Rumsfeldia: Fear and Loathing in the Decade of Tears
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bookmark95
Banned
I have another "where are they now list":
Senator Patrick Leahy: Was he ignored by Rumsfeld for being too liberal, or was he considered too mainstream?
Paul Le Page
Thomas P. Salmon
Jim Jeffords
Angus King: The dude is a successful independent politician OTL, so he ought to thrive in a TL where an independent can become California Governor.
Richard Blumenthal
Lowell Weicker
Dannel Malloy
Bill De Blasio
Jesse Jackson
Ahmad Shah Massoud
Mike Gravel
George Pataki
Arlen Specter
Senator Patrick Leahy: Was he ignored by Rumsfeld for being too liberal, or was he considered too mainstream?
Paul Le Page
Thomas P. Salmon
Jim Jeffords
Angus King: The dude is a successful independent politician OTL, so he ought to thrive in a TL where an independent can become California Governor.
Richard Blumenthal
Lowell Weicker
Dannel Malloy
Bill De Blasio
Jesse Jackson
Ahmad Shah Massoud
Mike Gravel
George Pataki
Arlen Specter
I just realized: the 1982 Samantha Smith story, one of the more heartwarming stories of the Cold War, would take a much darker turn TTL.
Oh, never mind, looked through the thread - she is "under surveillance". Probably been hounded for her letter to Ryzhkov when Rumsfeldia went into full swing.
Samantha Smith, if she hasn't already, should leave America for either Europe or the Soviet Union.
bookmark95
Banned
I can only imagine her horror over the CVs use of the nuclear weapons-the fact that her country was damaged with nuclear fire, and it wasn't because of communist zealots, but Americans who did the deed.
It'll be a sad day indeed.I can only imagine her horror over the CVs use of the nuclear weapons-the fact that her country was damaged with nuclear fire, and it wasn't because of communist zealots, but Americans who did the deed.
Several more ideas and thoughts on the USSR TTL.
Domestic issues.
The USSR has probably experienced their share of drug problems in the mid-70s due to China. Lesser Mao was most likely couldn't pass on the opportunity to undermine his neighbor, especially after losing the 1973 war in Mongolia.
When the PRC imploded, the Soviet authorities would have tried something to go after the drug production in China.
This and veterans coming home from places like Syria would have contributed to the ideological crisis the USSR was beginning to face by the time 1980s roll around. So Ryzhkov would try to combat the social and ideological apathy that was taking hold of the system.
My best guess Ryzhkov and crew would try to sell MBA communism domestically as either returning to Marxist-Leninist roots (it has plenty of similarities to Lenin's New Economic Policy) or the next leap in Marxist-Leninist theory.
Some people, however, would compare the whole cutting the support to communist movements abroad to Stalinist doctrine of "building socialism in one separate country".
Ryzhkov would probably try to refresh the leadership on all levels as a mean to counter corruption. It might have an inadvertent effect of placing younger, more progressive people in the positions of power, since a likely byproduct of anti-corruption campaigns would be getting the local elected representation back on track.
The USSR might also try to cut down some of the restrictions on religion as a mean to get friendlier with the West and to have another tool of social control. OTL there was a whole administration (SADUM) dedicated to working close with Islamic clerics in order to keep an eye out for trouble (TTL they would get more attention since the rise radical Islamism).
Propaganda-wise I see Ryzhkov and crew appealing the glorious past (since it jives up well with their cutting back on foreign adventures) and people needing to be "ready" for socialism in order for the revolution to succeed (probably China might be brought up as an a example of a premature revolution being hijacked by the wrong people). Maybe an idea of a "soft" revolution in the minds of the West might be brought up, as a justification for the Soviet cooperation.
I can see Ryzhkov cultivating something along the lines of a neo-Stakhanovite movement to encourage initiative and responsibility in economic matters.
Maybe the Soviets approach foreign companies to open up licensed production of Western goods (cars, electronics etc.) on Soviet soil.
Domestically there could be a resurgence of big budget Soviet cinema since all that sweet oil money. I can see one being made about the 1973 Mongolia war in the style of Ozerov's "Liberation". Maybe even some Soviet science fiction, bringing in foreign special effects artists.
I can see a more different adaptation of the "Roadside picnic" making jabs at Rumsfeldia'a rampant military industrial complex and corporate greed in their attempts to weaponize the Zone (oh, right, America has it's own zone of alienation).
To parallel the Samantha Smith story the USSR might have invited group of European kids to attend pioneer camps like Artek.
Ethnic and political issues.
I can see some Soviet dissidents cheering for Ryzhkov at first with his economic reforms and deescalating the Cold War, only to be disillusioned later when it becomes apparent that he has no intention to change the political system.
However a pro-Western dissident movement had lost a good chunk of credibility among the general public once Rumsfeldia began slipping more and more into chaos, which the Soviet media was all too happy to cover.
As for ethnic problems, maybe they would be somewhat smoothed over by the apparent improvement in the quality of life.
Like in April 20 1979 there was a neo-Nazi rally in Moscow. TTL it was probably fueled by anti-Chinese sentiments.
Judging Ryzhkov's obsession with stability in order for his little experiment to work, there would be a mixture of crackdowns and trying to root out the source of a problem (in a large portion of cases the riots were caused by government official ineptitude and incompetence). However, I don't see Ryzhkov going full Stalin on troublesome ethnic groups.
However, a nastier side of the Ryzhkov's regime begins to emerge - the so-called Operation Barchan - a covert program run by the KGB's fifth directorate. It involved dumping political dissenters and nationalists (mostly of nationalities unfriendly to the Chinese) into lawless expanses of China. By 1988 Operation Barchan backfires as several ex-Soviet citizens managed to claw their way into positions of power among the warlords and expose the program to the western public.
The Soviet armed forces.
Ryzhkov's cutting back on military spending and pulling Soviet Army out of Germany certainly didn't make him any friends within the military: some thought he jeopardized national security by not giving them enough and surrendering their rightful conquest in Germany, while some were simply upset they couldn't get cushy postings in the DDR anymore - the showpiece for socialism. As the years went by, however, some officers, younger ones in particular, would somewhat change their mind on the matter due to improving standards of living.
