America's Funniest President: Mo Udall Presidency & Beyond
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Summer 1999- Kosovo Victory
It was a rough decade over for Yugoslavia. The series of defeats from the Yugoslavic Wars would lead to an increasing decline in trust in the government, especially as it came at the cost of geopolitical isolation. After the Bosnian War, it seemed that things could potentially quiet down and the economic sanction would finally be loosening up over on Yugoslavia. However, the paranoid atmosphere in the government would lead to the escalation of conflicts over in Kosovo and would lead to full-out revolt. Additionally, the leadership over in Albania saw this as their chance and would go forward in declaring war on Yugoslavia in the name of their kinfolk in Kosovo. They were not alone as prior to the declaration, talks were held with Macedonia for the latter to enter the war in a combination of border security, pragmatism and futue Albanian debt over to Macedonia. And thus, the Kosovo War would be born and began raging on. By now, Yugoslavia was on its last legs due to its army worn out from past wars and an abysmal morale among the troops and the populace, who also had a rising contempt over to the government. The reinforcements courtesy of Bulgarian and Romanian mercenaries didn't help out. The final drop would come from massive protests across Yugoslavia against the war and the government. Fueled by civilians, tired of the decade of war against the neighbors and now freshly enraged from the return of economic sanctions, the newer system of news informing them of the situation and the overal bubbling frustration at the politicians in charge, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. People were now all but trying to run out Slobodan Milošević and his associates out of office and after nearly a week, he would end up resigning along with said associates. [1] The new interim government scrambled and would organize for a surrender. The following weeks would see Kosovo be given their independence before they would hold a referendum to join Albania, which would see over 80% on both both Albania and Kosovo for joining. All in the meanwhile, Milošević and his associates would be sought out by the UN for crimes against humanity for the actions during the Yugoslavic Wars, with NATO and SUSR agents working to search. The SUSR itself meanwhile would provide some aid over to the otherwise somewhat isolated Yugoslavia. But finally, the war was over and it seemed Europe would finally reach peace once more.
Over in the United States, President Specter has continued to oversee the United States along with Vice President Powell. So far though, things were relatively quiet and they were more than content with that, focusing on various aspects of security such as on the increasing importance of cyberspace and the growing plan for a national internet service provider along with the Justice Department managing their case with Microsoft along with the concerns of a "dotcom" bubble. A new prominent website known as "Napster" would be formed over and while pretty quiet starting out, it would gather quite a bit of attention over in the next several months and years. [2] No other politician would really be challenging Specter within the Republican Party though the Party itself was quite busy as the new crop of politicians was coalescing around something new. With the Dems meanwhile, they were also pretty quiet on who to run though the first one to announce candidacy would be former Californian governor Jerry Brown. The Unizens meanwhile would be also quiet on potential candidates though they would still announce the confirmation of their new name: the United Central Party, though still keeping the moniker of their voters being Unizens. Many believe that this upcoming rebranding would be part of their campaigning strategy coming for the new millenium.
Turkey would reappear over in the news once more though this time over in regards for a series of earthquakes. The mainshock of the İzmit earthquake, also known as the Kocaeli earthquake or Gölcük earthquake, occurred on August 17, with its epicenter located in İzmit, with a moment magnitude of 7.6 and maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). The shaking lasted 37 seconds, causing great damage to the area and many casualties. [3] Besides causing plenty of destruction over to Istanbul, it would lead to some other disasters, one was a large fire over in the Tüpraş petroleum refinery and the other would be a tsunami caused by the quakes. The earthquakes would have some surprising diplomatic rammifications over this. One was basically a surprising by the Greek government to lend some aid and support, namely because they also suffered from the same earthquakes as well, though their response was better than that of the Turks'. However, the State Union of Sovereign Republics would also pledge aid over to the shaken Turkey though some saw this more as part of the SUSR's somewhat renewed interest over in international affairs after periods of quiet observation. Though while Greek aid was accepted by the curent government, SUSR aid had to be accepted more indirectly which would have some political rammifications. Nonetheless, the ordinary people very much appreciated this on both sides and it was a silver lining in an overall chaotic situation.
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[1]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999
[2]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_in_the_United_States
[3]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_İzmit_earthquake
He's still Senator at this time though his second/final term will be coming before he'll have to retire.
