The Great Compromise and the Elections
T The City of Los Angeles has never "officially" taken notice of the severing. This doesn’t mean that politicians are blissfully unaware of it. It’s a fact of life and talked about all the time. Nor do they –- any more –- hold out any hope that the "real United States" is "out there somewhere."  Power was initially consolidated under the Mayor. The few State Legislators who were inside the Thread were rounded up and voted to name the Mayor of Los Angeles as "Acting Governor," based on provisions of the State Constitution allowing for emergency replacement. The Legislature was then promptly dissolved and out of 36 members who met the vast majority are now dead. Most went on to a successful career in City Politics.

Numerous proposals were brought forward in the first five years to Federalize L.A. All were driven by the memory of Zoot Suit Riots, and a hysterical fear of a Communist “rising of the masses” now that there was no external authority to put it down.  Each proposal brought waves of rioting. 

The problem was clear.  Any fair system of government would lead to a government elected for and by disenfranchised poor blacks and hispanics. 

Finally a proposal in 1954 that would have formed a government almost as repressive as the post-reconstruction South was put forward.  Historically the Military could not take part in politics, but here it finally found it’s leverage.  Outright secession from the Union could be treated as rebellion and repressed. 

The Admiral of the United States 7th Fleet, H. M. Martin (1896-1972) threatened to rescind the cooperation agreement, and brought a force of warships within sight of L.A. A dramatized newspaper account quotes Admiral Martin as saying, in a Tennessee drawl: "Ensign, look through the binoculars and tell me if they haul down the Stars and Stripes. Tanner, if he says that they have, I want the main battery to level Goddamned City Hall... Do you understand me?”

The quote is almost certainly fictitious, but the Navy was widely seen as having "saved" Los Angeles from a race-driven civil war.  But food shortages grew worse and marines were more and more often called into the streets to repress riots.  Everyone wanted a new Federal State, but nobody could agree on founding principles.  The military insisted on “one vote one man” and the framing of the U.S. Constitution.  Politicians wanted a state that would secure the rights of middle class whites. 

Into this deadlock stepped Screen Actors Guild President Ronald Reagan. Having managed the twelve year rise of the studio system to becoming a dominant economic power in Los Angeles, Reagan ran for Mayor in 1960 and was elected on a moderate-conservative Platform. He brokered a long-term deal and pledged to "uphold the status quo," invoking pride in the U.S. Flag, and upholding the authority of the Federal Court, which he skillfully used to balance a balky City Council. Reagan was re-elected to nine consecutive terms as Governor, and is still legally serving, however debilities have caused him to be removed from office, and his Lieutenant Governor serves in his place.  Now in November 1994 there will be an election and Reagan, dead or alive will not be able to run.  So everyone in L.A. is sharpening knives to see who will end up controlling the Government.

Even the military realizes that the creation of some sort of new Federal state is inevitable.  But how it is to be constituted and what its powers are…that remains to be seen.  Despite the threat of 1954, Admiral Nitta has pledged to support “the general will” of the popularly elected government.

The election itself is tricky.  The solution to the military’s demands was massive gerrymandering, and a refusal to conduct a new census since there was no Federal Bureau of the Census.   So millions of poor Hispanics live in districts with one or two representatives, while many middle class white districts have several.  Even so the race will be close.  Mixed districts near the center of town house the “Swing vote” of urban whites, and wealthy latinos.  They will determine the outcome of the next election

Communist Party Culture – the Movement
In the 1920s and 30s, Hollywood was a hotbed of liberal sentiment, and one of the few non-working class areas outside of New York where the Communist Party gained any foothold. A Communist Soup Kitchen in Hollywood was a major landmark. In the early 30s with the onset of the Depression, Communism swelled and Socialism boomed. Upton Sinclair ran for Governor on a platform that was blatantly Socialist, forming a new EPIC political party. Sinclair came very close to winning the election but was torpedoed by big business in alliance with the studios and his ally FDR, for whom he had grown too extreme. The pattern of politics for LA had already been set, well before the severing.

With the severing, the Economy stagnated. The Corps grew largely by steamrolling smaller businesses, concentrating capital at a time when real growth was tiny. Costs for food and transportation skyrocketed.

Originally the Communists and a dozen other leftist groups gained momentum, only to be shattered by the LAPD and the military. Firmly locked out of the political process, the groups began to correspond, and coordinate action.

Originally "the Movement" probably did not exist in the eyes of its adherents, who termed themselves Communist, Socialist, Reformist, etc. But twenty years of press defined the movement more strongly than its own writing, and today a loose knit alliance of dissident groups operates under that name –- whether willfully or grudgingly varying from case to case.

It is not strictly against the law to be a member of the Movement, however to have Movement affiliations is to effectively give up one's civil rights. The LAPD follows and harasses members at will, and getting a job in any but the most menial positions is difficult. Most leaders live in poverty, on occasional furtive donations. Not surprisingly the Movement has turned to crime in many cases, using its organization to provide an infrastructure for a criminal organization that touches on the remnants of the West Coast Mafia and the Tong. Proving "Movement ties" is almost de-facto proof of guilt in a court trial, and The Movement is often asserted to be behind spectacular crimes and assassinations, either as a terrorist or criminal organization.

Visions of the movement vary. Some official reports paint it as a vast conspiracy, within a hairsbreadth of rising up in a fervor matching the Terror, and destroying the order of civilization. Other literature suggests that it is a weak and ineffectual organization, largely incapable of any activity beyond a personal scale.

During the chaos immediately after the severing the left-leaning EPIC (End Poverty in California) party identified in the 30s with Upton Sinclair's run for Governor gained credentials as a legitimate poltical party, and has provided the typical ticket for a losing Movement Bid by Jesus Albacarrin of the CCP (California Communist Party).

For the November elections, several smaller parties - EPIC (End Poverty in California), CSP (California Socialist Party), FNHL (Frente Nacional Hispana de Liberación) and a last minute alliance with the traditionally dissidient ACC (Accion Catolica California), combined to outvote the candidates and put a hard core Movement Paul Aguirre forward.

The Law - Firearms
It is illegal for private citizens in L.A. to carry a gun without a permit.

JET Security is considered the private security for a credentialed international diplomatic mission.  This means that in the pecking order they rank with CorpSec, but only on "their" turf.  As long as JET Security sticks to the Hotel, and protecting JET personages they should mostly be fine.  If they start acting in other ways, they'll be expected to dance in the intricate web of cross-jurisdictions that run between the LAPD, the Three CorpSecs, Private Dicks, and Military Intelligence. (RELEVANT PROFS: Law Enforcement/Security, Underworld, Espionage and Intelligence, Law)