2025 Solar Storm Super Shock

Written in response to: Write a story set against the backdrop of a storm.... view prompt

0 comments

Speculative Fantasy Horror

Election day November 5th 2024 dawned quixotically calm over most of the nation, when 'some very fine people on both sides' anticipated victory, unlike murkier days ahead. Echoes of Republican vote tally certification issues were fainter after laws enacted post-2020 went into effect. Still, 'cheat to win' was polled to be far too popular nationwide. 

https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/partner_surveys/election_2024_would_you_cheat_to_win_28_say_yes

23 states lean Republican=189. 

TX-40, OH-17, IN-11, TN-11, MO-10, SC-9, AL-9, KY-8, LA-8, OK-7, MS-6, AR-6, IA-6, KS-6, UT-6, NE-5, WV-4, MT-4, ID-4, SD-3, ND-3, WY-3, AK-3=189 

19 states + DC lean Democratic=226. 

CA-54, NY-28, IL-19, NJ-14, VA-13, WA-12, MA-11, MD-10, MN-10, CO-10, OR-8, CT-7, NM-5, RI-4, NH-4, ME-4, HI-4, VT-3, DE-3, DC-3=226 

8 states are deemed toss-ups=123. 

FL-30, PA-19, GA-16, NC-16, MI-15, AZ-11, WI-10, NV-6=123

Odd districts in ME & NE cancelled out. 

3 tie combinations were possible. 

1 FL-R, PA-R, GA-D NC-D MI-R, AZ-D WI-R, NV-R 

1 FL-R, PA-R, GA-D NC-R, MI-R, AZ-D WI-D NV-D 

1 FL-R, PA-R, GA-R, NC-D MI-R, AZ-D WI-D NV-D 

https://www.270towin.com/electoral-college-tie-combinations/

Before midnight, Electoral College results split 269-269 so newly-elected US Representatives picked the new POTUS. Each state got 1 vote, thus 27-23 Trump over Harris. 

https://ballotpedia.org/What_happens_if_there_is_a_tie_in_the_Electoral_College%3F_(2020)

The Electoral College, gerrymandered districts, Citizens United, bad Supreme Court 'justices' & massive voter fraud led Donald J. Trump to be selected as 47th POTUS, despite 100 million votes for Harris-Walz & only 75 million votes for Trump-Gabbard, last of a Pence, Vance, Kennedy, Gabbard vice presidential fiasco. 

Before the election were 2 debates. Trump laid a minefield of half truths, innuendos & lies, while Harris maintained a prosecutor versus felon strategy. Gabbard's veteran warrior turned peacemaker image lured conservatives. Walz called her flip-flop amid political winds shameless opportunism. 

Agenda 47 & Project 2025's playbook went into effect at Inauguration, on Trump's threatened day one dictatorship, based on The Heritage Foundation's 922-page manifesto. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_47

Outrage erupted on the street of cities & town nationwide, more than race riots, George Floyd's murder, Vietnam, Iraq 1 & 2 combined. Police, National Guard, US Army troops & private militia granted full immunity were especially brutal. 

"First come the firings. Thousands of federal, non-partisan civil servants –environmental and food safety regulators; authorities in disaster relief coordination; attorneys overseeing anti-discrimination policies in housing, education and employment; medical and scientific researchers – receive immediate layoff notices. Many will not be replaced, as entire federal programs and agencies are shuttered. The new personnel that do arrive come from conservative thinktanks, or are rightwing activists who applied through the Project 2025 application database. Political cronyism is now the official hiring policy of the US federal government.

"Next come the roundups. As drafted by the Maga nativist-in-chief Stephen Miller, a broad range of law enforcement, from the national guard to state and local police are deputized for a new deportation army. Sweeps of neighborhoods and businesses take aim at blue states and cities, but general terror is their intended goal. Detention centers are established on military bases and federal facilities with quick access to airfields to execute mass removals. Nearly a million lawfully present immigrants are stripped of their legal protections, subjecting them to immediate deportation. An end to Daca and a return of the Muslim ban follow.

"In the following months other parts of the agenda unfold. Cuts in corporate taxes so generous they would make the robber barons blush. An end to federal funding for public television and radio that forces many local stations to shutter. The termination of Head Start programs leaves hundreds of thousands of parents and guardians without preschool or childcare. The elimination of the Department of Education and programs like Title I halt funding and many protections for students with disabilities, English learners and students from low-income households.

"Pornography is criminalized. Ditto for abortion rights, emergency contraception and many reproductive health programs. Adiós also to most public sector unions, labor organizing rights and anti-poverty programs.

"It can be difficult at times to distinguish the hyperbole of Trump and the Maga movement from actual governing plans. “Build the wall” was always more of a campaign performance and fundraising stunt then a policy blueprint. But after attending several rightwing conferences and rallies for research in the last year, I have little reason to doubt their intentions this time around.

"I’ve heard Miller at CPAC describe the deportation plans in chilling detail. I heard speaker after speaker at a Turning Point USA conference promise violence and retribution against political opponents, the dismantling of nearly all public goods, and plans to bring a shrill Christian nationalism to the center of governance and civic life. I’ve listened to unapologetic defenses of eugenics and scientific racism on rightwing media channels with millions of followers.

"And perhaps most frighteningly, I’ve observed growing numbers of young people, people of color and others outside of the traditional conservative base join the Maga faithful and embrace the cynicism and demonization that is the heartbeat of the contemporary right.

"Conservatives often celebrate the unity of their governing philosophy, rooted in small government, entrepreneurship, faith and family. But there is nothing coherent or rational about these policies. Plunder is the prevailing principle.

"And these ideas are not limited to the Heritage Foundation or Trump alone. They have been embraced across a network of rightwing formations, some with agendas even more extreme than Project 2025."

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/09/trump-presidency-day-one-project-2024

In Trump Force, rebel grays were the new brownshirts. 

MAGA's negativity had a Cosmic Butterfly Effect, creating huge sunspots & a coronal mass ejection (CME) aimed at Earth rivaling a Carrington Event in early September 1859, which merely affected telegraph lines & operators. 

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/04/05/brownshirts-for-fighting-we-were-born/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event

Like its predecessor, it brought planetwide aurora lights & electromagnetic disruption, this time equivalent to an EMP or electromagnetic pulse causing power grid failure. Earth was in global distress. Rich or poor, everyone had trouble.

"Loss of water and wastewater systems

Spoilage of perishable foods and medications

Disruption of heating, air conditioning, and lighting systems

Failure of computer, telephone, and communication systems, affecting flights, satellite networks, and GPS services

Breakdown of public transportation and fuel distribution systems

Outage of all electrical systems without backup power"

https://www.livenowfox.com/news/solar-storm-carrington-event-could-another-one-happen

Republicans abandoned responsibility for what they called an Act of God. They left to Democrats tasks of rebuilding infrastructure & caring for all. Some things never change. 

September 09, 2024 22:02

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

0 comments

Reedsy | Default — Editors with Marker | 2024-05

Bring your publishing dreams to life

The world's best editors, designers, and marketers are on Reedsy. Come meet them.