The Soviet doctrine was changing. When the Soviet forces were deployed into Syria
they soon enough found put the hard way that the deep battle (which had worked so well against the PLA in Mongolia) they were preparing to fight their entire life against mechanized armies of the West just wasn't going to cut it against the insurgents.
However, soon enough, a new school of thought began to emerge, the so-called "stabilizers", advocating a complex approach to quelling insurgencies, sighting partisan and counter-partisan experience from WW 2 as an example. The new thinkers, Pavel Grachev among them, were frowned upon by their colleagues, who stipulated only oppressive capitalist regimes would involve themselves in such activities. The new strategy proponents were labelled with derogatory names "Karateli" (Punishers).
However, as the years rolled the "stabilizers" were given a chance to test out their theories in places like China, Yemen and Mali.
Ryzhkov had grown to like the supporters of this theory, since it was becoming increasingly likely that those wars they were preparing for were the only wars the USSR was going to get involved in, both abroad and domestically. Not to mention, they claimed they could do it on the cheap.
Their theories involving bombing and small-scale incursions as a preemptive measures prove no be somewhat effective in assisting the buffer states in former China.
As a support for this approach a limited number of specialist aircraft enter service - the An-12OP, Western reporting name Bullhorn (OP stood for Ognevaya Podderzka - Fire Support). This design was inspired by the AC-47 and AC-130 gunships used by the USAF during the Vietnam War and the following conflicts.
The Bullhorn was deployed during the conflict in Mali and in support of pro-Soviet forces in China.
By 1984 the MiG-29 program, originally intended along the Su-27 to be the F-15/16 duo of the USSR, is discontinued as a part of the new military reforms. A new MiG-23-2 is introduced, having a suspicious amount of similarities to the F-16.
On the sea, the the existing Kiev-class carriers get a newly designed Yak-46 (Western reporting name - Felon), which, again, beared a rather uncanny resemblance to the Harrier. Rumors persist that the design was either stolen from the USA or reverse-engineered from a AV-8 Harrier lost during peacekeeping operations in China and whose wreckage was never recovered.
Ryzhkov wanted to get rid of the Soviet carrier program altogether, just as he did with the Riga-class carrier, but the naval lobby proved too powerful, their rationale being USSR needs naval aviation to keep their supply routes to Africa and Yemen safe. A compromise is reached, the three existing carriers are to be upgraded to accommodate a new plane, which is quoting one naval aviator "Hey, it's not the crash and burn YaK".
On land, "the zoo gets closed" -as some anonymous officer puts it. The T-64 and T-80 tanks are axed, and the T-72, designed by the newly re-branded Uralvagonzavod becomes the only battle tank of the Soviet Armed Forces. The existing T-64s and T-80s are slowly being withdrawn from service and being sold to client states.
P.S. I would love to see John Carpenter making some movies while in exile. Hopefully, The Thing still gets made. Or Escape from Rumsfeldia, perhaps?
Domestic issues.
The USSR has probably experienced their share of drug problems in the mid-70s due to China. Lesser Mao was most likely couldn't pass on the opportunity to undermine his neighbor, especially after losing the 1973 war in Mongolia.
When the PRC imploded, the Soviet authorities would have tried something to go after the drug production in China.
This and veterans coming home from places like Syria would have contributed to the ideological crisis the USSR was beginning to face by the time 1980s roll around. So Ryzhkov would try to combat the social and ideological apathy that was taking hold of the system.
My best guess Ryzhkov and crew would try to sell MBA communism domestically as either returning to Marxist-Leninist roots (it has plenty of similarities to Lenin's New Economic Policy) or the next leap in Marxist-Leninist theory.
Some people, however, would compare the whole cutting the support to communist movements abroad to Stalinist doctrine of "building socialism in one separate country".
Ryzhkov would probably try to refresh the leadership on all levels as a mean to counter corruption. It might have an inadvertent effect of placing younger, more progressive people in the positions of power, since a likely byproduct of anti-corruption campaigns would be getting the local elected representation back on track.
The USSR might also try to cut down some of the restrictions on religion as a mean to get friendlier with the West and to have another tool of social control. OTL there was a whole administration (SADUM) dedicated to working close with Islamic clerics in order to keep an eye out for trouble (TTL they would get more attention since the rise radical Islamism).
Propaganda-wise I see Ryzhkov and crew appealing the glorious past (since it jives up well with their cutting back on foreign adventures) and people needing to be "ready" for socialism in order for the revolution to succeed (probably China might be brought up as an a example of a premature revolution being hijacked by the wrong people). Maybe an idea of a "soft" revolution in the minds of the West might be brought up, as a justification for the Soviet cooperation.
I can see Ryzhkov cultivating something along the lines of a neo-Stakhanovite movement to encourage initiative and responsibility in economic matters.
Maybe the Soviets approach foreign companies to open up licensed production of Western goods (cars, electronics etc.) on Soviet soil.
Domestically there could be a resurgence of big budget Soviet cinema since all that sweet oil money. I can see one being made about the 1973 Mongolia war in the style of Ozerov's "Liberation". Maybe even some Soviet science fiction, bringing in foreign special effects artists.
I can see a more different adaptation of the "Roadside picnic" making jabs at Rumsfeldia'a rampant military industrial complex and corporate greed in their attempts to weaponize the Zone (oh, right, America has it's own zone of alienation).
To parallel the Samantha Smith story the USSR might have invited group of European kids to attend pioneer camps like Artek.
Ethnic and political issues.
I can see some Soviet dissidents cheering for Ryzhkov at first with his economic reforms and deescalating the Cold War, only to be disillusioned later when it becomes apparent that he has no intention to change the political system.
However a pro-Western dissident movement had lost a good chunk of credibility among the general public once Rumsfeldia began slipping more and more into chaos, which the Soviet media was all too happy to cover.
