When Cassandra was 6 years old she accidentally ripped a brand-new dress that she had received as a birthday present. Over the next 20 years, Cassandra has added other things that family members have told her about that day to her original memory. According to the , by the age of 26 her memory of that day is a blending of the original memory, what others told her, and what she has imagined since then.

Congress is controlled by the democrats. president yaeger, a republican, takes several actions that are opposed by the democrats in congress. first, the president introduces a new budget that cuts most of the government's social programs and gives tax breaks to the wealthy. next, president yaeger negotiates a trade treaty with a nation accused of human rights abuses. then, the president gives pardons to three republican senators who have been convicted of crimes.