All Along the Watchtower: A Dystopian TLIAW

[shearsforest]

The wait for the next president of a now-crumbling United States... can't wait to see what mayhem happens this time.

Also, we're at president 43 as of the latest turn, and just barely into the 21st century (OTL 43 was W. Bush, between 2001-2009) for comparison.

 

[Arthur Marston]

Harold Washington surviving would probably be a popular AH scenario in this world. I think most people would agree that he'd give the South a good smackdown if they tried anything funny, unlike Vidal.

 

[GDIS Pathe]

I still have to wonder what the hell was Moscow and Beijing thinking supplying arms to a bunch of neo-confederates while the US was busy withdrawing from the world.

Surely they couldn't have thought pissing off a country with a nuclear arsenals still in thousands was a good idea, right?

 

[Enigma-Conundrum]

I still have to wonder what the hell was Moscow and Beijing thinking supplying arms to a bunch of neo-confederates while the US was busy withdrawing from the world.

“Kick ‘em when they’re down and they won’t get back up” is a pretty common motive for them here, especially as they've peeled apart NATO bit by bit. They definitely aren’t thinking of all the ways the mess could blow up in their faces, and to be totally fair the US et al didn’t really think of the consequences of the same when the USSR was collapsing and I can imagine they’d have been locked into their support should the rump USSR have invaded independent post-Soviet states. The USSR and PRC are mostly just tempted by the opportunity to finally be rid of most of their serious opposition here, imo. It’s a pretty shiny thing to look at, total global domination…

 

[Fleetlord]

I also think that, unless Vidal sold off the whole damned Navy, the "sudden surge of foreign weapons" is National Union propaganda used to justify their reverses and covering up the reality that the US Army, already hollowed out and riddled with questionable loyalties, is now at "Russia 1918" levels of completely mutinous after being asked to inflict the horrors of modern war against people who still look and sound a lot like Americans.

(How else did someone sneak a nuke right under the inauguration?)

 

[mortonofski]

The what-n-who now? Hard to be a "memorial" when he's still kicking isn't it?

Randy

I've heard it referred to as such IOTL, where Mr. Carter is still (thankfully) among the living.

 

[big-click]

Gotta say @Vidal it's very impressive to be able to write a figure you (presumably) admire as a disastrous leader - and to do it in a way that's convincing to a reader like me who'd normally be on board with many of Vidal's radical moves ITTL.

 

[RanulfC]

I do think you raise very valid points, and I think that the nature of the TLIAW format is some of this nitty gritty doesn't get entirely fleshed out. That said, given that the dissolution of the United States is a central part of the last two presidencies and the next -- it deserves attention.

I would say, first of all, that Dixie had a four-year head start before this war to solidify itself. They left and Vidal said "See ya!" In that time, they were able to establish relationships with foreign countries, including nations that would have not aligned with them if they seceded and the US fought them. Remember, too, that Vidal has essentially pulled back American foreign policy to the point where the extent of its international footprint is merely the amount of trading necessary to sustain the economy. There's no more foreign military bases (and consider that all of those troops have come home), there's no involvement in foreign affairs as far as UN policies/value judgements, etc. And the US doesn't care (under Vidal) whether or not foreign nations are trading with Dixie, because Vidal doesn't care that they've left.

And so, in four years, in my mind, its entirely plausible that Dixie has
1) Established a functioning government
2) Dixians have felt a sense of national identity
3) Dixie, sensing that Vidal's presidency would, one day end, took necessary steps to build machinery, train the military, etc. to prepare for a future US invasion
4) Dixie established an international presence, including trade relationships enabling it to export its raw materials, etc.

And while I agree that their economy is inherently weak, it's also true that they have a good number of raw materials and crops to export that make them attractive to other nations, including bad faith actors who are eager to stock them up with what they need to stave off a future US invasion, knowing that it's 1) likely to happen and 2) a sure way to knock the US off its superpower pedestal once-and-for all

Meanwhile, in the US, there has been a dramatic reduction in military spending, the selling off of machinery and equipment to other nations (including, some perhaps, who turned right around and sold them to Dixie). So while Dixie can prep for four years, the US is actively reducing its capability to win a war against Dixie.

Lieberman comes in, wastes no time, and is fighting Dixie with a military that in no way resembles the 1996 US Military of OTL.

