So, I take it you offed Brezhnev early, and Andropov rose to the throne a few years before OTL?
Playing with Mirrors
- Thread starter Expat
- Start date
So, I take it you offed Brezhnev early, and Andropov rose to the throne a few years before OTL?
Watch that movie on my flight home from Italy back in August. It was darkly hysterical. My wife didn't get why I was nearly choking on my laughter.
And now I've learned something about you. =)
Anwar Belhasen might've been interesting to walk around with in Texas....
SO. MANY. UNHEALTHY. RUSSIANS. Imagine an impossible game of Guess Who? with the members of the Presidium circa 1980.
"Does your guy...have cirrhosis?"
"Yyyyes."
[Zero tiles flipped.]
My mom liked Anwar Sadat but, yeah, an Arab first name in Texas...yeah, that would have been interesting in Texas...
One nation Tories joining the the Alliance? Now that is a POD that could be worth it's own TL, and the butterflies that will fly from this are astounding. And the dropping of support for dictators in South America is interesting too.
Cheers! Yeah, the idea to do it strictly linear went out the window very early. I tried to pull my disparate notes together in a way that made sense on the page, generally linked thematically and to give some narrative variety without spoilers leaking through. Though (barring one post before the hiatus) information discussed takes place before the 1984 elections. So there will be these rough sign posts along the way to keep things generally in order.
But I will break that rule just this once: Garfield will be both hungry and sleepy well into 1985. I’ve done very little outlining of how the butterflies affect him after this. Stay tuned!
Right? With all the native talent on the board I'd never dream of doing a British political TL myself, but be my guest to take it and run with it yourself, or shop it around your fellow countrypersons.
That tantrum the American conservative movement threw had consequences. Even fairly mainstream conservative stances (like that the natural role of the US in OUR hemisphere is to throw our weight around) are on the ropes at the moment.
But I will break that rule just this once: Garfield will be both hungry and sleepy well into 1985. I’ve done very little outlining of how the butterflies affect him after this. Stay tuned!
Now the Great Lasagne Shortage of 1986, though...
You gotta focus on the positive. Lasagna-AID is gonna be a generation-defining concert.
Story Post XX: Segregation on the Ground
#20
Summer, 1981
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Headline: Feds Open Local Redlining Lawsuit
Federal prosecutors filed suit today against the city of Lakewood and Cleveland housing development firm Pleasantview Homes for a number of violations of the Fair Housing Act.
Since his appointment, Attorney General Samuel Pierce has ordered the prosecution of 103 cases of so-called redlining, the systematic attempt to exclude minorities from a given neighborhood. Today’s announcement marks case number 104, the third to be issued in Ohio and the first in the Cleveland area. All signs indicate it will be far from the last, as an alliance of liberal Democrats and Republicans in congress give approval to significant budget increases for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
The Justice Department is also aided by recent changes in the 1975 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which requires lenders to make available a large amount of data on their lenders and lending practices. [CONT'D B6]
----
Late 1982
Wichita, Kansas
Mary Angles was making a difference. Mary Angles was changing lives for the better. Mary Angles was on the front lines of building a more prosperous, more equitable United States.
Mary Angles was miserable.
The fact that Mary Angles hated her job was a prime example of how personal vantage could color even the most vibrant picture in Picasso blues.
She was a volunteer for the Wichita Unified School District. Her official title was “Integration Ambassador,” but like most of her fellow African American volunteers she had come to think of herself by a much more demeaning term. They called themselves “Floor Models.”
Here’s how Mary Angles spent her days: Every day, Monday to Saturday, she hosted meetings for parents with a school board-approved team, which included two other Floor Models besides Mary and a white man named Jerry Evans (the only one of them getting paid, and termed in the Newspeak of the program a “Facilitator”). The meetings were intimate, usually no more than six parents. They talked for one to two hours a session, and they usually squeezed in three meetings a day.
