fandomhigh | Plus We Have a Motorcade, Thursday, April 24, 2014 [1st period]

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Plus We Have a Motorcade, Thursday, April 24, 2014 [1st period]

"Well before you start crying because we've come to our last class together," Josh said, "have a bagel and a cup of coffee or hot chocolate or whatever in the back. Then grab an exam and try not to let your tears of despar make it impossible for me to grade what you wrote."

Thanks for that, Josh.

"See you around this summer--I'm teaching a field trip course if you're not graduating, and if you are, well, remember that I went to both Harvard and Yale and that makes me just about the coolest person you'll ever meet."

Uh huh.

"Have a good summer."

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With muffins and bagels!

Name all 44 presidents in ten minutes. (http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/presidents)

Name three powers that the Constitution gives to the President.

Name three ways the Secret Service agent could kill you if you tried anything.

Name two things that should be in every State of the Union address.

Name one way the President is superior to the Congress.

If you'd like!

I spent too much time playing that first quiz. Sorry.

"Hey, Mr. Lyman?" Gert said, looking very slightly nervous. That was new for her. "Do you have a minute?"

Gertrude Yorkes

"Sure," Josh said. "What's up?"

Gert scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "I was wondering -- on the off chance that I decide to apply to colleges, would you write a recommendation for me?"

"Of course," Josh said. "Where are you thinking of applying?"

"Assuming I can at all, it'll probably be one of the UCs," she admitted. "I haven't actually researched schools or anything, because I don't know if I can even go, but I liked this class. Maybe if Georgetown and American are out of the question, I could still do something in California."

Josh nodded. "You can also try for a community or junior college and reapply to one of the more noteworthy once you've got your Gen-Ed requirements out of the way if it's a money thing."

Gert nodded. "It's more of a responsibility thing, I guess. My world is one of the weirder ones. I'll technically have come into most of my parents' blood money by the time I'd be starting college, so I could probably afford it. I'm just pretty sure my friends from home are expecting me to stick with them." She paused. "Also, I have a pet dinosaur, so I'm not sure how the whole on-campus housing thing would work."

Edited 2014-04-24 15:57 (UTC)

Raven Darkholme

Raven was probably one of the only people who ever tried this and struggled most with the presidents after Eisenhower.

1. Veto over Congressional bills
2. Ability to pardon convicted criminals
3. Nuclear launch codes

Well. Sort of.

1. Shoot you
2. Excessive taser use
3. Beat you to death with a shoe

Raven wasn't sure if any of those were actually legal, but she was pretty sure they were at least physically possible.

1. Civil rights recommendations
2. Snappy one-liners

Congress-people get offices and staff. The president gets a whole house.

That website is the primary reason why my coworkers are all routinely amazed at my geography skills.

I still can't name all 44 US presidents, though. Even when you take into account that you only have to know last names, which mean several answers count twice over.

Eleanor Lamb, who actually has a muffin icon, ARE YOU IMPRESSED, JOSH?

Oh, Eleanor was completely bombing this. She knew the first ten by heart, and remembered some of the attention-grabbers like Lincoln and Grover Cleveland, but anything more recent than FDR was a complete guess.

All right, if they were sticking to the Constitution, this was going to be much better.

1. Serves as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy
2. Makes treaties
3. Appoints ambassadors

1. Shoot you
2. Snap your neck
3. Run you over with their car

1. Human props
2. Appeasing the elderly

The President gets his or her own theme music.

See? She paid attention in class.

Joker Moreau

I can name 26. That's... bad.

I can't try it out just now (work caught on and blocked Sporcle), but I doubt I'd get any better than that without practice.

Josh snorted. "Yeah, the dinosaur might be a bit of a deal breaker anywhere but here. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try, even if it's online stuff while you're sticking with your friends."

"Yeah," she said, looking thoughtful. "Anyway, thanks. I'll let you know if I wind up needing the recommendation. What did you actually major in, anyway?"

Joker was from the future, and grew up in space. His school history curriculum may have been America-heavy, but there was a whole galaxy's worth of history to cram in there as well. On top of that, "America" in his time included Canada and Mexico.

All of that meant that, despite him having written down a good 40 names, only 25 or so were actually U.S. presidents from before 2014, and the rest were a mixture of future presidents, Mexican presidents, and Canadian prime ministers. Also "Margaret Thatcher" and "Boutros Boutros-Ghali".

"Government and prelaw," Josh said. "I always wanted to work in the government and around politics."

Being from the future meant that the question "Which Constitution?" became relevant, but Joker was fairly certain he'd got this.

-- Veto bills
-- Appoint ambassadors/judges/officials/etc. (with confirmation of Congress)
-- Make executive orders to manage the government

-- Sniper rifle
-- Unmanned drone
-- Arrest non-violently & send to a "black" site (takes longer)

Joker might have gotten the Secret Service and CIA mixed up.

-- Some description of the actual state of the actual Union
-- Plans for the future

-- Approval ratings

Zing!

Jessica Drew

Jessica was able to get through the first 44 in about four minutes.

And then she added:

45. ~~Unidentified, ahem~~
46. John Howard
47. Steve Rogers
48. ~~Unidentified yet again, ahem~~

My world is special.

1. The power to appoint people to positions in the administration, pending Senate approval.

2. The power to grant pardons.

3. The power to recommend fiscal policies.

Jessica's answers were detailed.

And then she pulled a Sharpie out of her pocket to redact many of those details.

1. Zingers, especially if they make at least one of the people behind the President uncomfortable.
2. Blatant pandering to the base.

The President is one guy in charge of an entire branch of Government. It takes hundreds of 535 people in Congress to match him.

Mercy Thompson

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Plus We Have a Motorcade, Thursday, April 24, 2014 [1st period]

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