For a Gore Prosperous Tomorrow
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I was going by who was supporting Sanders at around 2016 though I'll probably change it.
2016 in Review
2016 In Review
The final year of the McCain administration would be filled with a form of resignation amongst the administration in regards to the growing change, which many perceived due to the declining health of President McCain. The Panama papers became one of the defining moments of the era, showing a glimpse of how the corruption went within the world in regards to governments and the economy. People were hungering for change, more than the old guard anticipated. They would become punished for their hubris with losses. The McCain administration would also end up going relatively quiet throughout the time, merely trying to uphold the status quo. In a sense, there was a wariness to it, like a benchwarer. For others, they saw it as a nail in the coffin of neoconservatism. In their attempts of trying to cut taxes and interfering with infrastructure, little was achieved and in fact, just created a gradually growing pool of resentment and frustration. Not just at the Republicans, but at how the entire system was structured as a whole. For many those who were sharp-witted enough, they saw the writing on the wall and began working to adjust with the times. Others instead held down to their standards and were left gobsmacked when reality came crashing down on them. The people have spoken and their representatives were not listening, and so they were replaced. There was a growing sense of optimism and passion that many noted were not felt since the Clinton administration or perhaps even more. The economy had been recovering, but it still remained relatively stagnant and even a little all over the place due to the uncertainty of direction on what would happen. In fact, many would see McCain as the embodiment of the old guard, especially as those close to him would note that he seemed quite old and exhausted, with a few predicting that McCain was near death's driveway. The American political system was now finally moving past the dominance of the 80s/90s style of neoconservatism and neoliberalism that created the modern world, in the good and in the bad sense. It was now time for something radical and new.
The rest of the world was around the same. The elections of the United Kingdom resulted in a surprise when the hung election result would turn to an election for the Labour party and giving to the rise of Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister of Britain. This along with Sanders' victory led to the potential of a tidal wave of progressivism beginning to rise across the world. There was a new sense of optimism returning and mixed in with a fire for justice. The target of rage began shifting at many of the wealthy and powerful. Across the world, these various progressive leaders would begin coming together to try and assist the others and their peoples to create better tomorrows and deal with the economic troubles that are existing. After all, there were various economic problems that they could come together to try and work together with. Of course, it would be long and complicated and it was not like everyone was on board after all. Some of the companies began talking about stocks or investment or whatver that could be done to try and intimidate some of the economists, though some remained undeterred. For the first time, there was a sense of fresh optimism and determination, tempered with an almost revolutionary-like zeal. Whatever happens will happen, but many mark down 2016 as a turning point for global affairs and for a change in the current world order.
Film saw the continution of Marvel's project as well as DC's after some delays due to various problems. Marvel released Captain America: World At War, perhaps among the more interesing of the MCU films due to its inspiration, the "Madbomb" story. With the Avengers having seperated after the fallout of ULTRON, Captain America and Black Widow meets up with Bucky, aka the former Winter Soldier, who has been recovering from his brainwashing. He warns Cap that the person who "activated" him used him as a diversion, which is then revealed to be the theft of Loki's staff, which is revealed to contain the Mind Stone. It's revealed the plot revolves around Helmut Zemo, who has studied the Mind Stone and plans to use it in conjunction with Vibranium for a "Madbomb", a device that emits powerful disruptive psychic waves, with the intent to destabilize society and begin establishing martial law under the remnants of HYDRA. The film has Cap and Widow assemble a team of "New Avengers", which include Bucky, Spider-Man, The Falcon, War Machine and joined by new characters. King T'Challa/Black Panther (due to the stolen Vibranium and the horror of it being used for weaponry along with his father's death caused by Zemo's agents) and Mantis (a German/Vietnamese woman who was experiented on with the Mind Stone and believed to have alien hertiage). The Mind Stone is collected and secured. The film showed the heroes struggle with dealing with insanity-stricken civilians and keeping control while working to stop Helmut's device along with establishing Cap in a relationship with Black Widow. It was considered a very good film if one that had to juggle introducing some new characters. Mantis meanwhile is testing her powers, trying to understand more of the world, currently in nature. The other has T'Challa preparing to return to Wakanda though promising to keep contact; Cap decides to dub them some "New Avengers" trusting Falcon for a leadership role. The other film released was Doctor Strange, which looked into the world of the magical in Marvel, Set in the 1960s, it has renown surgeon Stephen Strange seek a way to heal his injured hands after an accident. He ends up stumbling into the world of magic meeting the Ancient One and in his studies, discovers a splinter cult dedicated to the first dark sorcerer, Cthon. They seek to free him with a powerful artifact that is revealed to contain the Time Stone. The film was praised for its direction though some frustrated at how the magic was still a bit downplayed. The stinger has them set in the future where Stephen meets with Thor, Stephen noted he missed several important events and wishes to know what happened.
DC meanwhile would end up releasing two films this time, first in The Batman and Batman & Superman. The first film sets up Batman's place and origins within this new DC connected cinematic universe. Unlike most previous Batman films, here Bruce is set up already a veteran hero who has been winning his war on crime in Gotham, with the mob families in tatters and most of the supervillains reformed, treated or dead. However, he must face up with the terrifying Court of Owls, a secret society of Gotham's elite who used the mob and later the supervillains to cause chaos and keep Gotham in their image (it's noted that the reason for Bruce's and others' failure in inducing real change in Gotham is because of the Court). It shows Bruce alongside with Nightwing triumphing over the Court as the two patch things up and with the hope of new reforms in the future for Gotham to help the poor. This was followed up with Batman & Superman, a film that had the titular superheroes uniting against a common threat.Following up from The Batman and Superman Returns, the two meet up in their civilian identities, the latter interviewing the former on the fall of the Court. However, trouble rises that they have to resolve, along with Nightwing and Supergirl. The antagonist is revealed to be Prometheus, a mysterious figure who lost his criminal parents to the law and thus wreck havoc on society. He used stolen alien technology and along with assets provided by the remnants of the Court and Lurthor, created a suit to fight against them both. He would end up being defeated, though not before warning them of something coming. Beyond the superhero films though, plenty of other films were offered in the forefront. Disney's Moana would do quite well in theaters along with the big hit in Zootopia becoming a large hit. Sausage Fest was a mockery at how animation was aimed at children though would be viewed also as not much of an advancement for adult animation. Warcraft served as a fascinating view into the world created by Blizzard that brought hope to successful video game adaptations, though apparently it took effort to get the full version released. The unusual hit was Deadpool, which was a smash hit for bringing popularity and skewed the superhero film genre. At the same time, it took a while to make because of which characters they could use, mainly none of the X-Men characters, instead they drew on Deadpool's cast and even looked for a couple of obscure characters to put in a potential sequel. All in all, many had a grand time with the film.
