in economics. The discussions over the questionable ethics of factory farming and Big Agriculture compared to smaller farms and businesses along with the concerns of how various industries, such as the sugar industry, influenced politicians and scientists. While this train of skepticism was continued as a result of the concerns about other big companies doing similar actions as to what Exxon-Mobil and its fellow fossil fuel companies did, it picked up among the various social media facets as veterans and newcomers recorded their thoughts, panels and some scandals, such as the anti-austerity protests outside. As one Italian analyist put it: ""organizing circuses is politically risky when bread is hard to come by".
2015 Expo Milan logo
The Raleigh bike? Probably for a bit though the whole "Maoist" leanings are gonna be mocked once the truth comes out and there's likely to be a growing backlash against the rightwing bias of the British media. A good chunk may not like Corbyn that much, but that doesn't mean they're not gonna accept when he has a point.