The Office of Former President Polnut, Boston - February Election Extravaganzaa!

[Big DaddyTX]

Can I be your Vice Principal? Or at the very least, Secretary of Awesome? I did serve in this position in the Moderate administration.

[Secretary Polnut]

I was always keeping Secretary of Awesome for you!

[Secretary Polnut]

The Office of the President-elect

Boston, Massachusetts


I have asked Senator Jake Matthews to serve as Secretary of Internal Affairs.

He has shown a consistent desire to work to make Atlasia more interesting, so I can think of no better person to serve in that role.

[Secretary Polnut]

The Office of the President-elect

Boston, Massachusetts


I have asked former Senator Fuzzy to serve as Attorney General.

I believe he has a lot to offer, and I look forward to him serving in this role and continuing to build on his political and policy experience.

[Diabolical Minds Think Alike]

Thank you Mr. President-elect, it is truly an honor. I will do my best to be an active SoIA, in light of recent inactivity at the position.

[oakvale]

Fantastic Cabinet picks - I'm especially excited that we've got an Attorney General at long last.

[Fuzzy]

Thank you, Polnut!  I will work to bring respect and integrity to the office. 

[Secretary Polnut]

The Office of the President-elect

Boston, Massachusetts


I have asked Secretary Ben to continue to serve as Secretary of External Affairs.


I can think of no other active member who works to advocate for the greater involvement of foreign policy in Atlasia. He and I worked together well in the past, and he often fought against his own personal views in order to further my agenda. I appreciated that devotion and I look forward to him continuing his service as foreign policy will once again be given a high-level priority of my administration.

[President Marokai]

Good choice. Ben's done great work with the new role of the SoEA.

[Senator Ben]

I appreciate Polnut's confidence, and look forward to continuing in my favorite role.

[Secretary Polnut]

The Office of the President-elect

Boston, Massachusetts


I have asked Shua to continue as Game Moderator.

This is an important role that requires considerable diligence and Shua has shown that in his time in the role. I look forward to Shua continuing in this vital role.

[Big DaddyTX]

The Office of the President-elect

Boston, Massachusetts


I have asked Secretary Ben to continue to serve as Secretary of External Affairs.


I can think of no other active member who works to advocate for the greater involvement of foreign policy in Atlasia. He and I worked together well in the past, and he often fought against his own personal views in order to further my agenda. I appreciated that devotion and I look forward to him continuing his service as foreign policy will once again be given a high-level priority of my administration.

Best. Decision. Ever.

[Diabolical Minds Think Alike]

The Office of the President-elect

Boston, Massachusetts


I have asked Shua to continue as Game Moderator.

This is an important role that requires considerable diligence and Shua has shown that in his time in the role. I look forward to Shua continuing in this vital role.

Best. Decision. Ever.

[Jayhawker]

The Office of the President-elect

Boston, Massachusetts


I have asked Shua to continue as Game Moderator.

This is an important role that requires considerable diligence and Shua has shown that in his time in the role. I look forward to Shua continuing in this vital role.

Best. Decision. Ever.

No, his best decision was picking me as his VP!

[Diabolical Minds Think Alike]

Ah Tmth, modest as ever I see

[Senator Ben]

Best. Decision. Ever.

  Very much appreciated; I hope I can live up to that standard.

[Secretary Polnut]

President's Oval Office Address
The White House


My fellow Atlasians,

On Friday I was sworn in to my second term as your president, I was deeply honoured to have secured your endorsement and support. However, I am very mindful that unlike June 2011, this election was a tight-one. Each ticket worked hard for every vote and preference they received. Considering the number and quality of the opposing tickets, this victory was deeply meaningful to me. This also means that there are many Atlasians did not support this ticket, which only means to me that I need to work doubly as hard to earn your trust, and I will do that.

Unlike a traditional Inaugural Address, I have chosen this opportunity to present you with my ‘statement of purpose’. When I left the presidency last November, I not only believed I was doing the right thing but equally, that I would never again seek this office. But times change and circumstances call some of us to look beyond our own personal interests and step up and serve.

This administration will be about securing the future of Atlasia as we embark on this new journey. During the campaign we spoke of key issues we need to work on, in order to ensure Atlasia is not only strong but vibrant for the future.

