Catching Up with our neighbors Across the River

It has been a few years since last we interviewed any members of the Republic. A lot has happened and it is about time we caught up. However, we are not going to fire up the Time Machine. I decided to pick up the phone this time and ring up the current administration in Anchorage. (For those new, that's the traditional Capital. During the cooler months they are in the Winter capital of Reno). Since last year the Prime Minister of The Republic of Ansdale has been Katherine Anne Morgan, one of the members of the Founding Families of the Republic. Remember that the Son of John Hunt Morgan (yes, that John Hunt Morgan) married John Lee Anderson's daughter Katherine. Her grandfather, also named John Hunt Morgan, was Prime Minister from 1967 to 1969. Like the rest of the family, she is a member of the New Republican Party, the original party formed in the Election of 1888. James Davis, the first Prime Minister, served without Party Affiliation. One other thing, I will be questioning the Prime Minister in accordance to "Reality" as according to the United States from Sea to Shining Sea. Of course the Prime Minister will answer according to the Truth: that there is a Sovereign country West of the Mississippi River.

• CG: Madame Prime Minister, thank you for granting this interview. Those of us here in The United States are currently in the midst of Presidential Campaigning, and a lot is being said about Hillary Clinton having the chance to be the First Woman President. Any comments?
• KM: Who has been President for the Past Eight Years? Last time we checked she was finishing her second term. And your Constitution barred any more time as President.  
• CG: As far as we know Barak Obama is finishing his second term and Clinton is going for her first.
• KM: Really. I thought you didn't allow anyone but a natural born citizen become President?
• CM: We don't. Obama was born in Hawaii. 
• KM: Exactly. And Hawaii is a Sovereign Kingdom associated with the Republic of Ansdale. We came to Hawaii's aid during the Pineapple War and kept the Kingdom intact. Hawaiians are born dual Hawaiian/Ansdale Citizens. The arrangement poses problems for us as well. If the person asserts his Hawaiian citizenship he cannot be Prime Minister, so Obama could not rise to the top here either.
• CG: Well at least the Republic got a woman leader first.    
• KM: I'm actually the third woman Prime Minister of the Republic. Our first was Katherine Lynn Montgomery during World War Two, and the second was Natasha Baranov who was in office at the Same time as Ronald Reagan. And before you say Reagan was a Californian, he was born in Illinois, which is still in the United States, is it not.
• CG: Since my questions are shot how about you indulging in fiction and humor me. If Obama was our President for 8 years and Hillary Clinton is going for her first term as President as we assert, What do you think of Clinton's Chances?
• KM: Probably very good. Here in the Republic our politics skews more to the Conservative viewpoint, so we wouldn't be in favor of someone so naive as to how the world works gaining office.
• CG: Would you be referring to ISIS by any chance?
• KM: With all due apologies to any ancient Egyptian deities, yes. By conceding that the Levant exists is agreeing with them that the State of Israel is illegitimate. That we will never do.
• CG: So what is your official relationship with The United States?
• KM: Nominally they are an ally. However since our founding in 1875 we have been in almost an entire state of tension with them. At least we are not at war.
• CG: What about your other two borders?
• KM: We have no problems with Canada or Guatemala that I know of at the moment.
• CG: I think you missed a country. 
• KM: No, I didn't.
• CG: Just South of the Rio Grande, name of Mexico.
• KM: Doesn't ring a bell. All that is there is the Central American Security Zone. If there were a stable government there there wouldn't be a flood of people trying to illegally enter our fair land. Our troops try to maintain some sort of order there. When they learn to behave like civilized people we will withdraw.
• CG: Wouldn't a wall work just as well?
• KM: I refer you to my previous answer. Still, we in the Republic would much prefer to deal with Mr. Trump.
• CG: I guess that begs the question, is it because Trump is not a politician? And would that also would imply that he would be easier to manipulate?
• KM: Yes to the first, but no to the second. Mister Trump is a businessman, and despite a politicians protests to the contrary, business people understand the way the world works. Actually he would be harder to manipulate, but would be easier to work with.
• CG: Getting Back to ISIS. What would be the difference working with Trump or Clinton?
• KM: Since Clinton and Obama are the same, It would be difficult to deal with either of them. It's hard to be allies when one side thinks that a few minimum wage jobs will fix the problem, and the other knows they want us dead. Mr. Trump understands the Islamist Threat. We could partner with him.  
• CG: We shall see if your hopes are realized. Madame Prime Minister, I think it best if I ended this interview and did some research. May I contact you again?
• KM: You have our number, call anytime.
• CG: Thank you for your time.