Like I said I'm "just" complaining and not really looking for changes or argument. Just pushed some buttons on my part BUT I'd point out that TLIAW format really just means you just have to give up a few things for the time frame... Life, eating, sleeping, you know 'trivial' stuff

And I note you don't address the REAL issue with the timeline

Keep up the good work folks

Randy

 

[Vidal]

Like I said I'm "just" complaining and not really looking for changes or argument. Just pushed some buttons on my part BUT I'd point out that TLIAW format really just means you just have to give up a few things for the time frame... Life, eating, sleeping, you know 'trivial' stuff

And I note you don't address the REAL issue with the timeline

Keep up the good work folks

Randy

Thanks, Randy! Just wanted to give a little bit of our thinking, but appreciate your willingness to suspend disbelief just enough to keep the story interesting.

 

[Vidal]

44. Lynne Cheney (R-WY)
January 20, 2001 - May 11, 2014

“Madison was developing another idea: that the absence of clashing ideas and competing interests leads to overreaching and corruption.”​

On January 20, 2001, Secretary of Education Lynne Cheney was at Camp David with her husband, former Congressman Dick Cheney, who was recovering from heart surgery. Given her husband’s condition, she seemed a natural choice to be the “designated survivor” at the Second Inauguration of President Joe Lieberman. It proved to be a fateful choice.

She was in a cabin, watching the festivities, when the screen cut out and Secret Service agents rushed her to a bunker. She was joined by Wesley Clark, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who decided to skip the events in Washington because of a heightened terror alert. Once again, his decision proved fateful. His decision to skip the inauguration would soon give birth to a wide array of conspiracy theories. A federal judge was brought to Camp David to swear Cheney into office, and it was broadcast live on television, a decision meant to show the continuance of government.

Cheney gave brief remarks, written by her and her husband, in which she promised to find those responsible and bring them to justice. She immediately called Canadian Prime Minister Brian Tobin and asked for them to deploy peacekeeping forces to select American cities. Tobin, worried that any chaos may result in threats to his own nation, complied. Within hours, the first Canadian troops were mobilized and joined US battalions in the Northern states. It marked the first time since the Battle of Midway that foreign troops were on U.S. territory.

On January 22nd, President Cheney declared that the attack on the United States was orchestrated by Deseret and announced that the United States was launching a nuclear attack on Phoenix, a metropolitan area with some 3.2 million former Americans. There was not enough time to clear all of the American troops from the region before the missiles landed.

Cheney also began reaching out to various former allies in Europe, and enlisted the help of the British and Prime Minister Tony Blair to assist in operations against Deseret.

The Bombing of Phoenix was controversial within the military as some American soldiers died in the blast. On Cheney’s orders, Chairman Clark rounded up hundreds of suspected deserters within the military’s ranks and sent them to a newly-constructed military prison at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas.

Within days of the attack Evan Mecham was declared dead and the provisional leader, an ailing Rex Lee who was, like Cheney herself, the highest-ranking elected official not in the capital at the time of the attack, moved to make peace. Lee was slated to resign his office as Attorney General within weeks, but instead assumed the Presidency of Deseret. He negotiated an end to the war, including reunification.

Cheney quickly announced a plan for Reconstruction, which included rounding up Mecham’s closest advisors – those who had survived the Bombing of Phoenix, at least – and sending them to one of a number of military prisons erected in the central US under Cheney. Many of them had been originally constructed during the Bork days. Cheney re-stocked them.

Deseret’s readmittance raised questions about the reorganization of the American government. Various state governors had begun appointing new U.S. Senators, but Cheney did not immediately recognize them. On February 20th, she addressed the nation and delivered what would become known as the “Unitary Executive Address.” It was mostly penned by her husband and laid out her vision for the new government.

Cheney believed that until the country was ready, she needed to remain in clear power. “We are in an uncharted time. Our very existence hangs in the balance, and we have only survived a devastating fracture of our republic and attack on our nation because we have a clear and unquestioned leader who the world respects and our people can look to.” She announced that she had spoken to leaders in more than half of the states, who agreed to suspend the special elections to replace dead Congressional leaders. Cheney declared that “when the time comes,” she’d call for national elections and promised that in the next two years she would subject herself to a “reaffirmation vote.” Finally, she announced that she was moving the Capitol to Philadelphia, fearful of re-establishing the seat of government in an area full of nuclear fallout. It also moved it out of the reach of Dixie. The transition would take years.

