That's okay I'm sure after a word or two to Chesty he will be in a world of hurt.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
That's okay I'm sure after a word or two to Chesty he will be in a world of hurt.
I had the thought that "Ellis" had quite a good run, with what
turned out to be one of the hottest nightclubs in Berlin while under the protection of Schultz and von Schmidt. And then I realized that 'under the protection of' is also 'under the thumb of.' I think he'd like to stick a thumb in their collective eyes as a final 'screw you' except that Sarah is likely to leave that part out to avoid the tsunami of outrage that'd roll across the Atlantic and splash her father.
Naah...Knowing Chesty, he would find it his personal mission to show little Jim "The Light so he can go to the good Path, and that its the one of the US Marines"
Think it.....Chesty would find the SOB attitude of Jim as "Misguided" rather than put him in a world of hurt. The World of Hurt would come as Puller redirects Jim's attitude into "Proper Marine Spirit"......
I can imagine Morrisson ending in the Jail after a row with Army grunts, and Puller getting him out the next day...of course because the Marines won the bar brawl......
Part 86, Chapter 1326
Chapter One Thousand Three Hundred Twenty-Six
11th May 1959
Tempelhof, Berlin
Someone had left the right-wing newspaper at the table and Kiki found it when she had sat down to eat with Doctor Berg.
Is Berlin the new Sodom and Gomorrah? Was what the garish headline said. The article went on to speak in obsessive detail about the supposed evils of the city. The accompanying photographs were what set Kiki off. The pictures juxtaposed among photographs of prostitutes, addicts and criminals were pictures of observant Jews, people her own age dancing in a park and small group of women walking from one class to another on a University campus. As if those things were remotely synonymous. The article decried the moral depravity of the era they were living in at length. It would have been comical if it didn’t seem to hit very close to where Kiki lived.
Berg just laughed. “It’s all a swindle” She said, “The authors of this live in the city, but are clearly pandering to those who do not. I also get the impression that they might also be concealing something else from their intended audience. Not even homosexuals think about homosexual sex this much.”
“I’m glad you find this amusing” Kiki replied.
“This isn’t amusing at all” Berg said, “But it helps to have the perspective that comes with age. Laughing is better than crying over how some things have not changed.”
“Are you saying it won’t change?”
“Small minded people leading small lives, having no more than small accomplishments, if any” Berg replied, “They are also very jealous. Making something more of themselves would be more effort than they are willing to take, so they constantly try to take others down into the muck with them. Change requires effort, you see.”
“Oh” Kiki said as she went back to the green salad Doctor Berg insisted that she eat whenever they got together for a meal. A girl who hasn’t figured out how to use her brain yet needs her elders to get her to eat something healthy, was how Berg put it.
“Then there are people like you Kristina, who want to become something more” Berg said, “You offend them just by breathing and being out without your father’s permission.”
“That sounds like something out of the Medieval Period” Kiki replied.
“The way people think hasn’t changed too much over the last few centuries” Berg said, “Too many people stop learning the instant they are no longer required to and try to use religion to fill in for the things they cannot make the effort to understand.”
“You are saying that all the worlds problems are because most people are lazy” Kiki said, it wasn’t a question.
“It just is how it is” Berg replied, “Try not to be one of them.”
Kiki was still trying to think of a response to that when two men wearing the blue formal uniforms of the First Foot entered the hospital cafeteria. They could only be there for her and she wished that her father had a different way of letting her know that he wanted something as they walked up to the table.
“Princess Kristina” One of the men said, “The Emperor has requested your immediate presence.”
As Kiki got up Berg looked at her, “Good luck” She said before she resumed eating her lunch. This wasn’t the first time that this had happened. Just that fact that is seemed not to be in the least bit surprising suggested what the real problem was.
Fort Drum, New York
There were a number of radios playing in the barracks, Rock & Roll was at odds with Country & Western and a Red Socks game that was happening in Boston that afternoon. The result was just a cacophony of noise. Parker had tried to spend some time at the typewriter that the Platoon had in the barracks for some forgotten reason. However, he had started feeling restless after having an eventful weekend and had been unable to maintain his focus.
Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion of the 1st SFG was trying to integrate the latest additions to the Company. As rule, they were mostly kids. Those without a great deal invested in whatever outfit they had been in before they had volunteered to go to Camp Hale. Having just celebrated his twenty-eighth birthday Parker wasn’t old by any standard, however he had lived a lifetime compared to them. Jonny was positively elderly compared to them at twenty-six having fought in Mexico. All of them were in their late teens and early twenties and even after they had endured what should have been the humbling experience in Colorado, they still thought they knew everything.
Into that Jonny had entered the picture and the rest of the Sergeants had taken his lead. He thought that consequences of stupidity should be painful. The additions had no idea that extended to the barracks as well, at the moment Jonny was leading a crooked poker game and was cleaning out anyone stupid enough to join in on the game.
Parker could only shake his head in disbelief and go back to composing his thoughts on the typewriter. As one of the few college graduates among the enlisted he was being pressured to take on more of a formal leadership role. Jonny would laugh his head off at the idea. There was also the aspect that the whole Army thing was supposed to be a cover for the CIA, now that had taken a life of its own. When Parker had last talked with Langley, he had been informed that the powers that be were pleased as punch with where the two of them had landed.
11th May 1959
Tempelhof, Berlin
Someone had left the right-wing newspaper at the table and Kiki found it when she had sat down to eat with Doctor Berg.
Is Berlin the new Sodom and Gomorrah? Was what the garish headline said. The article went on to speak in obsessive detail about the supposed evils of the city. The accompanying photographs were what set Kiki off. The pictures juxtaposed among photographs of prostitutes, addicts and criminals were pictures of observant Jews, people her own age dancing in a park and small group of women walking from one class to another on a University campus. As if those things were remotely synonymous. The article decried the moral depravity of the era they were living in at length. It would have been comical if it didn’t seem to hit very close to where Kiki lived.
Berg just laughed. “It’s all a swindle” She said, “The authors of this live in the city, but are clearly pandering to those who do not. I also get the impression that they might also be concealing something else from their intended audience. Not even homosexuals think about homosexual sex this much.”
“I’m glad you find this amusing” Kiki replied.
“This isn’t amusing at all” Berg said, “But it helps to have the perspective that comes with age. Laughing is better than crying over how some things have not changed.”
“Are you saying it won’t change?”
“Small minded people leading small lives, having no more than small accomplishments, if any” Berg replied, “They are also very jealous. Making something more of themselves would be more effort than they are willing to take, so they constantly try to take others down into the muck with them. Change requires effort, you see.”
“Oh” Kiki said as she went back to the green salad Doctor Berg insisted that she eat whenever they got together for a meal. A girl who hasn’t figured out how to use her brain yet needs her elders to get her to eat something healthy, was how Berg put it.
“Then there are people like you Kristina, who want to become something more” Berg said, “You offend them just by breathing and being out without your father’s permission.”
“That sounds like something out of the Medieval Period” Kiki replied.
“The way people think hasn’t changed too much over the last few centuries” Berg said, “Too many people stop learning the instant they are no longer required to and try to use religion to fill in for the things they cannot make the effort to understand.”
“You are saying that all the worlds problems are because most people are lazy” Kiki said, it wasn’t a question.
“It just is how it is” Berg replied, “Try not to be one of them.”
Kiki was still trying to think of a response to that when two men wearing the blue formal uniforms of the First Foot entered the hospital cafeteria. They could only be there for her and she wished that her father had a different way of letting her know that he wanted something as they walked up to the table.
“Princess Kristina” One of the men said, “The Emperor has requested your immediate presence.”
As Kiki got up Berg looked at her, “Good luck” She said before she resumed eating her lunch. This wasn’t the first time that this had happened. Just that fact that is seemed not to be in the least bit surprising suggested what the real problem was.
