The Hunting Grounds: Turmoil in America

[Lord Byron]

Cue all hell breaking loose after Hastert takes office, especially if the Mark Foley scandal breaks like OTL...

Forget tsunami; the Hastert and Foley scandals will lead to a megatsunami for the Democrats in 2006...

[Joe Biden 2024]

Who's President pro tempore, cause they may become President.

[Continential]

Ted Stevens

[LoneStarDem]

Anybody want to bet Cheney holds on until Spring of 2007 ?

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

There might not be a big impact on the 2006 Senate Elections from this. The only narrow Senate Race in real life 2006 that Republicans won was the Corker vs Ford Tennessee Race.

However, Indiana could flip if Democrats were to manage to field a candidate there which they failed to do so in real life.

Arizona and Nevada could flip if Democrats outperform especially well.

Lamont could also beat Lieberman.

Its also possible that this event could give Democrats the political ability to block the appointment of Alito to the Supreme Court, and hold it off until after the 2008 Presidential Election.

[LoneStarDem]

Dems using a reverse McConnell playbook against Cheney ?

Big question is whether he gets impeached & removed from office altogether ?

[Continential]

If Stevens becomes President, he has his corruption problem.

[Lord Byron]

We could have a total of five presidents (Bush, Cheney, Hastert, Stevens, and Rice) from 2006-2008 if that happens; and the Republican Party is going to take a massive hit in reputation...

[LoneStarDem]

We could have a total of five presidents (Bush, Cheney, Hastert, Stevens, and Rice) from 2006-2008 if that happens; and the Republican Party is going to take a massive hit in reputation...

Condi Rice as POTUS ? Can the GOP-controlled Congress do anything to force Cheney into resigning ?

[America Needs R'hllor]

March 2nd, 2006

BREAKING NEWS: President Richard "Dick" Cheney announces resignation

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, early in the morning before a gaggle of tired journalists, President Dick Cheney gave a press conference announcing his resignation from the highest office in the land, effective tomorrow morning.

In his statement, President Cheney, who looked grief-stricken and sleep-deprived, said that he was "extremely sorry that [his] mistakes cause such a disaster, both for this nation and personally for many great people" and added that all his life, he did "what [he] thought was best for our nation". Cheney concluded that while he want "nothing more" than keep helping the country in public service, "this time the best course to keep America stable and strong would be for [him] to resign". In the past days, the President has been facing mountin pressure, with protests throughout the country, major figures like most of the Democratic Party, many Republicans and major figures like former First Lady Laura Bush calling him to resign and polls showing him unpopular with most Americans, and so he could not hold on. In the end of his speech, he said that he wishes "next President Dennis Hastert the best of luck with leading our nation safely and strongly". With this, Cheney makes history as the President with the shortest tenure ever, 20 days to the 31 days of William Henry Harrison.

Indeed, the next President starting from tomorrow will be the Speaker of the House, the 64-years-old Republican from Illinois Dennis Hastert. A conservative in the mainstream of the Republican Party and a staunch ally of the Bush administration, Hastert isn't expected to be a major change of course, and especially with likely pressure to keep the deceased former President's line, his policies, especially in regards to the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, are likely to be remain the same as the Bush administration's.

In reaction to the resignation, the next President said that "Dick made the right decision" and he hoped that "our country's healing can start now". Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) echoed Speaker Hastert's words, stating that "it's time to rebuild our people's trust". And Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who lead the charge for Cheney's resignation, added that "I'm glad that Dick took responsibility for his actions, and hope that we can now start anew". Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, was much more combative, saying that "President Cheney's irresponsible actions caused a disaster and endangered America's stability and it's good he resigned", but that "we're going to serve as a check and prevent policies that harm America from then next administration". Thus, ends the Presidency of Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney, and starts the Presidency of John Dennis Hastert.


March 3rd, 2006

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert takes oath of office, becomes 45th President

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, in the early morning hours, as the resignation of 44th President Richard B. Cheney took effect, his successor, Speaker Dennis Hastert, took office as the 45th President. Hastert, 64, who is expected to continue the conservative and hawkish line of policy promoted by former President George W. Bush, gave a short statement to the press, where he promised to "heal the nation and unite it".