Russ Feingold is still on his first term while Sanders is still in the House of Representatives.
Autumn 1999- CETO Creation
Autumn 1999- CETO Creation
CETO flag
CETO flag
As the smoke was settling over in Europe, a new order was establishing itself. Albania had grown quitely nicely with the annexation of Kosovo though plenty of work was being done to make sure everything was fitting together and outside help was coming in. Yugoslavia meanwhile was trying to keep itself from falling part as Montenegrins were now wondering if it would be better off if they went in their own direction. NATO agents along with SUSR agents were hunting Milošević and his associates across Europe while the SUSR was showing off more influence in the aiding of rebuilding Turkey while also sending more assistance in nearby regions. In some interesting news, Georgy Arkadyevich Arbatov, Chief Director of the Sovereign Union, would announce his retirement, citing his age as the main reason to do so and thus a quick election was needing to be held to find his successor. After a series of elections, the new Chief Director of the Sovereign Union would be Viktor Arkadyevich Tyulkin, who accepted the leadership role with grace along with noting the promise of a better tomorrow and cooperation over with the United States. Though also the news would be the formation of CETO, or the Central European Treaty Organization. Having been in development over the past few years, it would be founded by Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with assistance from the United States. The point of CETO was to serve as a form of sister organization to NATO though primarily consisting of members of the Warsaw Pact. This was part of a compromise to assuage the security concerns of the former members regarding Russian belligerence though doneso indirectly. CETO operated alot like NATO in its structure and strategy with more than a few third-party consultants being from NATO along with having similar requirements to join. Additionally, one could join NATO while being part of CETO, given the founding members and in fact, one of the stipulations within CETO's paperwork was being able to call upon the help of NATO if need be, which was added to NATO's own paperwork, granting a similar level of practical protection. For the most part, CETO was taken pretty well, even by the SUSR, though some couldn't help but note that CETO's formation meant that Józef Piłsudski's goal of Międzymorze did end up occurring in a way. Right now though, CETO was focusing on finishing up the training and began sending talkings to the Baltics along with the Balkans to potentially join.
Meanwhile, the People's Republic of China would be hosting a large celeberation over the 50th anniversary over of the founding of the PROC, with a speech being given by the "paramount leader" in Zhao Ziyang. [1] With the passing away of Deng Xiaoping back a couple years ago, Zhao fully took on the mantle of "paramount leader"and would further push the political reforms over in China to transition to true democracy. While he does have a stronger number of supporters, especially after the purges of the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was aware opposition still remained toward those goals since not everyone in the party was for it. Nonetheless, that still pushed him with his efforts and noting the future will be decided by the youth to take on his work. Beyond celeberating the 50 years of the PROC continuing on, China would open the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, taking over all international flights from Hongqiao and keep focusing on growth, especially in the development of renewable energy as the more modern nuclear power plants began coming online to replace coal plants. They were also finalizing the preparations for the transferance of the sovereignty of Macau from Portugal to them. [1]
Overall, things seemed to be quieting down regarding politics for the most part. Turkey would be the subject of more necessary aid with another intense earthquake. This time, it would be the 7.2 Mw Düzce earthquake shakes northwestern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The centre-left Labour Party takes control of the New Zealand government, with leader Helen Clark becoming the second female Prime Minister in New Zealand's history. Over on the side of faith, Roman Catholic Church and several Lutheran Church leaders would go on to sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, working together to resolve a centuries-old doctrinal dispute over the nature of faith and salvation. On the political aspect, Australia would fail to become a republic as a a referendum proposing the replacement of the Queen and the Governor General with a President to make Australia a republic would end up failing, namely due to indecision regading which electoral system to use along with some general mismanagement. [1] Speaking of elections, he United States would be preparing for electoral season as more and more candidates would begin to appear for the president, especially with the Unizens as a surprise candidate would appear to start off the race there and injecting fresh blood to see if the Unizens could actually maintain themselves as the third main party over in the American political sphere. While it was certainly still up in the air, many were looking forward to seeing who would be the brand new candidates representing themselves over in the next year.
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Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999
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did Howard Dean still become governor of Vermont ITTL? if so, he might throw his hat into the ring.
Yeah he's likely still governor though it does mean he likely wouldn't be running then.