Fort Drum, New York
There were a number of radios playing in the barracks, Rock & Roll was at odds with Country & Western and a Red Socks game that was happening in Boston that afternoon. The result was just a cacophony of noise. Parker had tried to spend some time at the typewriter that the Platoon had in the barracks for some forgotten reason. However, he had started feeling restless after having an eventful weekend and had been unable to maintain his focus.
Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion of the 1st SFG was trying to integrate the latest additions to the Company. As rule, they were mostly kids. Those without a great deal invested in whatever outfit they had been in before they had volunteered to go to Camp Hale. Having just celebrated his twenty-eighth birthday Parker wasn’t old by any standard, however he had lived a lifetime compared to them. Jonny was positively elderly compared to them at twenty-six having fought in Mexico. All of them were in their late teens and early twenties and even after they had endured what should have been the humbling experience in Colorado, they still thought they knew everything.
Into that Jonny had entered the picture and the rest of the Sergeants had taken his lead. He thought that consequences of stupidity should be painful. The additions had no idea that extended to the barracks as well, at the moment Jonny was leading a crooked poker game and was cleaning out anyone stupid enough to join in on the game.
Parker could only shake his head in disbelief and go back to composing his thoughts on the typewriter. As one of the few college graduates among the enlisted he was being pressured to take on more of a formal leadership role. Jonny would laugh his head off at the idea. There was also the aspect that the whole Army thing was supposed to be a cover for the CIA, now that had taken a life of its own. When Parker had last talked with Langley, he had been informed that the powers that be were pleased as punch with where the two of them had landed.
Captain Morrison in his role of Naval Attaché has probably come across Tilo Schultz in both professional and personal situations knows about the story of how Tilo's nephews came to be in the Marine Infantry and would have no doubt that young James will also benefit from doing a stint in the Marine Corps.
He's supposed to look the other way on these sorts of things, not lead the charge...
Please don't do that. ITTL Hendrix is still living in Seattle and has actually had a happier life than the one he had in IOTL. The result is that he is a bit less self destructive than he was in OTL. How that will affect his career has yet to be seen. The other issue is that without the Blitz and England untouched by the Second World War, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell are leading different lives as well.
Part 86, Chapter 1327
Chapter One Thousand Three Hundred Twenty-Seven
13th May 1959
Camp Springs Army Airfield, Maryland
The brand new Focke-Wulf 400, absurdly named for the diminutive Arctic Tern was the currently the largest airliner in existence seemed to float as it approached the runway. The eight tires of the main landing gear hit the concrete with a puff smoke and the engines roared as full reverse thrust was applied. The process played out again as the two nose wheels touched down. The four turbofan engines were a novel technology and the airliner was certain to draw a great deal of attention. It was the entire purpose of this visit. To show off. As the airliner taxied towards the space on the flight line that had been designated for it, Kiki looked out the window at the crowd that had already gathered. She saw the flash of a camera within that crowd.
“I can’t have you sulking for this entire trip” Louis said to Kiki who had brooded silently while looking out the window for almost the entire flight. “When I learned that Lotte was pregnant, I told you and your brothers that I would be needed all of you to start taking a more public role than you have been. This is what that looks like.”
“You didn’t tell us the reason for that though” Kiki said, still not looking at him, “Did you?”
“There are a lot of risks involved for your stepmother” Louis said, “That is the reason why she is unable to travel.”
“Why did you need me?” Kiki said.
“Because I figured that having you accompany me would be a chance for me to spend time with my long-lost daughter” Louis said, “This is also an excellent opportunity for you personally, get to meet people and for the world to see what an attractive, accomplished young woman you’ve grown into.”
Those words were a reminder to her that her presence on this State visit was because she had complained to her father about how the world seemed to think she was still twelve. He had decided to remedy that in the most effective way possible, by accompanying him as he traveled to Washington D.C. This trip was with the express purpose of engaging the American President on the subject of controlling the development of nuclear arms. A bit of backdoor diplomacy. As Emperor, her father was supposed to leave diplomacy to the experts. At the same time, he was well regarded among the world’s leaders, so he felt that he had a duty to at least try to open doors for dialog on difficult topics. Kiki was supposed to help with the social aspect of the trip, and she knew that she was in way over her head. She had been told that Nancy had been doing advance work, lining up interviews and media appearances, just Kiki knew from past experience that depending on other people wasn’t always the best call.
