My Brother's Killer

I am uncertain how to write this into a detailed story - but here's the idea for a Civil War era story entitled "My Brother's Killer."

Two brothers from Maryland end up on opposite sides in the United States Civil War. The story follows the Union brother, James Davis. James felt that the war needed to be fought to end slavery. His brother felt that slavery was a red herring and that the real battle was between the rights of the states and the power of the federal government.

James joins the 1st Regiment Cavalry out of Baltimore early on in the conflict. In his first battle, James kills a number of men in battle. As he charges forward with his unit and finds that one of the fallen Confederates in the battle is his brother.

After the war, with a heavy conscience, James leaves Maryland and in 1866, he ends up in Oklahoma territory. There he sees attrocities performed by Union solders. He defends local Native Americans and after joining them one night discovers that their tribe sided with the Confederates in the Civil War.

The story follows a man torn and confused. He feels pain and disgust in himself and no longer supports the cause that led him to kill his brother. I'm unsure how to end this story. Part of me had the idea of him joining the Native American tribe and dying with them in a guerilla attack on a Union barracks, but I'm unsure.

Thoughts are welcome. Again, this is only the beginning and bare skeleton of a story.

What If 2000

I've been toying in my head with two alternatives to what historically occurred and have a few ideas as to what might have happened. The first one is as follows:

What If Gore Won in 2000?
It's an idea that many have come up with and has been tackled to varying degrees of bias. Remaining as unbiased as possible - this is what I came up with.
Gore's term in office is marked by the war in Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks on September 11th. The economy struggles, but with less of a budget shortfall than under President Bush, it manages to steady itself almost entirely by 2003. 2002 sees major Democratic gains and the capture of both houses of Congress. During his first term in office, Gore signs into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the McCain–Feingold Act, and the No Child Left Behind Act. No Child Left Behind is fully funded. He supports the Kyoto Accord and pushes for some far reaching anti-global warming legislation towards the end of his first term in office. Taxes are increased on top earners in the United States in 2003. In 2003, Afghanistan has its first democratic election under its new Constitution.

In mid-2004, President Gore pulls out of Afghanistan. Gore/Lieberman win against the ticket of John McCain/Lamar Alexander. A high profile speech that some consider the best from the Republican convention, was given by recently elected Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. After the 2004 election cycle, Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele becomes the Republican Party chairman. His tenure begins with a number of public missteps and gaffes, but by the end of 2005 his face seems to disappear from the news.

Federal taxes rise a bit during Gore's second term as he continues to push his anti-global warming agenda in Congress. 2005 sees North Korea and Iraq testing rockets over neighboring airspace. The United Nations condemns their actions. Iran, Iraq, and North Korea each claim that they are working on nuclear programs. Gore calls for multi-party talks with China, South Korea, North Korea, and the United States to halt North Korea's nuclear program. He calls for talks with Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United States to help halt the Iranian and Iraqi nuclear programs. Progress is very slow and does not happen in the Middle East as Iran and Iraq refuse to participate in talks. Economic downturn begins in late 2005 and after years of Democratic party rule, 2006 sees large Republican gains. 2006 sees the Republicans recapturing the House of Representatives and the selection of new Speaker of the House Michael Pence.

In 2007, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal forgoes a bid for reelection endorsing Republican State Senator Walter Boasso as his successor. Boasso defeated Democrat and Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell.

In the 2008 election, Vice President Joseph Lieberman decides not to seek the Presidency citing that serving as Vice President for eight years was all he needed. In the first open election in years, many jump into the fray. The Democratic primary was primarily between former US Senator John Edwards, US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. Clinton eventually won the primary in early May and selected Howard Dean as her running mate.

The Republican primary appeared to be more divided at first with former Governors Bobby Jindal and Mitt Romney facing off against former Senator Fred Thompson, and Congressman Ron Paul. Following a huge win in Iowa and South Carolina (Romney wins New Hampshire and ties Jindal in Michigan), Jindal has large momentum going into Florida. Thompson endorses Jindal after his South Carolina loss. Jindal edges out Romney in Florida and then wins huge on Super Tuesday. Romney drops out after Super Tuesday to support party unity and endorses Jindal. With Jindal as the nominee, he waits until Clinton selects Howard Dean as her running mate to pick former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell as his running mate. Jindal/Powell defeats Clinton/Dean in an extremely close election. Looking very similar to the 2004 election in the real timeline.

How Jack & Bobby Could've Been Awesome

Jack & Bobby was a show a few months before the 2004 Presidential election. What was the premise? The lives of two boys named Jack and Bobby, the symbolism is not lost on the audience, are chronicled at present time and as a documentary of the life of a President McCallister. At the end of the first episode, you find out which McCallister boy was the President.

Now, the general concept was awesome. A show that went back and forth between the modern life of this future President and a documentary with interviews with those close to the President or who knew the President including Cabinet members, political opponents, and members of the media. It had promise, but instead it relied on terribly weak plot elements which turned it into something else entirely. This show could have been one of the best on television, ever. Instead...it failed and was canceled rather quickly. Here's how it could have been better.