1999 Overview
1999 Overview
1999... the final year of the millenium... A year full of enthusiasm for a better tomorow yet also one where people looked back on how far they have come from the past decade, century and even millenium. After all, with such a brand new beginning coming, how could people not be excited? For the United States, this was quite the case given all the changes that have occurred over the last 20 years or so, going up to changing their own electoral system along with plenty of other changes viewed to modernize the US to be a true "city on the hill" that many hope it could be. Of course, how such a future looked like was still up in the air. On the one hand, many things could be counted upon, such as te growing usage of the internet by a variety of people as more and more websites were popping up for a mutlitude of reasons. On the other hand, this wild west approach meant that there was plenty of room for failure and learning. For example, one was the concern of the Y2K Phenomenon, a fear that the changing of the year may affect many of the older computers and cause systemic failures if not addressed, which many companies were working with one another to coodinate. President Specter spent his time in office on the last year looking over this web landscape with an approach to security as part of his overall law and order strategy, something that would come to define future American conservatives. Another defining cultural moment would be the growth of acceptance of SATMIN+ people as a result of Bagemihl's work. While acceptance rates have grown faster and larger than predicted, which in it of itself was generous of the time thanks to the legal protections along with precedent set by Specter's predecessor, the digestion over the objective evidence regarding samgen relationships and behavior found in animals outside of humanity was the final push over for the mainstream that was needed. While the mainstream media attempts to address it were somewhat clumsy if out of inexperience, there was genuine effort in understanding and compassion, especially with the need to address the issues.
Plans for such an approach were also considered in the wider world as the UN were discussing intiatives regarding SATMIN+ people such as prohibiting discrimination and other issues. As the world was coming together, various conflicts were coming to an end either through discussion or through warfare. The Kosovo War would see yet another defeat over to Yugoslavia while Albania and Macedonia would grow in prestige there. A new power player in the form of CETO would be launched as a form of counterpart over to NATO to give protection over to the former members of the Warsaw Pact who wish to join while giving them some form of plausible deniability regarding NATO. However, the influence could still be felt as part of the growing social democrat order that has been settling in since the end of the Cold War. Syria would also experience a political change as Hafez al-Assad would pass away and would be succeeded by his daughter Bushra, who made a power play to push her brother aside throug the old guard and a new alliance with Qatar, showing the growing rise of Neo-Baathism's influence. No one knows what their plans are though they have been making larger strides in modernizaton efforts, including secularization. Many have been wondering where else they are planning to spread their influence though signs seem to have point already toward Oman and possibly Yemen. Saudi Arabia has also been a prime target, with foreign policy experts preparing for potential further insurgent movements and trouble spots in the world.
As for media, there was alot to be looking forward to. One large hallmark would be The Matrix, a unique cyberpunk film that would become quite iconic for the decades to come. Focusing on Thomas Anderson aka "Neo" (played by Keanu Reeves), a computer hacker who finds himself having an existenial crisis after a near-death accident, namely that said accident leads him to realize that the world he and the others live in may be a computer simulation. According to the Wachowskis, the original plan considered for sentinent machines to be harvesting humans, but noted that it seemed too impractical and would go on for a more gnostic sort of approach, which many suspecting that answers may come in future films and create a franchise that would influence the zeitgeist. Meanwhile, M. Night Shyamalan releases the The Sixth Sense, a sensational and unusual film that would launch him up into fame. Other standout films would be American Beauty, The Mummy, and The World Is Not Enough, continuing on with James Bond's franchise. Contrasting the latter would be Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, the supposed sequel to International Man of Mystery that would show another Austin Powers and seemingly disregard the events of the previous film though it appears to be a jab over the seeming lack of continuity in Bond films. One fan theory is that the two Austin Powers are different people, but related. Disney meanwhile would knock it out of the park twice with two films. One was an adaptation of Tarzan, showing the life of the "King of the Jungle" and helping to renew interest in the works of his author while another would be another collab with Pixar in Toy Story 2, which would prove to be a surprisingly successful sequel and show the importance of proper data management. However, the upcoming project, titled "Sea Dogs" was one that Jim Henson noted would be a "film of the future to remember" and one that he and Eisner put alot of collaborative ambition on. Though speaking of Henson, he would also get some note for helping to push for another animated film, albeit not one of Disney, that of Brad Bird's The Iron Giant. The initial concerns over profitabiltiy would be washed by its massive success along with further credit to animation as a medium, with the film becoming a classic.
