Talk Elections

()
         Welcome to my attempt to start another newspaper that revolves mostly (but not entirely) around elections!

        Northeast Governer Race Field Of Possiblilties Beginning To Widen
As the race draws closer (sort of), quite a few people have alredy begun to talk about running. i was not able to get a comment from MAS about him running for re-election, (due to the fact that i started this rather sparatically)and no-one sure of his decision, so he can definetly be put down as a possible candidate. Many rumors (including talk of it himself) about Max Power possibly running for the position again under his new party. He has expressed second thoughts of running if MAS runs for re-election, not wanting to have to battle him in a primary. Lt. Gov. Provincial Rights has also said that he may want to throw his name into the ring, assuming that MAS doesnt run for NE governor again. Provincial Rights talking to Max Power: Provincial Rights/Max Power? You never know. With so much time left until the election, im sure this field is only going to get larger, but from the way it seems, this election is way up in the air.

                   Atlasia is 'Back On The Fritz'
When Fritz returned to Atlasian Fantasy Politics on Friday, July 11th, he hit with a splash. His first post back in Atlasia was his candidacy for the District 2 senate seat. Some of his possible opponents may include incumbent PBrunsel, and AMRLP member (i think. im too lazy to go check), ilikeverin. Fritz has been absent for a quite awhile and admitted that his absensence may hurt in him this race, but he hopes to make up for lost time on the campaign trail.


I will keep you updated on these and other races frequently, and i hope to get an interview with all the candidates eventually. if you are currently a candidate for just about anything and you want to be interviewed for the paper, PM me. ( i know thats cheap, but too bad. :P)

Good work, please continue

Very nice job :)  If you want any help with this, feel free to ask :)

HELP WANTED

i want one person from each region to print articles for thier regions elections/ things related to elections. i have cheesewhiz doing his region, im doing my region, Ben Meyers, youre hired. anyone care to step up for the rest of the regions?

I'll do it for the Mideast.

Sorry, John Ford, I'll step down from the Planet, I'm no good at editorials anyway.

awesome. the job is yours.

()

South Jersey: A discussion Of Current Events With The Northeast Governor[/b][/u]
Today i had a chance to sit down and talk with Governor MAS. Here's how things went:

LiberalPA: Have you considered another run for Governor for The Northeast?

MAS 117: Yes, I have considered it.

LiberalPA: Many people have said that they may want to run for Governor. do you think multiple candidates (3 or more) would help or hurt your re-election odds?

MAS 117: Well, that is purely speculation. I have not made up my mind about whether or not I will seek reelection for our great region. However, I think, like in any election, more then 1 opponent obviously hurts my candidacy.

LiberalPA: Many have been talking about a complete re-writing of the NE constitution. do you think this is a good idea?

MAS 117: I do think it is a good idea, and I support it 100%. However, at this time, I don't have the time or the energy to write one myself. Our consitution was written by our distinguished President and Justin, many moons ago. It does need some revamping, so I encourage anyone who has the time and will to do, please write one!

LiberalPA: Right now there is no candidate from your party in the NE senate race. is this even a thought for you right now?

MAS 117: 100% NO. I ran for Governor to get out of the Senate. When I first came to the forum, it was my goal to be in the Atlasian Senate. I have served, but my place is here, in the Governor's Mansion where I belong. Take this as a 110% NO on running for the Senate.

LiberalPA: I see. some have been calling for the repeal/re-writing of the Marriage Equity Act. I know you're not a senator, but how do you feel about this act?

MAS 117: In my own personal views, I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am for Civil Unions,(and i am) supportive of all the rights one would get just like they were in a marriage. As per the Marraige Equity Act, I believe it should be rewritten.

LiberalPA: Hypothetically, if you did run for re-election and the Lt. Governer amendment would pass by then, would you keep your current Lt. Governer as your running mate?

MAS 117: As of right now, yes I would keep Lt. Governor EarlAW as my running mate. The Lt. Gov. has been doing a more then great job serving the people of the Northeastern region, so my answer is as of now yes.

LiberalPA: well, it seems that i have run out of questions, so i guess this is the end of this unusaually short interview.
                                                                                                                                 
So there you have it according to the governor himself: senate: 110%  no. Governorship: maybe.. Marriage Equity Act: needs re-writing. President eventually: oops. forgot to ask him that question. oh well. i would re-cap the rest but then there would be no reason to read the interview yourself. :)

The NE Senate Race is not until October, three months from now.

Right now Colin Wixted, a Union Party member, holds this seat.  I don't know whether he will be running for re-election or not, but if he were to run for re-election, I am sure he would do it under the Union Party banner. 

If not, I am fairly confident that another Union Party member would choose to run for the seat.

It is my hope that we will soon see a re-Districting map coming out of the Governor's meeting and that things will be settled as to the distribution of District Senate seats come next election.

This is absolutely correct. I will run again in October as a member of the Union Party which MAS also belongs to. I would like it if the Atlasian Messager would print a correction on this or I will bring them to court. Good day.

If you are talking about the District 3 seat which covers the Northeast and is held by me, a Union member, my intention is to run for re-election if nobody reasonable (aka not a commie) is the only opposition.

Did anyone read the banner? Anyone? "The Atlasian Messenger, the news thats usually right most of the time" that was not a most of the time moment.

