Sally Yates, a former Crown Prosecutor and civil servant in the Justice Ministry, succeeded Julie Payette in 2021.
The Commonwealth of America: A Collaborative Worldbuilding Project.
- Thread starter Nazi Space Spy
- Start date
Provincial Premiers as of 2022.
Absaroka: Greg Gianforte (Conservative)
Alaska: Mead Treadwell (Conservative)
Alberta: Danielle Smith (Wildrose)
Arkansaw: Asa Hebert (Conservative)
The Bahamas: Philip Davis (Liberal)
Connecticut: William Tong (Liberal)
Colorado: Jared Polis (Liberal)
Columbia: David Eby (Democratic)
Dakota: Kristi Noem (Conservative)
Delaware: John Carney (Liberal)
East Florida: Ron DeSantis (Conservative)
Georgia: Brian Kemp (Conservative)
Hudson: Gilles Bisson (Democratic)
Idaho: Butch Otter (Conservative)
Illinois: Sheila Simon (Liberal)
Indiana: Tate Reeves (Conservative)
Iowa: Kim Reynolds (Conservative)
Kansas: Laura Kelly (Liberal)
Kentucky: Andy Beshear (Liberal)
Louisiana: John Bel Edwards (Liberal)
Maine: Janet Mills (Liberal)
Manitoba: Brian Pallister (Conservative)
Maryland: Larry Hogan (Progressive Conservative)
Massachusetts: Charlie Baker (Progressive Conservative)
Michigan: Gretchen Whitmer (Liberal)
Minnesota: Erin Murphy (Liberal)
Missouri: Jay Ashcroft (Conservative)
Nebraska: Jon Bruning (Conservative)
Newfoundland: Andrew Furey (Liberal)
New Hampshire: Maggie Hassan (Liberal)
New Jersey: Barbara Buono (Liberal)
New York: Kathy Hochul (Liberal)
North Carolina: Roy Cooper (Liberal)
Nova Scotia: Tim Houston (Progressive Conservative)
Ohio: Mike DeWine (Conservative)
Ontario: Doug Ford (Conservative)
Oregon: Tina Kotek (Democratic)
Pennsylvania: Tom Wolf (Liberal)
Quebec: Francois Legault (Progressive Conservative)
Rhode Island: Gina Raimondo (Liberal)
Saint Johns: Peter Bevan-Baker (Grassroots)
Saskatchewan: Scott Moe (Saskatchewan)
South Carolina: Henry McMasters (Conservative)
Tennessee: Beth Harwell (Conservative)
Vermont: Phil Scott (Progressive Conservative)
Wabash: Scott Holcomb (Conservative)
Virginia: Terry McAuliffe (Liberal)
West Florida: Jo Bonner (Conservative)
Wisconsin: Tony Evers (Liberal)
Last edited:
Wow, I can't believe I deleted that and forgot to re-edit it. I'll redo that infobox tomorrow.
Edit: Turns out I accidentally cropped it out when putting the infobox together. I'll work on it tomorrow. Please continue to point out any major omissions or errors like that, it helps better the project and the timeline.
