A Time For Unity - The Lost Decades - A Tale of a Potential Future

[Dan the Roman]

Furthermore, many Democrats had decided that the Progressive demand for a sovereign wealth fund was something with broad appeal that should be met head-on. Passing a limited bill in this direction would allow them to share partial credit while taking away an important issue from the Progressives which was sure to play well over the upcoming summer. As a result, after the breakdown of negotiations with the President they introduced a bill opening up off-shore areas and the Arctic Wildlife Preserve under the proviso that the government set up its own infrastructure and that the proceeds go to a sovereign wealth fund. It was far more moderate than the Progressive proposal, and with the suggestion having overwhelming support and being wildly popular, Speaker Blake allowed it to come up for a vote despite the opposition of the Administration. It passed the house by a margin of 244 to 189.

In the Senate however, it ran into a filibuster, and efforts to break it failed on repeated attempts. In retaliation, the Democrats voted with the Progressives to kill the Administration's energy plan in the House.

As a result, the United States entered the summer in mid-June without any sort of agreement on increased domestic drilling after seven weeks of haggling. Gas prices approached 16 dollars a gallon as more than 25,000 Progressive volunteers fanned out across the country to spread word of how President Perry was blocking any energy plan in order to protect the oil companies. Rallies were held in numerous cities as the Administration's popular crashed into the high 20s.

Polls showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans favored the Democratic-Progressive bill which was by now the only one on the table.

Poll June 21st 2021

Do you favor or oppose expanded domestic drilling?
83% Yes
12% No

Do You favor the creation of sovereign wealth fund and the redirection of profits from increased drilling towards it?
63% Yes
31% NO

Would prefer increased drilling with out any restrictions, increased drilling with the profits going to the American Public, or no increased drilling at all?
30% No Restrictions
59% Public Profits
11% No Drilling

[Psychic Octopus]

Loving this, may we see a list of Presidents, so far?

[Dan the Roman]

Loving this, may we see a list of Presidents, so far?

Sure

Barack Obama 2009-2017
Mike Pence      2017-2020
Rick Perry        2020-? 

[Psychic Octopus]

Thanks, I like this timeline so far.

[Historico]

Hmm, the Oil Crisis will be pretty decimating to the American Economy (Which I assume had rebounded by the time of the Pence adminstration)? Also might the Caliphate want to try to annex the entire middle east?...Im still rooting to see if we can get President Martha Coakley(Wouldn't it be ironic if Perry was assassinated at a pro-gun/pro-secession rally?)Keep this geat timeline coming Dan.

[Dan the Roman]

Hmm, the Oil Crisis will be pretty decimating to the American Economy (Which I assume had rebounded by the time of the Pence adminstration)? Also might the Caliphate want to try to annex the entire middle east?...Im still rooting to see if we can get President Martha Coakley(Wouldn't it be ironic if Perry was assassinated at a pro-gun/pro-secession rally?)Keep this geat timeline coming Dan.

Well given the recent habit of kicking President's out when they get unpopular, and the fact that Coakley and the Democrats are not getting along at all with Perry right now, I would say he is on narrow footing. Especially if he holds up any sort of domestic drilling. Plus, there are alternative sources of oil as Bill Delahunt proved two years ago.

[Person Man]

This is going to be fun. I can tell....America will not take being Weimarized lightly.

[Dan the Roman]

As America entered the summer with high oil prices and no energy plan in sight, there was one region of the country that was far less effected. On July 2nd, Michael Walton left for a trade trip to the Middle East, in the course of which he visited Egypt, Turkey, and Iraq. In Turkey, there were rumors that he met secretly with emissaries of the Caliphate Government who were desperate both to end the blockade and to undermine the present American Administration. Regardless, on the 11th of July, he announced that he had reached an agreement under which the government of Massachusetts would purchase oil from a "Turkish Consortium" and make it available to interested parties at a price of 11 dollars a gallon.

The outcry over this was enormous, as it was unheard of for a state government to reach agreements on its own with foreign parties. To make matters worse in the eyes of many opponents of the Progressives was the fact that it was quite clear that this oil was not coming from Azerbaijan as claimed.

However, to the millions of residents of New England and to a lesser extent Ohio and New Jersey who now saw their prices for gas gradually drop from 16 dollars a gallon at the beginning of July to around 12.50 by the second week of August, it looked like the Progressives had been the only party to do anything about the gas crisis. Furthermore, their open position in favor of establishing relations with the Caliphate helped insulate them from any charges of hypocrisy even if one bought the conspiracy theories.