But as the in-power party, we demand all of our news be in the accurate column while the ACA and Farmer-Labor people have the dead baby-eating articles! ;D ;)

what we can do is get a bias translator from every party to take every article and re-write it according to what thier party wants to hear. that would be cool. :)

()

Who’s Running for Governor? [/u]
BELLE FOURCHE - Ever since CheeseWhiz announced that he would be running for Senate instead of seeking re-election, the question has been: Ilikeverin or PBrunsel?  After Governor CheeseWhiz’s announcement, Ilikeverin said he would run for Governor, then PBrunsel mentioned the possibility of himself running and Ilikeverin said he would run for Senate instead.  Yet, PBrunsel is still unsure if he’ll seek re-election or try to win back the Governor’s mansion.  One thing seems almost certain, whoever doesn’t run for Governor will be running for Senate instead.  Both Ilikeverin and PBrunsel would almost unquestionably win the Governor’s race, but it seems PBrunsel is the more likely of the two to win a Senate race.

If ya'll keep actively doing stories and such, this is going to be a great news orginization.

i hope so

()

Ben Nominated As Judge[/u]

COLLEGE PARK-- With his confirmation as Attorney General complete, Al’s seat as Judge in the Mideast is vacant. On July 12, Lieutenant Governor Dean officially nominated Ben, former Treasury Secretary and current resident of Virginia, for the Judge position. The move was seconded by Frodo, and approved by Senators Sam Spade and MHS2002, who is a resident of the Mideast. Discussions had been had on this topic in the past few weeks. MHS2002 was the first choice of the Lt. Governor, but his election as Senator eliminated any chance of him getting the job. Ben has indicated that he will able to serve, saying “thanks for the consideration, and I’m keen to signal my interest in the post.” Ben’s activity has been inconsistent in Atlasia, but virtually everyone agrees that he will be an excellent Judge, a job that does not require day to day activity.

()

              Special Interest Groups: Could They Become A Big Election Factor?[/b][/u]
PEORIA,IL-The amount of SIG's(special interest groups) is beginning to rise again: just in the last few weeks we've seen the return of The ACLC, the beginnning of The HeartlandPAC, and three new parties (which can count as SIG's if they have no candidate in the race). Are they going to change the outcome of any of the upcoming elections? In a recent poll I took (which has very few respondants so the margin of error is like +/- 25%)80% of Atlasians believe that SIG's will have an effect, and 60% think they will have a large effect. 75% also believe that we have a good amount right now, while 30% feel that we could use more. When asked what was their favorite SIG, the results were very different, showing that no SIG holds a monopoly in Atlasia. While you often see poele put something in their signature like "endorsed by the ACLC" or "Backed by The NRA", you never see the organizations really go out and fight for their candidates. no ads, no get out the vote PM campaigns, no spinning the news, nothing. Could increased action by SIG's change election results, or would they just be ignored? I guess someone is just going to have to try, because as the polling shows, no one is bothered by seeing alot of them.....yet.

If the NRA has really been unsuccessful or uninterested in getting-out-the-vote, pushing candidates and spinning the news, then how does this explain the simple fact that 8 out of the 10 Senators, the VP in Atlasia, and three out of five members of the President's cabinet are members of the NRA; that the NRA has been extremely successful in passing concealed carry laws in every Region and getting passed a essential amendment to the Constitution in protection of our gun rights; and that every NRA-endorsed candidate has won elected office in Atlasia.

i dont believe that they are winning the elections because of the NRA. you are very picky, Spade.

It's my job. 

The NRA certainly has helped candidates win in the past and present behind-the-scenes.  Just because the media hasn't noticed it does not mean that it does not exist.

Also, I'm giving an example of how the NRA spins the news for itself by spinning your news right now.  ;)

your spinning is quite obvious, Spade. the NRA helps its candidates as much as any other SIG does. i dont believe SIG's often decide elections, because that isnt true...yet. Once the ACLC gets going, im sure it wont be like other SIGs. its going to go out and really work for its candidates. my article simply states that SIG's could do more to affect the outcome of elections. certainly you agree.

i can spin news too spade

As I said in the poll.  The NRA could kill a candidate that opposes it in a stronghold like the south.  It does hold a lot of influence.

in the south. outside of the south, it has as much power as anything else

The NRA wouldn't need to kill the candidate, he'd do poorly with no negative campaigning against him anyway.

Outside the South it could be a killer as well. If you are a candidate, especially a centre-left candidate, you could lose the support of several pro-gun parties like the ACA, the Union Party or the Freedom Party by openly going against the NRA platform or by making gun control a major part of your platform. Most special interest groups and PACs in Atlasia work behind the scenes talking with Senators, Governors and Cabinet officials to help get their agenda's passed. During the last election I was really worried about the Progressive Caucus endorsement. An endorsement for NOTA or a leftist candidate, like yourself LiberalPA, would have probably made me more worried about my race and probably would have lessened my winning margin. On the opposite side of things if you are a candidate like Cosmo Kramer who is rather economically liberal in a solid rightwing area an endorsement by a pseudo-rightwing association like the NRA of Atlasia would make it much easier to get undecided support and make it much easier to win.

That being said there really isn't any news to spin and even if their was I wouldn't want to spin it. If you consider the Teamspeak PAC to be a special interest group their is some evidence that members of it have swayed elections in the favour of their candidates. I believe one of the two reasons Chief of Staff Mike Naso won in February was because many people who are considered the elite of Atlasia come out in support of Mike Naso, even if only in jest. This could have caused some more inactive voters to percieve that Naso was the better candidate.