Their job was to assuage doubts (which of course meant white doubts) about busing and integration. In reality, they were there to put an acceptable face on the black community, which made up about 10% of Wichita’s population. All of the volunteers the Wichita school board used (and there were 24 “Ambassador Teams” operating currently) had to be middle class, well-spoken, pleasant-looking, and patient. They had to make the community look good. They had to make the white parents feel like they were in the driver’s seat; that integration was a decision *they* made, rather than one forced upon them by the Feds; a decision *they* came to, so that they could feel like they were the do-gooders advancing society, worthy of thanks and praise.
It was awful. Being a Floor Model meant ingratiating oneself to a community that barely grasped the concept of racial justice and treating them like they, personally, were doing more for the black community than Martin Luther King ever did.
But damned if it wasn’t working.
In every school district where Margaret Heckler’s Boston-based playbook was being implemented (and there were currently about 500 districts in the program) acceptance of integration was rising dramatically. Enrollment discrepancies were disappearing. Even in the short time the program had been in operation, minority graduation rates were trending up, as were grades in the districts that tracked them. Truancy was down significantly, and there was a lot of circumstantial evidence that extracurricular participation was way up. At the same time, statistics for white students hadn’t gone down at all, despite common fears to the contrary. The expected violence had largely not arrived, aside from a few isolated incidents.
Of course Mary Angles never saw this side of things. From her perspective, the parents came in, angry and mistrustful (if not openly hostile). They left, cowed, smug, and sanctimonious. And a new batch of angry, mistrustful people would be out there waiting in the hall. Another round of personal debasement, of sublimated anger, of principles (hopefully only temporarily) abandoned.
Her entire perspective rarely extended beyond the dreary front lines in this fight against subtle (or not-so-subtle) racism.
And the kicker? The real knock-you-on-your-pants annoying part of the story? Her children didn’t even need busing to attend integrated schools. Her husband was one of the only African Americans in the management team at Boeing, brought in after twenty years in the Air Force. The company had bought their house for them, anticipating problems with realtors and attempting to sidestep any embarrassing incidents. They lived in a very pleasant, mostly white neighborhood with well-performing, mostly white schools a short bike ride away for her kids. Such places came with their own problems (problems she didn’t have much time or strength to think about these days). But she’d made sure everyone within five blocks knew exactly who she and her kids were. She baked 65 fruitcakes at Christmas and gave them out to every neighbor in the subdivision. It didn’t solve everything. But it seemed to keep the worst of the trouble away, and the best thing she could say was that her kids seemed to have found some measure of acceptance, even as she couldn’t help feeling isolated and lonely.
It was all so exhausting. So unfair. So...necessary.
When asked to serve as an Integration Ambassador by her pastor, she’d found herself utterly without the moral strength to resist.
So here she was, advocating on behalf of others, trying to feel good about it, and mostly failing. She only prayed she had the strength to stay committed. She only hoped that if she did her time and made it through, she could look back with pride on the result.
Summer, 1981
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Headline: Feds Open Local Redlining Lawsuit
Federal prosecutors filed suit today against the city of Lakewood and Cleveland housing development firm Pleasantview Homes for a number of violations of the Fair Housing Act.
Since his appointment, Attorney General Samuel Pierce has ordered the prosecution of 103 cases of so-called redlining, the systematic attempt to exclude minorities from a given neighborhood. Today’s announcement marks case number 104, the third to be issued in Ohio and the first in the Cleveland area. All signs indicate it will be far from the last, as an alliance of liberal Democrats and Republicans in congress give approval to significant budget increases for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
The Justice Department is also aided by recent changes in the 1975 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which requires lenders to make available a large amount of data on their lenders and lending practices. [CONT'D B6]
----
Late 1982
Wichita, Kansas
Mary Angles was making a difference. Mary Angles was changing lives for the better. Mary Angles was on the front lines of building a more prosperous, more equitable United States.
Mary Angles was miserable.
The fact that Mary Angles hated her job was a prime example of how personal vantage could color even the most vibrant picture in Picasso blues.
She was a volunteer for the Wichita Unified School District. Her official title was “Integration Ambassador,” but like most of her fellow African American volunteers she had come to think of herself by a much more demeaning term. They called themselves “Floor Models.”