One party that did by far more than the conspiracy theories was the Administration. Not only did Perry and his advisers believe that the oil was coming directly from the caliphate, they also had it on good authority that it was in fact being sold to the Massachusetts and the other Progressive states not at $11.50 a gallon but at $9.75 and that the states were bringing in hundreds of millions in off-the-books revenue. It was furthermore, more than clear where that money was likely going.

As a result, in August the Administration introduced a bill in Congress to ban states from engaging in commercial activity, presenting evidence that the states involved in the "Turkish Scheme" were embezzling money. On August 23rd, the Bill passed in amended form, requiring any state activities to have open books and not be used for profit. In the Senate it seemed the bill would initially run into difficulty, but under massive pressure from the Administration and presented with evidence of weapons purchases with the proceeds, enough Democrats abstained to allow the bill to survive a filibuster.

As soon as it was in effect, the Progressives responded by incorporating the Patriots as a "non-profit" business, and transferred all purchases through that organization. To the horror of the Administration, a system in which money was being redirected to arm Progressive paramilitaries and pay for the party apparatus, had been replaced with one in which such activities were taking place in the open.

The Administration determined to take a strong line against these activities, especially given that midterm elections were approaching.

As a result, on Sept 29th, two US Navy vessels, acting on a warrant issued by Kim Baker, the US Attorney for Massachusetts, seized a Turkish registered freighter entering Boston Harbor, and charged it with violating the blockade on the Caliphate. The Progressive Government in Boston reacted with outrage, and Governor Walton convened the Legislature in special session where in votes of 149-8 and 35-5 it condemned the seizures as acts of international piracy, and passed a law giving the state courts jurisdiction to try acts of piracy committed in Massachusetts.

The seizure itself had already backfired badly politically in almost every Progressive run-state as well as most of their neighbors, as residents saw gas prices increase by nearly 3 dollars a gallon in less than 5 days. The subsequent escalation of the crisis however, produced the polarization the Administration desired.

On October 11th, acting on a warrant from Suffolk DA Michael O"Connell, 20 Boston police and nearly 400 Patriots armed with heavy weaponry stormed the John F. Moakley Courthouse building and arrested US Attorney Baker as well as the Commanding officer of the Destroyer that had seized the freighter for piracy.

The result was a mix of shock and outrage in Washington, where US Attorney General Kelly Ayotte denounced the arrests as "illegal kidnappings" and demanded that they be released. When Massachusetts refused, President Perry expressed his desire for a military option despite the view of his commanders that such an option might result in a high number of civilian casualties.

At the same time the Patiots had begun stepping up their campaign of disruption of Republican and Democratic events for the Fall elections in New Jersey and Virginia, denouncing the Republicans for "creating" the Oil crisis to increase profits, and pointing to the freighter seizure and the veto as evidence that the Administration wanted Americans to pay higher prices for oil. They denounced the Democrats as an extension of the Republicans, pointing at that Administration initiatives passed only with their support. In this climate, open fighting broke out between Republicans and Progressives in Virginia, with the better organized and armed Progressives all but driving the Republicans from the campaign trail by the middle of October, forcing outgoing Republican Governor Jenkins to call out the state guard.

The decisive event however occurred on November 1st, when a team fo US Special Forces were flown in by helicopter to a warehouse in Quincy were they were led to believe the "hostages" were being held. Things went badly from the start when a helicopter broke down and crashed in a residential neighborhood, killing a 40 year old man and his wife. Rather than calling off the operation, President Perry, with memories of Desert One, ordered it to go forward. The Special Forces landed only to discover the location heavily fortified. Storming it against fierce resistance from Patriots, they discovered that the "hostages" had never been there, and furthermore, that they were nearly surrounded by the better part of 2000 Patriots armed with surface to air missiles. In order to save his troops, the US commander surrendered.

The result was stunned disbelief, not only at the civilian deaths, but at the utter failure of the operation. President Perry's approval rating fell to 25%, and the subsequent elections were rout. Not only did the Progressives win both Governorships in a landslide, they also took both Houses of the legislature in Virginia, and the State Assembly in New Jersey, as well as making large advances in the legislatures of Louisiana and Mississippi, states where they had performed badly in 2020.

