President Michelle, or Ten Days that Shook the World. A subversive political fantasy 12+

📒 Manu Herbstein's short tale is a political logbook of the days following Michelle Obama's inauguration as the first female president of the United States. Having been catapulted to the presidential post by a zealous electorate in search of stability and reassurance following the untimely death of President Obama, the mourning Mrs. Obama arrived without campaigning, owing no favors, and free to serve the interests of the people. Quite unexpectedly, she proceeds over the next several days to unveil an agenda that is radically different from that of her late husband. Her surprising policies have politicians cringing and the public raving with delight. The narrator is a sought-after author charged with covering the president's first days in office. He steps us through President Michelle's reasoned speeches and proposals. She writes bills for Congress to ponder and she deftly spells out a program for change. For instance, as one of her first acts she promises to sign the global treaty placing the US under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. She also pledges to immediately end the wars and to close the US bases around the world. Through careful worded reasoning, she argues for moral leadership. Her populist policies and philosophy earn her both acclaim by the world's peoples and also turbulence in the financial markets. Aside from the author's creating the untimely death of a sitting president (a weighty and touchy ploy to use), the fiction...