First, never do a subplot involving the mother of the future President hooking up with one of her students. Ever. That plot was terrible, added nothing to the story, and added nothing to the characters. Have the mother continue to deal with her marijuana addiction in front of her children with no discussion of her job except that it begins to suffer because of it. She could have been a deep and intense character as part of the Jack and Bobby's lives without ever going much deeper into her job. Her job was unimportant, her relationship with her sons was. That needed to be developed more fully.

Next, do an entire string of episodes with from the opposite stance...start with the President dealing with a crisis and him looking back to specific moments from his childhood in brief flashbacks. Never lose the fact that this show is supposed to be about a man who will become President and how his current life molds him into the man he would become. Show the man he would become. Show how this Independent President changed America.

Also, they needed a set timeline to be established. This isn't a show that could go on indefinitely. It needed to be defined by clear cut events in Jack and Bobby's respective lives. Frankly, I think it should have been broken into a set of five seasons, each of them focusing in on a different portion of the President's life. Start as a child with the formative years around 2004. Jump to the end of high school. Jump to college. Jump to the beginning of his political career. And so on. Also, show the plot and the lives of the characters evolve over time. Each season can't end on a cliffhanger, either. It needs to be wrapped up in a bow in case the show ends then, giving the audience satisfaction that we know that much more about the future President's life.

My idea -- get Brian K. Vaughn, who writes the amazing Ex Machina, on staff and revamp this show from scratch. He's great at writing political dramas and could remold this show into something awesome.

That's it. I think with these tweaks and maybe some new writing, this show would have been amazing. Will my dream of seeing the history of future President Robert McCallister actually come true? I doubt it, but it'd be amazing to see happen.

Story Elements

I’m going to pretend for a moment that I’m Stan Lee around the time Marvel was just starting out. What did Lee do back in those days? He came up with an idea, a general premise for a story, and handed it to an artiest who put a preliminary product together and then Lee inserted the dialogue. So, I’m going to do the first part of that – collect some random story elements and post them. Here are a few –

• Parallel to our world, a world of magic exists. A secret, international body called the “Council of Wizardry” has been helping to hide the world of magic from the non-magical world for centuries. Merlin, in 1990, had taken up an apprentice in secret by the name of Jonathan Modus. Why Modus? Modus has the highest magical potential that the world had ever seen. Merlin passes of natural causes in 1996. After a year or so, fending for himself and avoiding being conscripted by the Council, Modus changes magical history forever…by coming public with his magical powers.
• America elected Ross Perot in 1992. Vice President Stockdale passes away in 1995 from the strains of the position, putting the sick war hero to bed earlier than he anticipated. Perot enters into 1996 after four years of relative peace and economic prosperity as the lead in all the polls. His Reform Party is being built nationally thanks to Pat Choate. And then…Perot is assassinated. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is thrust into the Presidency in March of 1996, throwing off the entire GOP primary and shaking up the entire world. This follows the story of three men, Newt Gingrich, Pat Choate, and Caleb Tollin. Newt, from the perspective of a man who just became Speaker of the House and is now dealing suddenly with the Presidency and an internal battle with his party to figure out what to do with the election. Pat Choate, who saw the vision of Ross Perot work from coast to coast and saw an emergence of a new party, now scrambling to organize his own national campaign for the Presidency as the party chairman and one of the few national figures in the party besides New York State Governor Tom Golisano (who barely won the Governor’s mansion of New York in 1994 with a stronger national Reform Party). And Caleb Tollin is an average voter in Virginia whose life is shaken by the assassination of the President and what happens to the economy and his life as this all happens to him in the background. It also chronicles how he votes in the end.
• Create a musical that combines in a logical fashion the storyline and music of both Wicked and The Wizard of Oz (the 1939 musical movie edition). Some ideas include…the changing of Boq back to his novel persona and creating a new/picking a different Munchkin boy to be transformed into the Tin Woodsman; or show Fieyro and Elphaba reuniting in the Emerald City where the Scarecrow was reportedly made to replace the Wizard (according to the books) OR…perhaps have another Scarecrow in Fieyro’s place that Elphaba raises to follow Dorothy.
• Confederate Zion story. For the background of this “alternate history” world setting, check here. The idea? Tell the story of the end of secession of New England from the perspective of a Confederate Ambassador to the US or UN and a Boston citizen who’s all in favor…perhaps a newspaper writer from the time period.
• A Modern Templar story. The Templar leader dies of natural causes at the age of 75. Sir Caleb is asked by the new leader of the Templar Knights, Sir Ishmael, to go on a secret mission into Saudi Arabia to protect a small, Christian church from some bombing attempts. He arrives to find the church emptied with no one there. Caleb is then attacked from all sides by people who fight like Templar Knights. He fends the five attackers off and finds in the basement of the Church a shrine to Moloch. What Caleb uncovers is that Sir Ishmael is not what he seems; he had been using the power of the ancient deity Moloch to rise up in the Templar order and had sent those loyal to the late Sir Peter to their deaths. Caleb then seeks out proof to stop Ishmael from warping the Templar organization and perhaps to find a way to destroy the demonic source of Ishmael’s power.