As for ethnic problems, maybe they would be somewhat smoothed over by the apparent improvement in the quality of life.
Like in April 20 1979 there was a neo-Nazi rally in Moscow. TTL it was probably fueled by anti-Chinese sentiments.
Judging Ryzhkov's obsession with stability in order for his little experiment to work, there would be a mixture of crackdowns and trying to root out the source of a problem (in a large portion of cases the riots were caused by government official ineptitude and incompetence). However, I don't see Ryzhkov going full Stalin on troublesome ethnic groups.
However, a nastier side of the Ryzhkov's regime begins to emerge - the so-called Operation Barchan - a covert program run by the KGB's fifth directorate. It involved dumping political dissenters and nationalists (mostly of nationalities unfriendly to the Chinese) into lawless expanses of China. By 1988 Operation Barchan backfires as several ex-Soviet citizens managed to claw their way into positions of power among the warlords and expose the program to the western public.
The Soviet armed forces.
Ryzhkov's cutting back on military spending and pulling Soviet Army out of Germany certainly didn't make him any friends within the military: some thought he jeopardized national security by not giving them enough and surrendering their rightful conquest in Germany, while some were simply upset they couldn't get cushy postings in the DDR anymore - the showpiece for socialism. As the years went by, however, some officers, younger ones in particular, would somewhat change their mind on the matter due to improving standards of living.
The Soviet doctrine was changing. When the Soviet forces were deployed into Syria
they soon enough found put the hard way that the deep battle (which had worked so well against the PLA in Mongolia) they were preparing to fight their entire life against mechanized armies of the West just wasn't going to cut it against the insurgents.
However, soon enough, a new school of thought began to emerge, the so-called "stabilizers", advocating a complex approach to quelling insurgencies, sighting partisan and counter-partisan experience from WW 2 as an example. The new thinkers, Pavel Grachev among them, were frowned upon by their colleagues, who stipulated only oppressive capitalist regimes would involve themselves in such activities. The new strategy proponents were labelled with derogatory names "Karateli" (Punishers).
However, as the years rolled the "stabilizers" were given a chance to test out their theories in places like China, Yemen and Mali.
Ryzhkov had grown to like the supporters of this theory, since it was becoming increasingly likely that those wars they were preparing for were the only wars the USSR was going to get involved in, both abroad and domestically. Not to mention, they claimed they could do it on the cheap.
Their theories involving bombing and small-scale incursions as a preemptive measures prove no be somewhat effective in assisting the buffer states in former China.
As a support for this approach a limited number of specialist aircraft enter service - the An-12OP, Western reporting name Bullhorn (OP stood for Ognevaya Podderzka - Fire Support). This design was inspired by the AC-47 and AC-130 gunships used by the USAF during the Vietnam War and the following conflicts.
The Bullhorn was deployed during the conflict in Mali and in support of pro-Soviet forces in China.
By 1984 the MiG-29 program, originally intended along the Su-27 to be the F-15/16 duo of the USSR, is discontinued as a part of the new military reforms. A new MiG-23-2 is introduced, having a suspicious amount of similarities to the F-16.
On the sea, the the existing Kiev-class carriers get a newly designed Yak-46 (Western reporting name - Felon), which, again, beared a rather uncanny resemblance to the Harrier. Rumors persist that the design was either stolen from the USA or reverse-engineered from a AV-8 Harrier lost during peacekeeping operations in China and whose wreckage was never recovered.
Ryzhkov wanted to get rid of the Soviet carrier program altogether, just as he did with the Riga-class carrier, but the naval lobby proved too powerful, their rationale being USSR needs naval aviation to keep their supply routes to Africa and Yemen safe. A compromise is reached, the three existing carriers are to be upgraded to accommodate a new plane, which is quoting one naval aviator "Hey, it's not the crash and burn YaK".
On land, "the zoo gets closed" -as some anonymous officer puts it. The T-64 and T-80 tanks are axed, and the T-72, designed by the newly re-branded Uralvagonzavod becomes the only battle tank of the Soviet Armed Forces. The existing T-64s and T-80s are slowly being withdrawn from service and being sold to client states.
P.S. I would love to see John Carpenter making some movies while in exile. Hopefully, The Thing still gets made. Or Escape from Rumsfeldia, perhaps?
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Maybe something like "White Sun of the Desert" could also work as an inspiration for such a film. I wonder what Soviet Science fiction does look like, given most had a very utopian communist view of the future, and Ryzhkov seems to emphasize pragmatism in communism. Not really compatible. I wonder if anime like Mobile Suit Gundum might start gaining influnce.
The Thing was released in 1982, very early in Rumsfeldia, so it probably still gets made.
Hopefully there was no executive meddling to portray The Thing as a metaphor for Communist infiltration. If it got made, in retrospect it would have been a neat metaphor for something insidious snaking it's way into society.
The movie itself would have probably been even a bigger flop ITTL, since it was badged by critics as being too dark even OTL.
To be fair, one can get that reading from the OTL film, though that could be the source material (both the John Campbell story and the 1951 film it remade)
True that, but TTL in 1990+ it could have just as easily being read as Rummy and CVs taking over. Accidental, but hilarious.
Regarding Soviet science fiction - honestly don't think it would be much different, especially after the disbanding of NATO and Ryzhkov's reforms gave the Soviet people a cause for optimism.
In terms of Soviet Sci-fi can imagine something like a pulp adventure-style film in which an idyllic socialist utopia is under siege from a fascist/capitalist invader, with a theme of unity and cooperation trumping individualism. The heroes can be a close knit group of comrades whose pool unique skills allows them to defeat the individualistic, selfish villains, whose inability to cooperate and get along results in their destruction. i.e. a Soviet Star Wars.
Or maybe a time-travel movie in which the dying remnants of the USA sends a single agent back in time in the hopes of killing Lenin before he starts the October revolution in order to prevent the rise of the USSR, and a Soviet agent is likewise sent back to stop him. i.e. a Soviet Terminator.