Video games showed similar promise and competition. Nintendo released the new Pokemon games in Pokemon Sun and Moon Versions that saw the traversal to a Hawaiian themed region, Paper Mario Color Splash maintained the Paper Mario tradition, but with more paper-themed ideas and focused on colors. a new Star Fox game surprised alot of people while Kirby Robobot brought out some unique possibilities for Kirby. Another was an HD Release of Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Twin and the reveal of the new Zelda game coming to Nintedo Twin, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. SEGA continued on with a surprising new installment in Sonic Rush with Sonic Rush III: Fire and Ice. It involves the usage of fire and ice, namely when a machine of Eggman's done to try and drain Blaze of her fire affects Sonic and instead gives him ice powers (or rather, the cool power of the north wind), and affecting levels. Other games included some brand new Yakuza games and a few others. Xbox did continue on with more games beyond that such as the handdrawn game in Cuphead while Playstation 4 soldiered on with Horizon: Zero Dawn, Gravity Rush 2, Uncharted 2 and Nier Automata. While other games like Titanfall 2 were coming acoss platforms and doing well, especially DOOM, the big news was the release of Persona 5 confirmed for the PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Twin, which saw great acclaim in Japan and likely the world when coming out the next year. However, other big shots were indies; beyond Cuphead, there was Stardew Valley, Superhot, Oxenfree and Firewatch. Beyond consoles, there was plenty of action on computers and mobile. Pokemon GO reinvigorated the franchise like wildfire and got people to go out and look for Pokemon while World of Warcraft released the Legion expansion patch, which saw the two sides war along the demonic Legions and included the rare Demon Hunter hero class among other changes. Overall, it looked like there was plenty to be excited for and many wondered what may laid in the future.
The final year of the McCain administration would be filled with a form of resignation amongst the administration in regards to the growing change, which many perceived due to the declining health of President McCain. The Panama papers became one of the defining moments of the era, showing a glimpse of how the corruption went within the world in regards to governments and the economy. People were hungering for change, more than the old guard anticipated. They would become punished for their hubris with losses. The McCain administration would also end up going relatively quiet throughout the time, merely trying to uphold the status quo. In a sense, there was a wariness to it, like a benchwarer. For others, they saw it as a nail in the coffin of neoconservatism. In their attempts of trying to cut taxes and interfering with infrastructure, little was achieved and in fact, just created a gradually growing pool of resentment and frustration. Not just at the Republicans, but at how the entire system was structured as a whole. For many those who were sharp-witted enough, they saw the writing on the wall and began working to adjust with the times. Others instead held down to their standards and were left gobsmacked when reality came crashing down on them. The people have spoken and their representatives were not listening, and so they were replaced. There was a growing sense of optimism and passion that many noted were not felt since the Clinton administration or perhaps even more. The economy had been recovering, but it still remained relatively stagnant and even a little all over the place due to the uncertainty of direction on what would happen. In fact, many would see McCain as the embodiment of the old guard, especially as those close to him would note that he seemed quite old and exhausted, with a few predicting that McCain was near death's driveway. The American political system was now finally moving past the dominance of the 80s/90s style of neoconservatism and neoliberalism that created the modern world, in the good and in the bad sense. It was now time for something radical and new.
The rest of the world was around the same. The elections of the United Kingdom resulted in a surprise when the hung election result would turn to an election for the Labour party and giving to the rise of Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister of Britain. This along with Sanders' victory led to the potential of a tidal wave of progressivism beginning to rise across the world. There was a new sense of optimism returning and mixed in with a fire for justice. The target of rage began shifting at many of the wealthy and powerful. Across the world, these various progressive leaders would begin coming together to try and assist the others and their peoples to create better tomorrows and deal with the economic troubles that are existing. After all, there were various economic problems that they could come together to try and work together with. Of course, it would be long and complicated and it was not like everyone was on board after all. Some of the companies began talking about stocks or investment or whatver that could be done to try and intimidate some of the economists, though some remained undeterred. For the first time, there was a sense of fresh optimism and determination, tempered with an almost revolutionary-like zeal. Whatever happens will happen, but many mark down 2016 as a turning point for global affairs and for a change in the current world order.
Film saw the continution of Marvel's project as well as DC's after some delays due to various problems. Marvel released Captain America: World At War, perhaps among the more interesing of the MCU films due to its inspiration, the "Madbomb" story. With the Avengers having seperated after the fallout of ULTRON, Captain America and Black Widow meets up with Bucky, aka the former Winter Soldier, who has been recovering from his brainwashing. He warns Cap that the person who "activated" him used him as a diversion, which is then revealed to be the theft of Loki's staff, which is revealed to contain the Mind Stone. It's revealed the plot revolves around Helmut Zemo, who has studied the Mind Stone and plans to use it in conjunction with Vibranium for a "Madbomb", a device that emits powerful disruptive psychic waves, with the intent to destabilize society and begin establishing martial law under the remnants of HYDRA. The film has Cap and Widow assemble a team of "New Avengers", which include Bucky, Spider-Man, The Falcon, War Machine and joined by new characters. King T'Challa/Black Panther (due to the stolen Vibranium and the horror of it being used for weaponry along with his father's death caused by Zemo's agents) and Mantis (a German/Vietnamese woman who was experiented on with the Mind Stone and believed to have alien hertiage). The Mind Stone is collected and secured. The film showed the heroes struggle with dealing with insanity-stricken civilians and keeping control while working to stop Helmut's device along with establishing Cap in a relationship with Black Widow. It was considered a very good film if one that had to juggle introducing some new characters. Mantis meanwhile is testing her powers, trying to understand more of the world, currently in nature. The other has T'Challa preparing to return to Wakanda though promising to keep contact; Cap decides to dub them some "New Avengers" trusting Falcon for a leadership role. The other film released was Doctor Strange, which looked into the world of the magical in Marvel, Set in the 1960s, it has renown surgeon Stephen Strange seek a way to heal his injured hands after an accident. He ends up stumbling into the world of magic meeting the Ancient One and in his studies, discovers a splinter cult dedicated to the first dark sorcerer, Cthon. They seek to free him with a powerful artifact that is revealed to contain the Time Stone. The film was praised for its direction though some frustrated at how the magic was still a bit downplayed. The stinger has them set in the future where Stephen meets with Thor, Stephen noted he missed several important events and wishes to know what happened.
DC meanwhile would end up releasing two films this time, first in The Batman and Batman & Superman. The first film sets up Batman's place and origins within this new DC connected cinematic universe. Unlike most previous Batman films, here Bruce is set up already a veteran hero who has been winning his war on crime in Gotham, with the mob families in tatters and most of the supervillains reformed, treated or dead. However, he must face up with the terrifying Court of Owls, a secret society of Gotham's elite who used the mob and later the supervillains to cause chaos and keep Gotham in their image (it's noted that the reason for Bruce's and others' failure in inducing real change in Gotham is because of the Court). It shows Bruce alongside with Nightwing triumphing over the Court as the two patch things up and with the hope of new reforms in the future for Gotham to help the poor. This was followed up with Batman & Superman, a film that had the titular superheroes uniting against a common threat.Following up from The Batman and Superman Returns, the two meet up in their civilian identities, the latter interviewing the former on the fall of the Court. However, trouble rises that they have to resolve, along with Nightwing and Supergirl. The antagonist is revealed to be Prometheus, a mysterious figure who lost his criminal parents to the law and thus wreck havoc on society. He used stolen alien technology and along with assets provided by the remnants of the Court and Lurthor, created a suit to fight against them both. He would end up being defeated, though not before warning them of something coming. Beyond the superhero films though, plenty of other films were offered in the forefront. Disney's Moana would do quite well in theaters along with the big hit in Zootopia becoming a large hit. Sausage Fest was a mockery at how animation was aimed at children though would be viewed also as not much of an advancement for adult animation. Warcraft served as a fascinating view into the world created by Blizzard that brought hope to successful video game adaptations, though apparently it took effort to get the full version released. The unusual hit was Deadpool, which was a smash hit for bringing popularity and skewed the superhero film genre. At the same time, it took a while to make because of which characters they could use, mainly none of the X-Men characters, instead they drew on Deadpool's cast and even looked for a couple of obscure characters to put in a potential sequel. All in all, many had a grand time with the film.
