Balance of Power (Sign Up/Rules/Commentary Thread)

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Hay/LaFollette 1904!

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The way we become the world's leading nation is not by isolating ourselves.... had we not upheld our duties as an ally, we would rightfully be the laughing stock at the world. The Democrats enjoy poking fun at me for being friendly with Sultans, Emperors, Prime Ministers, Kaisers, and Kings....but if they were in charge, you'd have a President who was not a part of global dialogue and that would be more damaging to America then any thing else

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The Democrats are sorely mistaken if they believe we were searching for a reason to enter a war.... as he mentioned, I was the personal secretary to Abraham Lincoln and I have seen too much bloodshed in my time in government. In this case-- a violent, unrestrained Russia atacked our ally which was, by the way, a direct threat to our interests in the Far East which impacts our trade and our economy in addition to triggering our alliance

The gentleman is skilled at rhetoric but we do not need a scribe, we need a leader. The gentleman agrees we need a strong navy- our alliance with Japan has our navy in the Far East, our alliance with the Ottomans has us strong in the Mediterranean. Our alliances with Britain and France help us on that front as well and our friendly relations with most of the other nations ensure safe passage for our ships both military and civilian. And- by the way- we were on the winning side. The prestige and power of the USA was enhanced by my decision to stand by our allies and we will always stand by our friends because that is what America does

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I am sorry to hear you may be suspending the game....grateful for you starting it, it has been a joy to play!

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I am very grateful for the Chancellor's comments and even more grateful for the positive relationship we have developed together between our two nations.... let it only continue!

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Woo....hoo!!!!!

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the gentleman's vulgar comments towards our Ottoman allies shows what kind of diplomat he would be.....thankfully the American people saw the danger and elected John Hay

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OOC-can you please point out where this little girl situation comes from......I do not know what you are referencing

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Regardless---any Senator foolish enough to oppose our alliance with the Ottomans needs to resign
In this century- there has no been an alliance so mutually beneficial in the world. Our alliance has strengthened us. I do not know about this situation he is referencing, but personal attacks against my friend the Sultan will not be taken lightly. I will not determine foreign policy by the internal policies of other nations, but by how they treat us- and we have had nob etter friend then the Ottomans

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That treaty was also signed by the Tsar....so it is not as if it is some kidnapping. Again- I reiterate that we will not determine our allies by how they deal with any one but us and the Ottomans have proven to be our genuine friends time and time again

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Regardless---any Senator foolish enough to oppose our alliance with the Ottomans needs to resign
In this century- there has no been an alliance so mutually beneficial in the world.

Apparently President Hay forgets that it is the Senate of the United States and not the Senate of the so-called Republican party.  In a republic, the head of state is not sovereign, the people are.  And if the people disapprove of those who disapprove of the taking of child hostages, they can vote in those like President Hay who care not what others do, so long as they don't do it to us.

I was elected- and my party expanded our majorities in both houses of Congress

The people.....have SPOKEN!

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I was elected- and my party expanded our majorities in both houses of Congress

The people.....have SPOKEN!

Those same people denied you the two-thirds majority in the Senate needed to conduct a unilateral foreign policy.  Furthermore, I doubt that the people spoke in favor of being further entangled with those who take child hostages, since that issue did not arise during the campaign just concluded.

Again- that treaty was signed by the "child hostage"'s father- the Tsar
If he signed such a treaty, who are we to make a fuss?

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I hear that President Hay has chosen to host the upcoming summit in Milwaukee, allegedly because of its German ties, yet I would point out that St. Louis also has strong German ties and in addition is home to the King of Beers.  While I hope the Senate will reject the proposed Triple Entente treaty, it requires no treaty to host a summit, nor do I think that a summit is a bad idea.  It would even be beneficial to have a summit with all the nations that we have entangled ourselves with military alliances.  However, it would likely need to be in a larger city than Milwaukee to provide sufficient hotel space for all of the foreign potentates and their entourages while not inconveniencing the general public.

I appreciate the Senator's suggestion
 

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Lumine........hope you feel better....no rush on my end- I am recovering from a nasty cold and will wish you the very best in your recovery

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That is indeed sad

I am sure enjoying playing this with you all, though!!!

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How about starting one after the Russian Civil War/Mussolini taking power in Italy? The playable countries would be the USSR, the USA, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and Germany.

(if we do that I totally call the Soviet Union )

Tempted to call USA..... not sure if I would want a similar or different challenges to play. Very interesting!
But this is a great crew and I hope all of us have a spot to play in the next one

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Welcome back,pal :-)

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How about starting one after the Russian Civil War/Mussolini taking power in Italy? The playable countries would be the USSR, the USA, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and Germany.

(if we do that I totally call the Soviet Union )

I'll take Italy again.

No place for me

After this timeline- the Ottomans will be a super power :-)

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Yes, Spamage....I recommend capitulation ;-)

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As you all know- I am a frank talker, so here we go....

Windjammer, pal- you are a good fellow, I like you, but your public criticisms of Lumine's decisions are total bullsh**t... You are his #2 and should not be undermining him publicly, first of all. Secondly- what else do we have to go by then what Lumine tells us is the reality? If we have to doubt his decisions,what point is there in continuing this game? I may be a genius businessman but in Monopoly if I get a few bad rolls, I am bankrupt. He runs this game his way- and the basic premise we accept to play it is that what he says goes, and I do not appreciate you casting doubt on that premise to ruin this game. I did not protest whenever I disagreed with his decisions even if they cast the USA in a bad light, and I would appreciate you not adding doubt to the game



Also.......as others have pointed out, my primary goal as the USA has been expanding our military might. I have strategically placed my forces across the world knowing this would be the goal........of course,this is "out of character', but I even sent the Wikipedia article of "War Plan Red" to Lumine at the start of the game to explain my overall strategy. War Plan Red was a pre-WWII war plan by the USA to defeat the British if we ended up opposing them in a conflict.....it is past the date in which this game is played, but it describes the strategy the USA would have taken. I have been planning for war with Britain since the start of this game....again, this is "out of character" but I believe this has already been guessed. My actions in the game have been taken accordingly, and I do not believe attacks on the USA's actions in the "real world" are relevant to what all of us have done in this alternate history

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It's been being executed already.....the name wasn't announced,but you'll notice the strategy is similar. I dropped no bombshell here

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I did not say you should resign nor did I say you should have a bias- I said you undermined Lumine. Your disagreements with him should be expressed privately, that is what a "deputy" or an "assistant" does...you are correct that it is your duty to speak with Lumine if you speak he has made a mistake, but not publicly criticize his decisions

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Define "major player"......

The only players in this game are the major powers.....it is not as if any player is building Portugal into a superpower in 5 years

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Those are the major players at that point in real history.....this is not the real world. As my buddy Kalwejt said,there are decisions I made here that preceded real world decisions by 15 or so years, and therefore took effect much earlier

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I would like to state that my intial post towards you- Windjammer- came across a bit strong.....it was more friendly sh**t talk then accusatory toward an enemy, even though I do believe you should have addressed this privately,perhaps I should have done the same to you