So, anyone want to draw/write up any of my story ideas? Anyone find them interesting in the least…

Weird Alternate History World Setting

So here's 2 points of divergence and where I went from there

• Joseph Smith, III takes over the Mormon church after the death of his father, the followers of Bringham Young are removed from the church thereby removing the practices of polygamy, the Endowment ritual would be different, and Baptism for the dead would not be practiced.


• The Civil War is won by the Confederate States of America after they allow slaves to fight in the war and received freedom for their efforts.

What does this change? All manner of things. First -- the Confederacy wins the first war of the America and quite possibly in the process takes back West Virginia as part of Virginia and Maryland, which would have peacefully joined had they been allowed. Second, the Mormons out west may still be armed, but they're not quite as alienated as they were for their beliefs because they don't have the polygamy or baptism of the dead. The Book of Mormon was enough through most of the early history of the church, but these new views put them at odds with a lot more people...especially the government of the US. Instead, they were able to spread their word much more readily. Thirdly? A new Native American nation would have been established in area of the modern state of Oklahoma, independent of both the CSA and USA, but protected by the CSA as one of its allies. This would make for an interesting buffer zone and new nation of Indian peoples in the Americas. What could happen following this historically? Well -- here's my ideas of big events.

• 1882 -- Mexican land grab where the CSA purchases a plot of land from Mexico leading to border conflicts with the US that escalates into full scale war. Large Mormon community in Utah secedes from the union leading to a two fronted war. The Confederates and Mormons win -- the United People of New Zion is founded as the Mormon nation and the Confederates take parts of Arizona and New Mexico, collecting them into the states of Jefferson and Arizona (different borders) by 1892. All blacks who join the Army are granted freedom upon finishing their terms of services again leading to over 50% of the black people in the CSA being free persons. The idea for a war over this is similar to the ideas from historian/alternative history writer Harry Turtledove's "How Few Remain" world setting. Amazing novel, by the way.
  
• 1884 -- Non-black slaves granted the vote in the CSA.
• 1892 -- Indians males granted the vote in New Zion.
• 1895 -- Virginia and Maryland officially ban slavery within their borders.
• 1900 -- New England secession movement begins to grow. Slavery banned in CSA by Constitutional Amendment.
  
• 1901 -- Indian Territory joins the CSA as the state of Cherokee (modern Oklahoma) -- Indian men granted the right to vote simultaneously, considering 80% of the people living in Indian Territory were Indians.
• World War I breaks out with the US, Germany, Austria-Hungary on one side and Neo Zion, CSA, UK, France on the other. Russia is neutral after pulling out like in real life. Allied powers win and CSA does a little land grab taking Kansas.
• New England secedes after WWI -- war almost breaks out, but UK and CSA intervene with troops to keep the peace.
• Israel founded prior to World War II, dominantly Jewish state with a large Mormon temple in Jerusalem.
  
• Socialism rises in Germany, Hitler rises in Austria instead of Germany.
• Soviet Germany, UK, CSA, New Zion, China, Soviet Union, France against Austria, Italy, and Japan in WWII. United States remains neutral. New England sides with Allied forces, begins to build standaing army by the end of the war and enters in around D-Day.
  
• Women granted the vote in CSA and New Zion after WWII.

After that, I'm not sure. Anyone who would want to help me flesh out the history of such a world, by all means. I'm going to call this universe "Confederate Zion" in case I come up with future posts on the topic of this world-setting.

Here's who the current North American leaders are --

• President of New England -
  
• President of the United States - Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (Whig)
• President of the Confederate States of America - Angus King (Democrat)
• President of New Zion - Merrill J. Bateman

The major political parties --

New England

• Progressive Party - Exactly as it sounds, akin to the Progressive party of LaFollette, it supports a larger role of the unified federal government.
  
• Unity Party - The Unity Party is a big tent party that encompasses conservative populists, conservatives, and libertarians.
  
• Unionist Party - A minor party that has been opposed to secession from the beginning. They have called for reunification with the US and hold a majority of the state legislature in the state of Vermont. They do not hold a single seat in the New England Congress.
  

United States

• Democratic Party -- Akin to the modern Republican Party, the Democratic party remained the house of the more conservative thinkers. The party of Jefferson, Jackson, and Goldwater. Remains a dominant force in modern politics.
• Whig Party -- After the collapse of the Republican Party in 1864, the Whig Party surged in the 1868 election with former Republicans and Unionists with unity candidate and President Henry Wilson. They've been the competing party since. Slightly more progressive than the Democratic party.
  

CSA

• Democratic Party -- The state's rights party followed exactly the same path as the US Democratic Party listed above.
• Confederate Party -- The party that supports a more unified confederation, direct election of Senators, and has the most moderate members who support more federal measures.

Crisis of Infinite Me's?