Last edited:
Opposition Shadow Cabinet (2022)
Leader of the Opposition: Paul Ryan
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons: Mitch McConnell
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate: Don Plett
Chief Opposition Whip: Steve Scalise
Opposition Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs: Jon Huntsman
Opposition Spokesperson for Finance and Revenue: John Kasich
Opposition Spokesperson for National Defense: Tom Cotton
Opposition Spokesperson for Justice and Civil Rights: Ted Cruz
Opposition Spokesperson for Agriculture and Fisheries: Mike Pence
Opposition Spokesperson for Commerce and Industry: Pierre Poilievre
Opposition Spokesperson for Culture, Media, and Sport: Jim Jordan
Opposition Spokesperson for Education and Youth: Ben Sasse
Opposition Spokesperson for the Environment and Climate Change: Lisa Murkowski
Opposition Spokesperson for Health and Social Security: Cory Gardiner
Opposition Spokesperson for Housing and Urban Development: Tim Scott
Opposition Spokesperson for Immigration and Naturalization: Marco Rubio
Opposition Spokesperson for Indigenous and Tribal Rights: Serge Pruitt
Opposition Spokesperson for International Trade: Darrell Issa
Opposition Spokesperson for Intergovernmental Affairs: John Thune
Opposition Spokesperson for Labor and Employment: John James
Opposition Spokesperson for Natural Resources and Energy: Shelley Moore Capito
Opposition Spokesperson for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness: Liz Cheney
Opposition Spokesperson for Science and Technology: Lisa Raitt
Opposition Spokesperson for Transport and Infrastructure: Andrew Scheer
Opposition Spokesperson for Women and Families: Marsha Blackburn
Opposition Spokesperson for Veteran's Affairs: Brian Mast
Leader of the Opposition: Paul Ryan
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons: Mitch McConnell
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate: Don Plett
Chief Opposition Whip: Steve Scalise
Opposition Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs: Jon Huntsman
Opposition Spokesperson for Finance and Revenue: John Kasich
Opposition Spokesperson for National Defense: Tom Cotton
Opposition Spokesperson for Justice and Civil Rights: Ted Cruz
Opposition Spokesperson for Agriculture and Fisheries: Mike Pence
Opposition Spokesperson for Commerce and Industry: Pierre Poilievre
Opposition Spokesperson for Culture, Media, and Sport: Jim Jordan
Opposition Spokesperson for Education and Youth: Ben Sasse
Opposition Spokesperson for the Environment and Climate Change: Lisa Murkowski
Opposition Spokesperson for Health and Social Security: Cory Gardiner
Opposition Spokesperson for Housing and Urban Development: Tim Scott
Opposition Spokesperson for Immigration and Naturalization: Marco Rubio
Opposition Spokesperson for Indigenous and Tribal Rights: Serge Pruitt
Opposition Spokesperson for International Trade: Darrell Issa
Opposition Spokesperson for Intergovernmental Affairs: John Thune
Opposition Spokesperson for Labor and Employment: John James
Opposition Spokesperson for Natural Resources and Energy: Shelley Moore Capito
Opposition Spokesperson for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness: Liz Cheney
Opposition Spokesperson for Science and Technology: Lisa Raitt
Opposition Spokesperson for Transport and Infrastructure: Andrew Scheer
Opposition Spokesperson for Women and Families: Marsha Blackburn
Opposition Spokesperson for Veteran's Affairs: Brian Mast
I liked TTL so I’ll be watching and might be down to contribute a bit, especially with Eastern Europe which I sort of specialize in.
What do you mean by Anglophila? That the TL is gonna depict the British less ambiguously as good guys? I’m not a fan of that but eh, it’s not my TL at the end of the day and it’s the norm in these “no American Revolution” TLs anyway.
I’m very interested in the Balkan lore (and wonder if you’ll welcome contributions to it but for now am just asking questions and making observations).
The first things that jump out at me as interesting in the modern situation are Gigadonia and Serbia’s borders.
Gigadonia obviously comes with the question of what Slav-Greek relations are like, how big the Albanian population is, how they’re treated, and when and how not only a Macedonian identity separate from a Bulgar one developed (as it happened quite late IOTL but there’s all kinds of possibilities in AH), but how a United Slavic+Greek Macedonian identifying developed.
I see Serbia includes Kosovo, mostly. I won’t start a political chat here but I’m a Serb so I’m sure you can guess how that makes me feel. I hope we’re nice to the Albanians there (assuming the Albanian migration into the region under the Ottomans goes similarly to OTL though ofc without the refugees from Hoxha’s regime the population could be a lot more ethnically balanced too), but an interesting story/dynamic can sprout out of a cursed situation too.
I also see Montenegro still has Peć. This is MASSIVELY interesting as that means that the ceremonial/official see of the Serbian patriarch is in Montenegro (I assume Montenegro is Serbian Orthodox ITTL like IOTL). While for all intents and purposes, if the Serbian revolution of TTL resembled OTLs one, which I imagine it did, a patriarchal residence in Serbia’s capital, I assume Belgrade, will probably be the norm for a few generations before Peć is retaken from the Turks, it still might mean a more balanced ecclesiastical power dynamic between Serbia and Montenegro within the Serbian Orthodox Church. Serbia will also be even more concerned with retaining ecclesiastical unity with Montenegro, as an autocephalous Montenegrin church would make things awkward. All depends on what Montenegro’s relationship with Serbia is like.
Other things I notice
- Bulgaria is huge. Was it just very successful in its wars of independence or did it kick ass in a large post-independence war like the second Balkan war or the world wars?
