WesWorld

Actualy the gorilla is on a diet so it's only 1199 lbs.

The 544.311 kg gorilla!

Someone has to be the big gorilla, can't let the Lion and the Bear have all the fun.

So everyone is aware, Eagle=1,201 Ibs gorilla. The new President likes McDonald's so he's going to be putting on some weight.

If that is the case, does that mean that the White House will be moved to California?

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Therefore, the War Department began designing both plans and aircraft that assumed either a hostile or neutral Mexico in a potential future war with... Iberia.

Really? ANY plan that involves bombing the Panama Canal has Mexico's FULL support...

I was kind of thinking the same thing. That would allow the US to build thousands of smaller, cheaper bombers which they could operate from Mexico against Iberia...
... and in the event of the drug business getting out of hand, they could use those thousands of smaller, cheaper bombers against Mexico.

The US is not planning on bombing the Panama Canal. At least that is the official response you will get from the State Department.

The US is planning to have the capability of doing so though, slight difference there.

America perhaps no longer trusts Mexico to be its well "good little puppet". So should the US and Iberia decide to have a party, they might not invite the Mexicans.

The War Department put out that statement in essence to justify its development of a "Panama Bomber," after some conversations with the State Department, conversations which in 1941 will lead to the updating of the various Rainbow Plans. The State Department has the unenviable job of looking at all possibilites, so the possibility no matter how remote that Mexico may not prove reliable or worse will leave the warm, friendly embrace of Uncle Sam and jump in bed with the Asians or worse Iberia is something the State Department has to at least consider. Its their heads on the chopping block if the unthinkable happens.

The Mexicans have not proved to be the most stable, reliable of allies in the past, and the development of the VLR Bomber is the US's way of saying "we'd rather you stick with us theres mutual benefits for both of us if you do, but if worse comes to worse, we really don't need you."

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Originally posted by Rooijen10
I was kind of thinking the same thing. That would allow the US to build thousands of smaller, cheaper bombers which they could operate from Mexico against Iberia...
... and in the event of the drug business getting out of hand, they could use those thousands of smaller, cheaper bombers against Mexico.

Or you know, the US could just build the thousands of smaller cheaper bombers and B-29's, they kind of did so a couple years or so after where we are currently in Wesworld. There was some big war or something like that.

Besides, if I were to start building thousands of smaller cheaper bombers, the Mexicans might get scared that its them they are after and not the Iberians! After all small, cheap, bombers won't hit the Canal unless I base out of Mexico, and if I were to do that I might as well add some Spainsh speaking states to the Union.

"Someone has to be the big gorilla, can't let the Lion and the Bear have all the fun."

Now, how to SuperSize Akademician Tupelov's ANT-35...

September 21st, 1940

First flight today of the second bomber in the VLR Project, Boeing's Model 345 XB-29. Although the USAAF has not made a definete decision on which bomber will receive production contracts, the XB-29 was received quite favourably by the USAAF brass. It was decided both aircraft would get the go-ahead for further development, with the unspoken understanding that the Consolidated Bomber would become the back-up.

September 23rd, 1940

Bantam's prototype 4x4 reconnaisance car is delivered to the US Army's vehicle test centre at Camp Holabird, Maryland. Interestingly enough, also on hand are Bantam's two rival bidders Ford and Willys-Overland, the War Department is concerned about Bantam's fiscal situation, as well as its ability to deliver the number of vehicles needed. Both companies are encouraged to complete their own pilot models for testing.



Bantam Buggy

October 11th, 1940

In what later American political scientists will dub "The October Surprise," FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover annouced today several serious allegations against President Long, allegations that have come about as a result of his investigation into the New Orleans Riots. The president is alleged to be the mastermind behind the riots, in an attempt to discredit the Meadows family, who were beginning to come uncomfortably close to certain truths about the "death" of the Picayune reporter Jim Meadows. While much of the evidence at this point is merely testimony, one of those questioned did mention a paper trail leading back to a man he only knew as the "Kingpin". President Long has since then taken a nose-dive in recent Gallup polls, falling 15 points behind the front-runner Wilkie.

October 17th

War Breaks Out in the Far East!

War has broken out in the Far East today, between the Chinese Empire, and the Republic of the Philippines. Officially, the United States has declared itself neutral in this conflict, according to President Long.

October 21st

An annoucement today from the State Department mentioned that the United States would proceed with the delivery of the 8 old destroyers ordered and paid for by China.

October 22nd

Wilkie blasts Long for Breaking Law.

At one of his whistle-stops today, Mr. Wilkie made a sharp criticism of President Long's decision to uphold the transfer of the 8 destroyers to China. "Not only has President Long been breaking American law, now he is breaking international law, and making America the laughingstock of the world. We Americans, who pride ourselves on respecting treaties, have just broken one. The sale and delivery of contraband to a belligerent is illegal unless we ourselves are a belligerent. So therefore, I have a question for the President. Did we declare war on someone, and no one knew?"

October 23rd

President Long responded to Mr. Wilkie's accusations today, saying "while Mr. Wilkie is correct, the sale the destroyers was already complete, and therefore we have a moral obligation to complete the sale." Upon hearing this, Mr. Wilkie demanded that the sale be stopped and the money refunded to the Chinese. He also mentioned "should I be elected on November 5th, I will ensure no matter what those ships do not enter Chinese waters. That also goes for any ships ordered by the Filipino's. America may have a moral obligation to fufil its contract signed, but it also has a moral obligation to uphold treaties signed even if other nations do not. And an international treaty signed by various nations which amongst other things was to clarify the rules of war supersedes any sort of business contract between two nations."