Also with your rhetoric that the ACLC will get out there and support candidates that will probably be complete bull come August. No matter what I said before personality politics, the candidates ideology, and the activity level of the candidate will always be more important factors than the endorsements of caucuses, PACs, and special interest groups. That is why it is actually more of a boon for a political group to endorse candidates in Atlasia since, except for the two big organizations, their really isn't much sway in their endorsements. It is much easier for these groups to use back channel means and legislative means to get their way than through the election of their choosen candidates. LiberalPA I have to say that you are still a newbie in the entire scheme of Atlasia politics and as such you have alot to learn, such as July is way to early to begin talking about the October election and is way to early to support a candidate. 

thats assuming the person revolves thier cmpaign around anti-NRA views, but that would happen if you went completely anti on any SIG. but anyone who would do that is stupid.

()


                            Letter to the editor Wednesday[/b][/u]
Starting next Wednesday, i will make a weekly display of some of the letters to the editor.

Note: for this to work, i need letters to the editor, so i encourage people to send them.

:D assuming Sam Spade and ColinW STOP SPINNING AND CORRECTING MY FREAKIN NEWS RESPECTIVELY! :D

I'm not spinning anything. I never spin. I point it out when people are wrong that's all.

Don’t you have your own newspaper to run? ;)

I may be spinning, but I'm not complaining.  Keep up the good work.

I do? I thought I had to be a Senator. Maybe I'm mistaken. :P

let me fix that then.

No really, don’t you own the National Atlasian?

Seriously, yes I do.

Okay, you just had me doubting myself there for a minute.

I'm just kinda in' around with you LiberalPA. One old newspaper man to a newbie in the industry. What I would suggest though is that you write articles in Word or some other sort of word processor. This helps with grammer and spelling problems and makes your articles seem more professional. You can also lay out the way that you want the headline and the subtitle to look before you post it. Just my two cents. Good luck man wish you the best with this paper.

Thanks Colin!

()

Animosity in the Mideast?[/u]

COLLEGE PARK-- Atlasia has seen both good and bad relations between Governors and their Lieutenants, and it appears that the current Mideast Leadership may be heading down the road of bad relation. It stems from Lt. Governor Dean repeatedly referring to his superior, Governor Joe Republic, as “Jew Republic” when he wanted Republic to look at a post. However, the Governor has not taken well to this, and recently told the Lt. Governor, “Stop calling me 'Jew Republic', or I might decide to neglect you in other executive decisions as well.” While there may not be true animosity between them at this point, any threat to take the Lt. Governor out of the decision making process indicates something is up. Hopefully the situation will be resolved, and the Mideast will be spared their two most powerful leaders being on different pages.

Here's an argument for democratic election of lt. governors.  If the Governors themselves can't pick someone they like might as well go ahead and let the people do it.

Dean was elected, not selected.

thanks for the advice, colin. :) i hope to be as much of an influence on Atlasian politics as you some day.

Ah don't tell yourself that. You'll end up forever a backbencher and crazy ranting idiot. :)

Seriously, thank you LiberalPA, I'm sure you'll do well in any future endeavours.

Speaking of the National Atlasian, when is the next issue coming out?

I have no idea. It takes alot of work to write those articles. I may start getting back into it in August.

Welcome to my biweekly column, The Hill, in the Atlasian Messenger concerning the business of Atlasia’s government, from the halls of the Senate to the Oval Office.  This is government folks, if it wasn’t boring more people would participate :).

The Senate
The 8th Atlasian Senate spent their first two weeks settling in after Senators took their oaths of office. 

---

Individual Senator Activity
In two weeks I will begin analyzing individual senators, their level of participation in debate, and their turnout in Senate votes.  I won’t be handing out grades, but if a senator merely votes in every bill and adds nothing to debate, I will state it.  Not that there's that much negative stuff, this Senate has been great in keeping intelligent debate going, and making everything go smoothly, thanks in large part to Senator Gabu and Vice-President Emsworth.  Of votes that have closed, every Senator has voted 100% of the time except Senators FuturePrez and DanielX.  Senator FuturePrez has been on vacation since being sworn in, and has thus voted 0 times.  Senator DanielX missed 2 early budget votes, but has contributed to the debate on that issue.

---

Summary of Senate Activity
The Senate unanimously confirmed President Siege’s nominees for his cabinet.  The cabinet now stands thus:

Secretary of State - WMS (F-NM)
Secretary of Forum Affairs - VACANT
Attorney General – AL (FL-WV)
Secretary of Defense – Ebowed (FL-SC)
Secretary of the Treasury – Supersoulty (F-PA).

The Senate has now begun to debate the budget.  By Constitutional Mandate, the Senate cannot proceed to any other matters until the budget is completed.

---

Confirmations
First on the agenda were confirmation hearings for President Siege’s nominees.  All four nominees won unanimous support after questioning by Senators.  After the resignation of True Democrat, President Siege has yet to nominate a Secretary of Forum Affairs.

Secretary of Defense Ebowed was confirmed having been questioned by Senator Colin Wixted.  During his hearings, Secretary Ebowed established his support of a “smarter” military “more tactile in its actions.” 

Attorney General Al was confirmed after questioning by Senators MHS2002 and Pbrunsel.  Attorney General Al established his belief in an independent, non-partisan Justice Department that would not show bias towards and organization, even unions :).

Secretary of the Treasury Supersoulty was confirmed after exhaustive questioning by Senators King, Colin Wixted, Cosmo Kramer, and MasterJedi.  Secretary Supersoulty stated that in order to make Atlasia economically healthy, he would assume the position of Federal Reserve Chairman, and would proceed to lower interest rates, increase money supplies, and take other measures to strengthen the economy.  He also established his support of the graduated income tax and the alternative minimum tax.

Secretary of State WMS was confirmed after in depth questioning by Senators Cosmo Kramer, Pbrunsel, Colin Wixted, and Gabu.  WMS proceeded to state that he would take a “middle course between Siege's idealism and the pragmatism of previous Secretaries of State.”  WMS then listed his position on foreign policy with numerous countries, highlighting where he differed with President Siege’s position.   