- Does Serbia own Eastern Slavonia? It’s hard to tell but vaguely interesting.
- Bosnia has OTL borders (does it have Herceg Novi? It was ceded along with Neum and remained part of Bosnia up until the end of WWI and I find that massively entertaining). What’s the history behind Bosnia, frankly how the hell did it make it to the modern day as both independent and with those borders? Not saying it can’t or shouldn’t, evidently it can since it did IOTL (barely) and whether it should isn’t a discussion worth having, especially online, but Bosnia is likely to have a rough ride so there must be interesting twists and turns that land is with a United and independent Bosnia and God knows what the internal setup is like.
Generally how fleshed out and set in stone is Balkan lore?
Was there ever a Yugoslavia?
Whats the earliest divergence in Europe?
What Eastern European things are you certain you intend to have ITTL, either in the modern day or in history?
What’s up with the Baltic question mark? I can probably help with that once I have a better idea of the northeastern Europe lore.
TTL uses OTL people because Nazi Space Spy thinks it gives them more meaning than random names, and for TLs that 1) are short in terms of the time they cover/have late PODs 2) go to the modern day, like this one, I’m inc
Last edited:
Texan crisis continues.
GREATER BEXAR: Weeks after voting concluded in the 2022 Texan Presidential election, the race remains unresolved. Incumbent President Alex Jones is determined to cling to power after apparently being ousted by the thinnest of margins by former President Jim Hightower; Jones, who was elected to the post in 2018, has become a source of controversy within the international community for his blusterous rhetoric, penchent for conspiracy theories and misinformation, and racially charged rhetoric, as well as for his response to the Covid-19 global pandemic. Jones, who lost the presidential race according to the final count by a margin of just under 1% of the popular vote, has challenged the result, alleging fraud in a series of court cases currently working their way up to the Supreme Court. Jones has maintained that he is the legitimate victor in the race, a claim that Prime Minister Beto O'Rourke of the Liberal Party has claimed is "bullshit." The Prime Minister has warned that he may order the House of Representatives to certify former President Hightower as the victor anyway in the event the Supreme Court of Texas rules in Jone's favor and invalidates thousands of disputed ballots, which would surely spark a constitutional crisis in Texas that had never been witnessed before. Jones has in turn threatened to have the Prime Minister arrested for treason should the legislature ignore a hypothethical Jones victory before the Supreme Court, leading to some concern over violence and unrest. The Texan President hightened these fears when he called on supporters to march on the capital should the legislature, in Jones view, "install" Hightower in the Presidency.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Boston for the Earthshot Prize award ceremony, told reporters after a private meeting with the Prince of Wales that he is "alarmed" by the worsening situation in Texas, and has called for President Jones to stand aside "for the sake of democracy and peace." The Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland raised the matter before the United Nations on Thursday, stating firmly that the crisis in Texas threatens "the cohesiveness of the North American community of nations." Freeland joined her counterparts across the Atlantic in calling for Jones to stand aside in favor of Jim Hightower, warning that Texas's democracy was "in perril" due to the President's recent actions and statements. Other international figures joined the American government in condemning Jones's actions, with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador calling on the global community to isolate Jone's "regime." But not every North American nation was hostile; Dessert, the Mormon theocracy that has long been a pariah state, condemned what they perceived as American and British "meddling" in the domestic affairs of their southern neighbor, in a statement that was read on state radio.
- Picking up where we left off in Our Cousins Across the Water. Much of the Yankee Dominion lore remains in place.
Thanks for the comment! Most of the information on the Balkans is in the original Yankee Dominion thread, so I'll dig through it and refresh myself as to the established cannon relating to it. I'll get back to you soon.
Thanks. I might try to give it a comb through myself. I followed the thread pretty late in the project’s life so I only skimmed and thus I’ve missed parts of the lore.
Trudeau denies briefing on Indian funding.
Trudeau speaks to reporters before taking questions from the House.
PHILADELPHIA: Questions about whether the Prime Minister's Office was briefed on alleged Indian interference in the 2019 election dominated question period again on Wednesday — with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling suggestions that he isn't loyal to the Commonwealth "despicable."Trudeau speaks to reporters before taking questions from the House.