In an attempted spoof on the Crisis of Infinite Earths, I decided to remake myself...in each of the many infinite Earths. Here are a few silly examples --

Earth 1 – Matthew Newman – b. 1953 – Matthew Newman was born of Howard and Cindy Newman, country folk from the capital district of New York State. He was the eldest of four children; Emily (1955), Alex (1957), Anna (1960). In 1970, Newman decided he would attend college. He told his parents that he would pay his own way through it entirely and he did, incurring a great deal of debt as he got his Bachelors of Science in Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Newman was picked up straight out of college in 1974 by General Electric’s new silicone plant in Waterford, New York. He quickly flew up the ranks and by 1978 was manager of half of the factory. In 1976, Newman married his college girlfriend Jennifer Brandice, a native New Yorker who studied teaching at Russell Sage College for women.

In 1980, Newman was approached by the Republican Party in Waterford. They needed a bold candidate for City Council, one who would resonate as a hard working gentleman. They felt that Newman fit that description. He ran against 4 term incumbent John Baldwin and beat him by a two percent margin. Newman served for 4 years and was asked by the GOP in Waterford to run for Mayor, he accepted. His hard working appeal continued to do him justice, sweeping him into Office in 1984.

After serving for a term and a half, Newman quit his job at General Electric officially and ran for State Senator in 1990. He fought a difficult primary match-up against local-boy Joseph Bruno and won by a hair. He took the Republican and Conservative lines. Using both lines to his advantage, he swept into office by a larger margin. The State Senate was an interesting place for Newman, who was not used to the politics on a State level. He found himself more at odds with the Republican Party with each passing day as the memory of Rockefeller was ringing true making many Republicans act more and more like the Democrats. In 1994, George Pataki was running for Governor of the State of New York, he claimed to be a strong conservative Republican who would push for tax-cuts. Also running was wealthy businessman Thomas Golisano. Both men promised tax-relief and both men promised a more conservative agenda. Staying true to his party, Newman backed Pataki and was tapped as such to be his Lieutenant Governor. With the power of Newman from upstate, they defeated Mario Cuomo in quite the upset election.

Newman served as Lt. Governor and watched as Pataki’s views shifted from the Conservative he claimed to be to a more liberal candidate. In 1998, Newman had enough and challenged Pataki to a primary for the Conservative and Republican lines. Thomas Golisano was planning to run once more and surprising most of the State of New York, backed Newman helping him garner the support of the third largest party in the state, the Independence Party. Newman fought a hard primary, defeating Pataki on the Conservative line and barely losing the Republican line. Democratic challenger Peter Vallone attacked Pataki, citing the division in the Republican Party as proof that he did not have what it took to be Governor. Newman kept on issue saying that Pataki failed to cut taxes and failed to bring about the smaller government agenda he promised. The election was one of the closest in New York State history -- Pataki 35.09%, Vallone 28.80%, Newman 35.23%.

With this victory in hand for the conservative movement in New York, Newman pushed for lower taxes immediately. He cut spending everywhere in his first attempt at the budget leading to strong opposition within the Republican ranks who had supported Pataki in 1998. He barely got a budget passed in 1999 and in 2000 the State Government shut down for 3 days before the legislature was forced through the media frenzy to support Governor Newman’s budget. Over the course of 2 years, he cut spending 25% and in his first week in office cut out 10,000 state jobs.

Newman continued his large-scale cuts all across the budget throughout his first term in office. In 2000, he stayed out of the Republican primary saying, “I pray that whomever is elected is a truly conservative choice who plans is serious about cuts government spending.” He spoke to uproarious applause at the Republican National Convention. Disappointment struck the Republican Party with the election of Vice President Gore in 2000.

In 2001, tragedy struck in the wave of a terrorist attack on New York City. Citizens of New York became global citizens, Giuliani became America’s mayor, Newman became America’s Governor. He forced a small enough budgetary increase to pay for the rebuilding of the City and sent in a portion of the State Militia, which had begun being rebuilt in 2000. In 2002, Newman was easily reelected taking nearly 60% of the popular vote and taking the Republican, Independence, and Conservative lines.

In 2004, the Republican Party needed a strong candidate for President. They found that in Newman. He challenged everything Gore stood for ranging from his response to September 11^th to his failure to act on the growing problems with Iraq and Iran. Newman ran a fiery campaign with maverick Republican Senator John McCain as his running mate. He defeated President Gore by 1% of the popular vote and by capturing the State of New York.

Newman is the current President of Earth 1.

Here's another --

Earth 3 – Matthew Neuman – b. 1962 – Neuman was born in the New York of two Soviet spies, Svet-lana and Siergei “Neuman.” They had survived being ousted in the nation after McCarthy and had remained hidden in New York as parents of two children, Emily (1960) and Matthew, they went by the names of Howland and Cindy. The two taught their children to speak fluent Russian and English. In 1971, the couple was found and forced to flee back to the Soviet Union. Neuman, a fast and nimble child, was taken in by the KGB. He was trained as a child in the art of combat while learning about the menace of America and other problems in the world. Neuman became the perfect member of the KGB and at 17, he was dropped into Afghanistan. He was sent on a mission to assassinate the current leadership. He was armed to the teeth, but was sent alone.