---

The Budget
After exhaustive work by the entire Senate, and especially Vice-President Emsworth, the Senate has begun to vote on a budget, as constitutionally mandated.  With the nation in economic turmoil, numerous programs have had to be cut.  Debate on the budget is ongoing.  The Constitution mandates that the budget must be completed prior to proceeding "to any other matter."

---

In an attempt to get an interview with a Senator, I camped out on the Capitol steps and tried to get attention.
()

The Hill, the The Hill logo, and any other The Hill related items are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of The Hill, or their respective trademark and copyright holders.

As a general point, in order to keep a lasting archive of what happens on the forum, I think it would be a good idea for this paper (and any other active ones) to archive their articles on the Wiki. An example of this already done is the National Atlasian (http://www.progressnj.com/atlaswiki/index.php/National_Atlasian) which Colin and I archived some time ago.

good idea. ill start working on it now.

Excellent article Defarge.

()

Southeast Governors Race Heating Up[/u]

MEMPHIS-- In what many have considered to be the most politically active region in the country, there are already two strong candidates for Governor. Senator Cosmo Kramer (SAP-AR) announced his intentions to run for the Governorship, in a move that had been expected since he recently said he wouldn’t run for Senate or President but another elected office.

Kramer said “I am now announcing my bid for Governor of the Southeast Region.  I do comend Governor Dubya for his hard-work, yet I believe I can bring more to the office.  The Governor and I have talked, and I assure the public we will conduct a clean and fair campaign.The Southeast is a wonderful region, full of a variety of different things to do and see.  It's a region full of history and tradition.  I'd be honored to serve the great people of this region, and I ask the voters of the southeast to give me this chance.”

Governor Dubya (ACA-FL) responded, saying “I have come before y'all tonight to announce that I will be running for Governor again in August!  I was planning to wait before making this announcement, but since my opponent, Mr. Kramer, announced his candidacy today, I decided that I wouldn't let myself be bested by populist-liberal scum (just kidding, Preston ;))”

Political analysts say the race could turn out similar to the last two, with Kramer replacing StatesRights as the more conservative, and “Dixie Pride” option, against the more moderate Dubya. While another tie is certainly possible, knowing the candidates, they will do everything they can to convince the voters to avoid a tie, and vote for them. 

The way I come to labeling you as that is that it's what you are known for. If you ask any forum member what phrase to use to describe you politically, "socially conservative" would be sure to come up often.

You definitly can expand on StatesRights voters, it depends what you stress and who you court, and how heavily you do so.

Dear God, we don't want another tie!!!!!

5 out of the last 6 SE elections have ended in a tie.

()
             Former Vice-President Returns To Atlasian Politics[/b][/u]

   PITTSBURGH-After leaving a while back to calm down a bit and take a break from the stressful Atlasian political scene, Keystone Phil has finally returned. "I know it didn't last long but my staying away from Fantasy politics is over. I was very serious about leaving but figured I'd give it another shot." he said earlier today.
   
        Phil also announced that he was staying with the ACA, the party he was a member of before he left. Will he make a huge return, like Fritz, and run for office in August? Only time will tell.
   
        People of all different views and parties happily welcomed Phil back to the political scene. It seems he has not lost any of his popularity from before. We missed you Phil, and we're all glad to see you back where you belong.

Well seriously I believe their is a different left-right scale in the Southeast. This is what I believe. In the Southeast the "Liberal" to Conservative scale is more in proportion to Dixie Unionism and "Southern Pride" than any political issues, in that way it is much like Quebec were the political divisions are more along the line of Seperatist and Unionist. This Southeastern political scale runs from Seperatist on the right end to status quo on the other. Almost all Southerners are not Seperatist but slowly going towards the liberal side you first get StatesRights and his supporters who I would call Nullificationists who supported States through the whole nullification debacle and consider it a good thing. They are very fervent supporters of Southern expansion and believe that the South should have more imput in federal government as well as regional government. Next we have people like you Preston who I would call Dixie Unionists who are centre-right on this scale. You believe in an enlarged Southeast but are against nullification and the semi-dictatorial actions taken by StatesRights. You also believe in more autonomy from the central government and that D4 should remain a Southeastern District. Next we have Moderate Dixie Unionists. These people are like Sam Spade and Dubya who are for the annexation of Virginia and possibly Kentucky or Oklahoma but do not call for the larger amounts of States that Nullificationists and Dixie Unionists want. Harry might also fit into this group. They believe that the current relationship between the Federal Government and the Southeast is good and they don't really care if the Southeast has it's own district. They are centrist to centre-left on this chart. Finally you have the Federalists. The Federalists are people like Don, Ben Meyers, and Cash who either do not want to add more states to the Southeast or don't care about it. They believe that the Southeast needs to tone down its rhetoric towards the federal government and they believe that the Southeast should not have a district all to it's own. They believe that the Southeast should not be any different from any other region in Atlasia and often react against the percieved aggression of other Southern groups. Well that's how I see Southeastern politics. Rather intricate for a group of 20 people. Here is a chart of what I am trying to say:

    Liberal                                                                                Conservative
<---Federalist----Moderate Dixie Unionist----Dixie Unionist----Nullificationist---->

that's a really good analysis

Good analysis. While I believe the South should have a pride in history    (with a few notable exceptions, of course) and geography and a distinct culture, the South shouldn't get any preferential or special treatment in redistricting, especially for our unicameral legislature (do we as Atlasian citizens have representatives or do only districts have representatives?)
 I believe we "federalists" look to the federal government as our main protector of liberties, that it's a role we expect the feds to take, and take seriously. Isn't the quintessential role of government to protect liberties against abuse of power, even from the state?