Indeed. A recurring theory that I have is a European/Soviet version of a "Sound of Music"-type story where an American celebrity or group of celebrities is forced to flee across the mountains into British Columbia.
I suspect that the Japanese will dominate popular culture in this world. Without a strong American animation industry, anime will almost certainly be dominant. In this reality, Castle in the Sky will have a whole other meaning in TTL by portraying a lost civilization that collapsed from its own greed and over-zealousness.
IMHO it will probably a 'fight' between Japan with general anime/otaku culture and Europe with a mix of old continent and american expatriate flavor and Canada probably a mix of the two side as a third contender/outsider
As hilarious as the Soviet Terminator is ("Come with me, if you want to live, comrade Lenin"), the odd thing is, that the Soviet cinema rarely portayed the US as villains, at least not directly. There was no Soviet version of Red Dawn etc. The villians in Soviet movies were the Nazis or subversive elements from within (actually, Red Heat captures the Soviet attitude quete well in that regard). When they did they were usually cast in a sympathetic light as pawns of big corporate interests, not committed enough to their cause to make good villains.
I doubt that this attitude would change under Ryzhkov TTl. With his co-existance policies the Soviet media would ramp up their depictions of Americans as misguided.
P.S. Stanislav Lem's works would make a great source of ideas for sci-fi movies (like his "The Invincible" would make a great cautionary tale of rampant arms race), but he was probably forced to leave Poland during the Martial Law in the early 1980s just like he did OTL.
товарищ будущее (Comrade Future)
Gorky Film Studios (1987)
Gennady Seminov is a well-intentioned,* but bumbling graduate student with an uncertain future. He has a high regard for Prf. Zhilkov, an eccentric but ingenious teacher at Bauman Moscow State Technical University. Gennady is troubled by his father, a mid-level state official, who is expressing increasing pro-Captialistic sentiment. Seminov Senior is being abused by his boss Bifferov, who has Seminov Sr. complete all his work behind the scenes, while Bifferov takes credit for it. Gennady sees that Bifferov is a secret arch-capitalist, but he is setting Seminov Sr to take the fall for political dissent while he (Bifferov) can continue to plot to undermine the Soviet way of life.
Through a series of misadventures Gennady learns that Zhilkov is conspiring with terrorist elements to sell them weapons so that he complete his latest invention, a so-called time machine. (The time machine is a converted Lada with enhanced speed capabilities). Gennady helps Zhilkov escape from a terrorist trap, but in the process the time machine takes them thirty years into the future. There Gennady and Zhilkov learn that the Soviet Union has been destroyed by capitalist intrigues, centred around the current pro-imperialist, militarist dictator Bifferov. Bifferov has turned the former Soviet Union into a Darwinian hellscape that Zhilkov compares to Rumsfeldia “but without the nice parts.”
After escaping Bifferov’s Gestapo-like secret police, Gennady and Zhilkov try to discover how Bifferov came to power. They learn that sometime around when they left, Bifferov seemed to come into knowledge that allowed him to anticipate future events, and profit from them.
Meanwhile the aging Bifferov (who likes to execute Communists in his living room as a way to relieve tension) learns about the presence of Gennady and Zhilkov and begins to worry. His agents find the Lada, and Bifferov escapes back into the time. The automated settings on the Lada bring it back to the future (present).
Upon learning what Bifferov has done, they realize that the dictator has gone back in time to alert his younger self and eliminate them, as well as giving the younger Bifferov the necessary knowledge of the future. After fooling the guards, Gennady and Bifferov manage to get back in the Lada and take it back to 1987.
They find the aging Bifferov trying to persuade his younger self that he can give him the keys to power, but first he must kill Gennady and Zhilkov and destroy Zhilkov’s time machine work (so the future Bifferov will have the only working time machine).
The younger Bifferov tries to capture Gennady by holding his family prisoner, but the attempt fails when Gennady devises a plan to go back in time to 1977 and stop Bifferov before he became a state official. In 1977 he sets-up Bifferov to appear to be an anti-Soviet conspirator, and after attempting to elude the KGB in a car chase, Bifferov ends-up crashing into a truck full of manure and is hauled off to prison.
Gennady returns to 1987 to learn Bifferov has disappeared. Zhilkov is now an esteemed professor and scholar, his father is a senior official (and proud exponent of MBA Communism), and the original time travel seems to have been erased from everyone’s consciousness except Gennady’s.
With life better under a pro-MBA Communism trajectory, Gennady decides to hide the time machine until it is needed again. Meanwhile he begins his new life as a state official helping the people.
*=means a good MBA Communist type
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Звезда Освобождение (Star Liberation)
A Soviet television series which tells the story of the Starship Lenin and its bold crew, which is on a five year mission to spread the truth of Communism through the galaxy and liberate planets and societies held under imperialist and feudal ways of life. The prime directive of their government, the Soviet Federation of Planets, is to “liberate all worlds from oppression and set them on the path to Marxist-Leninist progress.”
Each week the Starship crew saves a planet from a collection of capitalist, imperialist, war-monger and/or neo-Nazi types, setting planets and civilizations on the “true course of liberation.”
Among their enemies are the warlike, Nazi-type Teutons (who have raised ridges on their foreheads) and the subversive, uber-capitalistic Remulaks (who look suspiciously like the people of Вперед [Vpered]).
The crew is composed of Comrade Captain Tserkov, a hero of Revolutionary zeal, always bold and ready to lay down his (and his crew’s) life for Revolutionary progress.
Comrade First Officer Blestyashchiy comes from the planet Вперед [Vpered] which long ago gave-up capitalism for the perfect order of Communism. He uses impeccable Revolutionary logic to guide the others in their quest to spread Galactic Liberation.
Comrade Dr. Pskov is an amiable surgeon, but given to ideological heresy and political ignorance (excused by his zealous focus on medicine), which is often gently corrected by Mr. Blestyashchiy’s logic. Dr. Pskov often sees his error during these lessons and repents of his past ideological deviance.
