Im currently writing a collection of short stories based around a single set of events in an alternate ubiverse version of the U.S. Basically, this country has gone to war several times and lost. So, now the army is controlled by private investors (mostly ret. generals, and senators). The gov. is extremely corrupt, most elections in the past 20 years have been fixed.Lobiest control most of congress. ok, thats the backstory. now, for the actual stories. (note: they dont have actuall names yet) Story 1: the president is re-elcted for the 4th time. One of the better senators (though not completly un-corrupt) discovers a plot by the president to "relieve" all of the other branches of gov. of their duty. The senator decides to do what is necessary and attempt to kill the president during his speech to remove the other branches of gov. he fails and is taken in as a prisoner. Story 2: in the wake of this event a news cast decides to do what noone else will do: report the truth. After death threats, blackmail, and a murder of one of the producers, a legendary report is aired. Millions of citizens across the country discover the truth about what happened after lies and cover-ups had been force fed to them. The report ends with the enigmatic reporter saying a memorable line: "This country was founded by its rebels,and this country will be saved by its rebels." I'll post the rest later. Please let me know what you think. P.S.- Im trying to find a team that will pick this up for a game. I have experience as a designer so let me know

I like the creativity, but your story, from beginning to end, is absolutely unrealistic and unfeasible.

1. How would senators and private investors, with no military experience, suddenly take command of the Army and defeat a system of government that has stood for 240 years?

2. The government could never succumb to this level of corruption; there are senate and House votes every two years. Someone would know that their government was dysfunctional before a 'rebel' has to attempt to kill a president and release a groundbreaking report to unveil the obvious.

3. What country could the United States fight and be defeated by 4 times, and what President would be dumb enough to go to war that often? This reminds me of Britain's botched attempts to colonize Afghanistan.

4. Lobbyists controlled Congress until two weeks ago, and we haven't lost the system of checks and balances yet...

I wouldn't be too sure about the implausability of these storylines.

Ten years ago, what American would have thought that a president would be able to invade a country for no reason whatsoever? I say "what american" because the rest of the world knows we have done it before.

And going to war several times and losing? Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq, perhaps soon Iran, it seems to be changing in Afgansistan...

Ten years ago, what American would think that the U.S. Army would use mercenaries/private investors? There are Defense contractors operating weapons systems in Iraq and Afganistan today. Defense contractors = mercenaries (or investors if you want to call them that).

Fear is a powerful thing, all the current president had to do was make us so afraid of the ghost called Al Queda, that we would sell our core beliefs to buy the promise of safety. Never mind that jis methods guarantee that that safety will never come...

Run with your ideas, nOObie dev, they aren't really that far fetched.

what i find questionable is:

1. if everybody is corrupt, how will killing the president change the situation? it will result only in replacing one bad guy with another, so what is the purpose of killing?

2. same with the report. since when will one TV report topple such a regime. and how is it possible to emit such a long report, if communications are completely in the hands of the bad guys.

adding:
i think that the way Causescu regime was toppled is a good way to build a convincing story. it was a totalitarian regime par excellance, but toppled still. i propose you research that.

[Edited by - Borkhan on December 2, 2006 11:39:30 AM]