Thank you I try my best.

"Do or do not... there is no try."

I would be either a DU or possibly a moderate DU.

I find Preston more a populist while Dubya is a Libertarian-Conservative.

Huh? In politics they are, if you look at their entire set of ideas, but according to the scale that I posted above, which is entirely contained in the Southeast, Dubya would be a moderate leftist while Preston would be a moderate conservative.

()

Hobbes Back in the Picture[/u]

LOS ANGELES-- After a break from seeking elected office in Atlasia, the "independent conservative", Mr. Hobbes, is back. The California resident returned to the public scene today to announce his intentions to run for Lt. Governor in the Pacific Region.

"We need a transideological mammal as Speaker of the Pacific House of Representatives," Hobbes declared to cheering from his new bully pulpit, the Tree House.

Hobbes announcement muddles an election picture out west, where there are now 2 Gubernatorial candidates, both of whom have de facto running mates, which makes for 3 Lt. Governor candidates. Whether Hobbes will be able to court support outside of himself is unclear, although he is the only socially conservative candidate in the Lt. Governor race, and if he can get enough votes from the conservative bloc, a former President may be left scratching his head over another lost election.

()

Our New Districts Will Be Decided....Eventually[/u]

NYC-As we continue to wait to see the new districts, the process has slowed down immensely. The Governors have narrowed the field down to three maps, but unfortunately, little has been accomplished since. So far only two Governors have voted in the three map run off, and they Dubya and Joe Republic. What map will be picked? How will it affect Atlasian politics? When are we going to find out what map was picked? I dont have these answers....yet. I (or one of my employees) will post an analysis, along with predictions, about the map as soon as we get one.

After counting up the votes we have so far, Map 5 is in the lead.

the maps that are left:
5
6()
7()
()

John Ford's choice of True Democrat was a good one since he needed to attract non-conservatives to the ticket.  But frankly I have to question the validity of True Democrat's claim to be a "true" Democrat when he is the de facto running mate of a neoconservative, and he consistently seems to support some candidates based on odd, inexplicable hatred of other members (i.e. in an election between Dubya, StatesRights, and Harry, he endorsed Dubya).  And he just resigned as Secretary of Forum Affairs citing a lack of competence and time; after losing a Senate seat why would he resign the position he was able to hold on to?

I will answer all of your questions.  I support peple not only based on ideology, but also because of ability and moral character.  I am a "True" Democrat because I support people who are able to reach out to all sides and not be corrupt.  For example, in the Southeast Governor's race, I supported Dubya because he didn't enjoy secession or racism (Statesrights) or corruptness (Harry).  I believe he has led the Southeast to the future.  In the real world, there is probably no way I could support Dubya, but this is a game.  I continue to support people like John Ford, ColinW, and other conservatives because they are able to work with the left to compromise.  To answer your last question, the SoFA position takese a lot of time and energy, which I don't have over the summer.  However, being Lt. Governor does not take nearly as much time.  This is the reason I decided to run for Lt. Governor and not Governor or stay SoFA.

Weird...:P


You're correct, In real politics I am a Libertarian-Conservative.

It doesn't matter how many times that lie is debunked, people will always believe it.... :( , and I will probably never hold office again.  Thanks Peter.

():D

Your charges of racism and corruptness are quite severe; would you care to back them up with some concrete evidence for everyone else to see?

Fair enough.  But I just hope that you won't compromise on important issues where the left and right cannot agree.  Although considering your views on the Iraq war, I guess you've already done that.

You decided to run for Lt. Governor and not Governor-- you do realize that the Lt. Governor should be prepared at all times to assume the Gubernatorial spot should the Governor resign?

Also, one other question: considering your main opponent is a member of the same party as you, and has considerably similar leftwing views on social issues, do you not feel like you're putting your party in an uncomfortable position?  I certainly would question the legitimacy of any campaign that was launched only to give some needed support to a rightwing gubernatorial candidate.

I believe it does not put my party in an uncomfortable position.  There's nothing wrong with a good primary fight once in a while.  :)  I did not launch this campaign only to give support to a rightwing candidate.  I believe John Ford is highly competent to serve as Governor.  He has served admirably in positions such as Senator and Secretary of Defense.  As for my similar views to Bob a.k.a. Robert Goldwater, I do not want people to vote against Goldwater, but to instead vote for me.  I believe I could serve better than him because of my experience in the past, however, once again I stress that my supporters should not be anti-Goldwater.

But um, as you stated earlier this is just the Lt. Governor position.  I don't think you need a lot of experience to handle the position, and frankly I'm a bit surprised that a Lieutenant Gubernatorial election could be based on what experience the candidates have.

I said before one doesn't need much time.  I don't think experience is necessary, but I believe it is helpful.  I have a question for you.  Why are you putting so much emphasis onto the Lt. Governor's race in the Pacific instead of the Redistricting issue that is going on or other important issues in Atlasia?

And as I stated beforehand, the Lt Governor should be prepared to assume the Gubernatorial spot at any time, unless John Ford has promised he will not resign in office under any circumstances, which kind of takes away any appeal of a leftist to vote for Ford just because you are running with him.  In regards to experience, does one need to be a former president and failed senate candidate in order to serve as Lt Governor?  No; in fact, experience really shouldn't be an issue at all.  It's a non-issue that people who have held more offices use to drum up support.

