Dereich for Senate: It's just a game people.

[Dereich]

Hello Midwest!

After being a legislator, speaker, and emperor of the IDS, it was time to move on. I thought hard about where to go, and I decided on the Midwest for a few reasons. One of the best things about the Midwest is that it managed to stay unique, with its own strange culture and traditions against the tide of boring mediocrity that permeates the game. I'm very happy to join a new region, especially a region with a unique personality.

Its also good to join a region with serious ideological diversity and change in the Alþing. The most fun I had in Atlasia was in the middle of Operation Cottonfield, when Griffin's leftist hordes were making every election a tough fight and when the battle over nuclear power stretched across the boards.  As Emperor, one of my goals was to get and keep leftists in the legislature to keep that spirit of competition alive. Here, there is constant change and turnover;

Which brings me to the last reason for switching regions: to run for Senate. The Senate is intellectually vapid, unnecessarily byzantine and just plain full of itself. When I look at what I'd change, I think that the Senate needs is to pare down the complexity a bit, focus itself more narrowly and do more to make its actions mean something to non-Senators. I didn't decide to run against TNF because he's the big boogeyman of the left, but because I think he's one of the worst in connecting the Senate with the rest of the game. I have ideas for all of these I hope to elaborate more on as the campaign gets moving.

I'm extremely excited to be able to run in the same race with strong candidates to my left and right; I'm sure there will be exciting debates and arguments that pop up over the next few weeks! So as things get going, now is the time for everyone to come in, relax, grab some whiskey, and ask any questions if you've got em.

[Flake]

Endorsed

[Dereich]

Endorsed

Wow, that was fast. Thank you very much, Emperor.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Endorsed!

[Lumine]

Endorsed, Dereich, best of luck!

[Prince of Salem]

Orgasmically endorsed!!!

[Maxwell]

Endorsed man. You'll do great as the Midwest's Senator.

[Adam Griffin]

Endorsed by a bunch of fellow carpetbaggers, a banned guy and a known fascists? No thanks. How much did you learn about the Midwest in the hour you resided there before declaring for Senate?

[Potus]

Endorsed wholeheartedly.

[Maxwell]

Endorsed by a bunch of fellow carpetbaggers, a banned guy and a known fascists? No thanks. How much did you learn about the Midwest in the hour you resided there before declaring for Senate?

lolololololololol

You must be logged in to read this quote.

try harder

[Prince of Salem]

Endorsed by a bunch of fellow carpetbaggers, a banned guy and a known fascists? No thanks. How much did you learn about the Midwest in the hour you resided there before declaring for Senate?

lolololololololol

try harder

Oh come on, he's just being Griffin

[Dereich]

Endorsed!

Thanks X!

Endorsed, Dereich, best of luck!

Thank you President Lumine!

Endorsed wholeheartedly.

Thank you very much.

Endorsed man. You'll do great as the Midwest's Senator.

Thanks Maxwell. Keep the IDS going strong.

Endorsed by a bunch of fellow carpetbaggers, a banned guy and a known fascists? No thanks. How much did you learn about the Midwest in the hour you resided there before declaring for Senate?

You wound me Griffin. I though we were friends

Orgasmically endorsed!!!

Thank you for your support!

[Adam Griffin]

[Foucaulf]

You are the Senator the Midwest needs and what the Midwest deserves.

EDIT: For what it's worth, I had no idea about Dereich contesting this seat. Federal politics isn't very interesting to me. I'm sure we would, however, find common ground.

[Adam Griffin]

Mr. [DE][Reich], how do you respond to criticisms that your name literally stands for "German Reich"?

[Prince of Salem]

Mr. [DE][Reich], how do you respond to criticisms that your name literally stands for "German Reich"?

"Your Hitler Moment of the day was proudly brought to you by Adam Griffin. Adam Griffin, deeply disturbing Atlasia with... whatever comes to his mind."

[Dereich]

Mr. [DE][Reich], how do you respond to criticisms that your name literally stands for "German Reich"?