The President also roughly outlined his policy goals, including "continuing the battle against terrorism and promoting democracy", "working with congress and both parties to pass legislation that will promote growth and freedom for all Americans", "reform our immigration system and increase border security" and "protect our family values from those who would try to destroy them". Lastly, Hastert said that he would "work hard in the coming days to find a good partner who would serve as Vice President and govern alongside me".

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, spearheading Democratic efforts in the 2006 midterms, promised to "fight the far-right extremism and the warmongering that are sure to come from this administration", but also added that she wishes "good luck to the President in the healing of the country". Many world leaders also called Hastert to wish him good luck.

John Dennis Hastert
45th President of the United States: 2006-
51st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives: 1999-2007
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 14th district: 1987-2006

March 17th, 2006

President Hastert issues pardon of former President Dick Cheney, stopping FBI investigation

CHEYENNE - After widespread speculation, today President Dennis Hastert issued a pardon of former President Dick Cheney, who's currently under FBI investigation for manslaughter after his bullet accidentally killed former President George W. Bush. Hastert stated that "as part of the process of healing required of us, we should move on", and Cheney released a short statement to the press thanking the President of "allowing Dick to seek help after the trauma of the past weeks".

But many others criticized the decision- former First Lady Laura Bush was especially loud, claiming that "President Hastert insulted my husband's memory and preventing justice from being done", while Minority Leader Pelosi said that "the President should've let the wheels of justice move, not put a stick in them". Many others, including U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), claimed that there was a deal between the two Presidents, in which Cheney would resign in exchange for a pardon. However, the new White House Press Secretary Tony Snow frevently denied the rumours, accusing Waters and others of "blowing off ridiculous conspiracy theories without any proof or basis".

President Dennis Hastert job approval (March 1st)
Approve- 53%
Disapprove- 37%
Unsure- 10%

Generic Congressional Ballot- 2006
Democrat- 52%
Republican- 39%
Other\Undecided- 9%

Who will you support in the 2008 Presidential election? (Hastert)
Generic Democrat- 48%
President Dennis Hastert- 41%
Others\Undecided- 11%

Who will you support in the 2008 Presidential election? (Other Republican)
Generic Democrat- 45%
Generic Republican- 43%
Others\Undecided- 12%

Who do you support for the Republican nomination in 2008?
President Dennis Hastert- 48%
Other Republican- 36%
Undecided- 16%


March 28th, 2006

2006 ISRAELI ELECTION: Following eruption of scandals, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert loses majority; Labour's Amir Peretz wins most seats, likely to become next Prime Minister

JERUSALEM - While the Bush-Cheney-Hastert drama unfolded in the United States of America, another drama entirely unfolded in Israel. After Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a serious stroke and fell into a coma on January 4th, Finance Minister and designated successor Ehud Olmert became the Acting Prime Minister. However, Olmert's legal situation, already shaky due to inquiries starting in 2005, quickly deteriorated as police investigations begun on various accusations- fraud, breach of trust and bribery in his positions as Mayor of Jerusalem and Minister of Welfare. As more and more information came about Olmert's involvement in various investment and real estate deals that were conflicts of interest and in money received in envelopes from a millionaire, Olmert's polling numbers in the 2006 election, which was considered guaranteed to him, fell. And when it was revealed that Olmert's secretary, Shula Zaken, who he accused of committing all the crimes he was accused of, reached a plea bargain with police and became a state witness, the avalanche begun.

Many supporters fled the quickly sinking ship of Sharon's centrist party, Kadima, into other parties. However, an aversion many voters had for Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who had unpopular terms as Prime Minister and Finance Minister during the 1990s, as well as embarrassing personal scandals about his cheating on his ex wife, prevented Likud from benefiting too much.

In the end, the election was a shocking upset, as from the three big parties- Kadima, Likud and Labour- the latter emerged as a victor, earning the most seats by a decisive margin. Labour leader Amir Peretz ran a disciplined campaign that appealed, with his Mizrahi roots and record as a former periphery Mayor, to many working class voters who were reluctant to support Labour, and will now likely become the next Prime Minister.

