Hmmm... Newsradio may happen, but I imagine Andy Dick may end up having to leave the industry or at least it partially, likely still doing some voicework, but fading into the background given the difficulties regarding being on drug and alcohol programs.
America's Funniest President: Mo Udall Presidency & Beyond
- Thread starter CountDVB
- Start date
Summer 1998-Copyright Summer
Summer 1998-Copyright Summer
Windows 98 desktop screenshot
Windows 98 desktop screenshot
Midterm seasons are coming up over for United States. For the most part, eveything was smooth sailing over in the United States. The economy was humming along as people were spending money on themselves and each other with various new hobbies or donating in local green infrastructure, showing that both nature and the economy can grow together. Politically, matters were pretty quiet as people were unified on various matters, especially with President Specter really doubling down on sanctity of law and order as reports of radicals being stopped from committing violent crimes. Overall, it was quite a peaceful time over in the US. There were two pretty interesting trends of great note though. One was the growing popularity of the Unizens, as more and more mainstream pundits were recognizing they are now a prominent influence in politics and in fact various politicians from both parties were switching over to Unizens, with many wondering how this would affect things like presidencies. The second trend was regarding legislation. Two notable bills that were being discussed were about copyright law of all thing and while normally not much of a big deal, the background squabbles were enough to get people intrigued. One bill was over extending copyright for another 20 years in the US to match what had been done in Europe.
However, rumors of the support with certain politicians and the like caused a debate and then also because of Disney's surprisingly divided support of the bill. While their support was done in regards over to preserve Mickey Mouse's intellectual integrity, some did find it hypocritical given how Disney built up their works from the public domain. At the same time, some argued that the problem was more in the nuances of it; after all, the American public domain sphere was relatively barren compared to Europe's due to many works from the 1930s to 1950s or so that remain locked up and were orphaned works or not really considered. With a couple of bigwigs pushing this along with other issues, the bill would likely take a while longer to go through. [1] Another bill would be similar, namely how to handle copyright over in the digital age and on the Internet. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act was being written to abide by the World Intellectual Property Organization's standards put in place a couple years prior. Though here, the concerns of those of a free Internet were louder, more numerous and more well-organized though debates were still quite civil and the concerns were over the Act's broad implementation could be detrimental in the long run due to the volatility and growth of the new technology along with the concern over the overreach of big companies, especially noteworthy given the filed case against Microsoft by the federal government and several states.
Beyond this and the news of the British coming to peace with the Irish along with the devolution with the Welsh and the electoral reforms, several nations were considering looking into their own sphere of politics for their own reform opportunities along with calming things down. With the millenium coming along, it seems like a good time. Other European developments would see the European Central Bank being established and replacing the European Monetary Institute. Weeks later, over 140 countries meet up in a conference in Rome to vote to create a permanent International Criminal Court to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression . Days later over in Russia, Nicholas II of Russia and his family are buried in St. Catherine Chapel, 80 years after he and his family were killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918. The whole ordeal is viewed as a solemn affair with a few world leaders and notable figures in attendence.[2] And speaking of churches, the Catholic Church would continue to find itself over in hot water Over in Texas, the Diocese of Dallas agrees to pay $23.4 million to nine former altar boys who claimed they were sexually abused by former priest Rudolph Kos.[3] The surprising allegations and accusations toward the Catholic Church along with their reactions have been pretty damaging to not just their reputation, but aligned groups as well. Other news would include over the near-flooding over of the Yangtze River in China; torrential rains have been concerning the CCP and thus would reinforce many of the levees in the area and doing rapid construction work. This would be what was needed as the levees would hold, if become damaged and in need of more repairs though fortunately disaster was averted and the government would would go on for further reinforcements and development. [2]
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[1]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act
[2]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998
[3]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_in_the_United_States
The Lone Ronin
Banned
Reading up this timeline the fact that Ronald Reagan mishandled the Iran hostage crisis, the oil crash and the volatile situation in Central America as a result of being elected early means that he won't be as fondly remembered as OTL and not garner widespread praise from Republicans even with some good policies under his belt which makes him the Jimmy Carter of TTL. It also means that the 80s won't be defined as the decade of Reagan with Mo Udall already becoming Reagan as the strong 80s president who guided America through some tough times even if his approach and policies are quite different, party affiliation aside.
I also noticed that the Electoral College was abolished and replaced by a new electoral system coupled with the rise of the United Citizen Party (Reform Party). Seems to be a bit of a stretch with the former considering that it's been a major part of American elections since the early years of the republic and I would have preferred the Congressional District Method since it was already in place by Maine and Nebraska and Reuben Askew could have gone with that to reform the Electoral College.