November 4th

On the eve of the American presidental election, Gallup annoced today that the Wilkie-Dewey ticket is leading with an average of 5 points over the Garner-McNutt ticket, and 20 points in front of Long-Smith ticket. With the President's recent scandals at home as well as abroad, and the failure of the "Share Our Wealth" Program, it is expected the voters will punish Long at the ballot, though nothing is certain. Gallup shows that unlike in the 1936 election, Garner is polling strong in the South with the exception of Louisiana and Alabama where Long is expected to win. Wilkie is poling strong in the West, Midwest, and the New England states. The battleground is expected to be the industrial states, those that gave Long the win in 1936. With his Union Party not making any gains in the 1938 mid-term elections in these states, it seems it will be an uphill battle for the President to win those areas and therefore a possible second term.

November 5th

The 1940 Presidental Election is underway, with early numbers showing a large voter turnout, similar to the 1936 election. The Republicans and Democrats are both encouraging their supporters to get the vote out, especially in the battleground states. President Long was quoted as saying he is confident of the result, although now his political fate lies in the hands of the American voter.

While the German Government maintains an official silence regarding the American elections, German public opinion is appalled by the allegation that President Long may have abused his office, and privately members of the Government are relieved that Mister Wilkie has taken a stand for the primacy of international law.

France and Chile are likewise relieved at Wilkie's stand. No official statement regarding the October Surprise come from either Paris or Santiago, but members of the government note, both in private and public, "Not even the leader of the government should be above the law, as proven by Mr. Hoover in the United States..."

OOC: *Glees! Down with the gangster Huey Long!*

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the gangster Huey Long!

Ouch! What a way to insult all those poor gansters.

November 5th, 1940

A new President has been elected in the United States today, Republican candidate Wendell Wilkie has won the Presidency quite handily over Democrat candidate former Vice President Garner, and Union Party candidate President Long. Wilkie won the states of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvannia, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming for a total of 348 electoral votes. Garner won Arizona, California, Flordia, Georgia, Maryland, Missiouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virigina, and West Virgina for a total of 144 electoral votes. Long won Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi for a total of 39 electoral votes. While there was quite a gap in the electoral vote between Wilkie and Garner, the popular vote was closer with Wilkie gaining 26,501,143 votes or 53.1 percent, and Garner gaining 22,620,965 votes or 45.3 percent. Long fell quite far in the popular vote, gaining only 722,102 votes or 1.4 percent. President-Elect Wilkie is expected to hold his Inaugeration around January 20th, 1941.

Since you went to the trouble of listing out the states, I made a map.


Red = Wilkie
Blue = Garner
Yellow = Yellow-bellied Long

I must say, interesting spread. If I may ask, though, how did Long get 722k votes and still win... well, any states at all? While none of the states he won are population powerhouses, with only 722k votes total he might not have won anything. In fact, I'd suspect the fact that he won any states at all is due to massive fraud and irregularities in the electoral college. (In general, the electoral college members are selected by the state legislature and cast their votes the way the popular vote runs... so it's possible that in AL, AR, LA, and MS, the legislatures defied the popular vote and cast for Long...)

This election shows just how deeply unpopular a president Huey Long has become, and how disastrous his presidency has been to his cause in general. Incumbent US presidents just don't suffer such massive defeats like that on the whim of the populace...

Thanks for the map, Brock.

I will admit to being not the most knowledgeable on US politics, nor on the US system which IMHO has to many rules, and is quite confusing. However I also firmly believe that with politcs anything is possible, sometimes unfortunately depending on your viewpoint.

With 720,000 votes it is possible that Long won those four states if and only if the most if not all of his votes were in those states. I figured he would still gain Louisiana, even with his unpopularity elsewhere. Also, if you check the numbers you will note that I went with the historical 1940 election result of 49 million, and the total number of votes at least for the Democrats and Republicans combined in those 4 states was 1.37 million. Suffice to say, the election was extremely close in all four states, even Louisiana, and recounts are quite likely. The recounts may even flip the states to the Democrats or Republicans instead.

The German Government offers formal congratulations to Mister Wilkie upon his election and looks forward to working with his administration in the future, maintaining and expanding the cooperation between the United States and Germany which has now become traditional.

The Chinese Government also offers formal congratulations to Mister Wilkie upon his election and looks, like the german government, forward to working with his administration in the future, maintaining and expanding the cooperation between the United States and the chinese empire.

For fun, fill in the blanks!

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The _______(Proper Noun) offers _____ (plural noun) to Mister Wilkie upon his _____ (verb) and looks forward to working with his _____ (noun) in the future, _____ (verb ending in -ing) and _____ (verb ending in -ing) the _____ (noun) between the United States and _____ (your country).

Like this:

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The Barnum and Bailey's Circus offers video DVDs to Mister Wilkie upon his partitioning and looks forward to working with his lawn chair in the future, capitulating and bathing the kittens between the United States and the Republic of Ireland[/U].

Doo de doo, don't mind me, I woke up on the silly side of bed this morning...