First of all, I have made my views on redistricting clear in the appropriate thread.  Am I not allowed to focus on any other issues?  Do you not consider an election where you are a candidate important?  I am not interfering with an election; I just have some questions for the candidates.  If you are trying to attract leftwing and left-of-center voters to the Ford/True Democrat ticket, you should be prepared to answer questions that any leftists have, whether or not they are in your region (think about party, caucus, and league endorsements).  If you would like me to ignore your election for other issues, I'd like to see why.  I'd also like to see you respond to the questions you ignored, such as this one:

Welcome to another edition of the Hill, the column concerning the government workings of Atlasia.  Today, we have an exclusive interview with Atlasia’s Vice-President, Emsworth.  It’s been an exciting week here in Atlasia, not only in the Senate but in the vaunted smoke filled rooms across the nation as potential candidates examine their options.  However, since I only cover the boring government stuff, here is the day’s news.  Don't think I don't know no one reads this stuff :), which is why i provide this useful Wall Street Journal esque summary.

In the News

Summary

• The Supreme Court will soon rule on Bono vs. Atlasia.  At stake is whether the Federal Government has the right to regulate the economy in any way shape or form.  Should Bono succeed, a constitutional crisis may result.
• President Siege has nominated Ilikeverin to the Department of Forum Affairs.  Ilikeverin is expected to be confirmed.
• The Senate passed the budget, the second in its history.  The deficit is expected to be approximately 500 billion dollars. 
• Having passed the budget, the Senate is free to move onto other matters.  At the top of the agenda is vote reform.  A committee will soon be established to explore either other possible systems of voting or reform within the system.
• Senator MasterJedi, at President Siege’s request, has introduced a bill that will unite Atlasia and Canada.  The bill has yet to reach the Senate floor, and has provoked much controversy.

Supreme Court Poised to Rule in Bono vs. Atlasia

The Supreme Court is scheduled to render a decision on Bono vs. Atlasia 2.0 within the week.  The case, in which former Senator Bono has challenged the right of the Federal Government regulate the economy. It is expected that the Court will rule in favor of Atlasia.  However, Bono’s victory would result in massive consequences, as the Senate would be forced to scramble to address the fact that any Government action concerning the economy could become unconstitutional.  If former Senator Bono succeeds, Senator Cosmo Kramer stated on June 3: “I'll move to increase the size of the Supreme Court.  I'll join with other economic progressives to filibuster every bill until it is passed.  I'll bring this movement down.  I'll bring the government to a standstill if I have to.”

The Court is no stranger to nation shaking rulings.  In November, 2004, the Court ruled that effectively all Federal laws had no standing whatsoever, resulting in a constitutional crisis which was resolved only by massive Senate action led by then Attorney General Peter Bell.

President Siege Nominates Ilikeverin as New Secretary of Forum Affairs

On July 14, President Siege announced his nomination of Lt. Governor Ilikeverin to the post of Secretary of Forum Affairs.  The post, which has been vacant since former President True Democrat stepped down earlier in the month citing time issues (aka having a life better than ours :) ), is arguably the most important cabinet position in the nation. 

Ilikeverin has a distinguished history in Atlasia.  A former governor, and Peter Bell’s choice to be his Vice-Presidential candidate, the Lt. Governor now faces confirmation hearings.  Ilikeverin faced tough questions from Senators Sam Spade, and ColinW concerning issues ranging from his possession of the software necessary to fulfill the post, to his stance on voting system reform, from his continued use of smiles to his ability to stay up until 12 AM to open and close the polls :). 

Senator King has stated his opposition to a Secretary Ilikeverin. Said Senator King "This is a powerful position that requires leadership, dedication, and experience.  I could not handle such a task and I do not believe Verin can either."  Senator King's statement appears to have fallen on deaf ears for the moment.

With confirmation hearings over, the Lt. Governor is expected to be confirmed within the next two days.

Senate Passes Budget

For only the second time in eight congresses, the Senate passed Atlasia’s budget 4-0, with Senators DanielX and King abstaining, Senators Gabu and FuturePrez on leave, and Senators PBrunsel and MasterJedi absent.  Credit for passing the budget on time goes to Vice-President Emsworth’s relentless determination to keep the Senate on track.  All 9 Senators contributed to the budget significantly on a range of issues from justice to defense spending. 

The proposed budget is approximately 2.5 trillion dollars, with projected revenues at around 2 trillion dollars.  Thus, the Federal Government currently has a projected deficit of almost 500 billion dollars. 

Senate Proceeds to Other Business

Having fulfilled the constitutionally mandated requirement of a budget, the Senate has moved on to other business.  Currently on the floor of the Senate include the Secret Ballot Procedure Bill (introduced by Senator MasterJedi), the Voting System Reform Bill (introduced in accordance with the Secret Ballot Procedure) and the Signature Avatar Bill (introduced by Senator King), all dealing with election procedures.  The Secret Ballot Procedure Bill has been put on hold by motion of Senator Colin Wixted, and now awaits the establishment and findings of a committee that will determine alternative voting systems.

Future bills which may be of interest include the Unification of Canada and Atlasia Act, which as the name implies will unite Atlasia and Canada into one big happy nation.  The bill, introduced by Senator MasterJedi at the behest of President Siege, has encountered resistance.  Vice-President Emsworth has raised constitutional issues with the bill while Senator Spade posted that “just because you [Senator MasterJedi] occupy Mike Naso's former seat in the Senate does not mean that you are allowed to propose bills that reach his level of inanity.”

In addition, Senator Sam Spade has introduced the Re-Definition of Marriage and Establishment of Civil Unions Bill, which repeals the Marriage Equity Act and the Civil Unions Act.  This could prove to be the first battle between the liberal Siege Administration, and the right-leaning Senate.

