Recent content by Tom Veil

1884 "I warned you at our convention in July, my dear gentlemen, that Tammany Hall could not in good conscience deliver votes for Mr. Cleveland. I have proven a man of my word." --John Kelly, November 5, 1884

The big problem is that America, unlike most European countries, leaves no room for 3 parties. I know you know that, but it bears repeating because the 2-party bias is so extreme. The Reform Party would need to be strong enough to kill off either the Republicans or the Democrats, or else it...

Funny, I think the distinguishing characteristic of banana republics is that the former leaders get away with their crimes. Some of us are old enough to remember when the United States followed rule of law. Nixon himself would have agreed. That's what he meant when he said "I am not a crook"...

1547-1585: Edward VI (House of Tudor) [1] 1585-1604: John II (House of Tudor) [2] 1604-1649: Henry IX (House of Tudor) [3] 1649-1687: Mary I (House of Tudor) [4] 1687-1712: Frederick I (House of Vasa-Tudor) [5] 1712-1740: Henry X (House of Vasa-Tudor) [6] 1740-1788: Magdalene I (House of...

For the 1980 election, just plain ignore any issues of who's a better campaigner. Carter was fine in that department. The problem is that in the third quarter of 1980, adjusted GDP dropped by 7.9%, the worst recession since 1958. As we're seeing around the world right now, that kind of...

Emperor of the Romans 1057-1075: Isaakios I (House of Komnenos) [1] 1075-1106: Issakios II (House of Kommenos) 1106-1123: Manuel I (House of Kommenos) 1123-1169: Sergios I Megas (House of Komnenos) [2] 1169-1173: Regency of Zeno II / interregnum 1173-1233: Zeno II Evangelos (House of...

"Whatever the ultimate fate of my country, my love for you remains, and will remain, undiminished. My non-violence demands universal love, but it does not demand universal obedience. Violence should be resisted not by counter-violence but by nonviolence. This I do by breaking the law and by...

Turkey has two main differences compared to chicken. Historically, the important difference is that turkey is native to the Americas, which means 95% of humanity can't eat it until the Renaissance/Exploration Age. Nutritionally, turkey has fewer calories per gram than chicken, so if you're on...

My (half-baked) reason for choosing a picture with that flag is that Strauß's head is right where the Iron Cross would be if this were the Weimar Republic flag. The idea is that ITTL, a slightly different end to WWI results in the alt.Nazis having enough power to be a swing party (like the FDP...

October 10, 1982: Menachem "Manny" Biegun, Premier of the Imperial Duma, and Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, sign the Treaty on Religious and Racial Liberty. Signatory nations (which include Bhārata, Egypt, France, Jugoslavia, Palestine, and the British Commonwealth) agree to...

Wyclef Jean, President of the Republic of New France, shakes hands with W. Jefferson Clinton, while Minister of Health René Préval introduces him. Monsieur Clinton, of Petite-Roche, Arkansas, is paralyzed and hard of hearing due to childhood polio, which was once common among the Anglophone...

This should answer your question about why all the actors are white anglophone Americans: (EDIT: well, panel 2 answers your question. Panels 3-5 are unrelated jokes.)

If Bush's 2000 election wasn't controversial enough to get him beat in 2004, I doubt Gore is capable of doing anything worse. Short of ordering the CIA to assassinate Bush, how do you get more controversial than the Supreme Court ordering Florida to not count all the ballots?

Absolutely nothing is happening on greenhouse gases from Gore's inauguration until at least 9/11. Nothing. Why? First off, Gore didn't campaign on it as a signature issue -- Bush took a lot of the wind out of Gore's sails by signalling that he, too, would support stricter environmental...

It's hard to come up with a breed of dog that is both possible before modern genetics, and yet doesn't already exist IOTL. Want a dog specifically bred to sit on the lap of a Chinese Emperor? We have that, it's a pug. Wait, no, I want one that doesn't go on the Emperor's lap; it goes up his...