The Office of Former President Griffin

[Adam Griffin]

THE OFFICE OF FORMER PRESIDENT GRIFFIN

[Adam Griffin]

RESERVED

[Adam Griffin]

STATEMENT REGARDING SUPREME COURT NOMINATION

With the ongoing Supreme Court nomination debacle that was spitefully, rudely and selfishly initiated by Oakvale - who is nothing less than the modern-day Napoleon on steroids - now at a close, I feel more at ease to speak publicly on the matter. The spiteful attempt to prevent me from making a nomination and to cause discord across the community is as obvious as anything that could be witnessed in this game. He obviously had the right to make those decisions, just as you obviously have the right to condemn him for his despicable behavior, and that I obviously had the right to pull the nomination if I had so chosen. Some of us, however, chose not to exercise our rights because we're better than that.

The past few days have been very stressful on many of us who each was involved in some capacity, whether we wanted to be or not, and that of course was the original intent of these actions. During the course of my campaign, I spoke out about trolls and obstructionists who would throw anything and everything at us in order to gum up the works and complicate a delicate, ongoing process of restoration. It is precisely actions like this that I anticipated would occur. In fact, I know and expect that many more episodes of trolling and spiteful behavior are in our future - all I can advise the country to do is be prepared for them, and be prepared to call them out. This, to a large degree, is why you elected me in the first place.

Bacon King is a dear friend of mine and I expressed my concerns to him personally over many things laid out during the confirmation hearing not only after it began, but before this whole ordeal even started - albeit in a slightly different context. We have also had these discussions at various points going back months and possibly even years. There was no doubt that the previous President had constitutional authority to act in the way that he did, and there was no doubt that I, once sworn in, possessed the same powers.

In an attempt to walk as many tight-ropes as possible throughout this debacle, I promised the previous nominee that I would not pull his nomination, but that my personal concerns would lead me to lobby for his rejection. This resulted in me spending many, many hours trying to balance friendships, personal convictions and more; much more than I technically had to do given my constitutional powers, but I did so because I believed it to be a fairer way of handling it. I believed that he deserved the right to face the Senate and for the outcome to play out as outlined in the process. It's a muddy mess for sure - just as it was intended to be - but I did my best to balance my friendship with someone and my personal convictions on a highly-polarizing matter. I'm not sure it worked, but I tried.

With tensions obviously running high across the board and a bunch of groups ready to lynch one another over mostly nothing, I will be in no rush to push through a Supreme Court Justice for the mere sake of doing so. I have a half-dozen people who I am considering and/or who have applied, and I do not intend to subject whoever is selected to the peanut gallery politics and rage machining that is currently in the air. Furthermore, because the outcome of the previous nomination was genuinely up in the air as far as I was concerned, I have not spent much time as of yet evaluating the pros and cons for each applicant or considered person. No matter how qualified, well-balanced or capable a nominee would be, they would be subjected to an absolute sh!t-show if put before the Senate right now, but even that doesn't matter, because I have not yet begun made a selection. Hopefully by the time I have arrived at my selection, everybody's genuine and faux outrage meters will have reset to the normal levels of "nominally pissy" at which they usually reside.

[Oakvale]

!

Talleyrand confirmed!

[Adam Griffin]

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[Simfan34]

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But what about the Atlasian flag?

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

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But what about the Atlasian flag?

well sure but maybe this isn't the best time for nitpicking

[Adam Griffin]

Instead of issuing an outright veto, I have issued a presidential redraft for The Restoring Full Time Work for Atlasia Act. We will keep current overtime pay and hourly restrictions on the largest of businesses as-is and will slightly ease them on smaller businesses with this redraft if adopted.

[Adam Griffin]

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[Adam Griffin]

Now, obviously the Atlasian Refugee Act of 1980 vests all power in quotas for refugee handling exclusively in the executive branch - namely, in this case, the President - with the notion that refugees processed and accepted are admitted based on the definition of "any person who is outside any country of such person nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion".

Furthermore, since the definition of refugee excludes "any person who ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person on ... account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion", the refugee vetting process will handle any possibilities for organized discrimination of groups based on religion and will exclude anyone falling under this definition from qualifying for refugee status.

The White House is willing and looks forward to working with anyone and everyone on this matter in the coming days and weeks. 

[Adam Griffin]

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[sentinel]

penis

[Adam Griffin]

STATEMENT REGARDING REFUGEE CRISIS

We are all familiar with the massive refugee crisis currently unfolding throughout in Syria, the Middle East and into Europe. As a world leader, it is Atlasia's job to play a significant role in any humanitarian crisis as it unfolds, which is exactly what this country will do.

In full compliance with the Refugee Act of 1980 and in conjunction with the FBI, the Department of State, various other national and international intelligence agencies, the Regional Governors and, if necessary, the Senate, I hereby announce that the refugee cap outlined in the Refugee Act of 1980 shall be lifted from its current ceiling of 70,000 per year to a ceiling of 150,000 per year for a period of two years.

