Can they tear each other apart so someone electable can be chosen for 2012 please?

I, for one, definitely hope so.

I sort-of support PR, but it's a pity that so many arguments used to justify it are shaped like a circle.

The same is true of most political arguments Al, sadly.

I have to agree with Hashemite that I consider MMP to be the best system of representation, an MMP system that used IRV in the single member constituencies would be best in theory but probably too complex of a system to function well. I like the fact that it balances local representation with proportional representation. It gives the benefits of list PR, in that it is very representative and helps to create a strong multi-party system, but without the problems, lack of choice about who gets elected and the creation of dominant party leaderships.

Well first I have to say thank you to you all for the warm welcome and the attempts to bring me up to speed on things. It seems that Al's pretty right in stating that things are crazy as normal in Atlasia and, yes afleitch, it is pretty jaw dropping that I'm back.

Hi Colin!  I don't know if you remember me from back in the day, I only just barely remember you....I left here early in 2005, and have been back about a year now.  Welcome! 

I remember you Fritz, hell I remember that you were one of the people who helped make this country work at the beginning as SoFA. Good to see you back again.

Well Atlasia is Latin for Crazy.

Actually the closest word I can think of in Latin to crazy is furor but now I'm just being pedantic.

Colin, welcome back! It's always good to see the old NLC crowd still around.

Thanks Bacon King. It's nice to still see people from before I left still around.

Aye

Well first I have to say thank you to you all for the warm welcome and the attempts to bring me up to speed on things. It seems that Al's pretty right in stating that things are crazy as normal in Atlasia and, yes afleitch, it is pretty jaw dropping that I'm back.

Hi Colin!  I don't know if you remember me from back in the day, I only just barely remember you....I left here early in 2005, and have been back about a year now.  Welcome! 

I remember you Fritz, hell I remember that you were one of the people who helped make this country work at the beginning as SoFA. Good to see you back again.

Thank you all for the kind welcome backs. I hope to return in full force to Atlasia.

Also looks like the Southeast and Northeast almost started a war against the Pacific about a month ago and regions are using their militias like personal armies. Hell, Atlasia's turned into the US under the Articles of Confederation, I kinda had an inkling that would happen, well either that or the President would get wise to the fact that he basically has unlimited power under the Second Constitution.

Uh, the Northeast never "almost started a war against the Pacific". Where are you getting that information?

Maybe not the Northeast but I did read, from just a quick perusal of the last few months, that the Southeast signed a law stating that they wanted to deport violent criminals to the Pacific, the Pacific closed their borders, militias were called out, the Northeast might have gotten involved, I'm not really sure. If I have the events wrong, please tell me, I'm just trying to get a jist of whats been going on around here.

Polling already has Paul neck-in-neck with Obama.

Yes the Rasmussen poll. I saw it. Now how many of those 42% actually knew who Ron Paul was and what his positions on the issues are? Very, very few, I would imagine. If anything the poll just shows that 42% of people are willing to vote for generic Republican over Obama. I wouldn't be surprised if the poll had the exact same results if Ron Paul was replaced with "John Smith".

This is a link to a Gallup poll conducted in February that had a generic Republican receiving 42% of the vote.

The American people are getting tired of the establishment status quo which you seem to support.

Oh yeah the establishment status quo. I just love that. The secret American establishment meeting was earlier today and it was great. We talked about going to Ivy League Schools and controlling the Financial System. Also had a nice French Bordeaux and some Camembert, to highlight our anti-American, pro-European ways.

Heya Colin. Welcome Back, Friend.

Hey thanks. It's nice to be back.

Besides me leaving the Republican Party in disgust/being quite embarrassed for a while, a complete and utter redux of 1964. Obama is re-elected in a large landslide. Paul takes the Mountain West and possibly Mississippi and Alabama. The prospect of a Paul candidacy is a literal nightmare for the GOP but would probably have the benefit of forcing them into a more moderate position in advance of 2016.

Why are you even in the party then?

To be honest a variety of reasons. Family tradition, a general distaste for being an independent, general anti-democratic sentiment, general rightward bias in my voting history, general support for smaller government, etc.

Paul is the only Republican who would be guaranteed to win the general election against Obama.

Really, now? So a man who supports total drug legalization, a return to the gold standard, and an isolationist foreign policy, which often elicits him serious booing from conservative audiences, will be able to win against a divisive but not horribly unpopular sitting President. While I will admit that he has a rabid fan base and grassroots network, this is rather small in comparison to even the Republican electorate let alone the entire American electorate. A group of rabid fans does not correlate to broad electoral success.

Also looks like the Southeast and Northeast almost started a war against the Pacific about a month ago and regions are using their militias like personal armies. Hell, Atlasia's turned into the US under the Articles of Confederation, I kinda had an inkling that would happen, well either that or the President would get wise to the fact that he basically has unlimited power under the Second Constitution.

