Photos from Kentucky Fried Politics

[Arrowfan237]

I always enjoy looking through my presidential campaign buttons. As you can see I was a big Carter fan back in ‘84 but eventually shifted politically to backing Hillary. Honestly, though, I just collect whatever campaign I can find.

 

[MNM041]

- Award winning actor Ronaldo Valdez, seen here appearing in an advertisement for KFC in that aired in the Philippines. Valdez has the distinction of being not only the first Filipino actor to play the Colonel, but also appearing in the first ads that acknowledged the Colonel's presidency since Harland Sanders passed away in 1990.

 

[MNM041]

- U.S. President Jeremiah Denton smoking a cigarette while watching media coverage of the Lukens hush money scandal in 1985.

 

[wolverinethad]

[pic: imgur.com/a38URXF.png ]

– businessman Harland David “Colonel” Sanders while wearing a grey suit, which he soon would replace with his iconic white attire, c. 1951

[pic: imgur.com/kePgK3r.png ]

– Colonel Sanders exits a plane at an airfield near Paducah, KY, c. 1954; the 1950s and 1960s were a blur for many key figures behind the rise of KFC, especially the Colonel, who strived to endure high quality food during promotional tours and inspections of each and every new KFC-selling location

[pic: imgur.com/5PgcYQR.png ]

– A news reporter talks to The Colonel at a KFC outlet in Harrisburg, PA, c. summer 1961

My mother was born in Paducah. She was an infant when he made that visit.

 

[ajm8888]

One of the few known photos of Ted Kaczynski (1942-2017) shown here as a Harvard assistant professor prior to moving to Alaska in 1971. Kaczynski developed his anti-technology and anti-industrialization views while teaching at Harvard and Berkeley respectively which was the impetus for him to start a new life in America’s Last Frontier while writing various treatises and op-eds for local newspapers and showing support for then-Governor Bob Ross forming the backbone for not just his famous 1995 essay “To Destroy and To Use” but the famous secret society known as the Forest Fellowship of which Kaczynski would serve as their leader until he passed away from natural causes in 2017 leaving behind a notable legacy to his followers who know him as “The Unifier” and later the world for his beliefs.

Notably, Andrew Anglin of the Forest Fellowship-affiliated conspiracy theory netsite Natural Journalism credited Kaczynski for introducing him to his beliefs. “He's an inspiration to all of us. I was first introduced to the Unifier Kaczynski through the technet and he opened my eyes to the problems of industrial, modern society, so I went to Alaska to embrace the path of the hunter-gatherer which is necessary for humanity to survive in a dangerous and unstable world” said Anglin in an interview with the Galena newspaper The Hawk Highlights.

Former Republican Governor of New Mexico, US Secretary of the Interior and two-time presidential candidate Gary Johnson in an interview with perhaps his biggest fan and radio host Christopher Cantwell of the libertarian podcast Common Sense Agenda in 2021.

The downtown skyline of Columbia, the state capital of South Carolina named after the female personification of the United States. The city had a significant role in the American Civil War from the passage of the South Carolina Declaration of Secession leading to the creation of the Confederate States to the burning of the city during the final months of the conflict as well as the University of South Carolina, the Five Points and historic sites such as the Robert Mills House or the South Carolina State House. As of 2021, Columbia is the home of Republican Governor Gresham Barrett though it was the historic home of former President Jesse Jackson who served two non-consecutive terms as Governor of the state from 1987-1991 and 1999-2001 respectively.

After Jackson was elected Governor during the Donkey Wave of 1986, the NAACP started a campaign to remove the Confederate battle flag from the dome of the State House culminating in protests for and against the symbol which led to it’s eventual relocation to a Confederate monument on capitol grounds in 1997 that influenced the removal of the battle flag from the official state flag of Georgia two years later. Additionally, Columbia is also one of the numerous American cities where illegal weapons are smuggled between gangs and has seen it’s fair share of violent crimes over the years most notably in 2016 when a drug dealer named Dylann Roof was shot and killed between an intersection of the city shocking local witnesses who saw it.

Notes:

• Anglin was influenced by Alex Jones and Hunter S. Thompson to start his own conspiracy theory website Outlaw Journalism and believed humanity must embrace a hunter-gatherer lifestyle before turning to neo-Nazism after his visit to the Phillippines starting with Total Fascism followed by The Daily Stormer. Considering that his birth is 52 years after the POD and the numerous butterflies affecting real world people like him and his inspirations, he doesn't become a neo-Nazi but instead latches onto the anarcho-primitivist ideology of the Forest Fellowship. He's still a conspiracy theorist but nowhere near as extreme or infamous as OTL.
• Cantwell embraced libertarianism after listening to a presentation by Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik in 2009 but still held violent beliefs before and after his ascension into the alt-right. Here, he converts to libertarianism much sooner due to Johnson's campaign and is a lot more well-adjusted.
• IOTL, the Confederate battle flag was removed from the dome of the South Carolina State House in 2000 but happens much earlier due to the influence of Jesse Jackson.
• "Inspired" by what happened to OTL killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Brenton Tarrant ITTL.

 

[MNM041]

- Idaho Governor Harley Brown smiling and giving a thumbs up with a campaign staffer at his 2012 Presidential Campaign Headquarters.

 

[Arrowfan237]

Owen Wilson is an interesting casting choice in the biopic about former VP Bob Ross.