Immediately after the speech, Cheney filled a slew of appointments, set-up a new “Supreme Court” consisting of 14 members, all of whom steadfastly backed her, but gave the appearance of a check on her authority. There were no recognized Senators to vote on their confirmation.

Most, but not all, governors signed on board to Cheney’s plan. The most vocal objection came from New York Governor Mario Cuomo who called Cheney’s actions “tantamount to dictatorship.” He appointed two Senators, David Dinkins and Gerald Jennings, who were soon joined by two “shadow senators” from Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont. This shadow government often passed resolutions disagreeing with Cheney’s actions but they were without any influence. Though many had expected Jerry Brown of California to lead the resistance to Cheney, he was one of her earliest endorsers – giving her an air of legitimacy that allowed her to consolidate power.

Cheney made several key (and controversial appointments) to guide her incoming administration. First, she named Ted Olson as her Vice President. Olson was a typical DC insider within Republican politics who presented no real threat to Cheney’s power. She then named her husband, Dick, as the head of the Pentagon, returning the office to “Secretary of War” as opposed to Defense. She then named a young and ambitious lawyer, John Yoo, as Attorney General, and Paul Wolfowitz as Secretary of State. Wolfowitz, of course, had drafted the plan for Operation Tar Diet - a plan considered by the Bork Administration which would’ve launched a CIA operation inside Venezuela.

This new circle of advisors helped Cheney draft the next steps of her administration, particularly the September attack on Anchorage. A nuclear attack on Alaska’s capital collapsed the independent nation, and Cheney moved in to secure America’s access and control over its oil. American companies moved in quickly to begin drilling in ANWR.

But the world was rocked on September 11, 2001, when the world suffered devastating attacks at the hand of Saudi Arabia. Pilots from the Saudi air force launched simultaneous attacks in several world cities: London, in which aircraft destroyed Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, killing Queen Elizabeth II; Moscow, in which aircraft destroy the Kremlin before dropping a nuclear bomb; and Paris, where a bombing campaign killed thousands and destroyed the Eiffel Tower. The full effects were not known, however, until weeks later when the world learned that the Saudis had simultaneously deployed smallpox as a bioterrorism method, quickly infecting people throughout Europe and the Soviet Union.

The USSR and many European nations announced a coalition to invade the Middle East, targeting Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The United States, with its military already involved in multiple conflicts on its own continent, did not join the coalition.

In advance of the 2002 Midterm elections, Cheney announced that the country was “not yet ready” for the replacement of Congressional representatives. Instead, there would be a nationwide referendum on whether or not Cheney should retain her office as President of the United States. She also ran a slate of pro-administration Governors in every state. Only Massachusetts and Vermont elected anti-administration governors.

For the first time, federal officials oversaw the production and counting of ballots for federal office in every state. Voters were handed two ballots – a federal ballot and a state ballot for their statewide and local offices. The federal ballots included the retention question and they were counted in Philadelphia under the direction of the Federal Elections Commission. On Wednesday, November 6, 2002, the FEC announced that Cheney had won the retention question with 88% of the vote.

Meanwhile, fighting in Dixie continued. A special forces raid captured Timothy McVeigh in December 2002, giving the United States significant momentum. The announcement produced a memorable moment when Joint Chiefs Chairman Wesley Clark declared simply, “Ladies and Gentlemen: We got him.” McVeigh was tried for war crimes in February 2003 and hanged in an event broadcast live on television. His trial and execution inspired a number of the McVeigh Societies to act out in violence, but military forces arrested or outright killed them in the streets. Within weeks, these rogue bands had all but dissolved as the individuals who were a part of them decided to abandon their resistance to save themselves.

At McVeigh’s hanging, which Cheney herself attended, she declared that Dixie’s second president, Louis Beam, was next, and she was proven right. American forces captured him and shot him dead when storming the Presidential Plantation in Birmingham. It was a major blow to Dixie, but Vice President Zell Miller quickly assumed office and announced swift retaliation, conscripting all men over 16 into the national service.

In response, Cheney escalated her attacks on Dixie’s allies, launching nuclear attacks on South Africa and Rhodesia, obliterating their major cities and rendering much of the area inhabitable. Those allies retreated from their support of Dixie, severely inhibiting the Southern nation’s ability to counter an aggressive U.S. land invasion.

