An American Renaissance

[ChairmanSanchez]

So, any ideas for who could portray Anderson? It's currently Bill Frist, but I'm not to crazy about that.

How about a current freshman in the House who is little known. You can use their picture I suppose.

[CathKhan]

Search "Clint Webb for Senate" on google images.

[Simfan34]

In the end, Gore narrowly won Ohio, and thus the election. The state, at 2am, had ordered a stop to the count and conducted a manual count, as it was clear the margin would result in a forced recount There had been some controversy when Ohio Secretary State Ken Blackwell had issue the stop order, as some left-wing groups had speculated whether there would be a manipulation of the vote. These concerns had been allayed when Bush conceded on the 15th, the margin had been 1,764 votes.

Al Gore was now the President-elect, and quickly listed forth his nominees for the cabinet. All would be confirmed without incident.

FIRST CABINET OF PRESIDENT AL GORE:

Al Gore (D-TN) - President
Paul Wellstone (D-TN) - Vice-President

Richard Holbrooke (D-NY) - Secretary of State
Lawrence Summers (D-MA) - Secretary of the Treasury
Leon Fuerth (D-NY) - Secretary of Defense
Vernon Jordan (D-GA) - Attorney General
Harry Reid (D-NV) - Secretary of the Interior
Max Cleland (D-GA) - Secretary of Agriculture
Bill Richardson (D-NM) - Secretary of Commerce
Alexis Herman (D-AL) - Secretary of Labor:
Douglas Wilder (D-VA) - Secretary of Secretary of Health and Human Services
Chris Dodd (D-CT) - Secretary of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Gerald Baliles  (D-VA) - Secretary of Transportation
Jon Corzine (D-NJ) - Secretary of the Treasury
Pete McCloskey (R-CA) - Secretary of Energy
Rudy Crew (D-FL) - Secretary of Education
Jim Jeffords (R-VT) - Secretary of Veterans' Affairs

Donna Brazile (D-LA) - White House Chief of Staff
John Shalikashvili (D-IL) - National Security Advisor

Albert Gore Jr. is sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States of America

Many Americans were optimistic that the prosperity of the 90s would continue, that companies like Westinghouse and RCA would continue to create jobs and spur technological innovation. The economy began to pick up steam. On September 10, 2001, however, their hopes would be torn to pieces...

[a Person]

Jim Jeffords is from Vermont, not Virginia.

[Simfan34]

Oops!

[Simfan34]

Yes? No? Maybe so?

[CathKhan]

Yes? No? Maybe so?

Continue!

[Jerseyrules]

Yes? No? Maybe so?

Continue!

[a Person]

Yes? No? Maybe so?

Continue!

[pillage the village, trash the scene]

Yes? No? Maybe so?

Continue!

[Vote UKIP!]

Yes? No? Maybe so?

Continue!

[Jerseyrules]

Yes? No? Maybe so?

Continue!

[Simfan34]

Click for a larger size.

The attacks of September 10, 2001 marked a seismic shift in the global state of affairs. It was the end of what has become known as the “pre-millennial consensus” that began with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and lasted for a decade. It was succeeded by what President Al Gore termed “the new American Century,” a term devised to reassure Americans of their country’s exceptionalism, which would eventually evolve into the famed “American Renaissance”; however, these terms referred more to the actions, and results of those actions, taken after the attacks and in actuality had little direct connection to them. More impartial observers have termed the quarter-century following the attacks the “Global Realignment”, whose main event was the gradual shift of power from Europe to Asia, the United States’ (largely successful) efforts to maintain its status as global hegemon, and the attempt to from a coherent bloc of “Western” nations. This phase of history arguably has its roots, or at the least was precipitated by, the September 10th attacks.

The attacks were perpetrated by Al-Qaeda, a fundamentalist Islamic terrorist organization. Al-Qaeda was led by Usama bin Laden, the son of a billionaire Saudi construction contractor with close ties to that country’s Royal Family. Radicalized by decades of U.S. intervention in the Middle East, Al-Qaeda had successfully carried out attacks on U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and  Addis Ababa, bombed the destroyer USS Cole, and Moevenpick Hotel in Aden. Additionally, they had attacked the World Trade Center before in 1993; the attack killed six but failed to do significant damage.

