American Strategic Deception Bureau

　Because the President of the United States is not elected directly by the people, but is elected by the Electoral College.

　Specifically, citizens in each of the fifty states plus the District of Columbia vote to select over five hundred local representatives, known as electors. These electors then vote to ultimately choose the president—though generally, elected electors must pledge to cast their votes for the winning presidential candidate in their state when the Electoral College votes. Therefore, the election results are usually determined on election day based on the state-by-state results.

　Of course, oaths are oaths, and over the years since the founding of the United States, there have always been cases where electors in a certain state violated their oaths during the final vote and did not vote according to the will of the state, becoming "faithless electors."

　But because there are so few "faithless electors" and their votes have never changed the outcome of an election, not many people care.

　In short, the November referendum is legally just a dry run for the general election. The actual presidential election is held on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December (it's a bit of a mouthful, but that's the law). In 1968, that day was December 16th.

　At that time, the "electors" nominated by each state and the capital district will go to the state capitals to vote. The candidate who obtains more than 270 votes will be elected president and will enter the White House on January 20 of the following year and take the oath of office with his hand on the Bible.

　But now, the problem is that although the referendum has ended, the Electoral College vote has not yet taken place.

　And President Johnson, who had won re-election, happened to die at this critical juncture...

　So, can the Electoral College vote for a dead person? Is that legal?

　More importantly, what will happen next, according to the results of the November referendum, is the person who should become the vice president in January next year?

　Would Robert Kennedy become the new president directly; or would he consider President Johnson's death to be an automatic abstention and decide that Nixon would become the next president of the United States?

　Obviously, the Republicans believe that Nixon should be president next year, while the Democrats believe that Kennedy Jr. should be president next year.

　The two parties quickly took the case to the Supreme Court and promoted their respective views throughout society to win public support.

　Vice President Humphrey, who had just been sworn in on the Bible in the White House and would serve as president for the next month, and the electoral college nominated by the states and the District of Columbia, were all feeling overwhelmed by this unprecedented and unimagined situation.

　In short, I was confused and completely numb.

　Can the United States elect a dead person as president and then hand over the presidency to his vice president because of his death?

　Who knows?

　But, allowing a losing presidential candidate to turn the tide and win with a single bullet doesn't seem quite right, does it?

　In short, from both houses of Congress to the news media, civil groups and the general public, everyone is arguing over this issue.

　The Electoral College vote, originally scheduled for December 16, had to be temporarily postponed pending the Supreme Court's ruling...

　As dignitaries gathered around him, Robert Kennedy managed to pull himself together and recite the oath every president must take when taking office: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

　From then on, after John F. Kennedy, the United States welcomed the second Catholic president in its history.

　After completing the oath, President Kennedy Jr. turned around and looked at the microphone in front of him and the people in the hall, his mind a little confused.

　Why...even though he has become the President of the United States and is sitting in the seat his brother once sat in, he doesn't have any sense of accomplishment?

　Is it because this president's arrival was so coincidental and absurd? Or is it because of the disastrous start he had to face as soon as he became president?

　Listening to the waves of protests outside the window, President Kennedy Jr., or Kennedy II, suddenly felt exhausted again.

　- The sudden assassination of a legally elected president between the national polls and the Electoral College voting day, and the subsequent handling of the aftermath, is a new topic in American politics. There has never been a similar situation in the nearly two hundred years of American history.

　Other "American-style democracies" can't offer similar examples: their presidents are often elected by genuine popular vote, without a tangible "electoral college" in the way. Once the election votes are counted, a new president is elected.

　Of course, whether the new president would be immediately assassinated or ousted by a mutiny is another matter.

　Therefore, in response to this loophole, the Republican Party, which had just lost the election, immediately became energized and declared that a dead person was not eligible to run for president. President Johnson's assassination was equivalent to an automatic abstention, and the Republican presidential candidate Nixon should take office!

　Of course, the Democrats refused to admit it, saying that Johnson's presidential election victory was a foregone conclusion. Even if Johnson died, the Vice President would inherit the throne of the Oval Office of the White House. Nixon, the loser, should get away from me. It had been more than a month since the election votes were counted, and the official positions in the new government for the next four years had been allocated. How could he suddenly change his mind and give them to the defeated opponent?