He was quick to the task and within a week returned to Moscow a hero inside of the KGB and unknown outside of it. He led troops across the Soviet Empire and in 1985; he was promoted within the organization. He was a quick learner of the politics of the KGB and by 1990 was second only to the head of the Soviet Empire. Yet, in 1992 that Empire fell. Neuman went into hiding for 5 years and in 1997 appeared in the People’s Republic of China. The government used him as a consultant for their secret police and, despite his Russian heritage, he was treated with a great deal of respect. He served in that position until 2000 when he was found by the Russian government. They forced the Chinese to hand over Neuman to the United Nations who put him on trial for crimes against humanity. With no proof of his wrongdoings, as the bulk of KGB documentation relating to Neuman had been destroyed, he was released in 2002

He joined the Russian Communist Party and attempted to help their candidates. In 2003, he took a bullet for their Presidential candidate. This was his last act of patriotism for the Soviet cause, for the bullet killed Neuman.

What If -- No Kennedy Assassination

This idea had originally been posited on a game I used to play entitled US Government Simulator, or USG for short. I developed, in short, what I thought would happen and initially posted it on my primary blog. Here's a repost of that same thought -- a bit tweaked --

1964 - In a wave of popularity surging from his near death experience, Kennedy wins in a strong mandate for President against Barry Goldwater (similar to LBJ's victory). Kennedy dumped Johnson for Governor Pat Brown of California, who recently defeated Nixon for Governor. Kennedy continues to stand by the Vietnam war, but in contrast to Goldwater sounds much less militant.

1965 - Vietnam continues to escalate, Kennedy's popularity starts to drop. Vice President Brown meets with South Vietnamese leaders in Hawaii promising full support for their independence.

1966 - Vietnam war continues to be mismanaged as it was in real life.

1967 - Nixon begins speaking tour of America and talking about Civil Rights. MLK speaks out against Vietnam war. Secretary of Defense admits that Vietnam strategy has been ineffective before Senate.

1968 - Vietcong sweep in surprising American and allied South Vietnamese forces. Support for the war reaches all time low. Nixon meets with MLK. MLK assassinated (no correlation to Nixon meeting). Nixon v. Brown v. Wallace -- Nixon wins by larger margin than in reality -- Wallace gained support in unexpected regions.

Nixon's Term - Nixon pushes for the Civil Rights movement and deescalates Vietnam as he pledged on the campaign trail. Civil Rights movement moves forward later than normal due to Kennedy's initial opposition to the affair, despite popular belief. The Watergate scandal happens as expected only swifter then in reality. Carl Albert becomes President until 1976. Albert finishes the push for Civil Rights reform

1976 election - GOP primary between Ronald Reagan and Nelson Rockefeller. Reagan barely wins in a hotly contested primary, setting the tone for the Republican party for the next 20 years. President Albert is primaried by George Wallace for the nomination. After losing a few early primaries, Albert comes out victorious and eventually takes on Southern Governor Jimmy Carter as a running mate. Reagan barely wins in 1976 with Robert Dole as his running mate. Iran hostage crisis shortens with the hardliner Reagan handling the situation. The OPEC scenario leads to drilling in Alaska and other parts of the US and a renewed effort into alternative fuel sources. The oil found domestically lets the OPEC boycot having a lesser effect on domestic affairs.

1980 election - Ted Kennedy runs against Jimmy Carter in the Democratic primary, as it does in reality Kennedy's skelleton's surface leading to Carter winning the primary. Reagan uses sound bytes from Kennedy in campaign ads against Carter. Reagan defeats Jimmy Carter in 1980 in a campaign similar to the RL 1980 election. Soviet talks were huge in the early 1980s.

Dole wins on the wave of Reagan popularity in 1984 and continues the policies of Reagan. He pickes Howard Baker as a running mate. By 1988 talks with the Soviet Union had been going so well that Dole swept into reelection by a smaller, albeit still large margin. The Soviet Union began to slowly fall apart and taxes were forced to be raised and, without the charisma of Reagan, Dole was unable to sell it to the American people leading to the same problems Bush had in the late 1980s. Dole gets us into the Gulf War and it ends as quickly as it begins. He handles it about as well as Bush does.

In 1992 VP Baker runs into a problem as eccentric millionaire H. Ross Perot decides to run for President. Popular Southern Governor William J. Clinton sweeps through the DNC primary leading to an interesting Presidential race in 1992. Clinton still wins.

1996 leads to a fragmented Republican primary torn between Pat Buchanan and Senator Phil Gramm. Buchanan barely squeaks by with a primary victory. Clinton wins in 1996 as he did in reality with a slightly larger margin.

In 2000, Popular Maverick Senator John McCain faces off against popular Southern Governor George W. Bush in a GOP primary. The Democrats rally behind VP Al Gore. McCain sweeps in the primaries and picks up Alan Keyes as a running mate. Despite questions about the selection of Keyes, McCain sweeps into office in 2000 with his plain talk defeating Al Gore. September 11, 2001 happens as it does in real life. US sweeps into Afghanistan handling it a bit more manageably than in reality. Intelligence is brought to President McCain that Iraq may have weapons of mass destruction - he waits it out while finishing up efforts on Afghanistan.

