Ron & Dick: A Collaborative TL

September 3, 1977: Within hours of Gandhi's death, the Indian President, in a controversial move, appoints Indira's son, Sanjay Gandhi to succeed his mother as Prime Minister of India. Riots break out as those sympathetic to the Gandhi government begin attacking people with communist sympathies.

September 4, 1977: President Reagan calls the assassination "a blatant Communist attack on the world's largest democracy." Leonid Brezhnev calls the attack "a devastating blow to a valuable ally." Both leaders offer their condolences.
 
October 1, 1977: Tunisias "approve" a draft consitution for the Arab Islamic Republic with 98.6% of the population votinhg "Yes" in said referendum according to official news reports.

October 28, 1977: Japanese Emperor Hirohito is assassinated by a lone gunman who commits suicide and when said gunman's apartment is raided by police, said gunman's "manifesto" states that he plotted to kill the Emperor due to his role in the "bourgeois-Imperialist Pacific War".
 
October 28, 1977: Japanese Emperor Hirohito is assassinated by a lone gunman who commits suicide and when said gunman's apartment is raided by police, said gunman's "manifesto" states that he plotted to kill the Emperor due to his role in the "bourgeois-Imperialist Pacific War".

Shit
 
October 15, 1977: After Sanjay Gandhi called for new elections, the Congress Party wins a stunning 411 seats in the Lok Sabha. Gandhi slides easily into the office of Prime Minister and successfully calls for a continuation of the State of Emergency.

October 31, 1977: Emperor Hirohito reign is proclaimed as the Showa period. His son, Akihito, ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne. In a controversial move, the new Emperor speaks up on a political issue, saying "I must have honor for the way my great father was so dishonorably killed." Brezhnev criticizes the Emperor for speaking up about politics saying "it is not his job to call for anything, much less vengeance for his father's death."

November 11, 1977: On Veteran's Day, a P.F.L.P. supporter attempted to enter the White House with a large knife. The President was unharmed due to not being home at the time, but a Secret Service officer was critically wounded.
 
November 8, 1977: Republican John Dalton is elected Governor of Virginia by a narrow margin of 20,000 votes over Democrat Chuck Robb. Democratic Governor Brendon Byrne of New Jersey is ousted by Reagan-backed State Assemblyman Thomas Kean, the two results worrying Democrats ahead of the 78 midterms, which should normally be beneficial to the opposing party

November 12, 1977: "
These cowardly attempts by the radical terrorists and their backers to intimidate me or the United States of America will be for naught. We will never give in to their extortion by blood." -President Reagan in a Press Conference following the knife attack
 
November 18th, 1977: "Archie and the Arab", an episode of the sitcom All in the Family, is aired. The story centers around main character Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Conner) becoming suspicious of a new Arab neighbor and his family, fearing that they could be terrorists. He keeps watch of them, trying to compile enough notes to send to the FBI. Meanwhile, his wife, Edith (Jean Stapleton) befriends the wife of the Arab neighbor, and meets the extended family. It is revealed that her husband is as equally bigoted as Archie. Finally, after Edith forces Archie to spend time with their neighbors, he realizes that they are people who were trying to get by, much like they were.
 
November 15, 1977: The Secret Service member wounded in the White House passes away from his wounds.

November 21st, 1977:
Senator Jesse Helms proposes the American Enemies on Television Act, which tries to prevent television shows from painting the enemies of America in a sympathetic light. He says "nobody loves freedom more than I do, the Founding Fathers protected our speech for a reason, but laying sympathy before the enemies of America spits in the face of America, the Founders, and our freedom." Ted Kennedy responds by saying "You claim our enemies spit in the face our freedom. I believe the only one spitting in the face of freedom is you. This act does our enemy's work for them."
 
How did Reagan beat Udall, and with a margin like that?

Though this does loom interesting nonetheless.
 
November 25th, 1977: President Reagan visits the Muslim Community Center in Chicago. Flanked by Senator Chuck Percy, Governor James Thompson, and inter-faith leaders, he calls on Americans not to discriminate on the basis of religion. "The act of singling out a religious group for persecution is fundamentally un-American and antithetical to the rights our forefathers put their lives on the line to protect."
 
November 30th: Taking the heightened tensions in the world in to account, the Swedish Riksdag overides local Skövde objections and orders the mining of Uranium outside the town to commence as soon as practical to ensure energy independence as well as a way to improve the trade balance in Sweden's favor.
This would normally not have been politically possible, but was pushed through by the right wing parties Folkparti and Moderaterna after Centre leader Olof Fälldin was forced to resign following a scandal involving one of his aides having taken bribes.
 
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January 28th 1978

In his state of the union address President Reagan reiterated his decision to abandon the effort to negotiate a transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama. He insisted that the Canal and the Canal Zone will remain American territory into perpetuity.

The President also blamed the USSR's immediate rejection of Reagan's comprehensive reduction offer for the complete breakdown of SALT II negotiations.

He told Congress that until the Russians are willing to accept his earlier offer or at least a much more intensive verification regime than contemplated by the Nixon or Ford era negotiations there will be no agreement.

He further condemned "Soviet adventurism" in Africa and called for a dramatic increase in military spending.


(Sorry if I missed something-but I didn't see anything on SALT or Panama.)
 
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December 25, 1977: President Hafez al-Assad of Syria is assassinated by radical Sunnis during Alawite Christmas celebrations. The military, however, quickly grabs control of the situation, and of Syria.

January 28, 1978: In the Democratic response to Reagan's SotU, Ted Kennedy called for Americans to focus more on diplomacy than war when abroad, but also to focus on the problems at home more.
 
November 7, 1977: Assasination of Leonid Brezhnev and Mikhail Suslov during the October Revolution 60th Celebration

November 8, 1977: Yuri Andropov became the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee after the extraordinary plenary session
 
February 7th 1978: Rioting and Civil Unrest sweeps Panama in response to Reagan's refusal to transfer the Canal Zone to local authorities.
 
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February 8th, 1978: Reagan sends in a force of 200 troops in order to quell the unrest in Panama.

February 10th, 1978: A clash between U.S. troops and Panama protesters leaves 23 troops wounded, though none were killed, but 60 Panamanian deaths and 70 more injured.
 
February 11th 1978:
Panamanian Leader Omar Torrijos issues a statement blaming the Reagan administration's "flagrant disregard for Panamanian sovereignty" for the rising tide of violence in his country and insisting upon Reagan's "personal responsibility" for the 60 Panamanians who have been killed by American military forces in Panama.

Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko expresses the USSR's "support for the Panamanian people" and condemns "American Imperialist Adventurism" in Latin America. Gromyko refers to President Reagan as "a threat to peace and international stability" and blames the American President for the "death of détente."
 
February 12th 1978: President Reagan states in an official statement that he is saddened by the loss of life in Panama, but he will ensure that American soil stays American. Regarding Gromyko's comments, he states "If the Soviet Union is willing to warm relations between our two states, then I call on Moscow to formalize a summit to discuss meaningful arms reduction so that both nations can eliminate the specter of atomic annihilation hanging over the world."
 
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