Video games showed similar promise and competition. Nintendo released the new Pokemon games in Pokemon Sun and Moon Versions that saw the traversal to a Hawaiian themed region, Paper Mario Color Splash maintained the Paper Mario tradition, but with more paper-themed ideas and focused on colors. a new Star Fox game surprised alot of people while Kirby Robobot brought out some unique possibilities for Kirby. Another was an HD Release of Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Twin and the reveal of the new Zelda game coming to Nintedo Twin, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. SEGA continued on with a surprising new installment in Sonic Rush with Sonic Rush III: Fire and Ice. It involves the usage of fire and ice, namely when a machine of Eggman's done to try and drain Blaze of her fire affects Sonic and instead gives him ice powers (or rather, the cool power of the north wind), and affecting levels. Other games included some brand new Yakuza games and a few others. Xbox did continue on with more games beyond that such as the handdrawn game in Cuphead while Playstation 4 soldiered on with Horizon: Zero Dawn, Gravity Rush 2, Uncharted 2 and Nier Automata. While other games like Titanfall 2 were coming acoss platforms and doing well, especially DOOM, the big news was the release of Persona 5 confirmed for the PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Twin, which saw great acclaim in Japan and likely the world when coming out the next year. However, other big shots were indies; beyond Cuphead, there was Stardew Valley, Superhot, Oxenfree and Firewatch. Beyond consoles, there was plenty of action on computers and mobile. Pokemon GO reinvigorated the franchise like wildfire and got people to go out and look for Pokemon while World of Warcraft released the Legion expansion patch, which saw the two sides war along the demonic Legions and included the rare Demon Hunter hero class among other changes. Overall, it looked like there was plenty to be excited for and many wondered what may laid in the future.
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Sanders has the advantage of a liberal Supreme Court and a good chunk of Reps and Senators in his camp via exploiting the "Rest on your laurels" mentality the party traditionalists had, along with having a few prominent people in power (Keith Ellison probably ends up in charge of DNC). I did try and keep it as realistic as possible, but given the cause and effect along greater trends in place, it's why I thought this was likely. This along with the support of the people means Sanders definitely has leverage against people who would not want him to succeed.
Corbyn is in a harder situation, because of the conservative British media landscape (though that did help him out in OTL years back because it apparently reinforced the accusations of said conservative bias). That and basically addressing Britain's economic problems would also require reforms to the EU. I am not that knowledgable on Britian, but I think he still has a shot of faring well.
Austrailia is under the Labor and Canada is under NDP, so social democracy has been snapping back
Pop Culture 2012-2016
Pop Culture in the McCain Administration Pt. 2: 2012-2016
The Great Recession became one of the primary shaping factors over toward pop culture in the second McCain administration. This led to an increase in fantastical elements and perhaps a desire for escapism. At the same time, as the adminsitration failed to take what many deemed to be adequate steps to resolve the issues, assist the economy or even go after the bankers or financial elites, it led to a rise in some more cynical elements or even existenial ones in the upcoming works, at least in the United States. Other nations handled matters differently and would grow to reflect that in pop culture. At the same time, there also remained sparks of optimism and hope; they were nurtured by the court cases that led to the federal legalization of homosexual marriage and represented an overall shift toward greater LGTBQ representation in media, including children's media, despite the current administration. In fact, some noted that some of the backlash against the McCain Administration may have fueled this acceleration into the adoptation of more progressive values. There was a growing tension in the population for change and perhaps that was reflect and even enabled in the new media, creating a cycle. However, many also have noted that the election of Sanders and defying the odds means that pop culture may at the precipice of another cultural shift, though what it means, many don't know. However, one hint laid in the rise of indie or lower-scale productions. Media from independent groups from literature, video games, music and streaming had become growing past the point of being niche and into something grander, encouraging others to come and growing to where the point of changing the system furthermore.
Perhaps another change was in the surprising string of successes regarding foreign policy that the McCain Administration. The end of the Kim regime over in North Korea, the Arabian Civil War and the conclusion of a majority of the troubles of the Middle Eas and, the fall of the Chavistas over in Venezuela would reflect a form of positive American influence, even if some would gather that it was a mix of luck. These successes led to the decrease in "foreign enemies" regarding portryal in certain media. At the same time, there was an odd sense of familiarity when American-Russian relations remained hostile. However, there was a growing sense that it was less at Russia itself and more toward the Putin regime. As such, the new public enemies became the wealthy and the powerful. While figures were spared this portrayal (such as Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark and these were mainly do to forward thinking and forethought on the part of creators), many of them were viewed with a growing sense of disdain and suspicion. This may in part have fueled the rise of smaller businesses through social media and indie creators. At the same time, many have noticed that there was a growing trend of nostalgia, likely as a response to the yearning of better days (and was an influence perhaps toward Sanders' victory). Specifcially, it was a nostalga trend focusing on the 90s and to a limited extent, the early 2000s.
Film
Film was continued to be dominated by Marvel and to a lesser extent, DC in regards with their superhero films. The Marvel cinematic universe continued and DC's own project began getting off the ground after internal debates regarding direction were settled (though many noted that DC showed more preference for television for their potential content, which many noted why certain projects were delayed.) Disney and Pixar continued to do well with animation, especially as Dreamworks began struggling and Illumination began gaining more traction. However, film also began a gradual decline in part because of the dominant structure of Hollywood. While #MeToo and its successor movements helped deal with some of the misogynistic elements along with other issues, there was still a lack of freshness in film that would be broken on occasion by new and bolder films. There were a growing number of sequels and longer film franchises though at the same time, people still put effort into these film franchises. At the same time, new films did come out and dazzle people like Moonlight, La La Land and various others showed the appeal was there though Moonlight became the prominent star at the end and many noted that there was a growing audience for films focusing alot on people of color and especially tied with questions of sexuality. One growing element was perhaps the desire to return to space as seen in Interstellar, Gravity, Star Trek and Star Wars had helped return the zeitgeist focus back on the stars. At the same time, there was a growing rise in Indie films thanks to the collaboration efforts of Open-Film as part of Project MAY-O over distribution and spreading awareness. This began encouraging a fresh new wave of faces to try and create their own works, either in animation or in film that could then be spread around. While this certainly assisted in keeping the film industry alive, many wondered what the future would be. After all, the fresh blood still chafed until similar systems and they relied on cash flow from patrons, which was sometimes difficult due to the struggling economy. Furthermore, the growing troubles that came from the rise of the prosumer led to more debates. However, there was still the sign of hopes and many decided they needed to push the envelope more. They needed to get weirder.