The crew is composed of a Chinese helm officer, a British navigator, and African communications officer and a Japanese Chief Engineer (Mr. Miyamoto). The role of Zampolit (Political Officer) is often filled by a popular guest star, who uses the role to emphasise some positive aspect of MBA Communism.
The global crew comes from a world liberated by the logic and success of MBA Communism. Only America remains un-represented. Though never directly addressed, it is hinted that America succumbed to an early type of anti-Revolutionary madness (often compared to the Teutons and Remulaks) that lead to its self-destruction.
“Space, the final frontier, cloaked in the political darkness of imperialist capitalism and feudalism.
These are the voyages of the heroic starship Lenin.
It’s five year mission: to heroically seek out the worlds under the boot of imperialist capitalism and feudalism, and bring awareness of Marxist-Leninist principles to the oppressed: to boldly go where no revolutionary has gone before and spread the spark of liberation.”
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Constitutional Amendment Fails
(Reuters) – Washington – President Denton’s proposed Constitutional amendment, which would postpone federal elections for one year until November 1989, has failed to meet the threshold required for ratification. This has thrown the American political scene into chaos as only two months remain until the Constitutionally required voting date of November 8, 1988.
President Denton had explained the proposed amendment as an effort to give the major political parties and local electoral districts time to recover from the abuses of the Rumsfeld era, before being called-on to decide a major election.
The proposal was resisted in many state legislatures by the Christian Values, an irony given that this is President Denton’s own political party. This has caused some concern among observers as the Christian Values, known as the CV, now seems to be the most organized political party and the defeat of the Constitutional amendment in many state legislatures is seen as an effort by the CV to flex its political muscle ahead of the forthcoming election.
Both the Republican and Democratic Parties, once the two major parties of the American political system, are in disarray, with the Republicans demoralized after the fall of President Rumsfeld and the Democrats suffering from on-going internal feuds and schisms. Several Republicans recently opened talks with the Democrats to present a united front, but the talks fell apart amidst recriminations from the Democrats over the excesses of the Rumsfeld period.
Neither the Libertarian nor the We The People Movement, though regionally popular in some areas of the United States, are considered likely contenders for national office. This could well work to the CVs advantage this November.
-----------------------------------------------------
Sacramento, California
“I’m still don’t see why we can’t extend an olive branch to President Denton,” remarked Secretary Jerry Brown. “He’s really the best shot we have of making a deal, certainly better than Rumsfeld.”
President McCloskey turned slightly in his swivel chair, lifting tired, red-rimmed eyes from the stack of documents on his desk to look at his Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
“Denton may be a decent man, and he may have the right idea, but we need to see the big picture here, Jerry.”
“The CVs,” Vice President Ron Dellums added helpfully from his place on the sofa at the other side of the room. “He can’t control them.”
“He never could, because he isn’t really one of them,” the President said. “You were in Washington then Jerry, you must see it.”
Brown nodded, beginning to see the point.
“Back in ’84 they picked Denton as a figurehead on a ticket they didn’t expect to win,” Dellums added. “His getting to be President is a sheer fluke.”
“Mainly because Rumsfeld wanted to appease the CVs,” the President said. “So he uncritically picked their last VP candidate without giving any thought to how well anchored in that movement Denton really was.”
“Better he should have picked Viguerie,” Dellums added. “At least he, for all his faults, was grounded in the CV movement, and could have some influence. Denton is just a token and they don’t respect him.”
“It’s a testament to Rumsfeld’s arrogance, or isolation, or both toward the end that he just reached out and picked a relative lightweight and forced him on the Congress,” the President said. “So we can’t make any deals with him, because they won’t last any longer than he holds the office, which will end soon; too soon for him to have any lasting impact.”
“Hell, he can’t even get his Constitutional amendment passed, and he can’t get Shapp confirmed. That’s all due to his weakness,” Dellums said.
“So we can’t throw him any bones? None at all?” Brown asked.
“Don’t get me wrong, Jerry. I like Denton, despite his social conservative views – but right now that’s beside the point. Sure, we can talk to him, make him look good, but we can’t count on him for anything, not in the long run. We can offer him asylum when he leaves office, because I have a feeling he will need it, but-“ at this point the President trailed off with a shrug of helplessness.
“We have to keep our defenses strong, because we will have to protect our independence from whatever the CVs throw at us next,” Dellums said. His remarks drew an approving nod from the President. “And that includes building-up those Bozeman communities as buffers. Much as I dislike some of their Libertarian clap-trap, we have to make common cause with them.”
“That’s where you need to focus right now, Jerry. Never mind the trade deals with Japan and Hawaii, and the Soviet agreement,” the President said. “I’ve got Pat Leahy on those. He seems to have recovered from his so-called nervous breakdown treatments-“ the President spat out the last as if it were a curse – “at least enough that his mental sharpness is back.”
“Taking Pat on was a good idea,” Brown agreed.
“We may be the California Republic, but as far as I’m concerned we’ll take-in – and put to work – anyone who wants to be free and stand-up to those Eastern quacks,” the President said, repeating in earthier tones what he had said in public many times over the last year.
“I would like to explore further our links to the WTP,” Dellums added.
“Can we trust them?” the President countered. “I mean, since you left them Ron, they’ve become a collection of anarchists and hoodlums.”
“Largely driven to it by Rumsfeld’s excesses, and Spiro Agnew’s hard policy in New York,” Brown said.
“There’s a new kind whose moving into a leadership role in New York, a young college drop-out named de Blasio – Bill de Blasio – he seems to be moving them more toward an organized, progressive vision and away from the urban thug model that they degenerated into recently,” Dellums said.
“Well, to succeed, he’ll have to live long enough. I understand that the WTP leaders have taken to assassinating one another over ridiculous turf wars,” Brown said.
“They fell right into Rumsfeld’s trap,” Dellums lamented. “They let their ideology get the better of them, and allowed Rumsfeld to paint them as extremists. He didn’t just leave them alone because he was afraid of them. He left them alone so they could destroy themselves from within, and it seems to be working.”
“If they’re that badly off, how can they help us?” the President asked.