Lastly, considering the trends of popular works of fiction being relatively similar with some exceptions, I assume that Jumanji got made but with a slightly different cast or even the same as OTL considering we still have Die Hard and Independence Day well after the POD.
Abolishing the electoral college has been wanted for decades.
The Lone Ronin
Banned
Well yeah but it never became as prevalent or popular as it did in the Udallverse.
I would say he would remembered worse than Jimmy Carter. While there was not really an Iran crisis (and he did accidentally help Iran avoid a theocracy), his screw up of the Panama Canal issue and the subsequent economic problems would bite him worse. Additionally, his administration would be the cap stone of a dozen dismal years the GOP had control of the White House, starting with Nixon, the first of what would've been the new Republical political paradigm. Instead, liberal Republicans pretty much now are fighting the hardliners while converting those in the middle on their side during the Udall years, leaving an Udall-led Dems with some of the old guard left to ram in reform after reform in.
And well, they did try to get rid of the Electoral College before back during Nixon's time and came close to succeeding too (though their replacement would've been what France does). It failed because a couple of the smaller states near the end. Here though, it's become politically viable across the board and Askew's own popularity helped with that. Each political party threw their weight on it for one reason or another, hence why it would succeed here.
Jumanji is still made yeah and as for pop culture, it's a bit complicated. Action movies are around, but a bit more cerebral and or more fantastic. Cocnerns and anxieties over the rise of crime and so on are alot lower so we don't get much "darker/edgier" stuff, so there it becomes quality over quantity. And of course, a trend of SATMIN+ aimed B-films and indie films that help flesh out alot for queer folk and serve as a fascinating generational gap.
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Plus, Carter IOTL atleast had his “nice old guy” quality to him in retrospect, while Reagan I presume ITTL still has his OTL personality but four years earlier than IOTL, which I presume wouldn’t work as well during the malaise era compared to the golden age of the 1980s.
Autumn 1998- Evolving Politics
Autumn 1998- Evolving Politics
Cover of Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity (misprinted copy saying 1999 instead of 1998)
Cover of Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity (misprinted copy saying 1999 instead of 1998)
The US midterms have come and gone, with pundits showing surprise on the growing momentum of the Unizens. Some have attributed this to how both the Democrats and the Republicans are viewed by some voters as "outdated". Perhaps the biggest showing of this would be the victory of Jesse Ventura as the Governor of Minnesota as a Unizen, [1] showing that the party did indeed have momentum for executive ambitions and already a few higher named politicians would be making switches or putting it more into the United Citizens Party. This was concerning to both the Democrats and Republicans as they were becoming aware of the growing perspective on them. Furtherstill was how with the retirement of most of the old guard (a few remained in consulting positions within the party's infrastructure), there was still this search for solid identity in the new age here of politics. Even the Unizens weren't entirely sure themselves as it would all come down on who would run for president next term for it among other issues, including a mild scuffle regarding them and a South Carolina local party of the same name formed in 1969. Some expect that the United Citizens Party may rename themselves out of courtesy to the older local party. There was also the rise of the American Green Party (formerly Green Party USA) over in some spots. The Libretarian Party meanwhile was undergoing its own struggles as a result of political ideology and direction, which some have attributed as another reasion why the Unizens were able to supercede them.
A United Nations begins moving toward charging various people for crimes, such as those participated in the Rwandan Massacre, including Paul Kagame for suspicions on ordering the assassinaton on former Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana. [2] Crimes included attempts of genocide as while the casualities were kept to a minimum thanks to the PMC backed by Ethiopia and South Africa involved, it was still an attempt. The Middle East still remains with tension over in Saudi Arabia against the House of Sauds with growing divisions over political and generational alignments, which various groups have been trying to utilize their advantage. Up north over in Syria meanwhile, a power struggle is in play to replace Hafez al-Assad as leader of Syria. With his health in serious decline and the death of his original successor Bassel (his firstborn son) from a car accident, this left his second son Bashar as the political heir. However, Bushra al-Assad, Hafez's oldest child, only daughter and arguably closest to him, has been mounting her own attempt at fighting for the seat, and things have been growing more tense, especially with her being more argumentative regarding Bashar. [3] Various powers and nations, especially those aligned with Syria, have been making discussions on when Hafez passes on and what may happen there. And of course even in Europe, Macedonia and Albania stands firm in the Kosovo War though the weakened Yugoslavia still maintains the advantage for now. However, rumors are circulating of another power potentially joining in.