Conservative leader Paul Ryan tried multiple times Wednesday to get the prime minister to respond to allegations that he and his national security adviser were warned that Indian government officials were funneling money to American political candidates — despite their claims to the contrary.
According to reporting by the New York Times, the Privy Council Office prepared a report for the Trudeau government warning that Indian officials in New York City had disbursed money to a "covert network tasked to interfere in America's 2019 election."
"A large clandestine transfer of funds earmarked for the federal election from the Indian Consulate in New York was transferred to an elected provincial government official via a staff member of a 2019 federal candidate," the report says, according to The Times. The paper had previously reported similar allegations back in November, when the Commonwealth Intelligence Agency briefed Trudeau in January 2022 on Indian efforts to interfere in that election. The interference reportedly included the Indian government sending money to at least 11 candidates.
"We have no information on any federal candidates receiving money from India. That is still the case," Trudeau said in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Ryan asked all the questions directed at the Prime Minister on Wednesday. He pressed Trudeau to state which staffers received briefings and "how much his party got in illegal donations funneled from New Delhi."
"He's not interested in protecting the safety of the people serving this country. He's interested in protecting the Liberal Party," said Ryan in some of his harshest criticism of the Prime Minister to date. The day before, the Conservative leader suggested to reporters that security officials have been leaking allegations about election interference to the media because they "must be very worried about how the prime minister is working against the interests of his own country and his own people."
"And so they are so concerned about how the prime minister is acting against America's interest and in favor of a foreign dictatorship's interests, that they are actually releasing this information publicly," he said Tuesday. Trudeau said it was "despicable" for an MP to question the loyalty of another member of Parliament. "To suggest that anyone in this House isn't devoted to serving Americans, and keeping those who serve America in dangerous positions safe, is quite disgusting," he said Wednesday during a rowdy exchange with the opposition.
The Conservative leader responded that "no drama lesson" would distract him from his questions and, again, pushed for more information about the alleged funding. "I've asked it multiple times. I find it incredible that he can't stand up and answer with a zero," Ryan said.
Trudeau then suggested Ryan was trying to backtrack "from his heinous and disgusting accusations of disloyalty to the Commonwealth." The testy question period followed weeks of questions about India's interference in the past two elections and what the federal government knew about it. A panel of civil servants set up to monitor for foreign meddling during the last two elections said that while they did observe attempts at interference, it did not reach a level that would have threatened the integrity of the results. Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Trudeau deflected specific queries while acknowledging Americans have unanswered questions about India's role in the past two elections.
"To be quite honest, I know that no matter what I say, Americans will continue to have questions about what we did and what we didn't," he told reporters on Parliament Hill Wednesday. "It is of concern to people that India continues to try to interfere, and other countries are interfering in our democratic processes."
Trudeau's national security and intelligence adviser Jake Sullivan told a committee in December he saw no evidence that any candidates in the 2019 federal election were influenced by money from the Indian government. "The news stories that you have read about interference are just that — news stories," Sullivan said. "I'll just say it — we've not seen money going to 11 candidates, period."
A spokesperson for the Indian Communist Party also denied the allegations, claiming that the rumored funding of Liberal candidates was "a falsehood" based on "fascist disinformation and imperialist lies." The Indian government laid the blame for the rumors at the hands of London, claiming that the United Kingdom - often still disdainfully referred to as the "British Empire" in the government aligned press in India - was concocting these allegations to counter India's glowing global influence.
As Prime Minister of India, with the backing of Mountbatten, Powell went to war with the growing nationalist movement in the country. Playing upon sectarian tensions following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, Powell ordered India's armed forces to stand by as Muslim and Hindu subjects of the Raj went to war with one another in cities across the country, only intervening in 1955 when the violence threatened Britain's hold on the Indian subcontinent. The growing nationalist movement found allies in the equally strong communist movement, joining forces as a united front in opposition to the imperialist regime by 1960. The insurgency began shortly thereafter, gaining steam after many of the leaders of the Princely States withdrew their recognition of the Raj in favor of the militant independence movement. This lead to the deployment of western forces in India, with the British Empire and her Dominions (particularly the Commonwealth of America, New Wessex, and the few remaining African colonies) supplying troops to restore order and prevent the fall of the British aligned government.
