If the President of the United States kidnapped your family...

This plot bunny's protagonist is the Vice President of the United States. While they're hanging out together, the President tells the VP that he wants to brutally invade some African country to control its oil. The horrified VP somehow spills these beans to the public, so the President has his wife and child kidnapped and hidden away in some secret base until the VP retracts his report. The VP finds the police unwilling to believe his story, so he decides to break his family out himself, hiring someone who knows where, or rather when, the President's secret base is: prehistoric times.

I have these two questions:

• If you're a Vice President who wants to inform the public of the President's evil scheme, exactly whom would you go to? Some media company?

• Who would be in a position to know the secret base's location? I'm guessing some kind of former government employee, like maybe a General.

...that is so decidedly, unfathomably preposterous I have no concept of where I could be begin.

Wait, so time travel en masse is possible, but oil is still a problem?

... This is comedy, right?

Wouldn't the damage to the President already be done after the VP spills the beans on network television? I'm not sure how much good him "retracting" a groundbreaking, whistle-blowing story on the evil President's upcoming war crimes would do, especially considering that the retraction comes the same day that his family mysteriously disappears. And yeah, above's already touched upon the time-travel problems. This plot as a whole, er, needs some rethinking.

edited 20th May '12 11:09:27 AM by jackpollock

I guess it is a dumb idea now that I think about it. The idea of an American President as the villain sounded so cool though...

Yeah, it sounds cool, but you can't just throw it into a nonsense plot.

This is so unbelievably unrealistic, implausible, circumstantial and full of plot holes it's ridiculous! Now write the damn thing already so you can take my money!

Are you a bad enough dude to rescue your family from the President?

(It had to be said.)

Reversing the "someone kidnapped the President" plot would work as a one-off gimmick at most, being charitable.

This is one of the most outrageous ideas that I have seen crop up on this forum, ever, to the point that I kind of want to just start clapping.

Also, what Night said. And it did.

Am I the only person that want to see if the mundane part of this scenario's plausible, even if it's very out there?

I hope so, because it's not plausible in the slightest.

If the President of the United States is of the type that would invade African nations for their oil, it is likely that his or her Vice President is of the same persuasion. Even if they weren't, they would still likely fall in with the plan, out of simple political partisanship. Morality and principles don't make it past the White House front door; no sane Vice President is going to risk splitting their political party wide open for some backwater nation full of rich, rich natural resources. Of course, that's terrible, but then again, so are the people we elect to office.

And even if, somehow, the Vice President still leaked the story, the President could just go through with it anyhow and spin it using appeals to patriotism and nationalism. The yellow press is a powerful thing, remember.

This is one of the most hilariously bizarre things I've read in a while.

That sounds similar to Metal Wolf Chaos, which is hilarious. But yeah it's hilarious because it's cheesy as all hell. This is a terrible idea if you want to treat it seriously because it would take a miracle to suspend your reader's sense of disbelief.

edited 20th May '12 8:48:31 PM by Lestrade

This just seems so freakishly over-the-top ridiculous that I can't see how it would work as anything other than a comedic work. In which case, you're free to throw logic and accuracy to the wind.

But none of that's a bad thing per se. Most of my non-troper friends would probably consider this to be freaking awesome, if their reaction to a teaser for the upcoming film adaptation of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter was anything to go by.

They're adapting that as a film?

...Good grief.

Anything wrong with that?

One of my friends loved the book, and she also loves the Discworld books.

I feel compelled to ask if there is oil in any part of Africa, simply because I don't actually know. Also, you're going to have to come up with some other excuse for the President to use as the official reason, because oil alone these days can't cause the President to just declare war. Also, please remember that it's Congress that has to do that; he's got to have enough people colluding with him that most of Congress would be complicit in this crime.

Also, time travel? I'm having a hard time seeing where that fits in even as a comedy. This all feels very Silver Age comicky to me. That's not a bad thing, you just have to really know where you're going with this. And I guess throw in some stuff in the actual story that makes the time travel seem like an actual part of the setting rather than just some ass pull.

It's not the first thing I'd expect to see as a "Major Motion Picture", no.

Not criticizing the book (I haven't read it, and so I wouldn't dare), but still... odd.

I like some aspects of Silver Age comics, but I don't think this includes them.

edited 20th May '12 9:40:18 PM by nrjxll

There's only one problem with this idea.

It's not insane enough.

Seriously, once you get into - and I am overjoyed that I am going to type these words - "the evil president's secret prehistoric lair," any and all sense of rationality has to be thrown out the window. I mean, come on, tell me this isn't one of the most awesome sentences in the history of language: "He travels back in time to the evil president's secret prehistoric lair." The only way to improve that sentence is by adding more insanity. Aliens. It needs an alien buddy. And the hero who travels back in time should be, like, a Marine. A bitter retired Marine who was discharged after almost his entire squad died on a secret mission he's not allowed to talk about. "A retired Marine travels back in time with his alien buddy to the evil president's secret prehistoric lair to rescue the family of the Vice-President, who was a secret agent tasked with keeping an eye on the president."

Now we're getting to something truly magnificent in its ridiculosity. People would read this. They would read the fuck out of this. It would be the next "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter."

Why has this not yet been made?

Make sure the Vice President travels around time to collect history's greatest warriors.

Make sure everything ends in a sword fight while on fire.

I swear, if I thought I could do a good job at it, I would write this. Whoever writes that story is going to make lots of money. There's no way it wouldn't sell. It's too batshit crazy for people not to enjoy it.

I dislike you all so very much now. I am sitting in a coffee shop on the verge of tears from laughing so hard and feel completely ridiculous.

Also, OP, I hope you go through with this because it sounds amazing. The only point that does need to be addressed is why oil is such a problem when Time Travel has been invested. That could be addressed in story though with the reason for invading being something else (keeping the populace in line, propping up the military-industrial complex, etc.).

Please, please follow through. The person who knew how to get to the layer could be a Secret Service Agent who immigrated from the country about to be attacked (though they would probably have had to immigrate as children or before hostilities began to explain them being allowed to become a high ranking Secret Service official, as even visiting countries that there are bad relations with could flag a security clearance check). The agent could have signed up because of what they believed the country represented, and feel betrayed and when they find out/have reason to believe the VP, they sign up to help. Though, if the person hasn't been an agent for long (say, 15+ years) they may be under scrutiny b/c of being from the country.

@Jabrosly the president as a villain is an awesome idea, But kidnapping a family is a plot... I wouldn't recomend.

Kidnapping is illegal an in most countries he would be impeached in 10 seconds flad

A smart and evil president would never act outside the law. You would be surprised how much evil a president can do without breaking a single law!! I recomend Ex-President Salinas as a good example

This is like Metal Wolf Chaos. With extra Time Travel Crazy added in.