laneys.info Beware of Yankees, drunks, and loose women.

The following is part of an alternate-history role-playing game scenario.  Direct questions to Eric Laney.

The year is 2011. On April 5, terrorists assassinated President Barak Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden in separate, simultaneous attacks. The assassination of the nation's first minority President by the domestic terrorist and white supremacist group Army of God sparked riots in nearly every city across the United States. Governors across the nation called on National Guard troops to restore order, but the reduced troop levels caused by our commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan placed them at a disadvantage.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi resigned in 2010 under allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funds, and the chairman of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee, Michael Bosley, (D)-Michigan, became the new Speaker. With the sudden vacancies in the executive branch, Bosley is sworn in as President at an undisclosed location. Newly-sworn-in President Bosley activated the military to reinforce the National Guard.

The additional troops help quell the unrest in some areas, but inflame others. As the civil unrest continued, President Bosley placed the nation under martial law via executive order and requested emergency powers from Congress. After contentious debate, the House and Senate approved emergency powers to the President that legitimized the imposition of martial law.

President Bosley began the emergency withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq and ordered the relocation of citizens in the greatest danger. Millions of people, in America's largest cities, moved into refugee camps for protection, as the military prepared to engage the criminal elements threatening the populace.

Alternative media outlets, primarily on the internet, soon began to circulate rumors that the unrest had mysteriously ended in each region as soon as the relocation had been completed. The White House discredited these reports as the further work of "truthers" and responded to questions by saying that it was because of the military's ability to focus on the criminals, without worrying about civilian casualties.

You have watched these events unfold from the relative calm of your home in Summersville, WV (pop. 3,300). Nestled in the mountains, far from big cities and social unrest, the trouble facing the nation seemed far away, like the earthquakes or floods of years gone by.

One evening, as you sat at home watching TV, a knock came on the door. A young Army soldier stood there. The rebels had launched a biological attack, and the cloud was moving this way. The soldiers helped you to a waiting vehicle, a truck filled with your friends and neighbors, and soon your home faded into the distance.