Here’s how Mary Angles spent her days: Every day, Monday to Saturday, she hosted meetings for parents with a school board-approved team, which included two other Floor Models besides Mary and a white man named Jerry Evans (the only one of them getting paid, and termed in the Newspeak of the program a “Facilitator”). The meetings were intimate, usually no more than six parents. They talked for one to two hours a session, and they usually squeezed in three meetings a day.
Their job was to assuage doubts (which of course meant white doubts) about busing and integration. In reality, they were there to put an acceptable face on the black community, which made up about 10% of Wichita’s population. All of the volunteers the Wichita school board used (and there were 24 “Ambassador Teams” operating currently) had to be middle class, well-spoken, pleasant-looking, and patient. They had to make the community look good. They had to make the white parents feel like they were in the driver’s seat; that integration was a decision *they* made, rather than one forced upon them by the Feds; a decision *they* came to, so that they could feel like they were the do-gooders advancing society, worthy of thanks and praise.
It was awful. Being a Floor Model meant ingratiating oneself to a community that barely grasped the concept of racial justice and treating them like they, personally, were doing more for the black community than Martin Luther King ever did.
But damned if it wasn’t working.
In every school district where Margaret Heckler’s Boston-based playbook was being implemented (and there were currently about 500 districts in the program) acceptance of integration was rising dramatically. Enrollment discrepancies were disappearing. Even in the short time the program had been in operation, minority graduation rates were trending up, as were grades in the districts that tracked them. Truancy was down significantly, and there was a lot of circumstantial evidence that extracurricular participation was way up. At the same time, statistics for white students hadn’t gone down at all, despite common fears to the contrary. The expected violence had largely not arrived, aside from a few isolated incidents.
Of course Mary Angles never saw this side of things. From her perspective, the parents came in, angry and mistrustful (if not openly hostile). They left, cowed, smug, and sanctimonious. And a new batch of angry, mistrustful people would be out there waiting in the hall. Another round of personal debasement, of sublimated anger, of principles (hopefully only temporarily) abandoned.
Her entire perspective rarely extended beyond the dreary front lines in this fight against subtle (or not-so-subtle) racism.
And the kicker? The real knock-you-on-your-pants annoying part of the story? Her children didn’t even need busing to attend integrated schools. Her husband was one of the only African Americans in the management team at Boeing, brought in after twenty years in the Air Force. The company had bought their house for them, anticipating problems with realtors and attempting to sidestep any embarrassing incidents. They lived in a very pleasant, mostly white neighborhood with well-performing, mostly white schools a short bike ride away for her kids. Such places came with their own problems (problems she didn’t have much time or strength to think about these days). But she’d made sure everyone within five blocks knew exactly who she and her kids were. She baked 65 fruitcakes at Christmas and gave them out to every neighbor in the subdivision. It didn’t solve everything. But it seemed to keep the worst of the trouble away, and the best thing she could say was that her kids seemed to have found some measure of acceptance, even as she couldn’t help feeling isolated and lonely.
It was all so exhausting. So unfair. So...necessary.
When asked to serve as an Integration Ambassador by her pastor, she’d found herself utterly without the moral strength to resist.
So here she was, advocating on behalf of others, trying to feel good about it, and mostly failing. She only prayed she had the strength to stay committed. She only hoped that if she did her time and made it through, she could look back with pride on the result.
A few comments:
The program in Wichita is partially based on efforts to desegregate Hartford's schools, which I heard about from this TAL episode.
And partially, strangely enough, on what I recall from George W Bush's community-based reelection strategy. I only experienced this from the other set of trenches, so my knowledge of it is all anecdotal. But every pro campaigner I remember speaking to that year was really impressed with the Bush campaign's ability to reach into communities, usually through churches, and get these "ambassadors" to speak to their fellow congregants and neighbors in small group settings about what they liked about Bush. Everyone seemed to think this personal touch was making a lot of difference for the Republicans at the time. (That and playing the anti-gay card, like A LOT.)