 

[MNM041]

- President Kelsey Grammer speaking at a church on Easter Sunday in 2018. Vice President Harley Brown (not pictured) also spoke at the event.

 

[MNM041]

- President Walter Mondale and First Lady Joan Adams dancing at the White House inaugural ball in 1973.

 

[MNM041]

- Musician and activist Darryl Davis, who has managed to convince hundreds of people to leave the Klu Klux Klan since the 1980s, during his visit to the White House during the summer of 2004. President Jesse Jackson invited Davis to highlight the administration choosing "love and hope over fear and hate" in the face of Senator Goetz winning the GOP nomination for President that year. Davis later stumped for President Jackson in his home state of Illinois.

- Fred Hampton Jr speaking at East Proviso High School in 2018. His father, the Civil Rights Activist and Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the X-Men, attended the school and in his honor, the school's social room was renamed the Chairman Frederick A. Hampton Social Justice Room. Fred Hampton Sr was also in attendance and spoke shortly after his son.

 

[MNM041]

- Richard Jewell, founder and CEO of the Jewell Security Firm testifying before congress in 1997 on behalf of increasing funding to Veterans Affairs. That year, the Jewell Security Firm had the distinction of hiring more veterans of the Second Korean War that were in need of work than any other company. The man behind him is Lin Wood, who at the time was one of the most prominent members of the company's board of directors.

 

[TheDetailer]

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- Richard Jewell, founder and CEO of the Jewell Security Firm testifying before congress in 1997 on behalf of increasing funding to Veterans Affairs. That year, the Jewell Security Firm had the distinction of hiring more veterans of the Second Korean War that were in need of work than any other company. The man behind him is Lin Wood, who at the time was one of the most prominent members of the company's board of directors.

Nice, do Jewell wasn’t a security guard who was unfortunately caught up in a bombing scandal ITTL?

 

[MNM041]

Nice, do Jewell wasn’t a security guard who was unfortunately caught up in a bombing scandal ITTL?

Well, no bombing, no scandal and he later founds the company.

 

[MNM041]

- Professional wrestler turned politician Bob Backlund, who served as a Connecticut congressman from 2000 to 2004. Many attributed his upset victory in 2000 to low voter turnout. Backlund, a self described Colonel Conservative, lost reelection in 2004 due to his criticism of the Republican nominee for President that year, Bernie Goetz.

 

[Trevor807]

https://imgur.com/a/maappND

- A still from the opening of Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls, a series created by Lauren Faust (based on her successful toyline that debuted in 2008) that aired on The Cartoon Network from October 10, 2010 to May 11, 2021, running for eleven seasons. Its main voice cast:

• Kelly Sheridan as Milky Way, the starry-eyed frontwoman of the Girlaxy.
• Jodie Resther as The Sun, the singer who believes everything else orbits around her musical talents.
• Rebecca Shoichet as Mercury, the tomboyish athlete.
• Tabitha St. Germain as Venus, the ballet dancer.
• Andrea Libman as The Moon, the shy, moody poet, and Mars, the giddy green-skinned artist.
• Lucinda Davis as Jupiter, the spiritual shoutnik.
• Erica Luttrell as Saturn, the chief music mixer.
• Tara Charendoff as Uranus, the bookworm who will remind you that her name is pronounced "your-en-us", not "yoor-a-nus".
• Ashleigh Ball as Neptune, the laid-back surfer.
• Marÿke Hendrikse as Pluto, the rebellious frontwoman of Pluto and the Dwarf Planets.

On a side note, I'm pretty sure, in retrospect, that G4 of My Little Pony would come a few years later under someone else's watch.

 

[MNM041]

- Actor and comedian Jordan Peele portraying a young Jesse Jackson in the 2010 film, "The Reverend", directed by John Singleton, which showed the long and storied career of America's first black President. The scene above shows Jackson during a campaign stop in Minnesota during his 1996 President bid, notably the first time Jackson met with his future running mate, then Governor Paul Wellstone (played by Jeff Cohen in the film).

 

[Arrowfan237]

View attachment 827499
- Actor and comedian Jordan Peele portraying a young Jesse Jackson in the 2010 film, "The Reverend", directed by John Singleton, which showed the long and storied career of America's first black President. The scene above shows Jackson during a campaign stop in Minnesota during his 1996 President bid, notably the first time Jackson met with his future running mate, then Governor Paul Wellstone (played by Jeff Cohen in the film).

I loved the scene in that movie where he tries the continental breakfast at a hotel.

 

[MNM041]

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I loved the scene in that movie where he tries the continental breakfast at a hotel.

I was wondering if anyone would recognize the source of that image. In case anyone's curious about what the movie would be like, think of it as being sort of the equivalent to 2016's Barry, showing the life of America's first black president prior to becoming president, albeit with a broader scope than that movie.

 

[MNM041]

- Still frame of the 2021 film, Paint, by Tumbleweed Entertainment, which showcased the political rise of former Vice President Bob Ross (portrayed by Owen Wilson). Also pictured above are Stephen Root as Republican Governor Tom Fink, and Michaela Watkins as Ross's first wife, the future First Lady of Alaska Jane Ross.

 

[MNM041]

Owen Wilson is an interesting casting choice in the biopic about former VP Bob Ross.

View attachment 822895

Just figured I'd expand on this a little bit.