During the 1960s, at the height of Powell's power, the ruling regime took an even more aggressive approach. Despite large pockets of territory already being held by rebel forces, Powell ordered the army to use any means necessary to crush the popular rebellion, with the army engaging in massacres and wholesale destruction of cities in order to root out the enemy. Millions were killed, tortured, or imprisoned during this time, with some modern day scholars denouncing the events as genocide or ethnic cleansing. Powell's efforts succeeded in killing millions of opponents of imperial rule, but also alienated western allies, with the Queen privately shocked and appalled at events taking place in the Raj. In 1968, with American casualties mounting, the Prime Minister Hubert Humphrey announced (perhaps in a last ditch effort to boost his reelection prospects) that American forces would be withdrawn from India. It would prove to be the beginning of the end of the Raj, with the UK abandoning their mission on the Indian subcontinent the following year. Powell would denounce the American and British Prime Ministers as traitors to the Empire, but ultimately, he could do little to stem the tide after the withdrawal of Imperial forces.
By 1970, the armed forces of the Communist Party of India, Islamists militias, the Indian National Congress, and Hindu nationalists alike had reached a tentative power sharing agreement for a post-Powell India. This helped heal sectarian and ethnic divides, and resulted in the combined Indian Liberation Army taking control of most of the country within short order. Powell and his forces were dislodged from New Delhi, where the Princely ruler of Hyderabad was declared India's new Emperor in 1971. Retreating to Bombay, where the last remnants of his loyalists held out awaiting a western intervention that would never come. The city was besieged throughout 1971-1972 before finally falling after hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties in street to street fighting, with Powell being captured and summarily executed after refusing the entreaties of supporters in Britain to resign and flee. Powell would die stoically, insisting upon the legitimacy of imperial rule right to the bitter end.
Credit to @Riley Uhr for the above infobox, which came from the original Yankee Dominion thread. I made a minor edit to reflect the changed Indian monarchy, but otherwise everything is left in place. @Oryxslayer had a TON to do with much of the global lore as well.
Minor Parties look towards 2023 breakthrough.
PHILADELPHIA: With the Prime Minister's mandate set to expire towards the end of the year, and with the Liberal - Democratic coalition government facing a new set of challenges, there is great expectation amongst the smaller parties represented in parliament for growth in 2023. This comes as voters express unprecedented frustration with the two traditional governing parties, with discontent with Philadelphia politics reaching an all time high according to recent polling. A recent Pennsylvania Gazette/IPSOS poll last month shows voter dissatisfaction with the hyper-partisanship that permeates the national discourse being the driving force behind their search for an alternative; this comes as no surprise to many. Jo Jorgensen, a frequent Libertarian Party candidate for the House of Commons from South Carolina and current Chairwoman of the Libertarian National Committee, is one of them. "The American people have traditionally been partial to small government candidates" said Jorgensen, who added that "the Liberals were once a party of liberalism; the conservatives likewise were once the party of staunch constitutionalism. Now-a-days, many Americans are wondering just what the hell happened?" The Libertarian Party has seen much growth since it's 1971 inception, electing their first MP and longtime leader Ron Paul in 1988. From that time, the party has expanded, particularly in the western provinces and to a lesser extent in the south. A new generation of Libertarian MPs, many from unlikely places such as Michigan, where current party leader Justin Amash represents the riding of Grand Rapids, or rural Kentucky, where Dr. Paul's son Rand was elected in 2010. Even in firmly Conservative areas like South Carolina, Libertarians have made inroads, electing Nancy Mace to parliament in 2019. The Libertarian Party has seen it's largest influx of new supporters since it's inception following the pandemic, when many skeptical of vaccines mandates and other COVID-19 related regulations flocked to their banner, and are hoping to capitalize on that momentum in the upcoming election.