The first issue is our economy.  I will be blunt, our unemployment rate is inexcusably high, our debt is too great and we have not worked hard enough to reduce wasteful spending. However, we are faced with stark contrasts in our polity. We have some who believe that the way to address the issue, is to gut spending, slash taxes and in theory, the jobs should come and the money should pour in. On the other side, we have those who believe that we should dramatically increase our government spending and also increase taxes. Respectfully, we believe both of these extremes are counter-productive and could force our economy over the edge.

I have been accused by some, of being a ‘moderate-hero’. Obviously, this description is mean to be a cheeky insult. However, I believe that moderation is often the best course of action, and our economic policy will be a demonstration of that. We need to balance beneficial spending, with that which is wasteful. We need to encourage innovation while at the same time supporting people who have fallen on hard times. At the moment, we believe the tax balance is right. Our focus will be to increase our revenues by stabilizing the economy. We will slightly increase some government charges, which most will not feel, and at the same time, make cuts to wasteful defense projects and reduce the overheads of government. This will reduce our deficit by 18% within the 2012 financial year. By showing a disciplined, focused and steady hand on the economy, this will improve confidence.

Atlasia will again play a role in the wider-world. Under my first administration we brought about an end to our entanglements in theatres of War. It is not my intention to put our young men and women in harm’s way. Atlasia will be a force for good. We don’t need military force to project our values, we will be a living example of a tolerant, open and secular society.

Speaking of a secular society, I want to make this very clear. I respect religion and its role in the lives of Atlasians, and I always will. But I believe that in public policy, we are to serve the interests of all. The freedom of religion contained in our Constitution protects people to practice whatever religion brings them comfort, assuming they do not undermine the rights of others. Equally, the freedom of religion also is to protect people of different or no faith from having the beliefs of other imposed upon you. How you choose to live your life is up to you, but the need to be respectful of religious and cultural differences has never been more important.

This administration will also work to make sure that public education in this country is not only strong but also the best possible. Education is the key to a successful life. We need to make sure that all Atlasians leave high school with key skills in literacy, numeracy as well as a broader math, science, history and classical education. But we also need to encourage students without an academic bent, who still require education and training in their field. We will never support a voucher system, it is a white flag for public education, and I will never give up on it.

We also need to work to address the expected cost blow outs in our health system that comes from a rapidly aging population. There are some difficult choices to be made. But I can assure all Atlasians the decisions made will not undermine the quality of care and they will be made with the utmost equity in mind.

The final issue I’d like to address is game reform. We all know that game reform to me, is a means to an end. However, reform does need to happen and we need a structure to allow options to be developed for the future. During my first term I created the Game Reform Panel, unfortunately, the Senate displayed little interest in the Panel’s work. However, the Game Reform Panel will live again, and I have placed Vice President Tmthforu personally in charge of this panel and he will be driving this Administration’s reform agenda.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have given me this great honour and have invested your time, energy and trust in this administration. I will work every single day to honour your investment and to work for the trust of those who did not vote for me.
Thank you all, goodnight and Dave bless.

[Jayhawker]

The final issue I’d like to address is game reform. We all know that game reform to me, is a means to an end. However, reform does need to happen and we need a structure to allow options to be developed for the future. During my first term I created the Game Reform Panel, unfortunately, the Senate displayed little interest in the Panel’s work. However, the Game Reform Panel will live again, and I have placed Vice President Tmthforu personally in charge of this panel and he will be driving this Administration’s reform agenda.

That being said, I will soon be taking steps to form a game panel. Last time, I believe it was done with a member of each major party. I was considering setting up a certain type of guideline for this time around either, but after consideration, I'm not going to.

My plans, right now, are for the Game Reform Panel to consist of myself and 3 other people. It doesn't matter what position they hold, or what party they belong to, though when reviewing applications, I will make sure to bring different viewpoints in.

Please contact me via PM if you are interested in being on the Game Reform Panel. Last time a lot was discussed, but it end up with little results. Things are going to be different this time around.

[Jayhawker]

Just over a week later, I have had 1 applicant. I'd encourage others to apply, otherwise it'll be a 2-man committee.

[Secretary Polnut]

Palais de Congress
Marrakesh, Morocco

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today we are gathered here to consider the real threat our common future faces. Yet again, nuclear security and therefore the security of the world is a point of concern.

The Hindu God Shiva is both a God of destruction and a God creation and renewal. In many ways our approach to nuclear technology is the same. It is, at once, the harnessing of the base elements of our universe to either destroy in an instant or to create energy to power our world.