Television
Television meanwhile would continue on what many called its new "golden age" even as some of the prime shows that commenced the era began their finales. Breaking Bad would conclude over in 2013, but would continue on with its prequel in Better Call Saul. Mad Men concluded over in 2015 and many saw it as the end of the sort of corruption and decadant economics that the show embodied, or at least that was the hope. Black Mirror continued to tantalize and mystify viewers as being a sort of successor show to The Twilight Zone though many have been saddened to hear the show would be finishing up soon. Furthermore, not all shows fared as well for one reason or another. Game of Thrones would end up having to conclude in 2016 due to various problems along with the changing pop culture icons. Other shows would continue on like Orange is the new Black, American Horror Story and Mr. Robot and some of the new shows that were introduced such as Atlanta and perhaps most well-known, Stranger Things. Television animation continued down a similar line. Animated master pieces like Gravity Falls, Star Butterfly vs the Forces of Evil, Regular Show, Adventure Time and so many more continued on or finished off with spectacular releases. It created a greater revive and interesting that animation for all ages could be better than good. They became the forefront for spreading new ideas and encouraging positive trends, even in the face of reactionary backlash. It also showed the growing relevance of myth arcs in shows as they grew. Other shows included 2012's incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that would manage to eclipse even the 2003 adaptation. At the same time, other shows became surprise hits despite being considered in their humor or demeanor, such as The Inferior 5. A... quirky show focusing on the titular DC hero team, it was made to lampoon aspects of superhero shows with an emphasis of the C-listers and D-listers of the DC Universe (with the most prominent character being Harley Quinn, who appeared as the date of Ambush Bug, which a reference to Ambush Bug being the "Deadpool of DC" and led to a popularity of the two) while some have found the humor a bit off-putting, the niche made it something of a cult classic though its final season would be in 2017. Another aspect of interest was how it was supposedly have been built off a potential spin-off of Teen Titans, but changed the line-up due to the show's ending meaning there would be a lack of a draw along with a preference with new characters (which led to the popularity of Young Justice.) Despite this, underlyings of the show remained, given how the five had slight influence from the Titans' personality quirks (with how White Feather having a bit of Ravens quirks along with this version being a female). Another surprising trend is that toward more serious adult animation. Bojack Horseman is a stark glimpse into the nature of Hollywood and existence, Rick & Morty was a phenomenon with how lampooned many element sof sci-fi though found itself with a strong rivalry in The Orville, Seth McFarlene's return to animation and his homage to the space opera genre. While taking jabs at the genre, it also had a form of genuine passion behind that would sometimes make it preferable over Rick & Morty, especially with the growing change in zeitgeist. However, some networks fared better than others and often resulting in surprising shakeups. Most notably when Nickelodeon found themselves having to reorganize after lagging behind Cartoon Network and Disney along with the loss of Dreamworks adapted works on their channel. While have said this may have been due to deal arrangements, others note that it may tied to how more people are preferring streaming and the decline of cable. Though there are some concerns among certain folk that streaming may become similar to cable.
Video Games
Video games began their change as new technologies pushed them to new possibilities. Mobile games became more sophisticated and compliated, allowing creators to do more and provide experiences that could match up to the games on consoles and handhelds in terms of enjoyability. Sony recovered from their troubled years with the PS4 and while they still enjoyed a good collection of console exclusives, they have slipped up in their aim toward more family-friendly games and have worked to try and recpature that. Microsoft menwhile began stagnating a little as they found having to compete more with Playstation as they shared plenty of games though maintained their trump card in Japan thanks to the various SEGA titles and have been working to try and do more with them. Nintendo meanwhile did maintain some level of equal measure with their Nintendo Twin, but they did not really try to match the "power conflict" between them, instead opting to experiment, as seen with the tablet controller. They've also become among the dominant force in handheld games thanks to the failure of the Playstation Vita's sales which was due to their prices. The Nintendo UDS became one of the most beloved consoles and a large part was due to how many N64 remasters found their way on it. Super Mario 64, Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Kirby 64 Crystal Shards and Star Fox while Rare contributed their own classics with remakes of Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Golden Eye, Diddy Kong Racing and Donkey Kong 64. Indie games saw themselves boom over and it was becoming a race to try and get games of these onto the consoles to help boost sales and their relevancy . The indie game scene was becoming more prominent and more popular than ever thanks to it becoming a bit easier to do so along with people wishing to recreate what made them happy while other sought to push the boundaries. Games like Undertale, Cuphead, Shovel Knight, and so many others began forming their own fan groups and there was the desire to see potentially more from these small teams who went to explore more than what the bigger companies did. However, the rise of augmented reality and virtual reality seemed like on the cusp of greater popularity and many wondered how it would affect games of the future.
Other
Comics books had been entering a period of change. After nearly a decade of settling themselves in with their new status quo regarding the continuity, they felt more comfortable to try and experiment and go further. The Young Avengers would do well as they helped champion a new wave of diverse heroes. The reveal of Harley Keener as Iron Lad was done as a bait-and-switch. While the character resembled a surprisingly accurate older version of him, the name was different. It was later revealed that while Harley is his first name, he often goes by his middle name because he finds it embarassing while his mother remarried, thus explaining the change in last name. Another was on him being pansexual (they originally planned asexual as a contrast with Tony, but found that it would be a stereotype for the celibate genius, so went the opposite route) though still contrasting personalitywise with Tony. However, the bigger wave was on Miles Morales, who would become Spider-Man after Peter's disappearance and would later see Peter return to mentor Miles, with the latter getting his powers during Spider-Island. Marvel began taking a couple cues from their films though maintained their own continuity as the characters would age over time and start raising or mentoring their successors while dealing with new threats and a changing world. DC meanwhile did the same for the most part though is considered more familiar and stream-lined than the changes made in DC. However, there was the rise of new younger heroes and reintroduction to older ones. Most prominently was Jonathan Samuel Kent, Clark's son (born during the Convergence event, a time-based one that helped tie further loose ends from the New 52 didn't finish and undid the Infinite Crisis), Kamala Khan of Marvel as Stature, the most prominent NuHuman (the descendent of InHumans who bred with humanity in the past) with body shaping and morphing powers along with being considered a new heroine and Riri Williams, DC's newest heroine in 2016. Bendis thought of her for Marvel though thought the idea more fitting for DC since they really lacked an "Iron Man-esque" hero and could fit a niche there (end up interning under Mr. Terrific). Beyond that, graphic novels continued their revival and boom in popularity and served as forefronts for new voices, perhaps even more so than cartoons. Meanwhile, music saw the rise of various new and prominent musicians becoming popualr beyond just their circles thanks to the work of Project MAY-O and began leading a shift of appeal with "internet-born" music as vaporwave, futurefunk along with various other musical fads and trends. It did show growing confrontations with larger record companies over copyright though. As for the Internet itself, "Let's Players" ended up becoming among the internet stars who would play and review games while relying on prominent personalities and trends along with people making Top 10 lists and even the rise of internet cooks or builders. Relying on money from their audiences and from being more selective with ads allowed being an internet entertainer surprisingly profitable though still precarious at times as they have to find ways to advertise themselves along with the fear that the homegrown communities there may be pushed by the intruding preestablished internet giants (though some have noted that Facebook and Veoh have been appealing more to be the source for them.)