Another party emboldened by the pandemic is the far-right People's Party, formed by breakaway Tory MPs Maxime Bernier and Matt Gaetz in 2019. The party, which has been accused of embracing far-right provocateurs and spreading disinformation, has seen it's fair share of controversies since their inception, yet continues to gain ground in the polls. Many who have joined the party have expressed disappointment in the Conservative Party, particularly the records of Prime Ministers McCain and Romney, and are hoping that the new party will take off in the same manner that Patrick Buchanan's short-lived Reform Party did before the merger with the Progressive Conservatives. Current polling for the upcoming federal election shows that the party may be in a position to pick up a handful of seats, which would create a major headache for Paul Ryan's Conservative Party as they seek to take back the majority in the House of Commons. Lauren Boebert, a gun store owner who has been on the forefront of the anti-gun control movement, is the People's Party candidate challenging Cory Gardiner in Colorado Springs. "Cory Gardiner is controlled opposition" said Boebert, referencing the Colorado MP's current role as Opposition Spokesperson for Health and Social Security. "When they used this pandemic to strip our rights away from us, where was Cory? Where was his voice and his vote?" asked Boebert. Another People's Party candidate who has attracted controversy is Marjorie Taylor Greene, a gym owner from northeast Indiana who is challenging MP Barry Loudermilk in his riding for controversially invoking the legacy of the 1860s Republican revolts when advocating for what she called a "national divorce" in a recent column published in her local newspaper advertising her candidacy.
Whereas the People's Party has been plagued by controversy, it is the Grassroots Party that has been plagued by infighting. "We need to be more than just the Elizabeth May Party" said Annamie Paul, an environmental and social justice activist who stood for the House of Commons in the riding of Old Toronto in 2019. Paul has signaled that she will run for the party leadership to succeed May, who has stated that 2023 will likely be her last campaign as party leader after taking the helm from Ralph Nader in 2005. May has not been deterred by such criticism; "it's a free country, it's a free party. She (Annamie Paul) can run if she wants too" said May, "I stand by my record." Under May's tenure as party leader, the Grassroots Party elected her as an MP from Columbia in 2010, and brought Pramilla Jayapal to parliament five years later. The party, which has seen increased growth amongst younger voters due to their tireless climate advocacy, is seemingly starting to stagnate however as two main factions quietly battle it out for the party's future. Some from the party's more radical wing, such as frequent Grassroots Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein of Massachusetts, favor Jayapal as May's successor, while the moderate camp, which includes New York's Grassroot provincial party leader Howie Hawkins, have advocated the party elect Annamie Paul instead as a "modernizer."
Then there is the Bloc Quebecois; the once big-tent nationalist party has increasingly drifted to the left under Duceppe's leadership. The party has seen an increase in support in Quebec in recent years under Mario Beaulieu's leadership, who has rekindled the desire for a third independence referendum in the province. The party hopes to make a statement in this years election by electing a full slate of Bloc MPs in all of Quebec's eleven ridings. "We are going to push the Liberals, Democrats, and Populists out of Quebec first" said Beaulieu in a recent interview, "than we are going to push Quebec out of the Commonwealth all together." "Independence" warned Beaulieu, "is an idea whose time has come."
But the most fascinating new force in Parliament is the Socialist Alliance; born from a small smattering of microparties, independent trade unions, and social justice collectives in the province of Columbia, the Socialist Alliance won a shocking victory in 2015 when they elected party leader Kshama Sawant to the House of Commons. Since then, the party has formed successful affiliates in other provinces, electing four more MPs in 2019, largely on the backs of the Black Lives Matter movement. The party offers radical reforms to an electorate that has traditionally been skeptical of the far-left, advocating the abolition of the monarchy, reparations for slavery and the genocide of indigenous Americans, a Green New Deal, and an economic program that they claim puts people before profit. The party has seen explosive growth amongst younger voters who view the Democratic Party as too pliant to the Liberals; Lee Carter, a Socialist Alliance MPP from Virginia and the leader of the newly formed provincial wing, is resolutely and unapologetically anti-capitalist. "We are going to transform the Commonwealth to the core" said Carter, "and nothing will hold us back."
A little pre-election worldbuilding. Expect more infoboxes, news updates, and the like soon. Please feel free to offer your own contributions, just run them by me first!
Before I run it by you, what are the official languages of the American Commonwealth?
Associate Justice Russell Brown alleges physical assault in Texas behind leave of absence.
GREATER BEXAR: Associate Justice Russell Brown has confirmed tonight in a statement that he was involved in a physical altercation in Texas in January, but denied the complainant's version of events, describing the account of events as "completely falsified." The incident is still under investigation by Texas authorities, and details have been murky. What is known is that a Mr. Crump reportedly punched Justice Brown several times in the hallway of a hotel where Brown had been hosted as a guest of honor at a banquet that night. According to the New York Post, Brown was allegedly drunk and attempted to follow a woman into her hotel room, when Mr. Crump intervened and physically struck the Justice. Brown has denied these allegations.