Television would also see a time of transition. Matt Groening's next series in Futurama would be released, showing a bizarre future with the protagonist Philip J Fry awakening in the year 3000. Groening noted that if The Simpsons was aimed at baby boomers, then Futurama was aimed at younger brightbangers/older freeborners. This caused many to wonder if The Simpsons may be ending soon. Meanwhile, more adult animation would be seen with the release of Family Guy, a Simpsons-inspired animated adult sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane alongside his two new work partners, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The former would meet them after the latter two failed with their pitch over with a show named South Park and he decided to help them out with the buisness. Major other hits would be The Sopranos, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and The West Wing aimed over for adults. Over for younger audiences, plenty of big hits came. One would be the third animated series from Paul Dini and Bruce Timm's team, that of Wonder Woman: The Animated Series. The series would start the Amazonian demigoddess superheroine Diana would have her rescue Steve Trevor and end up stumbling into the modern human world in need of guidance and champions, especially as a powerful phenomenon was leading to ancient mythic monsters awakening from their slumber. The series has been lauded for its respectful and enjoyable portrayal of the heroine, but also in exploring her human side as Diana grows as a person and trying to figure out who she wants to be. Other shows would include Ed, Edd n' Eddy and Courage the Cowardly Dog on Cartoon Network along with Rocket Power and Spongebob Squarepants over on Nick. Anime would also get a bit of a further boost with a new dubbed series with Digimon: Digital Monsters and a new Power Rangers in Power Rangers: Far Galaxy, which would show the first Ranger killed in action (done with her actress going over for treatment in leukemia).
Video games would also see some classics released. From Squaresoft for the Playstation and Nintendo Ultra 64 would be Chrono Cross, which followed up on Chrono Trigger and in the same setting, but with the new theme of parallel worlds. The NU64 would also get another Rare game with Donkey Kong 64. Other standout games would be Mario Party and most of all would be Super Smash Champs. Super Smash Champs would be a unique fighting game where some of the top stars of Nintendo could fight it out, becoming an instant classic. With Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Link, Pikachu, Samus Aran, Kirby and Fox McCloud as playable characters along with unlockable characters in Luigi, Francesa, Captain Falcon and Ness, it was quite an enjoyable time and the start of a new franchise. Pokemon would surprise everyone with the release of new games in Japan with a release elsewhere next year, Pokemon Orange Version and Pokemon Violet Version, improving much on what the previous left off and taking place three years after the events of the first game, playing either a male trainer (default name Orange) or female trainer (default name Violet). With 100 new Pokemon, the return of Team Rocket, new elements such as day and night cycles, held items and the like and new characters, including a fierce new rival (named Marron, for his bleak and blunt personality). Other games included Gran Turismo 2, System Shock 2, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Rayman 2: The Great Escape and also more with Everquest. Lastly, would be the peeks to the sixth-generation of consoles: the Playstation 2, Nintendo's Project Dolphin, the Sega Dreamcast and even Microsoft/Atari rumored to come in with a console of their own.
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Yeah there is, just needed to edit it in! What does everyone think of the new Smash and the like?
Outside of starting with female trainer from beginning, Gen 1 is mostly the same, but Leafeon switches places with Tangela.
speaking of Smash, who's Francesa? and no Jigglypuff?Yeah there is, just needed to edit it in! What does everyone think of the new Smash and the like?
Outside of starting with female trainer from beginning, Gen 1 is mostly the same, but Leafeon switches places with Tangela.
Francesa is from this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Krion_Conquest
Basically, looking for something to replace Megaman with, Nintendo noticed this, bought the IP and welcomed it to the family. Krion Conquest got a port to the Game Pal and then Quest 64, which was still in development, would be obtained and shifted to become a prequel known as Krion Quest 64, focusing on Francesca in her first fight. Gotten some cult classic status by now, though they're still working out how to best show her off given how Krion Quest 64 was not too Megaman-like (it sorta was, albeit with RP combat).
Though Batman Beyond probably won't get made ITTL.