Whether or not this approach made a major difference in 2004, I think the model is a great one for exchanging information at the grassroots level, and you can find similar successful models used all around the world to promote a variety of issues. It's low-tech and pretty easy to get started, so basically it's perfect for alt-history.
Just a reminder, Heckler was Lt Governor of Massachusetts ITTL and reformed the METCO program in a variety of ways to promote more equitable (and less unpopular) outcomes for integrating MA schools. Changes in school funding, community involvement, and especially usage of data science all came into play and are being slowly rolled out nationwide here.
The program in Wichita is partially based on efforts to desegregate Hartford's schools, which I heard about from this TAL episode.
And partially, strangely enough, on what I recall from George W Bush's community-based reelection strategy. I only experienced this from the other set of trenches, so my knowledge of it is all anecdotal. But every pro campaigner I remember speaking to that year was really impressed with the Bush campaign's ability to reach into communities, usually through churches, and get these "ambassadors" to speak to their fellow congregants and neighbors in small group settings about what they liked about Bush. Everyone seemed to think this personal touch was making a lot of difference for the Republicans at the time. (That and playing the anti-gay card, like A LOT.)
Whether or not this approach made a major difference in 2004, I think the model is a great one for exchanging information at the grassroots level, and you can find similar successful models used all around the world to promote a variety of issues. It's low-tech and pretty easy to get started, so basically it's perfect for alt-history.
Just a reminder, Heckler was Lt Governor of Massachusetts ITTL and reformed the METCO program in a variety of ways to promote more equitable (and less unpopular) outcomes for integrating MA schools. Changes in school funding, community involvement, and especially usage of data science all came into play and are being slowly rolled out nationwide here.
Story Post XXI: A Born-Again Schism
#21
White House press briefing. Press Secretary Jane Pauley is at the podium.
“Of course we take it seriously. There have been something like 500 deaths from this disease, with what looks like a very high mortality rate. The CDC submits regular briefings to the president and as I’m sure you know by now he reads every single one.”
“And does the president have any statement about the people it’s affecting?”
“As you know, the president’s faith informs but does not drive his decision-making in office. While he personally cannot condone the activities that brought these victims to this state, he has nothing but compassion for the sick, and their families. Let’s remember these men all have mothers, ladies and gentlemen.”
“Are there any specific policy initiatives you’re considering to address it?”
“The danger from this disease is so new that our experts at the CDC and NIH have yet to have sufficient chance to study it. One thing I do know is that there is a drug policy bill under negotiation that should have implications for the spread of the disease, if congress is willing to meet the president’s call for the humane treatment of addicts.”
----
7th and Euclid
“EXTRY! EXTRY! Read all about it! Criminal code overhauled! Sentencing guidelines streamlined!”
“Al.”
“New penalties for white-collar crime, drug trafficking!”
“Hey, Al.”
EXTRY! Billions for rehab and communities, longer sentences for dealers; congress strikes compromise on drugs bill! EXTRY!
“You just ignoring me now?”
“Falwell Founds National Christian Environmental Congress! EXTRY!”
“Are we not talking anymore? What if it’s important?”
“EXTRY! EXTRY!”
“Al.”
“EXTRY!”
“Al.”
“EXTRY! Magnum P.I. tops ratings!
“Al.”
“Local pestering falafel vendor Hashim missing, presumed dead!”
“Hey!”
“Former best friend Al comforts attractive widow! EXTRY!”
“It’s true, my wife is very attractive...”
----
Chad, a local pastor, enters the office of Eric, a congregant who also works at the county planning office.
“Chad! Good to see you!”
“Eric, hello!”
“I didn’t know I’d be seeing you today, what brings you down?”
“Well I was just filing some new permits and I thought it would be good to stop by and check on my favorite congregant.”
“Pff, stop it. Permits? Are we doing any construction at the church I didn’t hear about? We didn’t get the funding for the school already, did we?”
“No, I wish that it were so. A school would be a blessing. No, I have some joyous news, Eric. It’s a little strange because while my news is good, it comes with some sadness. I’m seeding a new congregation, Eric. And I hope you’ll consider coming with me.”