That’s the news for today. Stay tuned for another edition of The Hill once the Court makes a ruling.  With that edition, The Hill will also provide an update on the Executive Branch, including the initial actions of every cabinet official.  SEE BELOW FOR AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH VICE PRESIDENT EMSWORTH


The Hill, the The Hill logo, and any other The Hill related items are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of The Hill, or their respective trademark and copyight holders.

The Messenger Interviews Vice President Emsworth on the Senate and the Future of Atlasia

Defarge:  Mr. Vice-President, it’s great to have you here today.  Mr. Vice-President, what is your vision for the Senate, and how, if at all, will it differ with previous Senates?

Emsworth:  Thank you for conducting this interview, Defarge. I have several concerns, but most importantly, I hope that the Senate does not become disconnected from the people. I want the voters to stay informed, to know what their Senate is doing, to participate in government. Informed input from the people is, in my opinion, very important. In previous Senates, many citizens did contribute to some debates, but I would hope that the level of participation rises.

Defarge:  How would you rate the achievements of the current so far?  Why?

I don't think that it would be fair for me to give an assessment at this stage. The Senate has only had a chance to consider the Budget; any fair observer would have to consider more before he or she could give a rating.

Defarge:  Mr. Vice-President, how do you intend to carry out these goals?  More generally, what specific actions, procedural or otherwise, do you intend to take that will make the 8th senate stand out?

Emsworth:  I should say that the Vice President alone cannot achieve such an objective. I do intend to give regular speeches, and speak to some of the more active members about their views; however, the Senators need to do the same with their constituents if such an objective is to be attained.

Defarge:  On the same note Mr. Vice-President, do you feel that Atlasians are too disconnected with the workings of the Senate, too focused on elections?    If so, why?

Emsworth:  Firstly, it is not bad for the citizens to be focused on elections. Indeed, it is entirely natural for them to be engaged in the excitement of the process.

Secondly, I do not think that they are too disconnected. I just think that they could be more involved in lawmaking. Currently, very few private citizens give their input on important matters before the Senate. I do not blame the electorate at all, and I do not blame the government. This is just how things worked out.

However, it is our responsibility, as elected officials, to keep the voters informed and interested. I must commend the Senate on its efforts to address the situation. For example, we are setting up a Commission to investigate voting reform; the body will include several members who are not federal office holders. Thus, important decisions will not be left to the government alone; the citizenry will also be involved.

Similarly, I must thank the media for their efforts. The Messenger, for example, is doing a great job so far. By regularly publishing articles and interviews, it, and other newspapers such as the one run by the Game Moderator, can keep the voters engaged.

Defarge:  Mr. Vice-President, what do you see in the future of the Senate?  What bills do you expect to be passed, what constitutional amendments put in place?

Emsworth:  There are a number constitutional amendments on the Senate agenda. Currently, we are considering an amendment to eliminate the signature and avatar requirement. On the agenda, there are two constitutional amendments adding clauses to the Bill of Rights, one relating to the process of transferring states to different regions, and one that would allow the Senate to consider urgent matters even before the passage of a Budget.

There are also a lot of important, possibly controversial bills on the agenda. For example, there is a bill allowing diplomatic relations with other micronations, a bill to reform the tax system, and a bill to replace gay marriages with civil unions. I expect more significant bills to be introduced as time goes on.

Defarge:  Mr. Vice-President, do you expect the Senate to continue running at this level efficiency for a long time to come?  Why?

Emsworth:  We are currently considering an amendment to the rules that would streamline procedure and allow for quicker, more efficient debate (while at the same time preserving the right of the minority to filibuster). I expect that after the passage of these rules, the Senate will be more efficient in dealing with legislation. The credit for these changes goes entirely to Senator Sam Spade, who has been a prominent leader in the Senate so far.

Defarge:  Mr. Vice-President, many on the left voted for your ticket in order to counterbalance the right-leaning senate.  In what areas do you believe conflict will arise between your administration and the senate, if any?

Emsworth:  That's a difficult question to respond to. If we consider economic issues, for example, we find that the President's approval is not constitutionally required for the passage of the Budget at this stage. Thus, conflict on taxation and spending would not really arise. Similarly, presidential nominations are typically approved by the Senate; thus, nominees will not normally be a source of conflict. This applies not only to President Siege, but also to any other President who may hold office.

Thus, conflict will in most cases, whether for this Presidency or for any other, be limited to forum affairs and social issues. I could not presume to go into further detail; you would have to ask the President about his plans on specific bills.

Defarge:  Mr. Vice-President, what is your impression of the various individual Senators?

Emsworth:  I'm pleased to say that all of the Senators are doing very well. No one has disappeared completely and without prior warning. Turnout in the Senate votes has been very high; so has participation in debates. Of course, there are some who participate in debates more than others, but I would say that they have all been doing a great job so far. I don't think that it would be fair for me to rank or rate the Senators; I will leave that job to you and others in the media!

Defarge:  Moving off the Senate, Mr. Vice-President, October's a long way off, but do you believe that President Siege will run for reelection?  Can you think of any scenario in which President Siege would not run for reelection?

Emsworth:  I don't think that I can give an accurate, reasonable answer to that question. The decision depends not only on how Siege fares as President and the political climate of Atlasia, but also on the President's personal circumstances. He might, for all we know, have more pressing real life concerns.

Defarge:  If President Siege decided not to run for reelection, would you attempt to head a leftist ticket?

Emsworth:  I don't mean to appear to dodge the question, but it is far too early to furnish a definitive answer. The possibility of a run certainly exists; no option is ruled out.