The targets of this attack were, according to the testimony of surviving conspirators and Al-Qaeda correspondence, the World Trade Center and locations in Washington D.C. The commonly held theory is that Flight 135 was destined for the Capitol, although evidence exists that the intended target was the Pentagon. Similarly, most evidence points to Flight 561—as confided by the would-be attackers—being aimed at the White House, although some documents say that the actual target was the Harry S. Truman Building, home of the Department of State

One notable element of the attack was its planners’ mercurial nature; despite the years of training and organization that had gone into them, an air of imprecision was evident in their plans. The original date was the morning of September 11, but then Mohammed Atta, one of the conspirators, had observed—with deadly consequences—that fatalities could be increased by attacking at midday, and so the timeframe was moved later. On August 10, one conspirator, Zacarias Moussaoui, was detained by immigration authorities, sparking a panic amongst the conspirators. Some then wanted to move the attack to late August, but the head conspirator, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, persuaded them otherwise. Eventually a compromise was reached, and the date of the attack was set for September 10.

The first flight to depart was Continental Airlines Flight 1256 from Philadelphia to San Francisco, with 112 passengers, including the five hijackers, and 11 crew. Four minutes late, it departed at 10:49 and was hijacked at 11:05. Aiding their plot is a nothing less than a clever cover: at 11:12, the hijackers come on the radio claiming that “critical engine systems” have malfunctioned and that they must turn around immediately. Realizing the imprecision of their statements, the hijackers claim that the plane’s communications system is also faulty, and turn off the transponder and radar. Air Traffic Control, in a major failure of vigilance, took the hijackers at their word and began to panic- that Flight 1256 had crashed. For the next 22 minutes the FAA scrambled to find Flight 1256, until it suddenly reappeared on their screens at 11:34—over Ramapo, New York, some 415 kilometers northeast of its last recorded position. It was for the next three minutes they tried to reestablish contact with Flight 1256, some controllers admitting they thought the radar had malfunctioned, until it disappeared again at 11:37. But it had not disappeared- it had slammed at a speed of 800 km/h into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing all 123 onboard.

The FAA in New York would not know for another five minutes what had happened, the magnitude of their errors, but already all the other three flights had taken off. Pan Am [1] Flight 172 from Newark to Vancouver had departed at 11:11, with 143 passengers, amongst them were a number of prominent individuals, including the Canadian Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Gilbert Laurin, and renowned community activist Cory Booker. It began to sharply turn around, prompting an inquest by the FAA, which was replied by Mohammed Atta’s infamous reply at 11:31, “We have some planes. Just stay quiet, and you'll be okay. We are returning to the airport." It is then the FAA realizes what exactly is going on- that this, and Flight 1256’s end, is an attack. At this time, news organizations had began to report the rumor— started in the FAA’s control towers—that Flight 1256 had managed to lose its bearings somehow and accidentally crashed into the World Trade Center. This theory ends violently at 11:50, when Flight 172 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

By this time, the attack is in full swing. United Airlines Flight 135 departs Dulles Airport to Los Angeles at 11:18, with 103 passengers. It is hijacked fairly late into the flight- 11:55, according to most reports, and makes a sharp turn back to Washington D.C. But by this time the true nature of the attacks has become clear. Fighters are dispatched from Andrews Air Force base at 12:07, by which time Flight 135 is over Southern Pennsylvania. It again turns sharply, this time over Maryland; in any case, the fighters enter Flight 135’s range just south of Gaithersburg, Maryland. Probably realizing that they will never reach their target, the hijackers begin a rapid descent, plowing the plane into downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, at 11:21.

United Airlines Flight 561 to San Francisco departs Boston at 11:37- the same time as Flight 1256 crashes into the North Tower. At 11:52 the pilots were informed of the ongoing attacks and were warned to be watchful, which was relayed to the passengers. Fearing that they will not be able to act, the four would-be hijackers on board attempt to approach the cockpit, but they are intercepted and a struggle ensues in which 12 are injured, and one hijacker mortally wounded. It lands in Cleveland at 12:48.

In the end, the towers fall- the South Tower at 12:52, and the North Tower at 1:23. Inside were an estimated 101,000 people- many of whom planned to leave for lunch just before the planes crashed. A mere 17 people were pulled out of the rubble, and left behind were 22,273 dead. In Silver Spring, 674 are dead, 571 of those on the ground.