“Maybe we can help the moderates, start a second front in the big cities against what the CVs are doing,” Dellums suggested.
“You know how much I hate that cloak-and-dagger B-S.” The words flew from the President’s mouth with the same feeling he might have expressed if he had just eaten garbage.
“When you are weak and your enemy strong, then you must exploit his weaknesses to undermine his strengths,” Brown offered.
“Sun Tzu?” Dellums asked surprised.
“Not my favorite, but it fits the moment,” Brown said.
“Okay. Ron, you put together an op plan for this,” the President directed, his training as a Marine Corps officer showing. “I don’t mind sticking a needle in their eye, but lets be sure that needle doesn’t break in our hand.”
The metaphor was awkward, but Brown and Dellums got the point.
-----------------------------------------
Soviet Leader Ryzhkov Attends Opening of Mosque
(Reuters) Alma-Ata – Soviet General Secretary Nikolai Ryzhkov today attended the opening of a new civic Mosque in Alma-Ata, capital of the Kazakh SSR. This move appears to be part of the Soviet leader’s new accommodation of religion. As he stated in his remarks at Kazan Cathedral four months ago, Ryzhkov stated that:
“While we as Marxists have, in the past, had a less than exemplary view of religion, we must nonetheless concede that the religious impulse is strong in many communities. In the past we have seen this as an ideological enemy, a subversion – what Marx called the opiate of the masses.
“Well comrades, I say we must rethink this. What is it that proper religion teaches us? Order, obedience to the law, a sense of accomplishment for the individual, but more importantly a call to service in the community as a whole. While this is not Marxism, how do these values conflict so greatly with Marxism? I say they do not, not in the context of building a more prosperous society in which we take advantage of market forces to lift our people to higher economic achievement, while we resist the atavistic, violent nature of unfettered imperialist capitalism as experienced by the oppressed people of the west?
“To build a better, more community oriented Soviet Union, comrades, we must learn to work alongside our religious comrades, recognizing those values which strengthen our communities and resist the temptations of greed and destruction-“
The move is seen by many analysts as an effort by Ryzhkov to co-opt religious leaders, and a wide cross section of their followers, into his “MBA” Communism of more open markets. He may also be seeing religion as a possible, more controllable outlet for those who are dissatisfied with the lack of political freedom in his program.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Burma Joins South East Asian Trade Compact
(Kyodo News) – Rangoon - Ne Win, the President of Burma (known locally as Myanmar) today signed a treaty which places his country into a trading block composed of Thailand, the Khmer Republic, the Republic of Vietnam and Malaysia (with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Neutral Republic of Laos currently having associate status). The purpose of the agreement is to develop trade and infrastructure among the nations of South East Asia, many of whom have been antagonistic to one another.
Many of these countries have had to overcome a legacy of war and destruction, the aftermath of which is driving them toward greater co-operation. President Ngô Quang Trưởng of the Republic of Vietnam (recently re-elected to a third term) has been a leading proponent of this co-operation and many regard the treaty as his greatest legacy.
President Truong has recently expressed his desire to see the agreement expand to include the Philippines and Indonesia, although both countries’ governments have not been warm to the idea.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Vietnamese President Pledges Aid to California
(California Press) – Sacramento - President Ngô Quang Trưởng of the Republic of (South) Vietnam met today for second round of talks with President McCloskey and his Cabinet.
At the press conference at the end of the session President Truong announces that he and President McCloskey had reached an agreement that will see South Vietnam provide military and economic assistance to the California Republic. This aid is aimed at preserving California’s political independence and increasing trade between California and South Vietnam.
South Vietnam is seeking a similar agreement with Hawaii and has already concluded a successful trade deal with Canada.
-----------------------------------
Gorky Film Studios (1987)
Gennady Seminov is a well-intentioned,* but bumbling graduate student with an uncertain future. He has a high regard for Prf. Zhilkov, an eccentric but ingenious teacher at Bauman Moscow State Technical University. Gennady is troubled by his father, a mid-level state official, who is expressing increasing pro-Captialistic sentiment. Seminov Senior is being abused by his boss Bifferov, who has Seminov Sr. complete all his work behind the scenes, while Bifferov takes credit for it. Gennady sees that Bifferov is a secret arch-capitalist, but he is setting Seminov Sr to take the fall for political dissent while he (Bifferov) can continue to plot to undermine the Soviet way of life.
Through a series of misadventures Gennady learns that Zhilkov is conspiring with terrorist elements to sell them weapons so that he complete his latest invention, a so-called time machine. (The time machine is a converted Lada with enhanced speed capabilities). Gennady helps Zhilkov escape from a terrorist trap, but in the process the time machine takes them thirty years into the future. There Gennady and Zhilkov learn that the Soviet Union has been destroyed by capitalist intrigues, centred around the current pro-imperialist, militarist dictator Bifferov. Bifferov has turned the former Soviet Union into a Darwinian hellscape that Zhilkov compares to Rumsfeldia “but without the nice parts.”
After escaping Bifferov’s Gestapo-like secret police, Gennady and Zhilkov try to discover how Bifferov came to power. They learn that sometime around when they left, Bifferov seemed to come into knowledge that allowed him to anticipate future events, and profit from them.
Meanwhile the aging Bifferov (who likes to execute Communists in his living room as a way to relieve tension) learns about the presence of Gennady and Zhilkov and begins to worry. His agents find the Lada, and Bifferov escapes back into the time. The automated settings on the Lada bring it back to the future (present).
Upon learning what Bifferov has done, they realize that the dictator has gone back in time to alert his younger self and eliminate them, as well as giving the younger Bifferov the necessary knowledge of the future. After fooling the guards, Gennady and Bifferov manage to get back in the Lada and take it back to 1987.
They find the aging Bifferov trying to persuade his younger self that he can give him the keys to power, but first he must kill Gennady and Zhilkov and destroy Zhilkov’s time machine work (so the future Bifferov will have the only working time machine).