Brown's statement comes just a few days after the American Judicial Conference said it is "reviewing a complaint into the alleged conduct" of Brown, who has been on leave from the top court since February 1st. "On the evening of January 28, 2023, I was in Texas to participate in an awards banquet at a local resort. Following the event, I joined other attendees at the resort lounge. In the course of the evening, a group at a nearby table invited me to join them," Brown said in the statement.
Brown said that while he was chatting with the group, a man identified by him as Mr. Crump joined the group but did not speak to Brown.
"We all left the lounge at roughly the same time. Outside the lounge, Mr. Crump objected to me rejoining the group and suddenly, without warning or provocation, punched me several times in the head. Taken by surprise, I was unable to defend myself," Brown said.
Brown said he felt compelled to issue the statement after the complainant told the New York Post that Brown had "harassed my friends (and) spoke about how important he was."
Brown said Mr. Crump's version of events is false. He said he did not instigate the event and has provided "evidence" to the council that will verify his version of events.
"This incident has caused me embarrassment and created complications for the Court. I am hopeful that the Conference will resolve this matter expeditiously," Brown said in the statement.
Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of America.
Chief Justice Merrick Garland (appointed in 2017 by Justin Trudeau) (Center-left)
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas (appointed in 1991 by George H.W. Bush) (Right)
Associate Justice Russell Brown (appointed in 2005 by John McCain) (Center-right)
Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh (appointed in 2006 by John McCain) (Center-right)
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor (appointed in 2009 by Hillary Clinton) (Center-left)
Associate Justice Richard Wagner (appointed in 2010 by Willard Romney) (Center-right)
Associate Justice Diane Wood (appointed in 2018 by Trudeau ) (Center-left)
Associate Justice J. Michelle Childs (appointed in 2020 by Trudeau ) (Center-left)
Associate Justice Ketanji Jackson Brown (appointed in 2022 by Trudeau) (Left)
Last edited:
Cuomo seeks '23 comeback.
NEW YORK: Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former Premier of New York, has confirmed to the ABC that he is "seriously invested" in an effort to return to public life nearly 18 months after being forced from office by a caucus vote of New York Liberal Party MLAs in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. Cuomo, who has largely laid low since leaving the Premiership, has begun speaking out in recent months, claiming that the Liberal Party has "lost it's way" and predicting that Prime Minister Trudeau will be defeated at the polls this year. Cuomo, who claims he can "turn around" the Liberal Party's fortunes, retains control over a PAC with a nine million dollar war-chest that could make him a formidable candidate for federal office should he seek election to parliament this year. But despite his plethora of resources, Cuomo still faces many hurdles in his attempt to make a comeback.For starters, Cuomo would need to convince an existing Liberal Party MP to either stand aside should he seek to run for parliament in a safely Liberal riding. This is unlikely to happen as it stands, with party hustings concluding months ago. Many New York MPs, even in Cuomo's own party, had called on him to stand aside in 2021 at the height of his scandal. However, Cuomo could have an easier time convincing a Liberal candidate to stand aside in another party's riding. There has been a growing effort by Liberal activists in the riding of South Queens to draft Cuomo to run as the Liberal candidate against Socialist Alliance MP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most prominent and progressive members of the House of Commons. Cuomo has not indicated whether he'd run against the popular "AOC" in her riding, though the Liberal Party candidate in the riding, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera has so far rejected calls from some quarters of her local Liberal Party affiliate to stand aside for Cuomo, whom she dismissed as a "sex fiend" and a "bully."
Cuomo has come under fire from inside and outside of the Liberal Party for attempting his comeback; "I would relish a chance to end his career once and for all, tbh" tweeted Ocasio-Cortez after learning of Cuomo's interest in challenging her. Deputy Prime Minister Elizabeth Warren, leader of the Democratic Party, also made it clear that Cuomo would not be welcome in government should he return to parliament. "There are only 393 members of the House of Commons, and it is critical that each one of them be of good character regardless of party affiliation or ideological conviction" said Warren, "and Andrew Cuomo does not meet those requirements." The office of the Prime Minister as well as the Liberal Party National Committee have both declined to comment on Cuomo's potential comeback, though one member of the party's governing board, speaking off the record, described the former Premier as "delusional" for attempting to return to public life so soon after being forced from office.