The Great Recession became one of the primary shaping factors over toward pop culture in the second McCain administration. This led to an increase in fantastical elements and perhaps a desire for escapism. At the same time, as the adminsitration failed to take what many deemed to be adequate steps to resolve the issues, assist the economy or even go after the bankers or financial elites, it led to a rise in some more cynical elements or even existenial ones in the upcoming works, at least in the United States. Other nations handled matters differently and would grow to reflect that in pop culture. At the same time, there also remained sparks of optimism and hope; they were nurtured by the court cases that led to the federal legalization of homosexual marriage and represented an overall shift toward greater LGTBQ representation in media, including children's media, despite the current administration. In fact, some noted that some of the backlash against the McCain Administration may have fueled this acceleration into the adoptation of more progressive values. There was a growing tension in the population for change and perhaps that was reflect and even enabled in the new media, creating a cycle. However, many also have noted that the election of Sanders and defying the odds means that pop culture may at the precipice of another cultural shift, though what it means, many don't know. However, one hint laid in the rise of indie or lower-scale productions. Media from independent groups from literature, video games, music and streaming had become growing past the point of being niche and into something grander, encouraging others to come and growing to where the point of changing the system furthermore.
Perhaps another change was in the surprising string of successes regarding foreign policy that the McCain Administration. The end of the Kim regime over in North Korea, the Arabian Civil War and the conclusion of a majority of the troubles of the Middle Eas and, the fall of the Chavistas over in Venezuela would reflect a form of positive American influence, even if some would gather that it was a mix of luck. These successes led to the decrease in "foreign enemies" regarding portryal in certain media. At the same time, there was an odd sense of familiarity when American-Russian relations remained hostile. However, there was a growing sense that it was less at Russia itself and more toward the Putin regime. As such, the new public enemies became the wealthy and the powerful. While figures were spared this portrayal (such as Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark and these were mainly do to forward thinking and forethought on the part of creators), many of them were viewed with a growing sense of disdain and suspicion. This may in part have fueled the rise of smaller businesses through social media and indie creators. At the same time, many have noticed that there was a growing trend of nostalgia, likely as a response to the yearning of better days (and was an influence perhaps toward Sanders' victory). Specifcially, it was a nostalga trend focusing on the 90s and to a limited extent, the early 2000s.
Film
Film was continued to be dominated by Marvel and to a lesser extent, DC in regards with their superhero films. The Marvel cinematic universe continued and DC's own project began getting off the ground after internal debates regarding direction were settled (though many noted that DC showed more preference for television for their potential content, which many noted why certain projects were delayed.) Disney and Pixar continued to do well with animation, especially as Dreamworks began struggling and Illumination began gaining more traction. However, film also began a gradual decline in part because of the dominant structure of Hollywood. While #MeToo and its successor movements helped deal with some of the misogynistic elements along with other issues, there was still a lack of freshness in film that would be broken on occasion by new and bolder films. There were a growing number of sequels and longer film franchises though at the same time, people still put effort into these film franchises. At the same time, new films did come out and dazzle people like Moonlight, La La Land and various others showed the appeal was there though Moonlight became the prominent star at the end and many noted that there was a growing audience for films focusing alot on people of color and especially tied with questions of sexuality. One growing element was perhaps the desire to return to space as seen in Interstellar, Gravity, Star Trek and Star Wars had helped return the zeitgeist focus back on the stars. At the same time, there was a growing rise in Indie films thanks to the collaboration efforts of Open-Film as part of Project MAY-O over distribution and spreading awareness. This began encouraging a fresh new wave of faces to try and create their own works, either in animation or in film that could then be spread around. While this certainly assisted in keeping the film industry alive, many wondered what the future would be. After all, the fresh blood still chafed until similar systems and they relied on cash flow from patrons, which was sometimes difficult due to the struggling economy. Furthermore, the growing troubles that came from the rise of the prosumer led to more debates. However, there was still the sign of hopes and many decided they needed to push the envelope more. They needed to get weirder.
Television
Television meanwhile would continue on what many called its new "golden age" even as some of the prime shows that commenced the era began their finales. Breaking Bad would conclude over in 2013, but would continue on with its prequel in Better Call Saul. Mad Men concluded over in 2015 and many saw it as the end of the sort of corruption and decadant economics that the show embodied, or at least that was the hope. Black Mirror continued to tantalize and mystify viewers as being a sort of successor show to The Twilight Zone though many have been saddened to hear the show would be finishing up soon. Furthermore, not all shows fared as well for one reason or another. Game of Thrones would end up having to conclude in 2016 due to various problems along with the changing pop culture icons. Other shows would continue on like Orange is the new Black, American Horror Story and Mr. Robot and some of the new shows that were introduced such as Atlanta and perhaps most well-known, Stranger Things. Television animation continued down a similar line. Animated master pieces like Gravity Falls, Star Butterfly vs the Forces of Evil, Regular Show, Adventure Time and so many more continued on or finished off with spectacular releases. It created a greater revive and interesting that animation for all ages could be better than good. They became the forefront for spreading new ideas and encouraging positive trends, even in the face of reactionary backlash. It also showed the growing relevance of myth arcs in shows as they grew. Other shows included 2012's incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that would manage to eclipse even the 2003 adaptation. At the same time, other shows became surprise hits despite being considered in their humor or demeanor, such as The Inferior 5. A... quirky show focusing on the titular DC hero team, it was made to lampoon aspects of superhero shows with an emphasis of the C-listers and D-listers of the DC Universe (with the most prominent character being Harley Quinn, who appeared as the date of Ambush Bug, which a reference to Ambush Bug being the "Deadpool of DC" and led to a popularity of the two) while some have found the humor a bit off-putting, the niche made it something of a cult classic though its final season would be in 2017. Another aspect of interest was how it was supposedly have been built off a potential spin-off of Teen Titans, but changed the line-up due to the show's ending meaning there would be a lack of a draw along with a preference with new characters (which led to the popularity of Young Justice.) Despite this, underlyings of the show remained, given how the five had slight influence from the Titans' personality quirks (with how White Feather having a bit of Ravens quirks along with this version being a female). Another surprising trend is that toward more serious adult animation. Bojack Horseman is a stark glimpse into the nature of Hollywood and existence, Rick & Morty was a phenomenon with how lampooned many element sof sci-fi though found itself with a strong rivalry in The Orville, Seth McFarlene's return to animation and his homage to the space opera genre. While taking jabs at the genre, it also had a form of genuine passion behind that would sometimes make it preferable over Rick & Morty, especially with the growing change in zeitgeist. However, some networks fared better than others and often resulting in surprising shakeups. Most notably when Nickelodeon found themselves having to reorganize after lagging behind Cartoon Network and Disney along with the loss of Dreamworks adapted works on their channel. While have said this may have been due to deal arrangements, others note that it may tied to how more people are preferring streaming and the decline of cable. Though there are some concerns among certain folk that streaming may become similar to cable.