New Jersey Governor
Progressive 55%
Republican   29%
Democratic   17%

State Assembly
Progressive  42
Republican    27
Democratic    11

Virginia
Progressive 44%
Republican   39%
Democratic   17%

House of Delegates
Progressive 51
Republican  39
Democratic  10

[Historico]

Nothing like events in the Boston Harbor to start up a Revolution lol...you also bring back effective State's Rigths(In a non-segregationist manner), with having Walton's Massachusetts deal directly with Nation's in the middle east, can't wait to see what happens in the lead up to the 2024 elections

[Хahar 🤔]

Excellent installment. Look forward to more.

[Person Man]

Gov. Walton seems more like Attila or Theodoric now....basically a barbarian at the city's gates who cannot be stopped.

[Dan the Roman]

Gov. Walton seems more like Attila or Theodoric now....basically a barbarian at the city's gates who cannot be stopped.

I may do some conversation transcripts later. He has some very interesting views, but then again leading a movement like this tends to lead to a bit of a god complex.

At the moment he is someone who actually enjoys politics, and that is a huge advantage. If you don't particularly care about consequences you can do a whole lot of damage. He is also relentless, because he is convinced America is doomed unless he takes over, and throws out the Washington class.

[Person Man]

Though Attila in particular was interested in conquering Germany, Sarmatia and Rome. He wanted to unite Western and Northeastern Europe....and in the areas he conquered, it is said that he did a good job. If he did succed, however, that would have been the end of a truly distinctive western civilization.

[Dan the Roman]

(note I realized the timeline written out for 2021-2022 had been entirely condensed into 2021, so for that reason, 2022 may seem a bit bare)

The continued gas crisis, inconvenient as it interrupted vacation plans, now seemed likely to turn brutal in the winter as heating oil was scarce. Several members of the cabinet, including Vice President Coakley, suggested that some form of rationing, as awful as it was to contemplate was in order.

President Perry was fearful of regulation, especially to the extent that it burdened the American oil industry, which was already near collapse given the losses suffered by Exon Mobil in the Middle East. While he was aware of the fact that the companies were effectively inflating prices to attempt to assuage losses, he was extremely skeptical that their failure, and subsequent nationalization offered a solution, especially when a lack of capacity was one of the problems. The real solution was increased drilling in the long-run, while in the short-run it would be necessary to disincentive the Oil Companies from selling above price, and the best way to do so was to provide a government bailout of their debts while simultaneously accepting limits on prices tied to the international rates. In effect a system of oil subsidies, except with the subsidies going to the companies instead of the consumer.

Economically, this plan, drafted  by the finest minds at Heritage, had a certain logic. Manipulating the price at the pump, either through tariffs or subsidies risked pushing the oil companies into either hording supplies or raising prices further. Only cooperation or nationalization(which was out of the question) had the potential  to affect the price and supply situations immediately.

However well reasoned, the plan met with immediate political opposition. For one thing it was expensive, involving 500 billion in subsidies. More importantly than the fears of inflation however was its political tone-deafness. Such a plan was seen as a giveaway to the oil companies, especially when new drilling was being held up for the purpose of denying nationalization of new drilling locations. The Administration argued that creating two parallel systems, when  there was insufficient supply to support one was senseless.

That may have been true, but the Progressives launched a campaign countering that if the private companies needed half a trillion in public money to keep them afloat it made sense to nationalize all of them and then deal internationally from the position of being a supplier. This had widespread appeal, and during the winter recess, Republican Congressman found themselves fleeing for cover at town-hall meetings as angry constituents screamed at them about the Administration's oil bailout, and Patriot's were there to break up the meetings of those who disagreed.

The Patriots also took to showing up at Democratic meetings and denouncing them as "closet Republicans" disrupting any ability to organize except in secret, and as candidates made decisions about whether or not to run in the fall elections, the fact that few could find office space with landlords willing to rent contributed to their decisions as did the risk of unfortunate fires potentially happening to their houses.

As a result, prospects for the passage of the Economic Fuel Recovery Act of 2022 were dire by he time congress reconvened in January. event he efforts of the Administration to make an issue of the "Patriots" holding US soldiers in Massachusetts had been defused by the decision of the state government to release the captured soldiers after medical treatment. The fate of one US Attorney was not of great concern. Furthermore the state had by now followed many of its people in purchasing fuel from Canada as Americans streamed across the border.