People of my political persuasion have been caught in the horns of a dilemma for as long as we knew about nuclear technology. It grants some the capacity for destruction that no single country deserves, but as we saw during the Cold War, the presence of those weapons, and the mutual assured destruction they would bring created equilibrium. However, the race to assume and expand our nuclear knowledge has had a tremendous effect on those directly and those innocently nearby. Apart from environmental desolation, what about the cancer clusters directly related to that research in the early days.

We have states across the world, where dangerous nuclear technology is stored in sheds, protected at best by one guy, a German shepherd and a padlock. We will work with our friends and neighbours to remove fissile material and downgrade it, we will work with them to secure material around the world. The common factor is that Atlasia wants to work with the world to clean up and secure nuclear material.

However, we have also used that technology to change our world for the better. While events like Three-Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukishima made as all question the need for nuclear power, the fact remains that in many ways it is the low-emission alternative to fossil fuels for the short to medium term. I know I am at odds with many in my country, in my side of politics and within my party. I believe nuclear power can be harnessed safely and with maximum security.

The other key issue we cannot ignore is the risk posed to the wider world by the obtaining of fissile material by rouge nations and non-state actors, not the least of which being terrorists. Their desire to obtain this material is no secret. I understand the total discomfort by many as I stand here as President of a nuclear-armed state suggesting that other countries do not deserve access to such weapons. I understand it, but that does not mean that I am going to engage in moral relativism. However, I am taking this opportunity to make this pledge here and now. Atlasia will commence a new round of nuclear weapon dismantling. It is my intention to reduce Atlasia’s stockpile of nuclear weapons to 15% of 2000 levels within the next two years. I can hear many saying “why can’t you do it faster?” and “why can’t get rid of all nukes?” the answers to those questions are these, in order to dismantle warhead and dispose of fissile material in a safe manner takes time, and the other is a sheer fact of Geopolitical reality.

However, I believe we should pledge that all of our efforts will lead to a time when nuclear weapons are relic of history. It is not an easy ask, in fact, one of the toughest. But we must start now, and we must be united and prevent further destabilizing proliferation.

I truly believe the energy future of the world lies within clean renewable technologies and I will continue to support more research and development to bring those energies online in a wholesale manner as quickly as possible. But we must be realistic; we cannot wail and gnash our teeth because they’re not here now. For the past two decades we have squandered opportunities to focus on that research. We cannot afford to continue to do so. But we need to understand that because of taking our eye off the ball at a critical time, we need to spend more than we should need to and it will take longer to bring online than we want.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is an opportunity we cannot waste. The time is now, and we must be prepared to act.

[Secretary Polnut]

TRANSCRIPT

Question asked to the President while visiting a school in Arlington, Virginia


Reporter: What do you have to say about the 'revolution' being advocated? Including by some of your political allies?

PP: I think strong political discussions should happen, we always need to face up to difficult truths if things aren't working. Tweed is welcome back to Atlasia and I'm sure will run a very spirited campaign for the June election. However, I'm concerned that some people are attracted to a strategy that will likely blow up in their faces.

Atlasia is going through a period that is certainly more stagnant than I'd like, but I don't think a 'revolution' will do anything except provide some drama for a while, and because of that, the stagnation will return. I've been around Atlasia for a while, and stagnant periods happen. I don't believe this is a terminal decline. I'd be very interested what happens in Atlasia... say after November. I think you'll see activity return.

I should also say, what I said when a 'founder' returned to Atlasia to personally attack me, you built it, but didn't buy it, so you don't own it. Thanks...

Reporter: However, Mr Tweed has declared the Atlasian Government illegitimate

PP: Last time I checked, the people voted for the Government, in line with the Constitutional authorities that they also voted for. The Atlasian Government is most certainly legitimate, and he has no place to make such proclamations.

In fact, it's a bit like your mother turning up in your house, and proclaiming you divorced because she doesn't like your wife. It's dramatic and a little wacky, but also destabilising, which I presume is the point.

[© Tweed the Younger]

ok Czar Nick II.  gl

[Secretary Polnut]

ok Czar Nick II.  gl

ah.... ha....

[Secretary Polnut]

PRESS RELEASE

The President will be formally announcing shortly that he will not be seeking another elected term.

He believes two terms is enough.

He also wants to make sure that all interested candidates know his position as soon as practicable.

[Big DaddyTX]

You make me sad