　Republicans countered that the United States has never been a direct democracy where the president is elected by popular vote. Instead, it is an indirect democracy where the electoral college decides who is president. Therefore, the November popular vote count doesn't really mean anything, let alone determine anything.

　What's more, if the number of popular votes is really counted, Nixon received more votes than Johnson!

　It can be seen that the true public opinion in the United States, considering only the majority rule, is actually more inclined towards Nixon's victory.

　The reason why President Johnson was able to win the election was that he took advantage of the division of constituencies and system bugs to get more electoral votes.

　However, the electoral votes had not yet been cast before Johnson died...so now is the time to correct the mistake!

　The dispute dragged on until February 19, 1969, when the U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled that after the presidential election, the elected electors in each state had sworn to cast their votes for the winning presidential candidate in the Electoral College. Therefore, regardless of whether the winning presidential candidate lived or died, the electors were obligated to continue to abide by their oath.

　Of course, if an elector really cannot bear to vote for a dead person, he can also betray his voters and become a "faithless elector."

　All consequences resulting from breaking the oath and breaching the contract shall be borne entirely by the electors themselves.

　Next, this extremely hot ball was kicked to the Electoral College, which is composed of more than 500 electors from all states in the United States.

　Although the Republicans were disappointed that they did not win directly, they still tried their best and sent people to lobby the electors, asking them not to vote for a dead person and make the American democratic system a laughing stock to the world.

　The Democratic Party is also lobbying in many ways to prevent electors in each state from breaking their oaths and becoming disgraceful "faithless electors."

　Supporters of both sides held various flags and placards, marching and rallying in almost all major American cities, including Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, etc., shouting all kinds of protest slogans that they themselves could not understand... They even fought each other, and then evolved into large-scale car burning and collective zero-dollar shopping - because it involves the power struggle at the top level of the United States, the police and the military are silent, playing dumb, and basically doing nothing, allowing major cities to become battlefields of low-intensity street fighting.

　So much so that the Soviet newspaper Pravda mocked: China is now engaged in a armed conflict, and the United States is also engaged in a armed conflict, and the United States is fighting even more fiercely!

　On March 1, 1969, the Electoral College vote, delayed for over two months, finally began. Although more than two dozen electors violated their oaths and refused to vote for a dead person, switching sides and voting for Nixon, the late Lyndon Johnson still secured more than half of the votes.

　Since Johnson had been dead for more than two months, the presidency of the United States was automatically filled by Vice President Robert Kennedy.

　——In this way, after experiencing a series of heart-breaking ups and downs, mistakes, twists and turns,

　After the dawn of the war, former Attorney General and New York Senator Robert Kennedy finally returned to the White House after four years.

　From then on, he was President Kennedy II, or President Kennedy Jr.

　But compared to his brother, President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy's presidency was not only a fluke, but also a disaster:

　At the same time as he was sworn in, large-scale demonstrations and protests broke out across the capital, Washington. Hundreds of thousands of protesters blocked several main roads in Washington, from the Lincoln Memorial to the foot of Capitol Hill. People were smashing windows and setting cars on fire everywhere.

　Because the Ku Klux Klan and other right-wing groups publicly threatened to assassinate President Kennedy, the Secret Service, responsible for presidential security, worried that the new president would be vulnerable to long-range sniper fire during his inaugural address. Therefore, they did not follow the traditional inauguration ceremony for Robert Kennedy in front of the public outside the Capitol. Instead, the ceremony was held indoors in the Athenaeum Room of the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

　Well, he was almost made a "bunker boy" and sworn in in the underground strategic intelligence room!

　In fact, the Secret Service's concerns were not unfounded. Just as Kennedy Jr. was taking the oath of office, a gunfight broke out two blocks away, and the flames and smoke from the rioters burning cars and shops could be clearly seen from the windows of the Athenaeum Hall of the Shoreham Hotel.

　In addition, six car bombs and roadside bombs occurred in the capital Washington on that day, and the police were too lazy to investigate.

　In addition to the fierce opposition and protests from a large number of people, what made Kennedy II even more puzzled was that President Johnson not only left him a chaotic country with serious social class divisions, an overseas mess mired in war, but also an empty treasury.