Thank you for the question! I'm always happy to explain my name when people think I was trying to use poor German. In fact, my name came about when a random name generator for gave me "Dietrich" and I misspelled it to what you see today. I've always liked it because it was a bit unusual and otherwise I'd probably have a generic "President123" or "Politics Fan 456" type of name. I'm glad I could clear up this misunderstanding!

You know, thank you for this as well! It leads me to an important point I've wanted to make. You can call me a carpetbagger if you want. I've just joined this region and yet I'm asking to be elected as its senator; it does seem a bit unconventional. But I think I can bring something to the Senate that its not getting now; I want to make the Senate simpler and more interesting not just for those constantly paying attention, but the less active players as well. I think a Senator who also could have been called a carpetbagger at the time said it well a few years back: "I admit that I am new to the Midwest, but that I believe that I can represent Midwestern citizens in Nyman."

[Türkisblau]

You seem like a really nice guy. I hope my endorsement matters

[Dereich]

You seem like a really nice guy. I hope my endorsement matters

Thank you very much Mr. Speaker!

[Senator Cris]

Endorsed!

[Velasco]

So we have TNF, Cassius and you running? Interesting profiles. The single-member Olive Tree Party won't make endorsements. However, it seems that your candidacy is already lifting passions (lol):

Orgasmically endorsed!!!

In any case, good luck.

Which would be an appropiate name for this? Operation Squirrel?

[Dereich]

With activity and inactivity having come up a lot in the last week, I wanted to say a few things on the issue. I want to join the chorus who have been reminding everyone to step back and remember: its just a game. The only reason this is here is for all of us to have consequence-free fun; none of us really loses if someone prioritizes real life over their game responsibilities. There is no correct way to be an Atlasian and being an officeholder shouldn't have to be a mandatory job. It seems like all sides have been losing track of this; the Court is packed with "witch-hunts" of all kinds.

In this line of thought, as a Senator I'd put forward and support several changes to impeachment and removal for office. First, outside of those who are absolutely necessary for the game to function, cabinet members should NEVER be impeached. The Senate should have no binding authority over executive officers once they've been ratified; being able to impeach cabinet members tramples over the separation of powers. Only the President should have the power to dismiss members of the cabinet, and should bear full responsibility for their decisions on keeping or dismissing their appointees.

Next, the one week automatic trigger for impeaching Senators needs to go, or at least be pushed back farther than a week. The Senate is perfectly capable of policing itself; if a Senator's absence is causing a problem they should be impeached when there are enough of their colleagues willing to take that step, not at some mandatory trigger time.  

Inactivity hasn't been the only focus of witch-hunts. The Midwest's very own Governor LeBron was struck down based on something he said on IRC. I don't think that's right. Atlasian courts and trials should be based on evidence within the game, not gathered outside of it. To say nothing of problems of IRC name-changing, allowing evidence into trials from outside of the forum rests on shaky legal support and sets a bad precedent for future trials. In the past, Atlasia's most celebrated takedowns didn't require bringing in outside information, neither should those of today. None of this is to say that things on IRC shouldn't be brought forward and shown to everyone, just that binding court decisions shouldn't be based on them. A bill to forbid this kind of outside evidence use would be my first Senatorial bill.

On a less policy based note the forum tells me its 5:00, which must mean time for us all to settle down in Serenity (the state and the State) and drink. Senator TNF can keep his whistle-stop tour; this is the let's-not-take-things-too-fast leisurely stroll type of campaign.

[Blair]

I don't appreciate the personal jabs in your first announcement. You claim that TNF lives in a senate bubble, and doesn't leave the Senate-that's completely untrue.When I announced he helped me with policy, sent me tons of information and helped me forge my campaign. I appreciate your candidacy, and its good your addressing the key issues-I just feel that comment was unnecessary

[Gass3268]

Congrats on your victory to the Althing! Looking forward to working with you!

[Fuzzybigfoot]

Congratulations Dereich!