Video Games
Video games began their change as new technologies pushed them to new possibilities. Mobile games became more sophisticated and compliated, allowing creators to do more and provide experiences that could match up to the games on consoles and handhelds in terms of enjoyability. Sony recovered from their troubled years with the PS4 and while they still enjoyed a good collection of console exclusives, they have slipped up in their aim toward more family-friendly games and have worked to try and recpature that. Microsoft menwhile began stagnating a little as they found having to compete more with Playstation as they shared plenty of games though maintained their trump card in Japan thanks to the various SEGA titles and have been working to try and do more with them. Nintendo meanwhile did maintain some level of equal measure with their Nintendo Twin, but they did not really try to match the "power conflict" between them, instead opting to experiment, as seen with the tablet controller. They've also become among the dominant force in handheld games thanks to the failure of the Playstation Vita's sales which was due to their prices. The Nintendo UDS became one of the most beloved consoles and a large part was due to how many N64 remasters found their way on it. Super Mario 64, Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Kirby 64 Crystal Shards and Star Fox while Rare contributed their own classics with remakes of Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Golden Eye, Diddy Kong Racing and Donkey Kong 64. Indie games saw themselves boom over and it was becoming a race to try and get games of these onto the consoles to help boost sales and their relevancy . The indie game scene was becoming more prominent and more popular than ever thanks to it becoming a bit easier to do so along with people wishing to recreate what made them happy while other sought to push the boundaries. Games like Undertale, Cuphead, Shovel Knight, and so many others began forming their own fan groups and there was the desire to see potentially more from these small teams who went to explore more than what the bigger companies did. However, the rise of augmented reality and virtual reality seemed like on the cusp of greater popularity and many wondered how it would affect games of the future.
Other
Comics books had been entering a period of change. After nearly a decade of settling themselves in with their new status quo regarding the continuity, they felt more comfortable to try and experiment and go further. The Young Avengers would do well as they helped champion a new wave of diverse heroes. The reveal of Harley Keener as Iron Lad was done as a bait-and-switch. While the character resembled a surprisingly accurate older version of him, the name was different. It was later revealed that while Harley is his first name, he often goes by his middle name because he finds it embarassing while his mother remarried, thus explaining the change in last name. Another was on him being pansexual (they originally planned asexual as a contrast with Tony, but found that it would be a stereotype for the celibate genius, so went the opposite route) though still contrasting personalitywise with Tony. However, the bigger wave was on Miles Morales, who would become Spider-Man after Peter's disappearance and would later see Peter return to mentor Miles, with the latter getting his powers during Spider-Island. Marvel began taking a couple cues from their films though maintained their own continuity as the characters would age over time and start raising or mentoring their successors while dealing with new threats and a changing world. DC meanwhile did the same for the most part though is considered more familiar and stream-lined than the changes made in DC. However, there was the rise of new younger heroes and reintroduction to older ones. Most prominently was Jonathan Samuel Kent, Clark's son (born during the Convergence event, a time-based one that helped tie further loose ends from the New 52 didn't finish and undid the Infinite Crisis), Kamala Khan of Marvel as Stature, the most prominent NuHuman (the descendent of InHumans who bred with humanity in the past) with body shaping and morphing powers along with being considered a new heroine and Riri Williams, DC's newest heroine in 2016. Bendis thought of her for Marvel though thought the idea more fitting for DC since they really lacked an "Iron Man-esque" hero and could fit a niche there (end up interning under Mr. Terrific). Beyond that, graphic novels continued their revival and boom in popularity and served as forefronts for new voices, perhaps even more so than cartoons. Meanwhile, music saw the rise of various new and prominent musicians becoming popualr beyond just their circles thanks to the work of Project MAY-O and began leading a shift of appeal with "internet-born" music as vaporwave, futurefunk along with various other musical fads and trends. It did show growing confrontations with larger record companies over copyright though. As for the Internet itself, "Let's Players" ended up becoming among the internet stars who would play and review games while relying on prominent personalities and trends along with people making Top 10 lists and even the rise of internet cooks or builders. Relying on money from their audiences and from being more selective with ads allowed being an internet entertainer surprisingly profitable though still precarious at times as they have to find ways to advertise themselves along with the fear that the homegrown communities there may be pushed by the intruding preestablished internet giants (though some have noted that Facebook and Veoh have been appealing more to be the source for them.)
I want to have a mention about how Video Game companies are being handled in regards to their monetization tactics and lootboxes, which is quite shady.
Hmmm... Well, Monetization tactics like lootboxes likely still exist though probably not as effective due to the delayed and prolonged recession, at elast once the long term effects come out. It will probably get more flack over time, especially during the new presidency, though probably not for a while there.
After all, games remain expensive to make and greed is still part of the culture, though this could change with the Sanders administration. While video game companies are not on top of the lists of targets to be dealt wit, the problems of the industry would be brought up to him by supporters, aides or so on, such as crunch hours and hostile work environments. Monetization policies like lootboxes would definitely be viewed suspiciously though likely to be done by someone Sanders puts in rather than him himself.
This would definitely American video game policy and in turn, may convince other companies to try similar tactics.
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McCain Administration Looking Back Pt1
The Accomplishments of the McCain Administration Pt 1
President John McCain (2009-2017)
After 16 years of Democrat leadership (albeit somewhat shaky ones, especially with how distinct the terms were), people were ready for something new. As such, the Republicans were set to capitalize on their opportunity to implement their party policies. However, the surprise victory of the Gore presidency and their electoral successes changed the Republican party to where many of the potential candidates would be deemed potentially too troublesome to try and run against Gore. While McCain considered running against Gore in 2004 (and some believed he could have gotten a fair chance), they maintained Jeb Bush and lost. By 2008, McCain's maverick nature made him enough for the GOP to run him successfully as he could still fit in with the new order that had been gradually shifted by the Democrats. While he implemented the classic tax cuts the Republicans have become known for, the McCain Administration was cautious not to provoke the voters by messing with anything the Gore Administration had implemented recently. Fortunately for the more hawkish sort, the trouble caused by Russians allowed for funds to be allocated more for security measures and other aspects. All in all, while some on the left were wary, there was a bipartisan tone of peace over the leadership of McCain that it would be relatively adequate and continue on his work, if in different focuses and achievements.
And then the Great Recession occurred.
The Great Recession for the Americans was a combination of different aspects such as predatory housing loans, bank problems/corruption and other various factors. While elements of it have been seen since the Gore era, many have traced that the actual origins may even go beyond Gore, Clinton or even Bush regarding long term policy. Nonetheless, it would be up to the McCain Administration to try and resolve with the Great Recession. Unsurprisingly, he responded with cuts to business taxes in the hopes to convince them to try not to fire people and initially refused attempts to try and try spend government money to deal with the Recession, claiming it would leave a large debt over to the next generation. While he would also lead actions to deal with the mortage industry along with helping with mortages to prevent homelessness, many would view that McCain performed poorly when it came to handling the Great Recessions, sentiments that gradually led to frustration among the voters The successes of other nations (to varying degrees) intensified this. Beyond this, the McCain Administration would be defined by the culture wars, though they would often be suffocated by the economic problems of the nation. Even when he would do some spending to try and promote the economy (though more in the section of security and a few others), it still felt tepid and lukewarm at best. Talks of "fiscal discipline" and responsible money handling became words of poison and insult as the nation began realizing that the people behind the bailout were getting relatively scot-free and the the McCain Administration did little to assist the American people in the time of need.