Yet with all of these tensions, the spirit of cooperation remains. With all of the member states having signed the Europol Convention, Europol is established. [2] Short for the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, it is the law enforcement agency of the European Union and designed to handle criminal intelligence and combat serious international organised crime and terrorism through cooperation between competent authorities of EU member states. [4] Anoter example of global cooperation would come in the form of the Zarya Module. Blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, an SUSR Proton rocket is launched with the Zarya Module, which is to be the first segment of the International Space Station. [2] As such, these growing signs of teamwork and amicability served to further fuel the flames of optimism and hope for human progress. And capping off the year for such a thing would be none other than a certain book: Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity. Written by Bruce Bagemihl and published ahead of schedule, the best selling novel would cite numerous studies on more than 450 species that would show that homosexual and multisexual behaviors are common among animals. Beyond that, it proposes a theory of sexual behavior in which reproduction is only one of its principal biological functions. Bagemihl theorizes that group cohesion and lessening of tensions, seen for example among bonobos, are other important functions of sexual behavior. [5] The implications of the work was earth-shattering; it was the definitive proof that samesex and multisex attractions were not just natural and part of life, but found within countless species outside of humanity. The book would become a major talking point across the newsites, forums and pundits on this on the rammifications of this and finalizing a growing paradigm shift on people thinking about sexuality. This scientific groundwork pushed more people into support while the pious progressives noted the spects of group cohesion and tension management as part of the grander deific design. Not everyone accepted the idea, but the mainstream forwardness of it would be of groundbreaking importance and push alot of people into reconsideration. Bagemihl himself would become a prominent appearance on these shows and noted his thanks for several prominent political figures and scientists for helping to speed the book's work and publishing, with various world leaders, including President Specter himself remarking on the book and reading it. It serves as removing a final lynchpin in the floodgates for this new paradigm out in the open and in mainstream culture.
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[1]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_in_the_United_States
[2]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998
[3]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushra_al-Assad
[4]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europol
[5]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Bagemihl
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1998 Overview
1998 Overview
1998 would foreshadow some of the upcoming changes that would be coming to various political spheres. From the success of the Unizens in Congress and even gaining a governor's seat to the British's reforms with Welsh devolution and their own change to their electoral systems, it seemed like there was a wave of looking into modernizing political systems or status quos. This would also be a turning point as it would be the end of the era of the Jordan Court with the retirement of Chief Justice Barbara Jordan of this year and give a spot open for President Specter to choose. He would end up choosing Gilbert Stroud Merritt Jr. over as the new Chief Justice and thus would begin the era of the Merritt Court. It was likely that President Specter would have more options to choose given the upcoming retirmeent of Patricia Wald next year. This would leave Stephen Gerald Breyer, Amalya Lyle Kearse, Richard Riley, Janie L. Shores, Charles Kirbo, Bruce Babbit and Laurence Tribe as the rest of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, if Specter won reelection, he could potentially put in the successors for Breyer (retiring in 2002 at most) and Kearse (retiring in 2003 at most). 1998 would be a bit of a fresh year. President Specter and Vice President Powell continued a focus over on security such as stricter punishments on 'munafics' and other violent criminals while further working with various cyber companies and organizations over on improving computer secuity on the various political levels, discussing the likely sectors of growth of the net and the influences on other industries and so on. President Specter may not be as ambitious as his predecessors were, but for the most part, that wasn't what most people were looking for right now and were quite happy to lounge in the peace, but still help out however they can.
And help would still be needed in the world. Europe would see war return with the Kosovo War, a result of the Yugoslavic government's paranoia creating a self-fulfilling prophecy over with the Albanians of Kosovo. Albania would see this as a chance to try and unite with their brethren while Macedonia would get involved for the sake of their border security. The weakened Yugoslavic forces initially had the upper hand, but the growing exhaustion of a near-decade of war along with the cause of the war was quickly degrading morale of the armed forces and some were wondering if other powers may get involved in the war. Further eastward, the spotlight is moved from Iran and Turkey and going a bit further south to Syria as a leadership struggle there become potentially violent. While it is unlikely, many have been noting that the Neo-Baathists have been growing bolder and Qatar has been preparing for something, though what it is remains unknown. That said, they have also been communicating over with Iran and Iraq about various issues and some wondered if the Neo-Baathists were making any moves. On the other hand, matters in Africa were calming down as the various strongmen were being forced to step down or dying off, leading to a hope for peace there, but alot of work had to be done. The economic concerns over in Asia were seeming to calm down from the bubble burst and that there was a nice and steady recovery, which many sought relief. China especially given how 2000 would see the Beijing take the opportunity for the Olympics, with 2004 going for Athens and 2008 up in the future, but with a few countries eying it for a potential grab. With this and the peace growing between the two Koreas and in other places, it was still a general sense of optimism.