By 2003, Iraq becomes a threat and invasion becomes eminent. End of 2003 we invade Iraq. McCain as a wartime President defeats peace-hawk Howard Dean in 2004 in a larger margin of victory than George W. Bush did in reality. McCain is currently our President.

Church of Lucifer

In 2002, I took a class entitled "Introduction to Monotheistic Religions." In said class, I learned from a purely historical perspective the histories of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and how the three were spread. I have always been fascinated with alternate history, including the works of Harry Turtledove -- as such, I decided to combine my newfound knowledge into an alternate history timeline. The product? A chronicling of the foundation of a church devoted to Lucifer beginning in the Beth El around 200 CE. Here is a small biography of the founder of this fictional church --

Beelzebub Timothy – 158 – 215 CE – At age 40, Timothy had a torrid love affair with an Arab woman, cheating on his current wife. She was appalled and left him after discovering this. He could not understand why she was upset; he was only showing his true joy and love of mankind. He decided that something wasn’t right in the way people thought. So, after this experience, Timothy went into the desert alone. While out meditating, Timothy of Bethel met with Satan - Lucifer told Timothy to follow his ways and he promised to teach Timothy the ways of the world – Timothy listened and assumed the mantle of Beelzebub Timothy – He constructed a temple in the town of Beth El to Lucifer in 200 CE – he began preaching his word and gained a small following. By 210, most of Beth El attended the Lucifer cathedral – Beelzebub Timothy trained 3 successors, one to take over in Beth El and 2 to spread the faith. In 215 CE he died of internal parasites, but his faith lived on.

Next comes a few passages I created from the "Luciferite" holy text --

“…(12) And Cain took his brother Abel (13) saying, ‘Look Lucifer what I give unto you. (14) I would sacrifice my only brother, (15) the only sacrifice I could find befitting your glory. (16) You who was denied by Yahweh, (17) the Immortal Dark One, my divine inspiration. (18) I choose you as my Elohim, Lucifer (19) For ever and always’…”
Book of Cain 2:12-19

“…(4) [A]nd Lucifer spoke unto Timothy saying, (5) 'One day, my chosen people shall rule this Earth entirely. (6) This world will be ours. (7) Follow me and I will give you more than life eternal, (8) but eternal power, a true kingdom in this world.’
(9) Timothy smiled at this and bowed before his rightful master…”
Book of Timothy 3:4-9

To follow will be the entire timeline as I had developed it about the history of the church and how it impacted the other major monotheistic religions in the area --

~200 CE – Temple to Lucifer was founded by Beelzebub Timothy in Bethel – his new religion was founded. New beliefs – Lucifer is the one true god and all should bow before him. Yahweh of the Jews and Christians had exiled Lucifer because he did not understand Lucifer’s ways. Major ideals – 3 Laws of Lucifer

1. Obey Human Laws
2. Worship Lucifer and Lucifer alone
3. Disobedience of these first two is punishable by death or torture