Following the election loss and reported pressure from his number 2 and Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, Olmert resigned from his position as Kadima leader. Livni succeeded him as temporary leader, and will lead the party in government negotiations, but a leadership primary will nontheless be held in some months.

Other winners of the election include Avigdor Lieberman's firebrand Yisrael Beiteinu, benefiting from Likud's unpopularity, and the new centrist Gil Party, focusing on seniors' affairs and welfare and lead by the popular former veteran and intelligence officer Rafi Eitan, who started the campaign as a tiny party with no funding and chance but gained many economically disaffected voters and former Kadima supporters and broke into the double digits of seats.

As a result of the election, Peretz likely has a coalition at hand- joining with centrist Kadima and Gil, as well as the leftist Meretz, would give him 58 seats, and they'd likely be able to get Shas to join the government with their 11 seats. Thus Israeli is likely to get a new goverment, with Labour getting a mandate for goals like negotiations with the Palestinians and social-democratic reforms, and its first Mizrahi Jew Prime Minister. In the opposition, however, there seems to be trouble in the air- Netanyahu managed to save his party from polling that put them below the threshold, but his inability to gain despite Kadima's collapse has many calling for him to resign.

2006 Israeli Knesset Election- Results
Labour Party (Amir Peretz)- 25 Seats  (+6)
Kadima (Ehud Olmert)- 17 Seats  (+2)
Likud (Benjamin Netanyahu)- 15 Seats  (-9)
Yisrael Beiteinu (Avigdor Lieberman)- 12 Seats  (+9)
Shas (Eli Yishai)- 11 Seats  (+-0)
Gil (Rafi Eitan)- 10 Seats (Didn't Contest)
National Union-National Religious Party (Binyamin Elon)- 9 Seats  (+2)
Meretz-Yachad (Yossi Beilin)- 6 Seats  (+-0)
United Torah Judaism (Ya'akov Litzman)- 5 Seats  (+-0)
Ra'am-Ta'al (Ibrahim Sarsur)- 4 Seats  (+2)
Hadash (Mohammad Barakeh)- 3 Seats  (+-0)
Balad (Azmi Bishara)- 3 Seats  (+-0)

NOTE: Due to the copyrights issue, I decided to not use photos in this post, other than a Wikipedia Commons one for President Hastert. If it's not too important for you readers, I'd actually be fine with barely using them at all, since it's an effort.

[BigVic]

It will be interesting to see what charges are laid against Former POTUS Cheney and how the W Bush assassination investigation goes.

[LoneStarDem]

Hastert pulled a Noah Daniels.

[America Needs R'hllor]

It will be interesting to see what charges are laid against Former POTUS Cheney and how the W Bush assassination investigation goes.

With the pardon, there won't be any charges.

[LoneStarDem]

It will be interesting to see what charges are laid against Former POTUS Cheney and how the W Bush assassination investigation goes.

With the pardon, there won't be any charges.

In other words: Hastert pulled a Noah Daniels by pardoning Cheney, which will further PISS off the Bush family.

I wonder what Lynne Cheney is thinking right now, being isolated from everyone, who hold her husband responsible for killing Bush, Jr.,

On Bush, Jr.,: I still tend to believe he'll be buried at the TX State Cemetery in Austin on this TL.

[😥]

Will it be continued?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Will it be continued?

Yeah this was great!

[morgankingsley]

It would be immeasurably lit to be president for only 20 days

[America Needs R'hllor]

Will it be continued?

I still really like this idea, but it'll unfourtunately remain in hiatus for the forseeable time.

[Flyersfan232]

What are anti bush republicans like Ron Paul making of this? Or Jesse Ventura for that matter.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Soo, I'm thinking about reviving this. Probably change the format to longer effortposts rather than short news excerpts. Anyone interested?

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

This timeline was interesting. Please revive it.

[Continential]

I like this, please revive this!

[KaiserDave]

Yes!

[😥]

Great TL! Please continue it!

[America Needs R'hllor]

Thanks everyone! It's officially revived then, still not sure about the format but we'll just do what works.