Well that was interesting. I wonder if The Republic will be happy once the Election is over. We shall see.   I guess it is easier going back in time. Until next time, I sign off.

Four Peas to Creating an Authentic Alternative History: Possibilities

My second grade teacher, Miss Kennealy, had a favorite saying: "It's a possibility". Unfortunately following that advice can lead to some pretty weak premises. I am proposing a variation on that advice, and that is the third pea.

P#3: Possibilities

We could also call this, how many links are in your chain of events (or chain reaction). Unless you are interested in writing a very short story, you should try to have your premise create as many new possibilities as possible. Among the possibilities opened up by my original premise.

1. The obvious one: The initial story of the events leading up to the war, character backrounds, etc.
2. Without the States West of The Mississippi River being counted, certain election results will be altered

• The "Stolen Election" of 1876. Hayes (R) v Tilden (D). Hayes had 185 Electoral Votes. Tilden 184. They each needed 186 to win, but Tilden had won the popular vote by 260,000. The creation of The Republic of Ansdale removed 12 States and 76 Electoral Votes, 29 from Tilden but 49 from Hayes. With a new requirement of 148 Tilden got 155 and Hayes 138. And Tilden's Popular Vote Lead held up.
• Using a benchmark that both candidates needed to be born in a State, Territory or Possession East of The Mississippi River after the year 1875 (this only affected elections after 1928, before then all the candidates would have met the rule). The elections of 1952, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1996 would be thrown out because both candidates were ineligible. So Watergate never happened (Nixon born in CA), LBJ wasn't elected (b.TX), and Nobody Liked Ike (also a Texan)
• The Democrat Party was declared ineligible by that benchmark for the elections of 1948, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2008 and 2012. No birther, but Hawaii is West of The Mississippi. The Clinton Presidency also never happened, Bill having been born in Arkansas, which is part of the Republic. This also has the added what if "What if another President had accepted Libya's offer of Osama Bin Laden. Would 9/11 have never happened." But in a case of misery loves company, George W. Bush could still have been President, as his birthplace was in Connecticut. Reagan as well, as he was born in Illinois. Though Hillary Clinton is also from Illinois, since she made her fame on Bill's coattails, and he would never be President. No Hillary Presidency either.
• Republicans also had their chances at the White House altered, but mostly through correcting their mistakes. John McCain could have been eligible. My research on Canal Zone thinks he may, however, since Arizona was in the Republic, it wouldn't have meant anything, since that is how he ran, Senator from Arizona. Herbert Hoover was born in Iowa, which was part of the Republic, so did he cause the Great Depression. Probably not. Bob Dole (KS) and Gerald Ford (NE) would also have been ineligible, thus destroying the chances of Saturday Night Live for becoming a household name.

1. (3) The Battle of Little Bighorn (aka Custer's Last Stand) would have been a joint Republic of Ansdale/Native American effort to open up a second front in the Civil War.
2. (4) The Life of the Kingdom of Hawaii would have been extended beyond its traditional end because Queen Liliuokalani would not have been overthrown.
3. (5) The attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941) would have been on ships docked at the King Kamehameha Naval Base of the Republican Navy, which had United States Ships there as part of a joint operations lease agreement. Two nations were thus drawn into the conflict, not just one.
4. (6) The assassination of JFK in Dallas, TX by Lee Harvey Oswald, a known Russian agent, would have been a Soviet attempt to start a U.S.A.-R.O.A. war during JFK's friendship tour of the Republic of Ansdale

I think you get the idea. One decision creates almost unlimited possibilities. If you have passed through step three without your original premise being reduced to ashes, congratulations. If you haven't, go over it again until you find a premise that can stand the test. Once you do, you are ready for the "final" step.