Land fighting continued until the fall of 2005 with casualties mounting on both sides. Fatigue with the war was growing and a restless American public had now gone more than four years without a Congress. Pro-Democracy demonstrations threatened Cheney’s power. With her grip on power loosening, Cheney announced that there would be federal Congressional elections in February of 2006, overseen by the Federal Elections Commission.

But Mother Nature provided Cheney’s biggest boon. A particularly bad hurricane season decimated Dixie’s Gulf Coast. Many nuclear reactors that had been constructed during Robert Bork’s “All of the Above” energy approach were badly damaged, sending toxic radiation into the air and groundwater. New Orleans ended up completely under water. The Dixie government lacked any resources to adequately assist its citizens, to say nothing of the fact their economies were already imploding. White Dixians angry at the government’s mishandling of the response and Black Dixians who had long been subjected to cruel conditions in the country rose up together to overthrow their government. Many in the military turned on the government as well, dragging Miller from the Presidential Plantation and hanging him in public. A new provisional government, led by Mitch Landrieu negotiated the return of Dixie to the United States.

Dixie states were forced to pay massive reparations and supporters of their government were imprisoned in various detention facilities throughout the United States.

Riding the momentum from victory over Dixie, federal elections went overwhelmingly in Cheney’s favor. Only two anti-administration Senators were elected, both from Massachusetts.

The new government moved quickly to rebuild the war-torn nation, including the nuclear fallout zones in Alaska and Arizona. With many of the former dissenters dead or imprisoned, there was little dissent as Cheney continued to consolidate her power and rebuild the country. Federal aid from Canada and China, which both avoided the global war in the Middle East, proved instrumental in the country’s ability to rebuild itself. A flood of Chinese immigrants – many of whom were doctors and laborers – entered into the US to set-up new hospitals and factories, just as they had helped to develop most of the African continent.

With Reconstruction underway, Cheney and the new Congress, including representatives and Senators from all 50 states, drafted a new Constitution for the United States. It bore great similarity to the original Constitution but there were some notable changes in the make-up of the government:

1) All elections for federal office were to be overseen entirely by the Federal Elections Commission, including the counting of ballots.
2) An election for President would be held in November 2008, they would be elected for a four-year term. The President would face a retention ballot question four years later. Elections for the presidency would alternate between candidate years (2008, 2016, 2024) and retention years (2012, 2020, 2028). If a president was not retained, the Vice President would temporarily assume the presidency until a candidate election was held two months later. There were no term limits.
3) Members of Congress were limited to four terms in the House and two terms in the Senate.
4) Every federal election was to be non-partisan, though candidates could identify themselves as “pro-administration” or “anti-administration.”
5) The powers of the federal government were dramatically expanded, including government takeovers of education policy.

In November 2008, Cheney soundly defeated two opposition candidates: Mitch Landrieu and Dennis Kucinich. She did not run with Ted Olson again, instead placing him on the Supreme Court.

The 2009 death of Cheney’s husband, Dick Cheney, who was still acting as Secretary of War, was seen by some as an opportunity for her to step aside. Instead, Cheney re-committed herself to the presidency, helping to dispel the notion that he’d secretly been in charge throughout her presidency.

Much of Cheney’s domestic policy focused on American schools. She played a personal role in the federal education curriculum, including teachings about American excellence, and dispelling academic theories of multiculturalism which had long drawn her ire. All of this took place against the backdrop of a world on fire.

At first, the nations had hoped to avoid nuclear conflict, but the biological attacks that had quickly forced Canada, the US, and China to close their borders to foreign travelers had taken a heavy toll on the European and USSR populations. After ten years of sustained conflict, the USSR/European bloc launched a series of nuclear attacks on the Middle East, destroying much of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. An emboldened Gadaffi moved to consolidate his power in the region.

In 2012, Cheney was again retained, winning, according to the FEC, 91% of the vote. Her administration soon ran into trouble, though. After working at a detention facility housing multiple members of the Dixie government and military for eight months, an officer there began documenting the torture of the prisoners and the extreme conditions under which the dissenters lived. They leaked them to the Washington Post, which published them online. The FBI immediately raided the Post’s office and arrested many of the reporters. They were never brought to trial after being labeled “enemy combatants,” and when pro-Democracy agitators filed suit on their behalf, the cases were dismissed for lacking standing.