The states further away from the Canadian border were not so lucky, nor really were the Canadians, who faced massive price inflation from Americans pouring over the borders. The Canadian government, always less concerned about rationing, restricted sales of gasoline to Canadian citizens and residents on the 9th of February 2022, causing another spike and leading to anger in the US.

The US Government protested, but did little else. The Progressives denounced it as a sign of further weakness, and in an environment of public anger, "Patriots" attacked Canadian consulates, setting the ones in Buffalo, Detroit, Seattle, and LA on fire. President Perry denounced "the reckless violence of hooligans", but the deployment of troops to defend Canadian property simply made them easy targets for harassment from crowds.

The position of the Administration became more precarious on February 12th when the subsidy plan, delayed for two months by filibusters and debates, failed in the House 219-215. The Administration pressed Vice President Coakley to rally Democrats who were now defecting en masse on votes. Coakley however, was by this point highly discontented with the Administration and of politics in general. The Democratic caucus had by now shrunk to 93 in the house. Three had defected tot he Progressives, two to the Republicans, while five seats had been lost in special elections, all to the Progressives. The loss on February 19th of a seat in New York City which Cuomo had won 55-37 convinced her that coalition with the GOP was destroying the Party.

As a result, in front of a group of business leaders in Atlanta on the 27th, she declared that while "no one has more faith in the free market than myself" the transformation of world politics in regards to a finite resources meant that a total reexamination of the US approach to economics was necessary. The globalized era of the 1990s relied on cheap energy and world peace. Neither was present now, and in a conflict ridden world self-sufficiency was necessary. After effectively denouncing the Administration's economic policies as futile and outdated, she went on to suggest that while many Progressives were "thugs and borderline criminal elements" and Michael Walton a "dangerous demagogue", many were patriots, and that if the elements who were simply concerned about the status of the country were not conciliated, disaster would follow. She singled out Pennsylvania Congressman Micheal Shapiro as a positive example of a moderate who had been a longtime democrat before growing disenchantented and switching parties.

[Dan the Roman]

President Perry was outraged, and when Democrats in the House broke their coalition with the Republicans and began to make overtures to the Progressives, he was outraged, banning the Vice President from cabinet meetings. The breakdown of the alliance killed any chance of the two parties agreeing to avoid running candidates against each other, and killed the President's legislative agenda. It also resulted in the rejection of Perry's first nominee for the Supreme Court in April, and in May, Democrats combined with 5 Republicans defectors to defeat the filibuster against the Progressive Drilling bill. To great outrage, Perry vetoed it on June 3rd.

The Republican defections illustrated something that had been ongoing since fall, which was discontent even among Republicans with the policies of the Administration and likely losses in the fall. President Perry unilaterally opened federal lands to drilling by executive order after the veto, but even that failed to make an impact. In July, the Administration reached a trade agreement with Canada to allow them to bring in limited oil, but they stood tall against efforts by the Progressive states to resume importing oil from the Caliphate. That April they had begun to resume shipments, directing tankers into Portland where the federal presence was less, but in August the US Navy intercepted one of them and was repulsed in an effort to board it by 100 or so Patriots. The fighting nevertheless deterred tankers from landing.

By the Fall it seemed likely that the Progressives would make impressive gains and it was widely expected they would take the house.

Generic Ballot

November 2021
Progressive 39%
Republican  34%
Democratic  25%

April 2222
Progressive  38%
Republican   33%
Democratic   27%

July 2222
Progressive  41%
Republican    31%
Democratic    27%

September 2222
Progressive  43%
Republican    31%
Democratic    24%


Even though they were well under 50%, it seemed likely that a 12 point lead, especially given their weakness in the Deep South, would be more than enough to provide a significant majority. Furthermore, the violence had all but destroyed Democratic organization which undermined their ability to get out the vote. Republicans held their own in the Deep South and parts of the West but the level of fighting meant that Republicans were despondent in the North.

The results, however, while a disaster for the Republicans and Democrats, were in the end less than the Progressives had hoped, with them narrowly failing to win a majority in the House. However the Senate and Gubernatorial results were rout for the "governing" parties.

House
Progressives 209
Republicans   155
Democrats       71

Senate

Senate
Progressive 47(+20)
Republican  30(-11)
Democratic   27(-9)

Governor

[Historico]

Solid update, I don't think we've had a President and Vice President not on speaking terms since the twenties lol. If Perry is able to finish out his term, it appears that he will face some rough times ahead, as the Oil crisis doesn't look to be getting any better. Perhaps, maybe it's time for Perry to intiate some Gladatorial games, and espansive military conquest into Canada or Mexico to the boost some Nationalisim(For when in Rome...Do as the Romans do)

[Person Man]

Washington is on the brink of falling, or as it appears.