　--By the spring of 1969, the U.S. fiscal deficit had soared to $900 billion, reaching more than 80% of the U.S. GDP last year. This was a very dangerous proportion given that the Bretton Woods system had collapsed, the dollar was no longer pegged to gold, and had no anchor at all.

　At this time, the 1.5 million US troops and hundreds of thousands of allied troops from "free camp countries" fighting in Asia were like a money-eating beast with an extremely huge appetite. They were spending money like water every day, consuming astronomical military expenditures, making the situation of the national treasury even worse.

　What's even worse is that from the assassination of President Johnson to the inauguration of President Kennedy Jr., the United States was in a state of almost anarchy for three months. Former Vice President Humphrey, who nominally succeeded the president, adopted a completely passive and lazy attitude during these three months, and would only delay everything.

　But the enemies far away on the other side of the ocean will not understand the difficulties faced by the United States in the period of "great void".

　It just so happens that these three months are the dry season on the battlefield of the Indochina Peninsula, which is also the combat season suitable for deploying troops!

　——Around the same day that President Johnson was assassinated, 15,000 US troops stationed in Vietnam (actually the US troops stationed in Indochina) had just marched north from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, to attack Taraboriwa, a northern city on the Mekong River and the temporary capital of the Khmer Rouge.

　Relying on the tactics of inland gunboats advancing straight into the city and helicopters transporting troops and forces, the US ground forces, under the cover of tactical air strikes, quickly captured the city. However, they were soon surrounded and harassed by the Khmer Rouge guerrillas in Taraboriwa.

　The two sides engaged in a battle of wits and courage on the banks of the Mekong River that lasted for two months. The US military suffered more than 3,000 casualties on this land, but still could not gain a foothold in Taraboriwa, nor could it maintain a stable ground supply line. Even the US military transport ships on the Mekong River were repeatedly attacked by floating mines laid upstream by the Khmer Rouge and rockets from both sides of the river, suffering heavy losses. In the end, they had to burn down the city and retreat hastily.

　After the Battle of Taraboriwa, both the US military and the Khmer Rouge declared victory, but apparently few people believed the US military's victory report.

　After all, people all over the world have a simple understanding: war reports may lie, but the battle lines will not lie.

　Since the Khmer Rouge held on to their temporary capital, it proved that the US troops on the Cambodian battlefield were frustrated and retreated!

　At the same time, another larger but more difficult battle broke out in Cu Chi County, only 30 kilometers away from Saigon.

　——In order to wipe out the southern Viet Cong headquarters in Cu Chi, General Taylor ordered four divisions of US troops and two divisions of South Korean troops, totaling nearly 100,000 troops, to be deployed to the Cu Chi battlefield in one go, attempting to completely destroy the Viet Cong headquarters and thus smash the Viet Cong's resistance center in the south.

　But the problem is that over the past decade, the Vietcong had already dug a huge tunnel system in Cu Chi known as the "underground city."

　Although the US troops stationed in Vietnam quickly occupied the ground positions in Cu Chi County, they found it extremely difficult to deal with the dense, complex underground tunnels like a spider web and the carefully camouflaged fortifications. They could not even find where the Viet Cong headquarters was under their feet.

　To win the tunnel war, the US military used methods such as flooding, fumigation, and poison gas, but the results were very limited. The US military camps stationed above ground and the US military transport convoys on the highway were often attacked by the Viet Cong who emerged from the underground, harassing them day and night.

　In just two months, the US military lost more than 400 tanks and armored vehicles on the battlefield of Guzhi, and the casualties reached more than 10,000 soldiers, but still only destroyed a lot of

　With only a small number of tunnels, the goal of completely destroying the Viet Cong headquarters is still a long way off.

　Further north, the U.S. Army's offensive against Ban Me Thuot, a major town in the Western Highlands Mountains, also stalled due to the North Vietnamese army's resistance. Defense Secretary McNamara had significantly lowered the conscription standards, resulting in a large number of "abnormal humans" among the army's recruits, ranging from idiots and deaf people to drug addicts. This ultimately led to a significant deterioration in the quality of the U.S. military on the Vietnam War front, making it increasingly difficult for them to withstand the brutal offensive and bloody battles.