Despite this, McCain managed to retain a mixed reception through a combination of his personal charisma, his stances that did appeal to a majority of voters and his foreign policy victories. He did plenty of work to ensure campaign finance reform went through and several savvy Congressfolk used this to get similar passing legislation passed through, such as regarding voting locations along with maintaining the Fairness Doctrine of the FCC that was reinstated by the Gore Administration. However, his primary drawing point was his victories abroad. A careful combination of opportunism and luck allowed him to get the US involved in several military conflicts abroad that all ended positively. From assisting the president in Nicaragua with a counter-coup (despite being different on the political spectrum though wuth the caveat he should probably not run again) to the intervention in the Iraqi-Syrian War and the Arabian Civil War, they were recieved positively. A large portion of voters and congressfolk approved of it though what helped was that the involvement was not prolonged. Many attributed this to the lack of interest in foreign oil thanks to the Exxon-Mobil scandal along with lobbying reform. As such, there was not much incentive to remain outside of thoroughness. However, while the McCain Administration's successes did do a lot of patriotic pride in the nation not doing any wrong, it could not mask the economic disparity or the growing criticisms. Though it seems that McCain's personality along with his growing exhaustion near the end led to some sympathy points. His opponents also assisted, at least in the sense of not blaming McCain himself, but rather the systemic problems at hand, which led to the rise of the populism that saw Bernie Sanders elected. As such, many saw McCain as last of an old order that should be removed and put in with something fresh and new.
As such, people began looking back on the McCain Administration and some of its major aspects:
Economy
For many voters, the McCain Administration's single biggest failure was in the economy or more specifcially, its handling of the Great Recession. The McCain Administration's approach to the economy followed much regarding the neoconservative handbook such as cutting taxes though the McCain administration did make an effort in trying to push and hold accountable the various businesses who's practices helped lead to the Recession as well as profiting from it. However, at the same tie, he posessed a very business friendly approach and was reluctant to raise taxes on the very well-off, likely leading to the rise of the Occupy Wallstreet movement. Additionally, he showed a reluctance in spending government money in order to try to boost the economy though he did make some concessions in with energy independence along with maintaining investments in renewable energy. He blamed excessive spending for the Recession and used it to try and cut some money from government spending. Unsurprisingly, this did little to assist in dealing with the Recession and the people. In fact, he became the subject of humor when reminding people of being at the forefront of the "Reagan Revolution", namely with Reagan assisting by raising taxes along with the fact that most of the profit and prosperity within the Reagan 80s went over to the very rich and well-off. Overall, McCain's economic stances were viewed as enabling the Recession while overall exposing much of the subtle but deep-running business preferring practices at the cost of the "little guy." He talked a big gain and did make some remarks at Wall Streets, but was perceived to not perform the adequate actions to back his tough talk along with the unwillingness to really assist struggling businesses and so on led to a general feeling of disappointment and frustration.
Foreign Policy
The McCain Administration was viewed with favorability on the world stage thanks to the successes in military conflicts abroad:
-Europe: McCain with Europe did very well though his most notable actions was on his administration working to steer them away from Russia's sphere of influence. McCain treated the Putin Administration's actions as being dangerous to the free world and responded by working to extend American influence over in Europe, especially in certain prominent places like Poland and Hungary and especially Ukraine. Increasingly, the political connections were tied economically and so on due to Russia being compared increasingly as a petrolcartel. Beyond that, there was nothing truly noteworthy of McCain's interactions though he did show surprise at Corbyn's victory though congraulated all the same while asking him not to leave NATO due to the political turmoil of Russia and the threat it represented to both of their interests and agendas.
-North America: While McCain interacted amicably with Canada, the comparisons between him and Jack Layton became prominent ones for groups covering both nations and the contrasts showed a large preference toward Layton, at least when it came to domestic affairs and duties. With Mexico, it was business as usual with both nations trying to work dealing with the cartels and McCain trying to maintain a tough on crime stance. Beyond that, he was treated with a neutral respect by most of the nations within North America and while Nicaragua caught them by surprise along with McCain not really getting involved in the affairs of his neighbors, there was still the fact that there was not much else there for them. Unsurprisingly, McCain kept up the hostilities with Cuba though it was a continuation of prior policies rather than add anything new.
- South America: Much like with the Latin American nations up north. McCain's relations with South America were cordial albeit nothing special. The environment remained heavily into the discussion along with dealing with matters of illegal logging and so on. McCain did on occasion weigh ideas of using force along with discussing deal with the cartels through a similar matter though the Recession priority over that along with resolving other more immediate issues. Venezuela was the main exception. There was something when Maduro's regime fell and the Chavistas fell into disarray though McCain did not make much commentary on the matter except that it would be one less nation to worry about. Furthermore, the lack of real interest in the oil did also change the dynamic and McCain was willing to offer emergancy aid if need be along with working with the President.
- The Middle East: McCain's biggest mark was in the resolution fo many Middle Eastern conflicts, albeit by intervening in pre-existing wars for the sake of restoring stabiluty. With Iraq and Syria, it was the chance to kill two birds with one stone and they entered on the basis of damage control and to bring Saddam to justice. He didn't even have to do anything with Assad. Of course, afterwards came trying to do nation-build, but a large chunk of that was just taking ideas from his allies, including Iran, on how to deal with it. While he was initially skeptical of Iran, he did come to view them as changing and more reliable compared to Saudi Arabia. The new Arab government is building ties with him and while some of the reception with him is mixed, they are happy that he will be able to provide some optimism for a better state especially with the situation having gotten peaceful.
- China: McCain's interactions with China were underlined early from the change in government and the events that led to the resignation of the Kims from power and the shift to a less provactive and volatile administraton. Both parties walked away with greater boosts to their credentials and felt a little lighter in their step. Beyond that though, it was a slightly awkward relationship as it was a balance of the two powers. However, McCain did work to try and gain China on the side of the Americans against the Russians. The environmental concenrs did help on that front along with the new leadership working to try and address the rampant corruption that nearly led to a mobster-like politician taking over in China, even if progress would still be a while.
President John McCain (2009-2017)
After 16 years of Democrat leadership (albeit somewhat shaky ones, especially with how distinct the terms were), people were ready for something new. As such, the Republicans were set to capitalize on their opportunity to implement their party policies. However, the surprise victory of the Gore presidency and their electoral successes changed the Republican party to where many of the potential candidates would be deemed potentially too troublesome to try and run against Gore. While McCain considered running against Gore in 2004 (and some believed he could have gotten a fair chance), they maintained Jeb Bush and lost. By 2008, McCain's maverick nature made him enough for the GOP to run him successfully as he could still fit in with the new order that had been gradually shifted by the Democrats. While he implemented the classic tax cuts the Republicans have become known for, the McCain Administration was cautious not to provoke the voters by messing with anything the Gore Administration had implemented recently. Fortunately for the more hawkish sort, the trouble caused by Russians allowed for funds to be allocated more for security measures and other aspects. All in all, while some on the left were wary, there was a bipartisan tone of peace over the leadership of McCain that it would be relatively adequate and continue on his work, if in different focuses and achievements.
And then the Great Recession occurred.