“What? Chad…”
Chad flashes Eric his rictus grin, though in truth the expression is rarely off his face.
“It has to be done. We have to follow Christ’s path, you know that’s our one duty on this Earth. It’s my never-ending joy to do it, just as I know it’s yours, brother. But we can’t do it from Pledged Grace Church anymore.”
“I don’t understand, you’re building a new church? What happened?”
“We- Brian and I and the other members of the leadership- we’ve had some differences of late. Some of us feel that Brian has been tempted down the wrong path. We think perhaps he’s been deceived, but we also know he’s not blameless. After he attended that meeting with the rever- with Mr. Falwell, he came back talking about moving the church away from Christ’s light to focus on more worldly matters.”
“I can’t believe it. You’re fighting over...over the tree-planting program?”
“That’s just one symptom. And you know, if it were just planting trees, of course there’s nothing wrong with that! Planting trees is a fine, perhaps even a noble, pursuit. But you can’t say you’re doing it in Jesus’s name. That’s blasphemy. And it’s unsupported by the text. And you know, besides, it’s more than that. There’s his communion with the Catholics.”
“The homeless shelter? Chad, people love the new shelter program. The archdiocese has the biggest support network in the area, it made no sense to build a new one when they were already-”
Chad starts laughing. Like. Too much.
“Eric! Eric! What are you saying? It almost sounds like you’re in favor of all that Catholic superstition, and I know that’s not you. We cannot compromise on issues of faith. We must not encourage false strains of Christianity, surely you see that. The bottom line is that Brian’s been tempted to seek fame. We believe he’s suffering from an excess of pride. And so we’re left with no choice.”
Brian looks dubious.
“Well if Brian is the problem, why are you leaving?”
Chad raises his arms in a shrug.
“It seems the Lord has offered me a lesson in humility. I was out-voted. But it is such a blessed opportunity, Eric, I’m so grateful the Lord has given it to me. We have a chance to start again, to learn from our mistakes, and to make for Him a truly devoted place on this Earth. And Eric, with all due humility, I want to welcome you into this new community.”
Eric doesn’t quite know what to say and stays quiet. Chad gives Eric that famous look of his, that look that says you’ve disappointed him, that look that’s halted a thousand questions and forced a thousand apologies from unprepared lips.
“Well I can see you might need some time. When you decide you want to join us in God’s grace, we’ll be there to welcome you.”
Eric still says nothing and refuses to make eye contact. Chad, truly angry now, but as ever trying to hide the emotion in public, gets up to leave before he says something rash that might affect his all-important reputation.
“Please give my love to Elise and the kids.”
White House press briefing. Press Secretary Jane Pauley is at the podium.
“Of course we take it seriously. There have been something like 500 deaths from this disease, with what looks like a very high mortality rate. The CDC submits regular briefings to the president and as I’m sure you know by now he reads every single one.”
“And does the president have any statement about the people it’s affecting?”
“As you know, the president’s faith informs but does not drive his decision-making in office. While he personally cannot condone the activities that brought these victims to this state, he has nothing but compassion for the sick, and their families. Let’s remember these men all have mothers, ladies and gentlemen.”
“Are there any specific policy initiatives you’re considering to address it?”
“The danger from this disease is so new that our experts at the CDC and NIH have yet to have sufficient chance to study it. One thing I do know is that there is a drug policy bill under negotiation that should have implications for the spread of the disease, if congress is willing to meet the president’s call for the humane treatment of addicts.”
----
7th and Euclid
“EXTRY! EXTRY! Read all about it! Criminal code overhauled! Sentencing guidelines streamlined!”
“Al.”
“New penalties for white-collar crime, drug trafficking!”
“Hey, Al.”
EXTRY! Billions for rehab and communities, longer sentences for dealers; congress strikes compromise on drugs bill! EXTRY!
“You just ignoring me now?”
“Falwell Founds National Christian Environmental Congress! EXTRY!”
“Are we not talking anymore? What if it’s important?”