　Therefore, if the elite American troops in the Cu Chi battlefield fought reasonably well, the performance of the third-rate new American troops participating in the Battle of Ban Me Thuot was a complete mess - the airborne troops and ground troops were disconnected from each other and were defeated one by one by the Vietnamese army; the tactical air force mistakenly bombed its own people many times, causing casualties as high as three digits; the siege troops lacked fighting spirit and hurriedly withdrew and called for air support at the slightest setback.

　In short, during this dry season, the offensive of the US troops stationed in Vietnam in all directions encountered great resistance, suffered heavy casualties and made little progress.

　The US troops stationed in Vietnam, commanded by General Taylor, had a difficult time fighting during this dry season. The US troops stationed in Thailand, commanded by General Abrams, were also stuck in the quagmire. Thanks to the generous investment from President Johnson, Abrams, who had a strong army under his command, decided to make persistent efforts during this dry season and dispatched air transport troops to raid the Laotian capital Vientiane, liberating another country from the clutches of the Viet Cong!

　But the problem is that just as the US military set out from Bangkok, the Thai Republican government in Bangkok was once again plunged into internal strife.

　Specifically, Thai nationalists, working with bureaucrats within the Republican government, attempted to assassinate Vang Pao, the "Miao King" who commanded the Miao army and acted tyrannically in Bangkok, thereby wielding power and exterminating the Miao people who had usurped control of the capital. However, due to the incompetence of the conspirators, the assassination attempt leaked before it could even begin.

　So, Wang Bao immediately took counterattack and preemptively arrested the Thai president and the speaker of the parliament. He then quickly massacred the Thai government, executing more than 3,000 people in one day. He then proclaimed himself the President of Thailand and monopolized power. In this way, a Miao "barbarian king" from Laos became a warlord president and dictator in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. It felt as outrageous as a Soviet marshal becoming the leader of a country in Poland.

　The last bit of identification and cohesion that the Thai people had with this government has completely disappeared.

　Obviously, the incident in Bangkok could not but disrupt the combat rhythm of the US military stationed in Thailand.

　By the time the situation in Bangkok had stabilized and Abrams was able to focus his main attention on the Laotian battlefield again, he found that Vientiane, the capital of Laos, which had just been occupied by the US military, had become another Dien Bien Phu: more than 10,000 US troops airdropped into Vientiane were besieged by more than 80,000 North Vietnamese troops, Pathet Lao and Thai Communist armed forces in a position less than three kilometers in radius, and their supplies were completely "dependent on heaven (air transport)."

　The closest American reinforcements to Vientiane were still battling Thai Communist guerrillas on the Daohe Plateau, and were nowhere near Vientiane. Although the US Air Force was far more powerful than the French Air Force had been over a decade earlier, and had inflicted heavy casualties on the communists, it couldn't liberate Vientiane solely through bombing.

　——Therefore, the US troops stationed in Thailand are also caught in their own quagmire of war.

　On the other hand, because the best soldiers and generals were mobilized to the battlefields in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, the US military had to relax its suppression of various anti-US forces in the old Indonesian archipelago. As a result, not only did the anti-US nationalist movement on Java Island intensify, and the pro-US Suharto regime was on the verge of losing control of the situation, but even the East Malayan Communist Party and Indonesian Communist Party guerrillas on Kalimantan Island (Borneo) showed signs of resurgence.

　Then, in early March 1969, Los Angeles experienced the largest photochemical smog event in history. The deadly toxic fog lingered in the main urban area for a whole week before being dispersed by the wind, causing the deaths of more than 300 people and the illness of 50,000 people.

　In addition, it was revealed that a community in Ohio was built on top of an abandoned toxic waste landfill. As a result, rainwater rusted the underground iron barrels storing highly toxic waste, causing toxic water to leak. More than 3,000 people in the community were poisoned, and more than 500 people were left with lifelong disabilities.

　This caused a surge of outrage among American environmentalists, who joined anti-war groups and took to the streets to demand that the United States focus on its domestic affairs.

　Furthermore, on March 3, 1969, NASA launched the Apollo 9 spacecraft on a ten-day mission, carrying the lunar module (just an empty shell) to lunar orbit for the first time. Although the spacecraft finally avoided falling into Soviet territory on its return, and NASA declared the mission a complete success... in reality, it's still some distance from true success...