Kiki was also supposed to meet with a man named Clive Heywood and Nancy had advised her to keep her guard up and expectations low during that meeting. Who knew what had prompted Nancy to say that? But it was probably good advice and it certainly fit her time in America. Before she had left Germany, she had been briefed on what to expect by Asia as the Mistress of the Keys with Gräfin Katherine observing. It swiftly became extremely obvious that Asia absolutely hated the U.S. Government for what they had done to her and Katherine wasn’t much better. She had painted the country and its people as a bunch of backwards and barbaric hypocrites. She had said that touching down in America was like going fifty years backwards in time.
Kiki wasn’t inclined to believe that Asia wasn’t particularly rational when it came to the United States, at least at first. Then she had seen in the briefing materials that just a few weeks earlier the US Supreme Court had reached a decision that reaffirmed that women had no rights under the U.S. Constitution other than those that their husbands or fathers gave them. That seemed to validate everything that Asia had said, and Kiki felt that it was a complete load of bullshit. It also validated a portion of the Comstock Act in the process. How could a country say that discrimination against Negros was unlawful then turn around and say adult women were little more than children at best? To Kiki that all seemed absurdly illogical. When she had mentioned that to Katherine, Kiki had been strongly advised not to bring it up while she was in America. Her career would already be raising a lot of eyebrows and her opinion would only complicate things further.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the sounds of the airplane’s doors being opened reached her ears. “Time to at least pretend that you are happy to be here for a few minutes” Her father said, “You’ve had the last seventeen years to have a poor attitude, try and give me a turn for once.”
“Seventeen and a half” Kiki replied.
“You know what I mean” Louis said before he opened the door to the cabin that they had been sharing and stepped out. That was quite something to see on an airplane.
With an exasperated sigh, Kiki took her grey-blue uniform tunic off the hook that it had been hanging from on its hanger and it took a bit of effort to get it to settle about her shoulders. She had not yet completed training, so there was no unit patch on the sleeve, or a service branch badge pinned to the front. Even so, there was a Merit Cross for War Aid, a Jerusalem Cross, a 3rd Class Red Cross medal and the Order of Louise pinned to the front. Kiki doubted that she had truly done a thing to earn any of those besides getting hauled to Jerusalem when she was younger. However, official records indicated that she had, so she was required to wear them when in dress uniform. At least the tunic went over the wrinkled blouse she had worn over night, Kiki thought as she buttoned it up.
Try to at least pretend, that was what her father had asked for. At that moment all she wanted was to just go home.
13th May 1959
Camp Springs Army Airfield, Maryland
The brand new Focke-Wulf 400, absurdly named for the diminutive Arctic Tern was the currently the largest airliner in existence seemed to float as it approached the runway. The eight tires of the main landing gear hit the concrete with a puff smoke and the engines roared as full reverse thrust was applied. The process played out again as the two nose wheels touched down. The four turbofan engines were a novel technology and the airliner was certain to draw a great deal of attention. It was the entire purpose of this visit. To show off. As the airliner taxied towards the space on the flight line that had been designated for it, Kiki looked out the window at the crowd that had already gathered. She saw the flash of a camera within that crowd.
“I can’t have you sulking for this entire trip” Louis said to Kiki who had brooded silently while looking out the window for almost the entire flight. “When I learned that Lotte was pregnant, I told you and your brothers that I would be needed all of you to start taking a more public role than you have been. This is what that looks like.”
“You didn’t tell us the reason for that though” Kiki said, still not looking at him, “Did you?”
“There are a lot of risks involved for your stepmother” Louis said, “That is the reason why she is unable to travel.”
“Why did you need me?” Kiki said.