President Al Gore exhorts Americans to come together in his address to the nation on September 10, 2001

President Gore was at the White House at the time, and had planned to make a visit to Philadelphia later that day. Instead he is evacuated first to Camp David, then to a-then undisclosed military facility [2], from which he makes an address to the American people: “This country is more united than at any time I can remember in my life. We come together tonight not as partisans but as patriots. We come together not only first and foremost, but solely as Americans at a time our county has been attacked.'' But the question is now: what should be done?

                                                                                                                                         
[1] You read this correctly- you'll learn more about this later.
[2] The Greenbrier bunker, which in this timeline has not been exposed or decommissioned as of 2001.

[CathKhan]

Whoa.

[Jerseyrules]

Whoa.

[Vote UKIP!]

Whoa.

[Jerseyrules]

I'm liking this....don't like the Pope, speaking as an alterboy .  Just hoping Martini is next in line

[Simfan34]

An update is forthcoming.

[ChairmanSanchez]

That was an amazing update. Wow is all I can say...the details, the writing, all of it.

[Jerseyrules]

An update is forthcoming.

I look forward to it.  So I read the update a few times tabbing between this and Wikipedia, but is 9/11 worse or not in comparison to otl?  (other than casualties of course)

[Simfan34]

An update is forthcoming.

I look forward to it.  So I read the update a few times tabbing between this and Wikipedia, but is 9/11 worse or not in comparison to otl?  (other than casualties of course)

Well in what terms? Casualty wise-certainly, but I'm not sure what your criteria are.

[Jerseyrules]

An update is forthcoming.

I look forward to it.  So I read the update a few times tabbing between this and Wikipedia, but is 9/11 worse or not in comparison to otl?  (other than casualties of course)

Well in what terms? Casualty wise-certainly, but I'm not sure what your criteria are.

Destruction, physical property damage, effect on American morale, the "Oh sh**t" effect, etc?  Also, does it help or hurt Gore's approvals?

Also, when's the next update?  This is awesome

[Simfan34]

An update is forthcoming.

I look forward to it.  So I read the update a few times tabbing between this and Wikipedia, but is 9/11 worse or not in comparison to otl?  (other than casualties of course)

Well in what terms? Casualty wise-certainly, but I'm not sure what your criteria are.

Destruction, physical property damage, effect on American morale, the "Oh sh**t" effect, etc?  Also, does it help or hurt Gore's approvals?

Also, when's the next update?  This is awesome

Well Lower Manhattan was in the same state it was after 9/11, but the DC economy is badly hit with the virtual destruction of Silver Spring, we'll come back to this later on. The larger scale of the attack has caused a great deal more of fear than 9/11, and sympathy for the US is higher- we will see no real truther movement. Gore's approvals skyrocket much as Bush's did, but in the future things shall proceed differently than they did in RL.

With the loss of more people and companies, the economy is in a worse state than it was actually. A significant stigma develops around air travel- nowhere close to shutting it down but the people of this timeline would react more favorably to the TSA than we do. Guliani is also more prominent, he gets his three month extension.

[Jerseyrules]

An update is forthcoming.

I look forward to it.  So I read the update a few times tabbing between this and Wikipedia, but is 9/11 worse or not in comparison to otl?  (other than casualties of course)

Well in what terms? Casualty wise-certainly, but I'm not sure what your criteria are.

Destruction, physical property damage, effect on American morale, the "Oh sh**t" effect, etc?  Also, does it help or hurt Gore's approvals?

Also, when's the next update?  This is awesome

Well Lower Manhattan was in the same state it was after 9/11, but the DC economy is badly hit with the virtual destruction of Silver Spring, we'll come back to this later on. The larger scale of the attack has caused a great deal more of fear than 9/11, and sympathy for the US is higher- we will see no real truther movement. Gore's approvals skyrocket much as Bush's did, but in the future things shall proceed differently than they did in RL.

With the loss of more people and companies, the economy is in a worse state than it was actually. A significant stigma develops around air travel- nowhere close to shutting it down but the people of this timeline would react more favorably to the TSA than we do. Guliani is also more prominent, he gets his three month extension.

Oh sh**t....will Feingold vote for the PATRIOT ACT?