Tuesday, June 2, 2020

What If...A Foreign Correspondent Sent A Dispatch From DC?

American In Turmoil After a Week of Unrest


Washington) Turmoil in the capital city today after violent crackdowns by local security forces. The president ordered protestors near the palace tear gassed so he could take his picture with a sacred text outside of a nearby house of worship. Palace watchers assume this was done as a gesture to his supporters, who tend to cling tighter to traditional culture.

The president has also ordered the mobilization of the military against the people in the streets by invoking a 200 year old law written to quell slave uprisings. No word yet on whether generals will comply with the directive. Cities in the provinces continue to experience unrest, and journalists have been assaulted by government forces. As of yet there has been no government takeover of the radio and television airwaves but state-aligned cable networks have been reporting praise for the president's behavior.

The governing party still stands behind the president, and as of yet there are no calls for abdication by opposition leaders. The opposition had failed to remove the leader through legal proceedings earlier in the year. Despite several accusations of abuse of power and corruption, these legal proceedings failed due to obstruction by the governing party.

The president has long been unpopular, and he received three million fewer votes in the last election than his opponent. The United States, however, chooses its president based on an antiquated and complicated formula that allows for minority rule. Recent government inaction in the face of pandemic has exacerbated the tensions caused by having a leader without the support of the people.

Provincial governors and mayors have set down curfews that protestors have openly defied. The American state is currently teetering on the brink, but no definite end to the crisis is in sight. 

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