The younger Bifferov tries to capture Gennady by holding his family prisoner, but the attempt fails when Gennady devises a plan to go back in time to 1977 and stop Bifferov before he became a state official. In 1977 he sets-up Bifferov to appear to be an anti-Soviet conspirator, and after attempting to elude the KGB in a car chase, Bifferov ends-up crashing into a truck full of manure and is hauled off to prison.
Gennady returns to 1987 to learn Bifferov has disappeared. Zhilkov is now an esteemed professor and scholar, his father is a senior official (and proud exponent of MBA Communism), and the original time travel seems to have been erased from everyone’s consciousness except Gennady’s.
With life better under a pro-MBA Communism trajectory, Gennady decides to hide the time machine until it is needed again. Meanwhile he begins his new life as a state official helping the people.
*=means a good MBA Communist type
------------------------------------------------------------------
Звезда Освобождение (Star Liberation)
A Soviet television series which tells the story of the Starship Lenin and its bold crew, which is on a five year mission to spread the truth of Communism through the galaxy and liberate planets and societies held under imperialist and feudal ways of life. The prime directive of their government, the Soviet Federation of Planets, is to “liberate all worlds from oppression and set them on the path to Marxist-Leninist progress.”
Each week the Starship crew saves a planet from a collection of capitalist, imperialist, war-monger and/or neo-Nazi types, setting planets and civilizations on the “true course of liberation.”
Among their enemies are the warlike, Nazi-type Teutons (who have raised ridges on their foreheads) and the subversive, uber-capitalistic Remulaks (who look suspiciously like the people of Вперед [Vpered]).
The crew is composed of Comrade Captain Tserkov, a hero of Revolutionary zeal, always bold and ready to lay down his (and his crew’s) life for Revolutionary progress.
Comrade First Officer Blestyashchiy comes from the planet Вперед [Vpered] which long ago gave-up capitalism for the perfect order of Communism. He uses impeccable Revolutionary logic to guide the others in their quest to spread Galactic Liberation.
Comrade Dr. Pskov is an amiable surgeon, but given to ideological heresy and political ignorance (excused by his zealous focus on medicine), which is often gently corrected by Mr. Blestyashchiy’s logic. Dr. Pskov often sees his error during these lessons and repents of his past ideological deviance.
The crew is composed of a Chinese helm officer, a British navigator, and African communications officer and a Japanese Chief Engineer (Mr. Miyamoto). The role of Zampolit (Political Officer) is often filled by a popular guest star, who uses the role to emphasise some positive aspect of MBA Communism.
The global crew comes from a world liberated by the logic and success of MBA Communism. Only America remains un-represented. Though never directly addressed, it is hinted that America succumbed to an early type of anti-Revolutionary madness (often compared to the Teutons and Remulaks) that lead to its self-destruction.
“Space, the final frontier, cloaked in the political darkness of imperialist capitalism and feudalism.
These are the voyages of the heroic starship Lenin.
It’s five year mission: to heroically seek out the worlds under the boot of imperialist capitalism and feudalism, and bring awareness of Marxist-Leninist principles to the oppressed: to boldly go where no revolutionary has gone before and spread the spark of liberation.”
------------------------------------------------------------------
Constitutional Amendment Fails
(Reuters) – Washington – President Denton’s proposed Constitutional amendment, which would postpone federal elections for one year until November 1989, has failed to meet the threshold required for ratification. This has thrown the American political scene into chaos as only two months remain until the Constitutionally required voting date of November 8, 1988.
President Denton had explained the proposed amendment as an effort to give the major political parties and local electoral districts time to recover from the abuses of the Rumsfeld era, before being called-on to decide a major election.
The proposal was resisted in many state legislatures by the Christian Values, an irony given that this is President Denton’s own political party. This has caused some concern among observers as the Christian Values, known as the CV, now seems to be the most organized political party and the defeat of the Constitutional amendment in many state legislatures is seen as an effort by the CV to flex its political muscle ahead of the forthcoming election.
Both the Republican and Democratic Parties, once the two major parties of the American political system, are in disarray, with the Republicans demoralized after the fall of President Rumsfeld and the Democrats suffering from on-going internal feuds and schisms. Several Republicans recently opened talks with the Democrats to present a united front, but the talks fell apart amidst recriminations from the Democrats over the excesses of the Rumsfeld period.
Neither the Libertarian nor the We The People Movement, though regionally popular in some areas of the United States, are considered likely contenders for national office. This could well work to the CVs advantage this November.
-----------------------------------------------------
Sacramento, California
“I’m still don’t see why we can’t extend an olive branch to President Denton,” remarked Secretary Jerry Brown. “He’s really the best shot we have of making a deal, certainly better than Rumsfeld.”
President McCloskey turned slightly in his swivel chair, lifting tired, red-rimmed eyes from the stack of documents on his desk to look at his Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
“Denton may be a decent man, and he may have the right idea, but we need to see the big picture here, Jerry.”
“The CVs,” Vice President Ron Dellums added helpfully from his place on the sofa at the other side of the room. “He can’t control them.”
“He never could, because he isn’t really one of them,” the President said. “You were in Washington then Jerry, you must see it.”
Brown nodded, beginning to see the point.
“Back in ’84 they picked Denton as a figurehead on a ticket they didn’t expect to win,” Dellums added. “His getting to be President is a sheer fluke.”
“Mainly because Rumsfeld wanted to appease the CVs,” the President said. “So he uncritically picked their last VP candidate without giving any thought to how well anchored in that movement Denton really was.”
“Better he should have picked Viguerie,” Dellums added. “At least he, for all his faults, was grounded in the CV movement, and could have some influence. Denton is just a token and they don’t respect him.”
“It’s a testament to Rumsfeld’s arrogance, or isolation, or both toward the end that he just reached out and picked a relative lightweight and forced him on the Congress,” the President said. “So we can’t make any deals with him, because they won’t last any longer than he holds the office, which will end soon; too soon for him to have any lasting impact.”
“Hell, he can’t even get his Constitutional amendment passed, and he can’t get Shapp confirmed. That’s all due to his weakness,” Dellums said.