[Dan the Roman]

Washington is on the brink of falling, or as it appears.

Confrontation is not working. There are those(including the Vice President) who are thinking in terms of coalition.

[Person Man]

I see...2024 will be interesting. You need to get your TL at least to that level. I am guessing that in 2024, the "Republicrats" will be going against the Progressives....and probably failing. So 2025 will be the dawn of the Progressive's "1000 year American Homeland". 

[Lief 🗽]

So is it bad that I'd probably vote for the progressives?

[Dan the Roman]

The aftermath of the Congressional elections was met with shock and then foreboding. But this foreboding rapidly gave way to purpose, especially when it gave new life to the administration. At the prompting of the White House, the Senate And then the House adopted organizing resolutions during their lame-duck sessions which declared that if future sessions failed to agree on an organizational resolution, the one in effect during the previous sessions of that body would remain in force. Furthermore, organizing resolutions would require a majority of the body, not of votes cast in order to be passed The effect was to require the Progressives to gain 218 votes in the House and 51 in the Senate in order to elect the leadership.

Similar resolutions were adopted by legislatures across the country, ensuring that Republican(and in several cases) Democratic legislative leaderships would remain in office despite controlling minorities of their chambers.

This of course would not solve the challenge of a Progressive filibuster of a future federal budget, as the Progressives threatened in protest of the rule changes, and towards that end the White House pushed congress to pass a bill providing for the Executive to borrow money from the Federal Reserve to “preserve essential governmental services” in the event of the failure of congress to pass a budget. This bill was a harder sell in the House, but fears of Progressive blackmail convinced enough lame-duck Democrats to support the bill to allow it to pass 221-205. In the Senate, the large number of lame-duck democrats allowed the bill to clear a filibuster with 61 votes.

The result was that when the Progressive-heavy congress convened on the 5th of January, the session dissolved into anarchy when the Progressive candidate for speaker gained 207 votes, and their candidate for Senate Majority leader 48. The Progressives were unable to prevent the appointment of a Republican Majority leader and Senate President, nor were they able to prevent the appointment of mostly Republican committee chairs after spurning an offer for split chairmanships.

One thing they could do however was paralyze the chambers. In the House, the Progressives took to boycotting meetings of the “illegal” congress while in the Senate they proceeded the filibuster the simplest procedural motions, effectively paralyzing the congress.

The Administration was mostly unconcerned, with President Perry happily enjoying the trappings of dictatorship amid increasing violence. Given the dysfunctional experience of congress he decided to hold his own town halls bringing a direct link between the people and their president and it was at one of these that history changed on March 3rd 2023.

.  At a rally in Charleston South Carolina, where President Perry was campaigning for Senator Hailey in her difficult reelection campaign, he was interrupted repeatedly by several Patriots in uniform. Republican "Sons of Liberty" attacked them and in the chaos, a thirty something man approached the stage and fired five shots. Had it not been for the televised nature of the event, it would have been assumed that one of the Patriots had been responsible, as it did , it threw the campaigns into chaos with public turning against violence.

Newly installed President Coakley denounced the "culture of violence which led as inevitably to this tragedy as surely as if Michael Walton carried it out himself" and polls showed that more than half of Americans felt that the Progressives were at least somewhat responsible.

If the assassination had taken place two weeks later it might have crippled the Progressive campaign, as it was, the time allowed rumors to leak pointing to a non-political motive. The assassin claimed to have had a sexual relationship with the former President and claimed that he had been driven from his job and subject to intimidation. As the media focused on the salacious allegations, it made the efforts of President Coakley to tie it to the Progressives look self-serving.

At a rally in Charleston South Carolina, where President Perry was holding a townhall for Senator Hailey, he was interrupted repeatedly by several Patriots in uniform. Republican "Sons of Liberty" attacked them and in the chaos, a thirty something man approached the stage and fired five shots. Had it not been for the televised nature of the event, it would have been assumed that one of the Patriots had been responsible, as it did , it threw the campaigns into chaos with public turning against violence.