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It is this administration's initial plan that a minimum of 70% of the total refugees in the first year (105,000) under the new ceiling be of Syrian origin, however inevitably, the needs-based criteria outlined in RA1980 will be the guiding factor. The plan will prioritize the selection of refugees who are already present in western Europe, as a way to provide pressure relief to the most over-burdened areas currently accommodating the influx of refugees and to ensure that the highest percentage of applicants are individuals truly focused on escaping the current situation (and who have demonstrated such resolve in their actions).

Initial quotas from Governors as to the number of refugees each will be willing to voluntarily accept will be considered as part of this plan, with any remainder being allocated to the Regions based on a formula solely under my discretion. More information will be forthcoming in the coming days, but the process of background checks and collaboration with our foreign allies on such matters will begin immediately through channels involving the aforementioned entities.

[Adam Griffin]

STATEMENT REGARDING REGISTRAR GENERAL

My Registrar General nominee was confirmed, but sadly, has not been active on the forum in several days. I've attempted contacting evergreen but no reply has been given. Alas, if something doesn't change in the next couple of days, I will need to dismiss evergreen and nominate a new RG so that we can resume normal function of the office. I do hope everything is alright with evergreen and that it doesn't come to this.

[Clyde1998]

STATEMENT REGARDING REGISTRAR GENERAL

My Registrar General nominee was confirmed, but sadly, has not been active on the forum in several days. I've attempted contacting evergreen but no reply has been given. Alas, if something doesn't change in the next couple of days, I will need to dismiss evergreen and nominate a new RG so that we can resume normal function of the office. I do hope everything is alright with evergreen and that it doesn't come to this.

Could a temporary replacement be appointed in the meantime?

[Adam Griffin]

STATEMENT REGARDING REGISTRAR GENERAL

My Registrar General nominee was confirmed, but sadly, has not been active on the forum in several days. I've attempted contacting evergreen but no reply has been given. Alas, if something doesn't change in the next couple of days, I will need to dismiss evergreen and nominate a new RG so that we can resume normal function of the office. I do hope everything is alright with evergreen and that it doesn't come to this.

Could a temporary replacement be appointed in the meantime?

Considering the experience I had with trying to supply RG updates when I was accused of not being RG, I don't think that'd be a wise idea for the person doing it. Evergreen responded to me and said there'd be an update, but that was again several days ago and I have not heard anything since.

[Clyde1998]

I think we badly need someone to update the Census - it's over two months since it was last updated...

[Adam Griffin]

In lieu of a lack of response and activity since assuming the office:

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[Adam Griffin]

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[Adam Griffin]

I am pleased to announce that beginning next week, I will be putting forward nominations for Secretary of Federal Elections and Supreme Court Justice.

[Adam Griffin]

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[Adam Griffin]

STATEMENT REGARDING RECENT NOMINATIONS

There will no doubt be much chatter about my two recent nominations - Windjammer to the Supreme Court and Talleyrand to the Department of Federal Elections.

I will allow the confirmation process to handle any questions, concerns or deliberations with regard to the former, but the latter, in my opinion, deserves an explanation.

The game as a whole is sorely lacking interested talent at this juncture. There have been times where a majority of my cabinet has been vacant because literally nobody wished to fill specific positions. The game's downturn in activity has contributed to this substantially.

Talleyrand approached me about serving as SoFE. I had approached multiple others prior and after the fact; of everyone I asked, all of them either didn't respond or proceeded to de-register from the game (go figure!).

As such, I have accepted Talleyrand's offer - under very specific conditions.

• His recent fascination with trolling the game cease
• Any desire to bend or twist election law in order to cause controversy, instability or hilarity is extinguished
• He was to put forward a list of potential "election loopholes" that have existed for ages, as an offering of the types of loopholes he might be able to potentially exploit as SoFE (introduced in the executive slot by me just moments ago)
• Additionally, he has asked me to ask the Senate to soften or repeal the ballot editing rule
• If such loopholes are not addressed by the Senate in time for the next election, he has the authority to utilize these loopholes as he sees fit
• On all potential matters either not explicitly covered in existing election law or not encountered in the past and/or subject to precedent, he shall invoke what I deem "the Homely Rule", in which leniency and common-sense on the matter shall be utilized, making the judgement call that leads to the least disruption
• Any breach of these terms by Talleyrand before, during or after an election will result in his immediate dismissal, even if it throws the process into chaos

This will allow us to clean up potential loopholes or processes that may need to be covered in the ConCon and beyond and provide us with an elections officer for the election that is closing in on us. I understand this is a controversial choice, but with nobody willing to take the role, I have done the best that I can in the situation.

Talleyrand is adept at such tasks and has served as Deputy SoFE prior. However, if a trolling spree of the electoral process were to unfortunately manifest with his leadership at the helm, then I hope the game at-large will understand the need for me to act swiftly and will support any necessary decisions being made in such context.

[tmthforu94]

I am interested in seeing how many times Windjammer will use the "r" word during official court proceedings.

[Classic Conservative]

Wonderful appointees, I hope both of them pass

[Adam Griffin]

To ensure that there are no potential court cases or loopholes through which to sue/charge the (now confirmed) Registrar General for potentially performing the duties of the office prior to confirmation:

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