If anyone wants to cover a provincial election, feel free! DM me with what you have in mind for your respective province and I'll send you all the resources you need from the original Yankee Dominion thread/established cannon from this thread. I'm open to any and all suggestions.
It's great to see this timeline back again in a new iteration. Quick question: Where is John McCain from ITTL since Arizona doesn't exist and I presume America never controlled the Panama Canal?
McCain’s family comes from OTL Mississippi but he was actually an MP for Virginia ITTL.
Alex Jones resurfaces in East Florida.
ORLANDO: Former Texan President Alex Jones has been living in an Orlando suburb since January, according to multiple sources in both Texas and in Philadelphia. The controversial radio host and one term President of the Commonwealth's southern neighbor has been the subject of intense speculation in recent weeks as his whereabouts have remained unknown. What is known is that Jones quietly left the country following his defeat in the 2022 Texan Presidential election and the subsequent storming of the Texan legislature in Greater Bexar by his enraged supporters, settling near Orlando as he reportedly seeks medical care for an undisclosed ailment. Jones, who has made no public remarks since leaving office, had previously contested the result of the 2022 election, citing ballot irregularities and rumored Indian interventions on behalf of the Liberal Party of Texas with little evidence to back up these claims. As the Texan Attorney General's investigation into the events that transpired at the Texan capital building continues, there is growing speculation that Jones might face sedition and incitement charges for his role in the riot. Karine Jean Pierre, the Prime Minister's spokesperson, did not comment on the investigation, but confirmed that Jones would likely be extradited back to Texas if criminally charged. Jones has had a long history of controversies dating back to his early days as a conspiracy theorist radio broadcaster, but it was not until early 2017, when Jones launched his longshot campaign for the Christian Democratic Party's presidential nomination, that he became a household name around the world for his bombastic and racially charged rhetoric. Angering many Americans after he publicly claimed that both the 9/11 attacks on New York and London as well as the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings were hoaxes orchestrated by the federal government and the British royal family, Jones none the less surged to the top of the polls and dispatched a number of rivals in a heated primary before defeating Liberal Party candidate (and later Texan Prime Minister) Beto O'Rourke in a closely fought election. The presidency would be as bumpy of a ride for Jones as his first campaign, losing the 2020 Texan legislative elections after botching (and initially denying) the ongoing pandemic and entering into a trade war with America, one of the country's most critical trading partners. Jones also sought to bring the regime in Desert into the North American, claiming that the theocratic government was misrepresented by the press, even visiting the secretive state as the first Texan President to be received officially by the Mormon Church's top leadership. Defeated narrowly by former President Jim Hightower in 2022, Jones's supporters rallied behind him as he pushed back against the certification of the election, which he insisted was marred by fraud, resulting in the January 6th riots.
The former Texan President has quarters of support from some fringe elements within the Commonwealth, and has maintained ties with both the Libertarian Party and the People's Party over the year. On his weekly podcast, former Pennsylvania MP and Libertarian Party leader Ron Paul claimed that the Trudeau government was "cooking up" the charges against Jones, whom Paul described as an "advocate for liberty" and "a stalwart against socialism" in Texas. Maxime Bernier and Matt Gaetz also both issued statements in support of Jones, and condemned government's commitment to Jones's potential arrest and extradition. East Florida's Premier Ron DeSantis also spoke up in defense of the self-exiled Jones, warning that the provincial government would prosecute anyone who threatens or attempts to harm the former President. Businessman and real estate mogul Donald Trump, who has been a major benefactor of the People's Party in the past, invited Jones to join his upscale Mar-A-Lago club shortly after word leaked of Jones's move to East Florida.
Others were not as charitable in their assessment of the former Texan President; Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke out in opposition to Jones's residency, stating that "while he is entitled to enter the country, he is not entitled to stay in the country, and I suspect that it won't be long before he'll be facing charges in Texas." But awaiting the Texan legal system's next action was not enough for some. "Alex Jones and his fascist movement is not welcome in America" said Grassroots Party MP Pramila Jayapal, while Socialist Alliance MP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on the American people to "make his life hell" on Twitter. "If you see him in a restaurant, or at Disney World, or in a Walmart, or wherever, you must confront him" stated Maxine Waters, the MP for North Miami, "because thugs like him only understand one thing - force."