“EXTRY! EXTRY!”
“Al.”
“EXTRY!”
“Al.”
“EXTRY! Magnum P.I. tops ratings!
“Al.”
“Local pestering falafel vendor Hashim missing, presumed dead!”
“Hey!”
“Former best friend Al comforts attractive widow! EXTRY!”
“It’s true, my wife is very attractive...”
----
Chad, a local pastor, enters the office of Eric, a congregant who also works at the county planning office.
“Chad! Good to see you!”
“Eric, hello!”
“I didn’t know I’d be seeing you today, what brings you down?”
“Well I was just filing some new permits and I thought it would be good to stop by and check on my favorite congregant.”
“Pff, stop it. Permits? Are we doing any construction at the church I didn’t hear about? We didn’t get the funding for the school already, did we?”
“No, I wish that it were so. A school would be a blessing. No, I have some joyous news, Eric. It’s a little strange because while my news is good, it comes with some sadness. I’m seeding a new congregation, Eric. And I hope you’ll consider coming with me.”
“What? Chad…”
Chad flashes Eric his rictus grin, though in truth the expression is rarely off his face.
“It has to be done. We have to follow Christ’s path, you know that’s our one duty on this Earth. It’s my never-ending joy to do it, just as I know it’s yours, brother. But we can’t do it from Pledged Grace Church anymore.”
“I don’t understand, you’re building a new church? What happened?”
“We- Brian and I and the other members of the leadership- we’ve had some differences of late. Some of us feel that Brian has been tempted down the wrong path. We think perhaps he’s been deceived, but we also know he’s not blameless. After he attended that meeting with the rever- with Mr. Falwell, he came back talking about moving the church away from Christ’s light to focus on more worldly matters.”
“I can’t believe it. You’re fighting over...over the tree-planting program?”
“That’s just one symptom. And you know, if it were just planting trees, of course there’s nothing wrong with that! Planting trees is a fine, perhaps even a noble, pursuit. But you can’t say you’re doing it in Jesus’s name. That’s blasphemy. And it’s unsupported by the text. And you know, besides, it’s more than that. There’s his communion with the Catholics.”
“The homeless shelter? Chad, people love the new shelter program. The archdiocese has the biggest support network in the area, it made no sense to build a new one when they were already-”
Chad starts laughing. Like. Too much.
“Eric! Eric! What are you saying? It almost sounds like you’re in favor of all that Catholic superstition, and I know that’s not you. We cannot compromise on issues of faith. We must not encourage false strains of Christianity, surely you see that. The bottom line is that Brian’s been tempted to seek fame. We believe he’s suffering from an excess of pride. And so we’re left with no choice.”
Brian looks dubious.
“Well if Brian is the problem, why are you leaving?”
Chad raises his arms in a shrug.
“It seems the Lord has offered me a lesson in humility. I was out-voted. But it is such a blessed opportunity, Eric, I’m so grateful the Lord has given it to me. We have a chance to start again, to learn from our mistakes, and to make for Him a truly devoted place on this Earth. And Eric, with all due humility, I want to welcome you into this new community.”
Eric doesn’t quite know what to say and stays quiet. Chad gives Eric that famous look of his, that look that says you’ve disappointed him, that look that’s halted a thousand questions and forced a thousand apologies from unprepared lips.
“Well I can see you might need some time. When you decide you want to join us in God’s grace, we’ll be there to welcome you.”
Eric still says nothing and refuses to make eye contact. Chad, truly angry now, but as ever trying to hide the emotion in public, gets up to leave before he says something rash that might affect his all-important reputation.
“Please give my love to Elise and the kids.”
So this one's all over the map, obviously. I had these two odds and ends I needed a place for, so here we are. The last part might read as wooden to you; it sorta does to me. But I was inspired by some real conversations. This is, spookily, just how some people sound. In happier news, while looking for photos of a young Jane Pauley, I became entranced by her cat. That is all.
Interesting stuff. Jane Polly. Didn't she have someting to do with Date Line? If so, thought I recognized the name.