The followers of Lucifer are awaiting the Apocalypse when their Dark Prince will reign on Earth as the King of Kings
215 CE – Beelzebub Timothy dies – Beelzebub Arafat takes over
250 CE – Luciferism has spread across the Middle East – 4 major temples – Beth El, Damascus, Sidon, and Antioch. Christian church in an outrage – calls Luciferites “…foul demons”
260 CE – Riots by Luciferites in Sidon call for freedom of religion and speech
Riots crushed by Roman guards
261 CE – Paul Il Diablerie – 1st High Priest of Lucifer – “Descendent of Cain” – name changed to Beelzebub Paul I – helps to collect “holy” scriptures in Damascus – story of the creation, similar to Genesis – includes Lucifer’s descent from Yahweh’s paradise and the creation of his own
Story of Cain’s sacrifice of his brother to Lucifer and includes lineage of Cain down to Timothy– Collection known as “Book of Books”
Many Jewish clergy and people flee to Egypt – are not initially accepted
262 – Jewish temple in Jerusalem destroyed by Romans
Diaspora – Jews spread throughout Europe, Russia, and Asia
280 – Jewish communities begin to form in Egypt – some locals begin to convert to Judaism
303 – Beelzebub Timothy and Beelzebub Paul I made saints by official Lucifer church – Saint Timothy and Saint Paul
304 – Beelzebub Anachus as High Priest – calls for Luciferite army to develop in order to protect the faith from others – official Holy center for Luciferites become Beth El
310 – Lucifer High Temple built in Beth El atop the original temple – a new temple is built in Jerusalem, some say over top the old Jewish temple.
Jewish High Priests from old temple hide in Ethiopia and Egypt – Official sources unsure which group took the Ark.
311 – Lucifer church’s religious army takes over Beth El and overthrows Roman rule – Rome fights back with outside troops, but the Lucifer troops, fighting a defensive war win the conflict and by the end of the year, Rome grants the city self-governance – does force them to give a tithe to Rome, for fear of more casualties the Lucifer church accepts this
313 – Edict of Milan – Christians are given toleration in Rome
315 – Lucifer church in Beth El begins to expand the army – all males in the city are forced to join the army – Holy duty – other followers of the Lucifer faith are asked to go to Beth El and join the army – by 318 the army measures in the thousands.
323 – Christianity becomes official Roman religion – Rome decides to purge Beth El of its “Heathens” – plans an attack for the following year.
324 – Roman troops attack Beth El – heavy casualties on both sides – Lucifer army comes out the victor – begins to expand Beth El
325 – Rome fights back against Beth El – pushes them back into the city – In May a small guerrilla unit, calling themselves the Fist of Saint Timothy, catches the Roman troops in their sleep – burning the encampment killing many – The conflict continues on that year – eventually, the Romans pull from the area when Germanic nomads began to invade parts of the Northern Roman Empire.
350 – Beth El expanded massively – large amounts of land in Middle East are taken – as far north as Damascus and as far south as Beer-sheba – Jerusalem has been taken in this processes
400 – Europe was Christian – few sects of Luciferites in modern Italy, France, and Belarus – Middle East split in thirds, between Christian, Jews, and Luciferites
Rome falls from power, Eastern Rome/Byzantine Empire established
410 – Lucifer Army invades Constantinople - Byzantines fall in a lengthy battle to Lucifer Army, known as the “Flaming Truth”
Byzantine Empire ruled by Orthodox Lucifer faith – theocracy for next 10 years
420 – Byzantine/Lucifer Empire becomes “Dominion of the Dark Prince” – Elhard Judas becomes first Emperor of the Dominion – taking over above the Church, says that he rules because Lucifer willed him to rule.
Lucifer cleansing – begin to seek out and destroy all non-Lucifer churches in the Dominion.
422 – Europe – Holy Roman Empire – former Roman armies rise again – Based in Rome
- Recreate Roman Empire – take Italy, and begin to purge the land of Lucifer churches
430 – Holy Roman Empire completed – from Portugal to the Ukraine under the Christian
Roman Banner – Begin the move southward towards Constantinople
Major Jewish settlements exist in modern Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, and other parts of Northern Africa
431 – New Jewish temple built in Cairo – Jewish faith is massive in Egypt and the Jewish population is just growing – Lucifer followers in hiding in Europe – All European Lucifer temples destroyed
432 – Beelzebub Ali – High priest in Beth El – visits Jerusalem – attacked by Jewish mobs – mob put down – Priest Ali barely escapes
440 – Egyptian/Jewish settlements all along Nile attempt to unite – New Israel – loosely bound together, basically by faith and trade Beth Shalom (Western Yemen) founded – Hebrew nation
442 – Holy Roman Empire takes England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland
Dominion invades Beth Shalom – Hebrews use guerrilla tactics – Luciferites make headway, take heavy casualties
443 – Dominion gives up their invasion after massive loss
Beth Shalom begins establishing laws of conscription
445 – “Beelzebub” Sergey Trotsky founds Lucifer church in Moscow – new Russian sect arises
470 – Russian Czar’s rise to power – Czar Nicholas I – Christian
Dominion attacks Holy Roman Empire
Egyptian Israel founded as nation from Mediterranean to the southern border of modern Egypt – very organized – builds army to protect its western border and trade
480 - Romans pushed into Turkey, but are pushed back – all battles take place here during the next 10 years, very little headway is made on either side – Constantinople/Lucifre is destroyed – Christians Bishops from area fled to Moscow
490 – Romans push down through Constantinople/Lucifre down into the south of Turkey and deeper into the Middle East
501 – Nomadic invaders from modern Pakistan/India area invade Dominion – Germanic Nomads attack Holy Roman Empire – ravages through the countryside raping and pillaging. Order is destroyed – 2 empires fall – feudal, local rule begins to develop out of fear of the outside world – Indian Nomads eventually settle in modern Turkey, Germanic Nomads settle into modern France – bring new customs to old traditions – variations of Christianity and Luciferism arise

• Aryan Sadism – from the Indian Nomads mixed with the Luciferist faith – adds the ideas of reincarnation to the table – the only way to end the horrible cycle of reincarnation is through faith in Lucifer – there are other gods out there including Vishnu and Yahweh, but Lucifer is the only one with power over reincarnation
• Germanic Christianity – Added a few pagan holidays into the mix of the usual customs of Christianity at the time, did not last too long, in some parts of France these holidays are still celebrated to this day

