2nd Era of Good Feeling - Revised

[WiseGuy]

2nd Era of Good Feeling, Part One - Revised

I posted a thread like this before, but there were some problems with it, so I’m rewriting the storyline:

The year is 2006.  Over the last year the Senate passed Social Security reform and the troops are coming back from a secure and self-reliant Iraqi Democracy.  President Bush's approval rating is around 90%.  Congress has also reformed the IRS and the tax code.

The Republicans use these issues in their campaigns with great success, retaining all the seats they already have and picking up three more.

It's now been a year since the North Koreans announced they had a Nuclear weapons program.  After US intelligence spies them testing a missile that has a range far enough to hit Russia, Bush meets with his Security Council and Condaleeza Rice.  They formulate a midnight raid on the North Korean’s nuclear weapons facility.

Bush meets with the Special-Ops team that is going to execute the mission.  It is reminiscent of the time Eisenhower met with the Airborne Rangers before the D-Day invasion.  The soldiers begin boarding the plane and both President Bush and Rumsfeld shake each of their hands.  As they head back to the main building of the Army base, one of the young soldiers comes running back and gives President Bush a letter, and asks him to give it to his family if he dies in combat.  Bush, overwhelmed by emotion, takes the letter and nods to the soldier.  The soldier salutes his President and runs back to the plane.

[Akno21]

And back in the USA pigs start flying, and hell freezes over.

[ilikeverin]

Someone's a bit too obsessed with the Dubya.

[WiseGuy]

And back in the USA pigs start flying, and hell freezes over.

Hey, it’s more likely than a Hillary Presidency

Someone's a bit too obsessed with the Dubya.

True, but perhaps, I’m really just relieved that Kerry isn’t running the show 

[WiseGuy]

And this is the next segment (hecklers can feel free to hang out in the peanut gallery)

Second Era of Good Feeling, Part Two

As dawn breaks over the Oval office, President Bush is up early reviewing a speech written for him to present later that morning concerning the raid on the North Korean WMDs.  During the speech, the troops successfully capture and destroy the North Korean WMD facility.  As the helicopters arrive to extract them from the area, the North Koreans send their entire naval fleet to shoot them down as they return to the carrier.  They are unsuccessful, though, and the troops land at the Pearl Harbor naval base without further encounters.

The next day the President flies to Hawai’i to meet with the wounded soldiers.  Among them is the soldier who gave the President the letter for his family.  Bush hands the letter to the soldier while expressing his regrets on the unfortunate circumstances, but they both share some pride and relief that it won't be necessary to send it, after all.

That afternoon Bush receives word that the North Koreans have launched a combined missile and artillary strike against the South Korean capital in retaliation.  The entire city is in ruins.  Bush gives a rallying speech to the nation, reminding them of the Axis of Evil and asking Congress for a declaration of war.

[A18]

Um, nuclear warfare is part of the Era of Good Feelings?

Geez...not even I'm that hawkish...

[WiseGuy]

Um, nuclear warfare is part of the Era of Good Feelings?

Geez...not even I'm that hawkish...

First, we’re not having nuclear warfare.  We sent in a taskforce to destroy the North Korean nukes before they could use them.  The raid used all conventional weapons and the nukes were dismantled.

Second, the first two parts are building up to the Era of Good Feelings, we’re not there yet, and won’t be till Part Four.  Stay tuned.

[A18]

Okay, but what other kind of missile leaves an entire city in ruins?

[WiseGuy]

Okay, but what other kind of missile leaves an entire city in ruins?

It wasn’t just one missile, it was an entire day of strategically targeted missiles, one after another.

[Michael Z]

So a bunch of missiles are able to leave the ENTIRE city of Seoul, which has a population of roughly 10 million, in ruins? Looks like your timeline requires a bit more revision.

Besides, I'm not really sure how ten million dead South Koreans constitute an "era of good feeling".

[WiseGuy]

Second, the first two parts are building up to the Era of Good Feelings, we’re not there yet, and won’t be till Part Four.  Stay tuned.

[ATFFL]

Okay, but what other kind of missile leaves an entire city in ruins?

It wasn’t just one missile, it was an entire day of strategically targeted missiles, one after another.

Change it to a combined missile/artillery barrage.  The N. Koreans have enough tube artillery pointed at Seoul to levle it in a short time.

[WiseGuy]

Change it to a combined missile/artillery barrage. The N. Koreans have enough tube artillery pointed at Seoul to levle it in a short time.

done

[skybridge]

You're overlooking that the first era of good feelings happened in PEACE time. As long as you keep basing your dream on belligerency, there wont be another era of the sort, much less will Bush's approval ratings go anywhere near 90%.

[A18]

Yes, but it was brought about by the War of 1812. The Federalists were seen as sellouts and became unelectable, eventually leading to Monroe's uncontested re-election.

[skybridge]

Yes, but the scheme in question is based on war not peace.

[WiseGuy]

Like I suggested to A18, the first three parts are representative of the War of 1812; the fourth and onward will be about the Era of Good Feeling.

[WiseGuy]

In a special session of Congress, the United States begins the second Korean war.  The President of South Korea was injured during the attack on Seoul, so the Prime Minister, who was out of the city when the strike started, takes over the post while he recuperates.  He meets with President Bush at the White House to discuss their plans for war. 

Meanwhile back in Asia, the island of Taiwan has decided to declare its independence from China after the PRC declared war on the US.  Under threat of a naval air strike, the South Korean President is escorted to an underground bunker.  Bush receives word of this and sends Condoleeza Rice to offer US assistance to Taiwan.  As the US Pacific Fleet awakens from a long slumber, the 101st Airborne deploys its forces to Taiwan to protect the island from Chinese invaders.  Soon Great Britain has pledged its support to the United States in the coming war.  Italy follows suit two hours later.  The World is at war once again.

The combined naval forces of Great Britain, the US, and Italy race toward the Korean peninsula as the North Korean Navy deploys to intercept them.  Back on Taiwan a ground battle simultaneously rages as the Taiwanese Army and the 101st fight valiantly to keep the Chinese from conquering the island.

[Michael Z]

In a special session of Congress, the United States begins the second Korean war.  The President of South Korea was injured during the attack on Seoul, so the Vice President, who was out of the city when the strike started, takes over the post while he recuperates.  He meets with President Bush at the White House to discuss their plans for war. 

I'm sorry to nitpick, but South Korea doesn't have a vice president. Just swap "Vice President" with "Prime Minister" (he's first in line behind the president).

[WiseGuy]

Done.

[MaC]

That afternoon Bush receives word that the North Koreans have launched a combined missile and artillary strike against the South Korean capital in retaliation.  The entire city is in ruins.  Bush gives a rallying speech to the nation, reminding them of the Axis of Evil and asking Congress for a declaration of war.

so why would Bush ask for congress to declare war the constitutional way when his original Iraq war wasn't?

[A18]

The power to declare war was vested in the president by the Congress.

[Gabu]

Wow, and I thought my timeline was far-fetched.