　The fiscal debt is skyrocketing, public security is a mess, the economy is weak, the war is mired in chaos, and the environmental situation is in tatters. Furthermore, the space race is fading, and the hype surrounding the Apollo moon landing is about to burst. Holy crap! How did the United States get to this point?

　The new president couldn't help but feel a pang of bitterness at the thought. But he finally managed to pull himself together and began his inaugural address: "My fellow Americans, my fellow citizens of the world..."

　While eating, another black man bit the cat to death to prove that Trump was not talking nonsense.

　But Democrats said it was likely that the reporter paid a homeless person to roast and eat the cat raw, and then sued the reporter for abusing the cat.

　Chapter 422: How did the country become like this? (Mid-Autumn Festival extra)

　My fellow Americans, citizens of the world, America faces many challenges and difficulties, but we never fear. Every four years, we carry out a peaceful and orderly transfer of power here, and I want to express my gratitude to those who keep our country running during this transition.

　Although there are countless unsatisfactory aspects in reality that make many people feel cynical, we must regain our sanity and clearly realize how dangerous the world is today and that the indiscriminate use of violence and racial hatred will inevitably lead to catastrophic consequences.

　The lessons of the two world wars warn us that condoning violence, doing nothing, and passively waiting will lead to the recurrence of global tragedy.

　Therefore, in the face of the dangers posed by the current tense, global bipolar confrontation, we should be loyal to the legacy of our fathers and defend a world order based on security, justice, and humanitarianism, and avoid wars that would bring regret to all humanity.

　Today, the era of global confrontation is far from over. As we all know, the shadow of nuclear war and nuclear disaster still looms over our planet, and the conflict and confrontation between the two major camps are intensifying.

　While the Cold War in Europe was still going on, Asia had already fallen into an even more terrifying hot war. More than four million troops from various countries were fighting fiercely on the battlefield across the Pacific Ocean. Such troop numbers and the scale of the war exceeded any war before the First World War!

　As the leader of the liberal camp, the United States paid a heavy price in this confrontation, including millions of casualties, soaring fiscal deficits, and the devastation of society. Half of America rebelled against the other half, and hatred and prejudice tore society apart.

　Our nation's wealth, power, and confidence are rapidly disappearing over the horizon.

　Because of the enormous consumption of the war and the heavy burden of the arms race, the country has almost reached the limit of its capabilities.

　So, it's time to put a stop to this dangerous race and let our tired people take a break!

　I firmly believe that the people of all countries in the world want peace, while the leaders of all countries in the world fear war. Therefore, there is hope for peace talks.

　In view of the setbacks of the past few years, some people believe that we are on the wrong path; that our country is losing its judgment; and even that the entire superstructure of this country must be destroyed and replaced with a completely new concept that exists only in sweet words.

　I do not deny that there are many problems in our country and many aspects of our system are unsatisfactory.

　But we should never risk completely losing control of our country by accepting all ideas from across the Iron Curtain.

　Everyone should clearly understand that pinning hopes on opponents with different ideas and values ​​and in hostile positions will inevitably lead to bitter betrayal. Looking at the situation in Europe, especially the plight of the Hungarian and Czech people, we should understand that the dangerous propaganda that appears in the propaganda and media of the opposing camp is mostly taken out of context or even completely false.

　As President Lincoln described in his speech after the Battle of Gettysburg, we have been seeking to build a society of the people, by the people, and for the people, one that will maximize the potential of every individual while safeguarding freedom and, on that basis, lead the world forward.

　So today, right here and right now, let us all start anew. Let us listen to each other, see each other, and respect each other.

　Politics does not have to be like a raging fire that destroys everything in its path. No disagreement needs to be a cause for all-out war.

　We must be open and honest about our differences, but also remain united.

　We belong to the same country, we share the same hearts, homes and destiny.

　The cornerstone of our government is our total allegiance to the United States. As we remain true to our country, we can rediscover our loyalty to each other.

　When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.

　The Bible tells us, “How pleasant and delightful it is when God’s people live in unity.”

　Whether our children are born on the South Side of Chicago or on a farm in Kansas, they look up at the same starry sky, they have the same dreams in their hearts, and the same Creator breathes the breath of life into their breasts.