502 – Europe falls into feudalist state – as does most of the Middle East/Turkey
Beth Shalom begins a Golden Age – develops new technology
Czar begins to expand Russian territory
504 – Beth Shalom/Egyptian Israel trade creates strong ties – Sinai Peninsula – many small, feudal, Jewish communities arise
520 – Feudal lords in modern Iraq and Iran attempt to form a unified state – form Persia for a time – very loosely bound federation
550 – Beth Shalom builds massive sailing vessels – sends one into the Ocean, first voyage
552 – Vessel returns from India – some new spices and items – a new language is brought as well - Urdu – new trade routes beginning between India and Beth Shalom
560 – King of Scotland, Wilem, converts to Christianity after meeting with missionary – spreads it through his lands
580 – Loosely bound Persia falls
600 – Beth Shalom – spreads to all of modern day Yemen and Oman
611 – Mohammed begins to receive his visions which would later become the Koran
630 – Mohammed’s followers enter Mecca – Islam officially begins to spread as religious movement
630-661 – Islamic religion spreads as Islamic Empire spreads, based in Mecca – takes most of middle east by force – does not spread into Africa due to blockage by Egyptian Israel – in this time period, Egyptian Israel flourishes
632 – Mohammed dies
641 – Islamic Empire invades Egyptian Israel – gets pushed out easily by organized armed forces in Egypt – Egypt remains a free Jewish state
645 - Beth Shalom attacked by Islamic Empire – slowly crushes the small state – war of attrition ends by the end of the year – Beth Shalom falls and religious toleration for these Jews is granted
651 – Koran published officially
Koran’s take on Lucifer and the Luciferite community --

• “… [T]he Dark One is not to be followed. His evil is equaled by none and his lust for souls is great. Those who praise this false lord are damned, both in this life and the next…”

680 – Still a large Luciferite population living under Islamic rule, especially in areas such as modern Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria
700 – Luciferites rebel in Jerusalem, Damascus, and Beth El – Lucifer locals overthrow Islamic forces – regain local control – new “Flaming Truth” Army begun in Beth El by Beelzebub Paul II
Islamic Empire moves troops from these areas, build up on borders
710 – Islamic Empire stretches as far east as Pakistan/India area
Islam begins to spread into modern Turkey, Empire does not spread that way
750 – Aryan Sadists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Pagans in modern Turkey begin to look outside their feudal boundaries and trade begins between city-states
Modern Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and certain parts of Saudi Arabia under Lucifer occupation – based in Beth El – law mandated by clergy
750-800 - The Abbasid Dynasty rules the Islamic Empire
752-800 – Abdul Dynasty rules the Lucifer Empire – Rule with an iron fist
754 – Egyptian Israel becomes republic
755 – Reign of Demons in Lucifer – other religions stamped out – churches destroyed
762 – Abbasid’s move their capital to Baghdad
770 – Islam on the rise in area of former Beth Shalom – Judaism still holds its ground and remains the major religion in the area
774 – Egyptian Israel begins trading with China
775 – Jews in “Beth Shalom” granted local rule by the their own clans by the Islamic Empire
780 – Hebrew reformation – synagogues in southern Egypt begin restructuring ideals – some areas sanction modifications to Kosher including the allowing for eating of certain pork products – begin translating Torah into local languages including Arabic, Aramaic
800-900 – Islamic Empire attacks the Abdul Dynasty – battle ensues for the next 100 years between the two of them – during war flourishing of culture and religion like never before in this area – many pieces of literature come out of this time – much is lost in later centuries – “Beth Shalom” area comes to the aid of the Islamic Empire, defending their rulers.
850-855 – Egyptian Israel falls into civil war between northern more orthodox Jews and the southern reform counterparts – war ends with southern portion winning – take over republic’s government and allow freedom of interpretation of Jewish law – Judaism divided between Orthodox and Egyptian Reform (usually just called Egyptian)
860 – Egyptian Israel sends ships across Mediterranean into France/Spain area – found small colonies
870 – French locals living near colonies attack the Egyptian settlements – fighting ensues – Egyptian Jews fended back by locals
880-911 – Viking attacks at their peak in Europe
900 – War ends between the two Middle Eastern empires - both are in ruins – feudalism arises in the Middle East Universities begin to sprout in Egyptian Israel
900-1200 – Agricultural advances – rebirth of towns and trade in Europe
920 – More people from Egypt enter Europe – Judaism begins to spread
950 – Universities begin to sprout in Europe – a few in the Middle East
953 – City States sprout in modern Yemen – primarily run by Jewish tribes, allow minor religious tolerance.
967 – Fatimites invade Egypt, take control of lower region
969 – Fatimites/Egyptian War ends – half the former Egyptian Israel under Fatimite control – Fatimite Judaism begins to form, combination of their local traditions and Judaism.
970 – Second Islamic Empire forms, based in Baghdad moves westward.
980 – New Lucifrite Dynasty forms, keeps to itself around modern day Israel, capital in Beth El
982 - 985 – Second Egyptian Civil War breaks out – Fatimite Egypt and Israeli Egypt war until 985 when both sects are crushed – fall of Egypt into feudalism/tribalism
984-986 – Lucifer/Islamic War, ends with fall of small Lucifer nation, fall of Beth El
1000 – Lief Erikson discovers America
Islamic Empire moves into Indian Subcontinent
1005 – Loosely bound Turkish clans invade Baghdad destroying Islamic Empire capital
1006 – Aryan Sadists and Hindus in India fight back – push back Islamic forces