“So we can’t throw him any bones? None at all?” Brown asked.
“Don’t get me wrong, Jerry. I like Denton, despite his social conservative views – but right now that’s beside the point. Sure, we can talk to him, make him look good, but we can’t count on him for anything, not in the long run. We can offer him asylum when he leaves office, because I have a feeling he will need it, but-“ at this point the President trailed off with a shrug of helplessness.
“We have to keep our defenses strong, because we will have to protect our independence from whatever the CVs throw at us next,” Dellums said. His remarks drew an approving nod from the President. “And that includes building-up those Bozeman communities as buffers. Much as I dislike some of their Libertarian clap-trap, we have to make common cause with them.”
“That’s where you need to focus right now, Jerry. Never mind the trade deals with Japan and Hawaii, and the Soviet agreement,” the President said. “I’ve got Pat Leahy on those. He seems to have recovered from his so-called nervous breakdown treatments-“ the President spat out the last as if it were a curse – “at least enough that his mental sharpness is back.”
“Taking Pat on was a good idea,” Brown agreed.
“We may be the California Republic, but as far as I’m concerned we’ll take-in – and put to work – anyone who wants to be free and stand-up to those Eastern quacks,” the President said, repeating in earthier tones what he had said in public many times over the last year.
“I would like to explore further our links to the WTP,” Dellums added.
“Can we trust them?” the President countered. “I mean, since you left them Ron, they’ve become a collection of anarchists and hoodlums.”
“Largely driven to it by Rumsfeld’s excesses, and Spiro Agnew’s hard policy in New York,” Brown said.
“There’s a new kind whose moving into a leadership role in New York, a young college drop-out named de Blasio – Bill de Blasio – he seems to be moving them more toward an organized, progressive vision and away from the urban thug model that they degenerated into recently,” Dellums said.
“Well, to succeed, he’ll have to live long enough. I understand that the WTP leaders have taken to assassinating one another over ridiculous turf wars,” Brown said.
“They fell right into Rumsfeld’s trap,” Dellums lamented. “They let their ideology get the better of them, and allowed Rumsfeld to paint them as extremists. He didn’t just leave them alone because he was afraid of them. He left them alone so they could destroy themselves from within, and it seems to be working.”
“If they’re that badly off, how can they help us?” the President asked.
“Maybe we can help the moderates, start a second front in the big cities against what the CVs are doing,” Dellums suggested.
“You know how much I hate that cloak-and-dagger B-S.” The words flew from the President’s mouth with the same feeling he might have expressed if he had just eaten garbage.
“When you are weak and your enemy strong, then you must exploit his weaknesses to undermine his strengths,” Brown offered.
“Sun Tzu?” Dellums asked surprised.
“Not my favorite, but it fits the moment,” Brown said.
“Okay. Ron, you put together an op plan for this,” the President directed, his training as a Marine Corps officer showing. “I don’t mind sticking a needle in their eye, but lets be sure that needle doesn’t break in our hand.”
The metaphor was awkward, but Brown and Dellums got the point.
-----------------------------------------
Soviet Leader Ryzhkov Attends Opening of Mosque
(Reuters) Alma-Ata – Soviet General Secretary Nikolai Ryzhkov today attended the opening of a new civic Mosque in Alma-Ata, capital of the Kazakh SSR. This move appears to be part of the Soviet leader’s new accommodation of religion. As he stated in his remarks at Kazan Cathedral four months ago, Ryzhkov stated that:
“While we as Marxists have, in the past, had a less than exemplary view of religion, we must nonetheless concede that the religious impulse is strong in many communities. In the past we have seen this as an ideological enemy, a subversion – what Marx called the opiate of the masses.
“Well comrades, I say we must rethink this. What is it that proper religion teaches us? Order, obedience to the law, a sense of accomplishment for the individual, but more importantly a call to service in the community as a whole. While this is not Marxism, how do these values conflict so greatly with Marxism? I say they do not, not in the context of building a more prosperous society in which we take advantage of market forces to lift our people to higher economic achievement, while we resist the atavistic, violent nature of unfettered imperialist capitalism as experienced by the oppressed people of the west?
“To build a better, more community oriented Soviet Union, comrades, we must learn to work alongside our religious comrades, recognizing those values which strengthen our communities and resist the temptations of greed and destruction-“
The move is seen by many analysts as an effort by Ryzhkov to co-opt religious leaders, and a wide cross section of their followers, into his “MBA” Communism of more open markets. He may also be seeing religion as a possible, more controllable outlet for those who are dissatisfied with the lack of political freedom in his program.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Burma Joins South East Asian Trade Compact
(Kyodo News) – Rangoon - Ne Win, the President of Burma (known locally as Myanmar) today signed a treaty which places his country into a trading block composed of Thailand, the Khmer Republic, the Republic of Vietnam and Malaysia (with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Neutral Republic of Laos currently having associate status). The purpose of the agreement is to develop trade and infrastructure among the nations of South East Asia, many of whom have been antagonistic to one another.
Many of these countries have had to overcome a legacy of war and destruction, the aftermath of which is driving them toward greater co-operation. President Ngô Quang Trưởng of the Republic of Vietnam (recently re-elected to a third term) has been a leading proponent of this co-operation and many regard the treaty as his greatest legacy.
President Truong has recently expressed his desire to see the agreement expand to include the Philippines and Indonesia, although both countries’ governments have not been warm to the idea.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Vietnamese President Pledges Aid to California
(California Press) – Sacramento - President Ngô Quang Trưởng of the Republic of (South) Vietnam met today for second round of talks with President McCloskey and his Cabinet.
At the press conference at the end of the session President Truong announces that he and President McCloskey had reached an agreement that will see South Vietnam provide military and economic assistance to the California Republic. This aid is aimed at preserving California’s political independence and increasing trade between California and South Vietnam.
South Vietnam is seeking a similar agreement with Hawaii and has already concluded a successful trade deal with Canada.
-----------------------------------
- Status