Newly installed President Coakley denounced the "culture of violence which led as inevitably to this tragedy as surely as if Michael Walton carried it out himself" and polls showed that more than half of Americans felt that the Progressives were at least somewhat responsible.

Soon, however, a non-political motive slipped out. The assassin claimed to have had a sexual relationship with the former President and claimed that he had been driven from his job and subject to intimidation. As the media focused on the salacious allegations, it made the efforts of President Coakley to tie it to the Progressives look self-serving.

The tensions over accusations of Progressive complicity however offered opportunities for President Coakley to follow a different policy than her predecessor. Concerned that the dysfunctional nature of congress was making a total Progressive takeover more likely as was the continuing gas crisis, Coakley was determined to coopt productive elements of the Progressives and split the movement, and hopefully merging those dissident elements with the remaining Democrats to make a new party.

[Historico]

Well Rick went down before things could get particulary nasty for the GOP, also Dan...It's pretty awesome to have the nation's 1st Female President result in Divide and Conquer tactics. Can't she still suspend the elections via executive order though? untill atleast she can get the nation under control

[Хahar 🤔]

At a rally in Charleston South Carolina, where President Perry was campaigning for Senator Hailey in her difficult reelection campaign, he was interrupted repeatedly by several Patriots in uniform. Republican "Sons of Liberty" attacked them and in the chaos, a thirty something man approached the stage and fired five shots. Had it not been for the televised nature of the event, it would have been assumed that one of the Patriots had been responsible, as it did , it threw the campaigns into chaos with public turning against violence.

Newly installed President Coakley denounced the "culture of violence which led as inevitably to this tragedy as surely as if Michael Walton carried it out himself" and polls showed that more than half of Americans felt that the Progressives were at least somewhat responsible.

If the assassination had taken place two weeks later it might have crippled the Progressive campaign, as it was, the time allowed rumors to leak pointing to a non-political motive. The assassin claimed to have had a sexual relationship with the former President and claimed that he had been driven from his job and subject to intimidation. As the media focused on the salacious allegations, it made the efforts of President Coakley to tie it to the Progressives look self-serving.

At a rally in Charleston South Carolina, where President Perry was holding a townhall for Senator Hailey, he was interrupted repeatedly by several Patriots in uniform. Republican "Sons of Liberty" attacked them and in the chaos, a thirty something man approached the stage and fired five shots. Had it not been for the televised nature of the event, it would have been assumed that one of the Patriots had been responsible, as it did , it threw the campaigns into chaos with public turning against violence.

Newly installed President Coakley denounced the "culture of violence which led as inevitably to this tragedy as surely as if Michael Walton carried it out himself" and polls showed that more than half of Americans felt that the Progressives were at least somewhat responsible.

If the assassination had taken place two weeks later it might have crippled the Progressive campaign, as it was, the time allowed rumors to leak pointing to a non-political motive. The assassin claimed to have had a sexual relationship with the former President and claimed that he had been driven from his job and subject to intimidation. As the media focused on the salacious allegations, it made the efforts of President Coakley to tie it to the Progressives look self-serving.

Hmm?

Very good uupdate, of course.

[Dan the Roman]

Omni Shoreham Hotel New York City, New York State March 4th 2023

Former Governor Michael Walton: “Who the hell is Robert Williams. I want whoever was behind this found and punished. They have very nearly destroyed us”

Patriotic Development Corp National Intelligence Director Samuel O’Donnell: “We have no idea who he was, beyond the fact that he was not one of ours. I have spoken with our representatives on the scene and they assured me personally that none of our people carried live ammunition to the event. The Secret Service agrees, they have released all of the Patriots present. As for the assassin a random madman…”

MA Governor Walker Berman“One who knew exactly where to hit us, and at the least convenient time. Rick Perry was our greatest asset, now he is gone, and Martha Coakley has both cause and motive to rain down destruction upon us…

Walton: She won’t. She’s too smart for that. Christ she was probably behind the assassination. She is going to try and split the party, strike a deal with traitors, pass meaningless energy and healthcare bills, and try and steal the credit.

Berman: Which would allow us to pass

Walton: No we don’t compromise. We got this far by standing apart. We need nothing of the  poisoned chalice in Washington. If Coakley wishes to offer us Congress we will take it, but we will not deal nor will we support half-measures on the part of the Administration.

Berman: And if others disagree

Walton: Then we know who the traitors are. They will be deselected, and when they fail as they are destined to we will crush them along with everyone else

[Alexander Hamilton]

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