moved from the Sabre thread so's not to derail the good work over there. --Mal
Hokay, so. This is a raw take of what’s in my mind re: the US political landscape ca. 2009 - 2017.
The general political landscape:
The vast majority of Ameri’Danes don’t really give much of a shit about Fenspace in general; they’re busy with their own lives.
Perception of Fenspace (i.e. the Convention) is largely neutral, trending toward negative. The perception of Fen (i.e. the people of the Convention) is more negative.
Mass-media stories about Fen doing something crazy on US soil (like the Corners launch) or about Fen-on-’Dane crime (like the mess in Kentucky Dakota and Dartz are working on) feed the negative impression of Fen as superpowered lunatics who should stay out there and not bother honest, decent folk.
Fen-positive stories do exist in media, but they’re often non-local (the Blue Blaze Irregulars saving the day somewhere in not-America), of niche interest (Starfleet researchers exploring the brave new world of Pandora discover a new beastie) or relegated to “fad/lifestyle” news (a Fen company releases some pretty new chunk of Future from the WFC).
Pro-Fen forces exist both in the general public and in the government.
Handwavium panic lurks beneath US-Fen relations, and it’s not going away anytime soon.
Giuliani was elected in 2008 based on handwavium panic, esp. the rantings of people who figured that terrorists would use handwavium to do something non-specific but nasty.
President Rudy’s administration was an epic low point for presidencies. His generally autocratic & dickish behavior didn’t play well with Congress, the courts or the public.
Panic fatigue plus a tendency on Giuliani’s part to blame everything wrong with his administration on the Fen led to an ebb of ‘wave panic in late ‘09 - early ‘10. This led to the ratification of the Kandor Treaty.
Coming into the ‘12 elections Giuliani was faced with a hostile party & public. He intended to use the “War on Fen” much the same way earlier presidents had used the “War on Terror,” “War on Drugs,” etc. as part of a Patriotic Lawn-Order campaign. It didn’t work.
Giuliani was faced by a surprisingly strong primary campaign by (*rolls dice*) Ron Paul. Strong enough that the President ended up dropping out of the race halfway through.
The ‘12 GOP Convention was a bloodbath, radicals & moderates scrambling for the prize, no real presumptive nominee. Great TV, if you like that sort of thing. Eventually a compromise candidate - one supported by everybody & nobody - gets nominated.
Things proceed from there. Eventually somebody wins, haven’t decided who yet. Whoever it ends up being, it’s a relative moderate on everything.
‘Wave panics start coming back into vogue in late ‘12 early ‘13 as the Boskone War intensifies. US public perception of Fen as lawless criminals increases, then breaks apart once the Patrol starts operating. Lots of CNN images of Osaka, Serenity Valley, the goonrush on the Black Tower, etc.
New president comes in ‘13, things start to stabilize a bit. By summer it’s obvious that Boskone is on the back foot and it’ll all be over by Christmas (well, not really, but close enough). As peace starts to return to the Inner System relations between the US and Convention get a little warmer.
There’s still some rumblings in the mist, however. A lot of senators who voted to ratify Kandor (more as a “fuck you” to Giuliani than any love for Fenspace) are experiencing buyer’s remorse.
And then the Artemis program starts flights, and things go crappy. Again.
Public perception is ambivalent on the whole thing; while the people who care are happy to see NASA flying again, the whole “backroom deal with the Soviets” smacks of dirty politics (which it is) and also strikes a chord in the heads of venerable Cold Warriors all over the country. Mal Fnord’s open trolling of the Joint Committee on Extraterrestrial Security doesn’t exactly help the situation, though Daily Show and Colbert Report writers joygasm over it.
Relations stabilize when (OMGSPOILERS for Mr. Fnord Goes To Washington) President What’s-His-Face and General Fnord come to an agreement to let the US openly vilify the VVS in exchange for not investigating the Artemis cabal any further.
The Artemis evidence is disposed of shortly thereafter in the infamous April Fool’s Day Purchase. This actually leads to a pro-NASA backlash in the ‘14 midterms, as a bunch of Representatives who supported the shuttle sale were lambasted as all-but-traitors and thrown out.