Besides me leaving the Republican Party in disgust/being quite embarrassed for a while, a complete and utter redux of 1964. Obama is re-elected in a large landslide. Paul takes the Mountain West and possibly Mississippi and Alabama. The prospect of a Paul candidacy is a literal nightmare for the GOP but would probably have the benefit of forcing them into a more moderate position in advance of 2016.

Wow, this matchup is being brought up? This was around when I left two years ago.

Okay what's HAEV and who is this Hamilton guy? I think I read that HAEV was some sort of investigation/anti-fraud task force but I'm not sure.

Really great job Hashemite. Keep up the good work.

Welcome back, Colin! I always hoped you would come back.

Thanks Jesus.

Though centrist-domination was kind of boring, IMO...

It normally is, that's why it doesn't last long. In the realm of internet nations "may you live in interesting times" isn't a curse.

And by the way, I've heard legends of your past involvement, Colin. I look forward to seeing you here with my own eyes.

Wow, I'm a legendary figure now. Makes me think I'm like an Atlasian Beowulf or Ajax. Thanks for the support though. I'll try to get back into the swing of things.

I have to agree with Hashemite that UKIP is the BNP for respectable people. Of course it's better than the BNP in no uncertain terms. The BNP is avowedly racist and has a direct historical connection to neo-Nazi movements such as the National Front of the 1970s and 1980s. So, to answer the question, UKIP is not worse than the BNP.

Moldova, obviously.

Because I'm a secret Communist.

Neutral, I don't agree with many of his positions but he seems like a rather upright guy and holds to his convictions usually.

Libertarianism. At least its an actually defined ideology with stated goals and ends. Granted many times libertarians take things too far, though I generally agree with the rhetoric, if not the actions, of some libertarians, but that's a much better option than the blind appeals to popularity and mob rule, which is usually what Populism entails.

Due to the complicated constitutional structure of the Labour Party I don't see what the alternative is. Trade Unions founded and fund the Party so they ought to have a say, but there are literally millions more political-levy paying members of Labour-affiliated Unions than there are actual Party members, which would mean that actual membership would become greatly devalued. Then you have the issue of the PLP; however easy it might be to get support for devaluing the role of MPs right now, a Leader without a big following in the PLP would have serious problems.

See, this is the type of thing that makes me happy to be back on the forum.

As for the question at hand, yes I think the US Electoral College should be abolished. A straight national popular vote isn't the best system by any stretch of the imagination but its a better option than we currently have.

Well, our country shall be called Bacon, and our head of state shall be King Justin of Bacon. My party shall be the Socialist Party, and it shall be Party A (82 seats).

Mr. Cohen's presence ought to help things out.

Well I have to nip this in the bud. No one's turning my Antillia into the State of Bacon.

To be honest though I can't believe there's still interest in this. Since I'm back now, and considering I'm the one who came up with the demographics, population data, nation concept, I'd be willing to act in a impartial GM capacity or something like that.

Atlasia went through an activity boom in your absence, but things have receded again to the way they were in 2008. There's only two parties with actual organization; one is the JCP and the other is the Romans. The DA, although it holds the Presidency, is highly disorganized. It reminds me of the NLC. The RPP was a major force in the game for over a year and renamed itself the Progressive Conservative Party and then went supernova and is now the AFL-CIO or something and is a nonfactor. afleitch is President (he beat Bacon King), but the JCP dominates the Senate still, and could probably beat any candidate except afleitch. Three regions have elective legislatures (the Northeast's is ridiculously large). The JCP owns the Pacific, the Romans the Northeast, the DA the Mideast, and the Midwest is the Midwest. Amusingly, the Southeast may be the most interesting region of them all. Anti-regionalism is a dead letter; the forces of chaos have won.

Also, I was banned for five months and now everyone likes me. I was even Governor of the Southeast for a while.

Definitely seems chaotic, though, to be honest, I pretty much knew when I left that the JCP would become the dominant force for a while. Too bad to see centralism has become dead letter. Thanks for the update though.

Well, I'm riding once more again into the pleasant abyss of Atlasia and the forum in general. Can somebody tell me once been going on recently around here? I see that Jesus was President for a while and the JCP was dominant, I see that afleitch is finally President, good for him, it was about time, I see that we have an influx of Ron Paulites and Libertarians who have named themselves after the followers of Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony and Octavian, and that I still recognize some names.

For those of you who don't know me, I used to be a rather big name, played around in the Senate for a while, did a stint as President, Judge, cabinet member, and 5 years ago I helped write the Second Constitution, which, from what I can gather, is still in place. So I hope to get back into the swing of things and enjoy my time back on the forum.

Colin
Democratic Alliance
Pennsylvania