Shooting Stars

[America Needs R'hllor]

January 2018

On January 6, Ruth Bader Ginsberg announced she would retire from the Supreme Court citing health concerns. President Trump nominated Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, on January 16 a move that infuriated many conservatives, largely because Sandoval was pro civil-union marriage and pro-choice, both positions which were anathema to the Republican base. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Sandoval by a 11-9 vote (Ted Cruz Voted With the Democrats, while Dianne Feinstein voted with Republicans) on January 23. On January 29 The full Senate voted 53-48 to reject Sandoval's nomination (Cruz, Perdue, Moran, Brooks and Boozman all voting with the Democrats), leading to a major defeat for the President.

President Trump also had a misadventure in Foreign Policy, as he got into a Twitter feud with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over his (Trump's) beliefs that Japan should have nuclear weapons... among the more priceless comments were Trump calling Abe a "Hideki Tojo wannabe" and Abe's tweet calling Trump an "orange cancer on our society".

In Israel the Shas Party withdrew from the coalition government over Prime Minister Netanyahu's proposed peace overtures to the United Arab Emirates (which were rebuffed by the country in question), forcing an election for later in the year.

In more mundane news, the College Football playoff was won by the USC Trojans, who defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 21-19, handing Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban a second straight championship loss. In Tennis, Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki won the Australian Open (The latter upsetting Serena Williams in the final). Venus Williams announced the US Open, to be held at the end of August, would be her last tournament, causing an outpouring of love from the tennis community.

Shas isn't a right wing party, they would never do that. They would only withdraw because of something to do with breaking a religious law, such as maintenance works in Shabbat. Tge Jewish Home, on the other hand, could withdraw because of attempts for peace but probably wouldn't in the scenario you presented- no one really opposes making peace with gulf countries.
But otherwise, great timeline!

[America Needs R'hllor]

March 2018

Israel held its snap election on March 14, with Likud, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gaining seven seats in the Knesset, increasing their total to 37, and forming a coalition with Israel Beitneau's 13 seats, The Jewish Home's 6 and United Torah Judaism's 6 seats for a total of sixty-two in his coalition government. Among the notable names in Netanyahu's new cabinet were Avigdor Lieberman as Foreign Minister (for the third time), and former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz.

In American news, Bernie Sanders disappointed Progressives by issuing a Shermanesque statement, stating he would not run for President in 2020, claiming he was "too darn old". He suggested Keith Ellison or Elizabeth Warren instead. Ellison denied he was interested, Warren issued a non-denial, stating only that she was "interested in winning re-election first".

Bob Menendez was convicted on multiple corruption charges on March 25, and subsequently resigned his seat. With an election upcoming and the primary having not been held yet (The primary wasn't to be held for several months), Governor Murphy appointed former Senator Robert Torrecelli to the seat, who quickly announced he would not enter the primary (several other Democrats were interested, however). Menendez was sentenced to twenty years in federal prison in early May.

A major snowstorm left almost thirty inches of snow in New York City(and thirty-four inches in Boston) between March 7 and March 8, leaving cars stranded for almost ten days, planes grounded for six days, and Mayors Bill De Blasio and Marty Walsh under heavy fire for lack of preparedness. President Trump also came under fire, as FEMA yet again, botched the response to the storm, and the recovery (power wasn't turned on in parts of Long Island and Cape Cod until Mid-April).

The Winter Olympics, after being delayed for a week due to overly mild weather (over 65 Fahrenheit), finally concluded on March 1 with Canada and China tying for the most medals at 39 apiece (Canada had 20 gold, including the important Men's Hockey, China had 11 gold including all four figure skating medals).

Aaaand Israeli democracy is dead
But intriguing timekine, I'm curious to see what happens with the Trump investigation.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Loving theze indepth results! And awh, no Senator McMullin

[America Needs R'hllor]

This is so fun to read! Your knowledge and research on every one of these races makes it a delight to read, keep it up!

[America Needs R'hllor]

Who won the Michigan governor's race? I assume El Sayed, but still.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Tenth was Mimi Walters's district. Advancing from the top-two primary to face Walters was State Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva. Once again, the poor conditions for Republicans atop the ballot, led to a gain for Democrats as Walters defeated Quirk-Silva 51-49.

You mean Quirk-Silva defeated Walters?
Great TL!

[America Needs R'hllor]

Ew... I'd rather have Trump than McCrory.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Yay for Netanyahu resigning, but Hotovely is a backbencher eith no chance to be elected leader

[America Needs R'hllor]

Could we have lists of the candidates running on both sides, abd maybe some polling?
Interesting TL!