Disturbing photographs from other prisons soon found their way online, and protests broke out against the Cheney regime. To further inflame the protestors, the handful of elected anti-administration members of Congress said they suspected a number of elections were rigged by the FEC. Cheney moved quickly to quell the dissenters, arresting many of them, including former Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who “lost” his recent re-election. All of them were labeled “enemy combatants” and were indefinitely detained without facing trial.

A nation long built on democratic principles could only stand Cheney’s totalitarian regime for so long. In May of 2014, the protests grew to an extreme point, and Cheney announced that she would be resigning as president on May 11th. She retired to her ranch in Wyoming, confident of the nation she’d rebuilt.

 

[HesitatedEye]

I'd like to petition that the American National Anthem in this universe be changed to Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who. Was Judges from Judge Dredd on that bingo card cause at this point that wouldn't be that unrealistic in this insanity. I love it

 

[GDIS Pathe]

I think just about every bingo bar Dissolution, Suicide, Soviet Agent, and, somewhat remarkably, the Primary Challenge, has been ticked

 

[Sam Houstonian]

I did not see Lynne coming, that was a curve ball for sure

 

[Ginger & Lime]

Surely, things will improve now that Mubarak has resigned!

 

[shearsforest]

President review time.

I am once again shocked.

What do I even use as a nickname? Lynn "Le-May I go all-out to bring back the USA" Cheney? Lynn "American 'Tator" Cheney?

The USA is back, but the world is getting really fucking shitty.

Southern Africa? Nuked.

Saudi Arabia? Nuked.

Dixie prisons? Abu Ghraib.

Europe? Smallpox'd.

The USSR? Also smallpox'd.

Needless to say, I would love to see a Worlda made of this at its conclusion.

I'm also wondering what becomes of pop culture, given the collapse of the United States and the world also becoming total crap? On one hand, there's that. On the other hand, there also needs to be a form of escapism from it.

 

[Arthur Marston]

But the world was rocked on September 11, 2001, when the world suffered devastating attacks at the hand of Saudi Arabia. Pilots from the Saudi air force launched simultaneous attacks in several world cities: London, in which aircraft destroyed Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, killing Queen Elizabeth II; Moscow, in which aircraft destroy the Kremlin before dropping a nuclear bomb; and Paris, where a bombing campaign killed thousands and destroyed the Eiffel Tower. The full effects were not known, however, until weeks later when the world learned that the Saudis had simultaneously deployed smallpox as a bioterrorism method, quickly infecting people throughout Europe and the Soviet Union.

I'm guessing the attacks were carried out with ex-USAF aircraft.

 

[Deleted member 81475]

Ah, the Cheneys. Once again, their blackhearted dictatorial natures have set the stage for what I can only imagine will be a bunch of dumber, meaner fascists.

Another excellent, plausible update, and with it, American democracy is no more. Then again, do we still have time for one more hope spot before the bad end?

At first, the nations had hoped to avoid nuclear conflict, but the biological attacks that had quickly forced Canada, the US, and China to close their borders to foreign travelers had taken a heavy toll on the European and USSR populations. After ten years of sustained conflict, the USSR/European bloc launched a series of nuclear attacks on the Middle East, destroying much of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. An emboldened Gadaffi moved to consolidate his power in the region.

Christ, was Mecca destroyed? I could see Gaddafi losing control to hardliners and something like ISIS actually getting the pan-Islamic borders it wants after that.

 

[Lemonfish]

Surely, things will improve now that Mubarak has resigned!

Be careful for what you say, or @Enigma-Conundrum would pick this guy as the next POTUS to screw things further:

 

[Kermode]

Retaining elections are a great touch — a small but very effective way of showing that the United States has become an authoritarian regime. Don't think I've seen them used before for an American dictatorship, either.

 

[wwbgdiaslt]

London, in which aircraft destroyed Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, killing Queen Elizabeth II;

Big Ben is the bell in the Clock Tower/Elizabeth Tower, not the tower or the building itself. I suspect the intention was the clock tower, but then more accurately would you not say that the aircraft destroyed (parts of) the Palace of Westminster/Houses of Parliament?

I also don't fully understand why Cheney bombed Alaska when their withdrawal was peaceful and their return after the wars conclusion was pre-agreed.