“Because I figured that having you accompany me would be a chance for me to spend time with my long-lost daughter” Louis said, “This is also an excellent opportunity for you personally, get to meet people and for the world to see what an attractive, accomplished young woman you’ve grown into.”
Those words were a reminder to her that her presence on this State visit was because she had complained to her father about how the world seemed to think she was still twelve. He had decided to remedy that in the most effective way possible, by accompanying him as he traveled to Washington D.C. This trip was with the express purpose of engaging the American President on the subject of controlling the development of nuclear arms. A bit of backdoor diplomacy. As Emperor, her father was supposed to leave diplomacy to the experts. At the same time, he was well regarded among the world’s leaders, so he felt that he had a duty to at least try to open doors for dialog on difficult topics. Kiki was supposed to help with the social aspect of the trip, and she knew that she was in way over her head. She had been told that Nancy had been doing advance work, lining up interviews and media appearances, just Kiki knew from past experience that depending on other people wasn’t always the best call.
Kiki was also supposed to meet with a man named Clive Heywood and Nancy had advised her to keep her guard up and expectations low during that meeting. Who knew what had prompted Nancy to say that? But it was probably good advice and it certainly fit her time in America. Before she had left Germany, she had been briefed on what to expect by Asia as the Mistress of the Keys with Gräfin Katherine observing. It swiftly became extremely obvious that Asia absolutely hated the U.S. Government for what they had done to her and Katherine wasn’t much better. She had painted the country and its people as a bunch of backwards and barbaric hypocrites. She had said that touching down in America was like going fifty years backwards in time.
Kiki wasn’t inclined to believe that Asia wasn’t particularly rational when it came to the United States, at least at first. Then she had seen in the briefing materials that just a few weeks earlier the US Supreme Court had reached a decision that reaffirmed that women had no rights under the U.S. Constitution other than those that their husbands or fathers gave them. That seemed to validate everything that Asia had said, and Kiki felt that it was a complete load of bullshit. It also validated a portion of the Comstock Act in the process. How could a country say that discrimination against Negros was unlawful then turn around and say adult women were little more than children at best? To Kiki that all seemed absurdly illogical. When she had mentioned that to Katherine, Kiki had been strongly advised not to bring it up while she was in America. Her career would already be raising a lot of eyebrows and her opinion would only complicate things further.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the sounds of the airplane’s doors being opened reached her ears. “Time to at least pretend that you are happy to be here for a few minutes” Her father said, “You’ve had the last seventeen years to have a poor attitude, try and give me a turn for once.”
“Seventeen and a half” Kiki replied.
“You know what I mean” Louis said before he opened the door to the cabin that they had been sharing and stepped out. That was quite something to see on an airplane.
With an exasperated sigh, Kiki took her grey-blue uniform tunic off the hook that it had been hanging from on its hanger and it took a bit of effort to get it to settle about her shoulders. She had not yet completed training, so there was no unit patch on the sleeve, or a service branch badge pinned to the front. Even so, there was a Merit Cross for War Aid, a Jerusalem Cross, a 3rd Class Red Cross medal and the Order of Louise pinned to the front. Kiki doubted that she had truly done a thing to earn any of those besides getting hauled to Jerusalem when she was younger. However, official records indicated that she had, so she was required to wear them when in dress uniform. At least the tunic went over the wrinkled blouse she had worn over night, Kiki thought as she buttoned it up.
Try to at least pretend, that was what her father had asked for. At that moment all she wanted was to just go home.
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Oh that decision is not going to be met with happy thoughts by Jonny's girlfriend and that is going to give an opportunity for the Republicans in 1960 as IOTL they were more progressive on women rights until 1980.
With that thought the soul of the Republican party is being fought between the Eastern Establishment led by former President Dewey and the old Taft wing led by Charles Lindbergh and former Vice President Bricker.
With that thought the soul of the Republican party is being fought between the Eastern Establishment led by former President Dewey and the old Taft wing led by Charles Lindbergh and former Vice President Bricker.
