Board Thread:New on Turtledove/@comment-24402759-20150517212707/@comment-21519-20150518024703

I can't imagine what you're basing that on. The US in 191 is a militarized society prepared to devote a large percentage of its resources to projects like this, especially since that's always going to cost less than going back to the bad old days of being surrounded by powerful neighbors who hate them. The black population of the South is going to be loyal to a fault as long as Philadelphia doesn't do something stupid like recreate OTL Reconstruction policy, the Quebecois will still be. . . well, worth something, anyway. . . and once you've got occupation set up, you can start offering carrots as well as sticks.

Even were it otherwise, I don't equate "too much territory and not enough loyal populace to go around" with " almost tak[ing] place in the Soviet Union."

But at any rate, at least in calling it a "dark ominous ending," you're recognizing that it is an ending, which puts you several up on the weirdos who are begging for HT to go back to beating what is by now the deadest of dead horses.