1998 would see quite a plethora of films. Saving Private Ryan would dominate the film industry while Shakespeare in Love would win accolades. Comedies would do quite well with Rush Hour, The Big Lebowski and The Truman Show showing a surprising amount of depth in thought along with making the audience laugh. Not all films would manage to make it as American History X would get delayed due to concern of the subject matter at hand regarding the current concern with munafics while Godzilla would end up getting canned during the middle of production due to disatisfication, contract disputes and so on, with some noting that it deviated a bit too much from the original regarding portrayal of the beast in general. Disney would naturally do well with Mulan becoming a breakout hit, especially in China; the adaptation showed the titular brave young woman take her father's place in war though unlike the original legend, this version is heavily implied to be set in the early Ming dynasty (chosen for the sake of style and writing) and her fighting against the "Grim Horde", a group of outlaws and banished peoples under Shan Yu. They would also do well with their cooperation with Pixar over with the release of A Bug's Life, showing the life of ants dealing with being subjugated by grasshoppers and a prominent message regarding fighting against those who would exploit you. Though speaking of ants, Dreamworks would finally throw the gauntlet, led by Jeffrey Katzenberg along with a new partner in Dreamworks, Don Bluth. The first would be well Antz; a CGI film starring ants, it was a bit more aimed at adults and focused exclusively on them for the most part while Katzenberg's dream project would be made with Prince of Egypt, an animated adaptation of the Ten Commandments. And news were also coming in of two upcoming films, one being focused on the lost city of gold while the other was part of a deal with Bluth, that of resurrecting some of Bluth's old works, the first being an adaptation of the Norwegian folk tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon". Though the dark horse would be in Pokemon: The First Movie, which would see the first of many films from the multimedia franchise that has captivated the imagination of children and the youth of all ages and the film showing Ash and friends fighting the byronic Mewtwo along with meeting the mysterious Mew, which some lucky folk were able to get distributed to their Pokemon games.
Television would also continue to march on well. Power Rangers would also prove to be quite the lucrative franchise for Metrokids as with the success of Mighty Morphin and later Zeo with the next one now Power Rangers Astro, going into space with the first Red Ranger of color. Another release over from Japan would of course be the dubbed Pokemon anime itself, which would grow quite a following for its slightly sardonic tone though also attempts at worldbuilding by some of the more thoughtful writers. The improv comedy show Who's Line Is It Anyway would air and would start rising to become quite a popular show. Nick would go further with edutainment with The Wild Thornberrys and Cartoon Network would release a surge of girl power over with The Powerpuff Girls, focusing on a trio of superpowered gradeschool sisters, created by Craig McCracken. They were initially planned to be kindergardners, but bumped up a bit in age for writing purposes and would also be on the cutting edge of pushing what it could do, especially as a SATMIN+ youth following would grow for the show. Though one of the other more fascinating shows would be GameSpot, a channel focusing on discussing video games and video-game related topics, which would become a fascinating source as it became a way for various others to come together. Though speaking of video games, the Console Wars rage on with Nintendo firing on all cylinders. The Legend of Hyrule: Ocarina of Time on the Ultra 64 would become an instant classic and a smash hit while Nintendo would make friends with Rare for Banjo-Kazooie. Though the big thing would be the story behind Krion Quest 64. After the snubbing with Megaman X, Nintendo began looking for something to try and fill the void. By happenstance, they happened upon Krion Conquest published on the NES and made by Tokai Communications. A quick gameplay and realization, they moved to buy the rights of the game and release a GamePal port known as Krion Conquest DX. It would help promote the GamePal Color alongside Link's Awakening DX and Wario Land II. Interest would grow in the witch in the future setting with the witch Francesca and her ability to switch between magic types letting play like Megaman. This would lead over to Krion Quest 64, a prequel to Krion Conquest that would see Francesca's first battle against Empress Elysia and exploring the fantastical world and her magic; the game was meant to be a standalone game known as Quest 64, but would be converted to become part of the growing "Krion" franchise that was growing with Nintendo having another main lady of gaming. Sony remained strong with games like Resident Evil 2, Street Fighter 3 Alpha and Crash Bandicoot Warped and Sega would also keep going at it with Sonic Xtreme coming out after years of delay and managing to do well despite the background politics along with a new game in Panzer Dragoon Saga. Heck, even while computer games would see thier own standout hits like Grim Fandango and Half-Life coming out while the revived Atari brand, now a subsidary of Microsoft, began working on remastered versions of games to create franchises, with Bentley Bear of Crystal Castles of focus as a mascot and Swordquest also viewed with interest.
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NICE STUFF.And something fun for y'all! I managed to make this minor thing. Found a pretty good text and made an edit on how GamePals would look like
View attachment 766699
Very interesting!And something fun for y'all! I managed to make this minor thing
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Thanks! What do you think of the changes with 1998 and so on? Any questions or so on?