Meanwhile, I edited the Israeli 2006 election because it was a bit too unrealistic before. That's the new one:

March 17th, 2006

2006 ISRAELI ELECTION: Following eruption of scandals, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert loses majority; Labour's Amir Peretz wins most seats, likely to become next Prime Minister

JERUSALEM - While the Bush-Cheney-Hastert drama unfolded in the United States of America, another drama entirely unfolded in Israel. After Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a serious stroke and fell into a coma on January 4th, Finance Minister and designated successor Ehud Olmert became the Acting Prime Minister. However, Olmert's legal situation, already shaky due to inquiries starting in 2005, quickly deteriorated as police investigations begun on various accusations- fraud, breach of trust and bribery in his positions as Mayor of Jerusalem and Minister of Welfare. As more and more information came about Olmert's involvement in various investment and real estate deals that were conflicts of interest and in money received in envelopes from a millionaire, Olmert's polling numbers in the 2006 election, which was considered guaranteed to him, fell. And when it was revealed that Olmert's secretary, Shula Zaken, who he accused of committing all the crimes he was accused of, reached a plea bargain with police and became a state witness, the avalanche begun.

Many supporters fled the quickly sinking ship of Sharon's centrist party, Kadima, into other parties. However, an aversion many voters had for Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who had unpopular terms as Prime Minister and Finance Minister during the 1990s, as well as embarrassing personal scandals about his cheating on his ex wife, prevented Likud from benefiting too much.

In the end, the election was a shocking upset, as from the three big parties- Kadima, Likud and Labour- the latter emerged as a victor, earning the most seats by a decisive margin. Labour leader Amir Peretz ran a disciplined campaign that appealed, with his Mizrahi roots and record as a former periphery Mayor, to many working class voters who were reluctant to support Labour, and will now likely become the next Prime Minister.

Following the election loss and reported pressure from his number 2 and Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, Olmert resigned from his position as Kadima leader. Livni succeeded him as temporary leader, and will lead the party in government negotiations, but a leadership primary will nontheless be held in some months.

Other winners of the election include Avigdor Lieberman's firebrand Yisrael Beiteinu, benefiting from Likud's unpopularity, and the new centrist Gil Party, focusing on seniors' affairs and welfare and lead by the popular former veteran and intelligence officer Rafi Eitan, who started the campaign as a tiny party with no funding and chance but gained many economically disaffected voters and former Kadima supporters and broke into the double digits of seats.

As a result of the election, Peretz likely has a coalition at hand- joining with centrist Kadima and Gil, as well as the leftist Meretz, would give him 58 seats, and they'd likely be able to get Shas to join the government with their 11 seats. Thus Israeli is likely to get a new goverment, with Labour getting a mandate for goals like negotiations with the Palestinians and social-democratic reforms, and its first Mizrahi Jew Prime Minister. In the opposition, however, there seems to be trouble in the air- Netanyahu managed to save his party from polling that put them below the threshold, but his inability to gain despite Kadima's collapse has many calling for him to resign.

2006 Israeli Knesset Election- Results
Labour Party (Amir Peretz)- 25 Seats  (+6)
Kadima (Ehud Olmert)- 17 Seats  (+2)
Likud (Benjamin Netanyahu)- 15 Seats  (-9)
Yisrael Beiteinu (Avigdor Lieberman)- 12 Seats  (+9)
Shas (Eli Yishai)- 11 Seats  (+-0)
Gil (Rafi Eitan)- 10 Seats (Didn't Contest)
National Union-National Religious Party (Binyamin Elon)- 9 Seats  (+2)
Meretz-Yachad (Yossi Beilin)- 6 Seats  (+-0)
United Torah Judaism (Ya'akov Litzman)- 5 Seats  (+-0)
Ra'am-Ta'al (Ibrahim Sarsur)- 4 Seats  (+2)
Hadash (Mohammad Barakeh)- 3 Seats  (+-0)
Balad (Azmi Bishara)- 3 Seats  (+-0)

Y'all will forgive me if I report on some Israeli politics here while focusing on the whole Bush-Cheney-Hastert saga in America