Knowing things, the Supreme Court's decision pretty much its potentially settling things for a shitstorm of biblical proportions. That the US potentially did the worst setback in female rights in known history, this its only to cause a massive Brain Drain, if not emigration away from the US, as a whole generation of women or more simply REFUSE to live in a country that denies them their elemental rights as Human Beings...
And that if some women do not go crazy and not in a good way to challenge society.....
And While Kiki WONT mention the Supreme Court's choice, i suspect that she's going to take SEVERAL pages of Kat's book of double meaning insults, mockery and likely finish with a veiled comment about that the German Empire its open for those that seek the Freedom to reach their dreams, like hers.....
And that if some women do not go crazy and not in a good way to challenge society.....
And While Kiki WONT mention the Supreme Court's choice, i suspect that she's going to take SEVERAL pages of Kat's book of double meaning insults, mockery and likely finish with a veiled comment about that the German Empire its open for those that seek the Freedom to reach their dreams, like hers.....
The opinion of the Court, that women were excluded from the 14th Amendment was the legal precedent in the United States from the 1870s right up until it was successfully challenged in the 1960s in OTL. It sounds extreme and with America more ossified than in OTL it was bound to become a major issue in TTL. The reasoning was exactly the same as the decision that Kiki was thinking about.
This is pretty darn ASB for even a backwards USA in this time period, though the SCOTUS can do crazy things. Did the suffragette movement just die ITTL? It's literally a second Dred Scott, which also makes no sense considering that you've had Truman, Dewey, and now Harriman. Did Cactus Jack appoint the entire Court with a bunch of 40 year old from Mississippi? The backlash is likely to be downright spectacular here.
Honestly, there's plenty of ways you can Ameriscrew without going cartoonish, especially because the rest of your world isn't very cartoonish. I think one bias error is showing by the fact that rhetoric often overshoots what the actual goals are. Clearly the OTL 20th century had plenty of extreme movements that matched the rhetoric, but it's really hard to not see this as laying it on a bit thick.
Funny, I quoted almost verbatim what the law of the land was in the United States during this time period, for real, no space bats involved, and you accuse me of doing an Ameriscrew? Does that sound cartoonish and stupid? Was it real? Also yes.
I'm not a lawyer but are you sure about this interpretation? My understanding is that the 14th Amendment restricted the ability of women to vote but not their legal rights. Numerous states had granted economic rights such as owning property and control over their income in 1880s and earlier. Those laws would seem to dispute your interpretation. Also, what about the 19th Amendment that provided women the right to vote?
Just goes to show you that “Truth IS stranger than Fiction”....
And it wasn’t an isolated view back then either... case in point “Kinder, Küche, Kirch” was the German view of things. The difference between Germany and the US is that Churchill very accurately pegged the US, we will always do the right thing.... just after trying every other thing first.
And when you pondering legislative insanity, read through a number of old laws that are still on the books just not enforced today. Crazy doesn’t even begin to start to describe some of them.
The OTL Civil Rights Act of 1964 had Title VII that prohibited sex discrimination was added by noted segregationist Howard Smith of Virginia because he did not want African-American women to have more rights than white women.
This could spur a collation of educated middle class white women and civil rights advocates to work together for a comprehensive Civil Rights Act.
This could spur a collation of educated middle class white women and civil rights advocates to work together for a comprehensive Civil Rights Act.
You make really good points, @Peabody-Martini. For someone who has sought to learn both the positive and negative sides of US history, I reacted quite ignorantly and impulsively. I apologize for that.
Come to think of it, the only thing I would see as being a bit unrealistic is an outright Supreme Court decision that's that sweeping, especially since I thought I'd read an anti-segregation court decision in an earlier post.
The points about women's property rights at the time is pretty accurate, along with the other discriminatory issues for many years, and that still exist both residually and ongoing.
Come to think of it, the only thing I would see as being a bit unrealistic is an outright Supreme Court decision that's that sweeping, especially since I thought I'd read an anti-segregation court decision in an earlier post.
The points about women's property rights at the time is pretty accurate, along with the other discriminatory issues for many years, and that still exist both residually and ongoing.