That brings us to 2015 or so and that’s where the train of thought derails. Discuss.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
Hokay, so. This is a raw take of what’s in my mind re: the US political landscape ca. 2009 - 2017.
The general political landscape:
The vast majority of Ameri’Danes don’t really give much of a shit about Fenspace in general; they’re busy with their own lives.
Perception of Fenspace (i.e. the Convention) is largely neutral, trending toward negative. The perception of Fen (i.e. the people of the Convention) is more negative.
Mass-media stories about Fen doing something crazy on US soil (like the Corners launch) or about Fen-on-’Dane crime (like the mess in Kentucky Dakota and Dartz are working on) feed the negative impression of Fen as superpowered lunatics who should stay out there and not bother honest, decent folk.
Fen-positive stories do exist in media, but they’re often non-local (the Blue Blaze Irregulars saving the day somewhere in not-America), of niche interest (Starfleet researchers exploring the brave new world of Pandora discover a new beastie) or relegated to “fad/lifestyle” news (a Fen company releases some pretty new chunk of Future from the WFC).
Pro-Fen forces exist both in the general public and in the government.
Handwavium panic lurks beneath US-Fen relations, and it’s not going away anytime soon.
Giuliani was elected in 2008 based on handwavium panic, esp. the rantings of people who figured that terrorists would use handwavium to do something non-specific but nasty.
President Rudy’s administration was an epic low point for presidencies. His generally autocratic & dickish behavior didn’t play well with Congress, the courts or the public.
Panic fatigue plus a tendency on Giuliani’s part to blame everything wrong with his administration on the Fen led to an ebb of ‘wave panic in late ‘09 - early ‘10. This led to the ratification of the Kandor Treaty.
Coming into the ‘12 elections Giuliani was faced with a hostile party & public. He intended to use the “War on Fen” much the same way earlier presidents had used the “War on Terror,” “War on Drugs,” etc. as part of a Patriotic Lawn-Order campaign. It didn’t work.
Giuliani was faced by a surprisingly strong primary campaign by (*rolls dice*) Ron Paul. Strong enough that the President ended up dropping out of the race halfway through.
The ‘12 GOP Convention was a bloodbath, radicals & moderates scrambling for the prize, no real presumptive nominee. Great TV, if you like that sort of thing. Eventually a compromise candidate - one supported by everybody & nobody - gets nominated.
Things proceed from there. Eventually somebody wins, haven’t decided who yet. Whoever it ends up being, it’s a relative moderate on everything.
‘Wave panics start coming back into vogue in late ‘12 early ‘13 as the Boskone War intensifies. US public perception of Fen as lawless criminals increases, then breaks apart once the Patrol starts operating. Lots of CNN images of Osaka, Serenity Valley, the goonrush on the Black Tower, etc.
New president comes in ‘13, things start to stabilize a bit. By summer it’s obvious that Boskone is on the back foot and it’ll all be over by Christmas (well, not really, but close enough). As peace starts to return to the Inner System relations between the US and Convention get a little warmer.
There’s still some rumblings in the mist, however. A lot of senators who voted to ratify Kandor (more as a “fuck you” to Giuliani than any love for Fenspace) are experiencing buyer’s remorse.
And then the Artemis program starts flights, and things go crappy. Again.
Public perception is ambivalent on the whole thing; while the people who care are happy to see NASA flying again, the whole “backroom deal with the Soviets” smacks of dirty politics (which it is) and also strikes a chord in the heads of venerable Cold Warriors all over the country. Mal Fnord’s open trolling of the Joint Committee on Extraterrestrial Security doesn’t exactly help the situation, though Daily Show and Colbert Report writers joygasm over it.
Relations stabilize when (OMGSPOILERS for Mr. Fnord Goes To Washington) President What’s-His-Face and General Fnord come to an agreement to let the US openly vilify the VVS in exchange for not investigating the Artemis cabal any further.
The Artemis evidence is disposed of shortly thereafter in the infamous April Fool’s Day Purchase. This actually leads to a pro-NASA backlash in the ‘14 midterms, as a bunch of Representatives who supported the shuttle sale were lambasted as all-but-traitors and thrown out.
That brings us to 2015 or so and that’s where the train of thought derails. Discuss.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"