The Great Recession for the Americans was a combination of different aspects such as predatory housing loans, bank problems/corruption and other various factors. While elements of it have been seen since the Gore era, many have traced that the actual origins may even go beyond Gore, Clinton or even Bush regarding long term policy. Nonetheless, it would be up to the McCain Administration to try and resolve with the Great Recession. Unsurprisingly, he responded with cuts to business taxes in the hopes to convince them to try not to fire people and initially refused attempts to try and try spend government money to deal with the Recession, claiming it would leave a large debt over to the next generation. While he would also lead actions to deal with the mortage industry along with helping with mortages to prevent homelessness, many would view that McCain performed poorly when it came to handling the Great Recessions, sentiments that gradually led to frustration among the voters The successes of other nations (to varying degrees) intensified this. Beyond this, the McCain Administration would be defined by the culture wars, though they would often be suffocated by the economic problems of the nation. Even when he would do some spending to try and promote the economy (though more in the section of security and a few others), it still felt tepid and lukewarm at best. Talks of "fiscal discipline" and responsible money handling became words of poison and insult as the nation began realizing that the people behind the bailout were getting relatively scot-free and the the McCain Administration did little to assist the American people in the time of need.
Despite this, McCain managed to retain a mixed reception through a combination of his personal charisma, his stances that did appeal to a majority of voters and his foreign policy victories. He did plenty of work to ensure campaign finance reform went through and several savvy Congressfolk used this to get similar passing legislation passed through, such as regarding voting locations along with maintaining the Fairness Doctrine of the FCC that was reinstated by the Gore Administration. However, his primary drawing point was his victories abroad. A careful combination of opportunism and luck allowed him to get the US involved in several military conflicts abroad that all ended positively. From assisting the president in Nicaragua with a counter-coup (despite being different on the political spectrum though wuth the caveat he should probably not run again) to the intervention in the Iraqi-Syrian War and the Arabian Civil War, they were recieved positively. A large portion of voters and congressfolk approved of it though what helped was that the involvement was not prolonged. Many attributed this to the lack of interest in foreign oil thanks to the Exxon-Mobil scandal along with lobbying reform. As such, there was not much incentive to remain outside of thoroughness. However, while the McCain Administration's successes did do a lot of patriotic pride in the nation not doing any wrong, it could not mask the economic disparity or the growing criticisms. Though it seems that McCain's personality along with his growing exhaustion near the end led to some sympathy points. His opponents also assisted, at least in the sense of not blaming McCain himself, but rather the systemic problems at hand, which led to the rise of the populism that saw Bernie Sanders elected. As such, many saw McCain as last of an old order that should be removed and put in with something fresh and new.
As such, people began looking back on the McCain Administration and some of its major aspects:
Economy
For many voters, the McCain Administration's single biggest failure was in the economy or more specifcially, its handling of the Great Recession. The McCain Administration's approach to the economy followed much regarding the neoconservative handbook such as cutting taxes though the McCain administration did make an effort in trying to push and hold accountable the various businesses who's practices helped lead to the Recession as well as profiting from it. However, at the same tie, he posessed a very business friendly approach and was reluctant to raise taxes on the very well-off, likely leading to the rise of the Occupy Wallstreet movement. Additionally, he showed a reluctance in spending government money in order to try to boost the economy though he did make some concessions in with energy independence along with maintaining investments in renewable energy. He blamed excessive spending for the Recession and used it to try and cut some money from government spending. Unsurprisingly, this did little to assist in dealing with the Recession and the people. In fact, he became the subject of humor when reminding people of being at the forefront of the "Reagan Revolution", namely with Reagan assisting by raising taxes along with the fact that most of the profit and prosperity within the Reagan 80s went over to the very rich and well-off. Overall, McCain's economic stances were viewed as enabling the Recession while overall exposing much of the subtle but deep-running business preferring practices at the cost of the "little guy." He talked a big gain and did make some remarks at Wall Streets, but was perceived to not perform the adequate actions to back his tough talk along with the unwillingness to really assist struggling businesses and so on led to a general feeling of disappointment and frustration.
Foreign Policy
The McCain Administration was viewed with favorability on the world stage thanks to the successes in military conflicts abroad:
-Europe: McCain with Europe did very well though his most notable actions was on his administration working to steer them away from Russia's sphere of influence. McCain treated the Putin Administration's actions as being dangerous to the free world and responded by working to extend American influence over in Europe, especially in certain prominent places like Poland and Hungary and especially Ukraine. Increasingly, the political connections were tied economically and so on due to Russia being compared increasingly as a petrolcartel. Beyond that, there was nothing truly noteworthy of McCain's interactions though he did show surprise at Corbyn's victory though congraulated all the same while asking him not to leave NATO due to the political turmoil of Russia and the threat it represented to both of their interests and agendas.
-North America: While McCain interacted amicably with Canada, the comparisons between him and Jack Layton became prominent ones for groups covering both nations and the contrasts showed a large preference toward Layton, at least when it came to domestic affairs and duties. With Mexico, it was business as usual with both nations trying to work dealing with the cartels and McCain trying to maintain a tough on crime stance. Beyond that, he was treated with a neutral respect by most of the nations within North America and while Nicaragua caught them by surprise along with McCain not really getting involved in the affairs of his neighbors, there was still the fact that there was not much else there for them. Unsurprisingly, McCain kept up the hostilities with Cuba though it was a continuation of prior policies rather than add anything new.
- South America: Much like with the Latin American nations up north. McCain's relations with South America were cordial albeit nothing special. The environment remained heavily into the discussion along with dealing with matters of illegal logging and so on. McCain did on occasion weigh ideas of using force along with discussing deal with the cartels through a similar matter though the Recession priority over that along with resolving other more immediate issues. Venezuela was the main exception. There was something when Maduro's regime fell and the Chavistas fell into disarray though McCain did not make much commentary on the matter except that it would be one less nation to worry about. Furthermore, the lack of real interest in the oil did also change the dynamic and McCain was willing to offer emergancy aid if need be along with working with the President.
- The Middle East: McCain's biggest mark was in the resolution fo many Middle Eastern conflicts, albeit by intervening in pre-existing wars for the sake of restoring stabiluty. With Iraq and Syria, it was the chance to kill two birds with one stone and they entered on the basis of damage control and to bring Saddam to justice. He didn't even have to do anything with Assad. Of course, afterwards came trying to do nation-build, but a large chunk of that was just taking ideas from his allies, including Iran, on how to deal with it. While he was initially skeptical of Iran, he did come to view them as changing and more reliable compared to Saudi Arabia. The new Arab government is building ties with him and while some of the reception with him is mixed, they are happy that he will be able to provide some optimism for a better state especially with the situation having gotten peaceful.
- China: McCain's interactions with China were underlined early from the change in government and the events that led to the resignation of the Kims from power and the shift to a less provactive and volatile administraton. Both parties walked away with greater boosts to their credentials and felt a little lighter in their step. Beyond that though, it was a slightly awkward relationship as it was a balance of the two powers. However, McCain did work to try and gain China on the side of the Americans against the Russians. The environmental concenrs did help on that front along with the new leadership working to try and address the rampant corruption that nearly led to a mobster-like politician taking over in China, even if progress would still be a while.