Defarge:  Mr. Vice-President, what do you see in your future after the end of the Siege administration?

Emsworth:  At present, I have every intention of continuing in Atlasian politics for the foreseeable future. What I run for depends on the political climate and on how well I perform as Vice President.

Defarge:  And finally Mr. Vice-President, what do you see in the future of Atlasia?

Emsworth:  I believe that the next two months will constitute an exciting time in the future of Atlasia. We already have some very, very interesting Senate races shaping up. Justice Ernest, Ben Meyers, and Bono all seem ready to contest a seat; they may be joined by Harry, and possibly MHS2002, depending on redistricting. Similarly, CheeseWhiz, ILikeVerin, and PBrunsel may be engaged in a single race as well. Other very competitive races are likely to develop. I hope that an exciting election cycle will keep Atlasia enjoyable for all.

Defarge:  Thank you for sitting down in this interview Mr. Vice-President

Emsworth:  Thank you very, very much for conducting this interview, Defarge


The Hill, the The Hill logo, and any other The Hill related items are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of The Hill, or their respective trademark and copyright holders.

()

Ernest Announces Run, Chooses ILP

COLUMBIA—Justice and Former Southeast Governor Ernest made it clear he was going to change a lot in a short amount of time yesterday. First, he moved back to South Carolina, from Hawaii, where he was “vacationing.” He also left the Atlasian Monster Raving Loony Party, and joined the Independent Liberal Party. He said he was being serious again.

The most important part of the announcement, however, came when Ernest said “In particular I hope for the support of all people who value common sense as I run this August to be your next Senator.”

His opponents are Ben Myers (ACA-FL), Bono (I-SC), along with, depending on re-districting, Sen. MHS2002 (U-VA). Former Vice-President Harry has also expressed interest. Sen. Colin Wixted and acting SoFA Peter Bell gave Ernest their support shortly after his announcement, but it is unclear whether he will gain enough support among the Southeasterners in his district to win.

()

Mideast Voting Booth Unopened[/u]

COLLEGE PARK—In a surprising development, the voting booth that was supposed to be opened by either Governor Joe Republic, or Lt. Governor Dean, was not opened, and no one has been able to vote on Ben as Judge, consideration of a Secret Ballot, or a repeal of the avatar laws. Pope PD has been the most forceful citizen in pointing out this failure, which seems to be of little consequence to some citizens, such as TexasGurl and 9iron. It is fairly certain that the booth will not open at all, but Pope PD still wants an explanation from the leadership. It is rather surprising that Governor Republic would let this happen, since he is much admired for his work as Governor, and this is certainly a blot on his record.

I'd like to announce that I am now on the staff of the Atlasian Messenger as a Pacific correspondent.

You live in South Carolina.....

Welcome :)

yeah, but i gave everyone a chance to step up for the Pacific, but noone did. So i gave the job to Porc. (i would have given him the SE, but Ben Meyers was hired for that spot)

()

New Coalitions Across Atlasia

Recently a slew of new coalitions, leagues, and caucuses have sprung up across Atlasia.  Several weeks ago Southeast resident Q successfully revived the Atlasian Civil Liberties Caucus; this week, as a response to the Southern Alliance Party, former Southeast Governor htmldon started the "True South Coalition," which Don describes as a "multi-partisan, multi-ideological effort that seeks to support and elect southern leaders who want to move our region forward and make it the best region in Atlasia."  He adds that the coalition would have to "regretfully" oppose candidates who are at odds with the goals of the coalition, or in more blunt terms, any members of the Southern Alliance Party or its supporters.  Don also subtley accuses his unnamed opponents of not sharing his "patriotism for our nation" and "what it stands for" and ends his introduction of the coalition by inviting "real Southerners" to take a stand.

This week also saw the beginning of the "Heartland PAC," which former Mideast Judge, Senator, and current Attorney General Al started with Ben.  It is a "moderately populist multi-party organization and membership is open to anyone who shares our general aims and philosophy" that "represents the views of the people of the Heartland" and will aim to "bring the problems the Heartland faces into the open and to propose real solutions" to these problems.  This was greeted with a slew of compliments and already has 10 members.

And finally today, July 17 2005, saw the introduction of the "Liberty Institute" by Pacific Lt. Gubernatorial candidate True Independent (formerly True Democrat).  It aims to be "an insitute that will advocate smart foreign policy decisions that will ensure freedom for all people around the world while at the same time making certain Atlasia is protected."  Some of its admirable goals include "stopping human rights abuses around the world" and attempting to end poverty in Africa.  Although there were some suggestions and criticisms, the institute was met mostly with warm words.

()

Secretary of Forum Affairs Confirmation Heating Up

Following the resignation of True Democrat as Secretary of Forum Affairs, Siege40's pick for the Cabinet spot, ILikeVerin, has met opposition in his Senate confirmation hearing.  Although all of Siege40's other Cabinet nominations were unanimously confirmed, ILikeVerin has been criticized by some Senators for a lack of experience and competence.  Currently 4 Senators have approved of making ILikeVerin SoFA; they are MasterJedi, Cosmo Kramer, DanielX (who, despite his affirmative vote, stated "I don't like Verin that much, but he seems qualified enough"), and MHS2002.  Three Senators have voted against it: King, Colin Wixted, and Sam Spade, all members of the Constitutional Union Party (Sam Spade being the party chairman), leaving the total 4-3 in ILikeVerin's favor.  MHS2002 is the lone Union Senator who voted in favor of the confirmation; however, Pacific Regional Senator FuturePrez, a member of the Union Party, has yet to vote.  Senator PBrunsel, of the Atlasian Conservative Alliance, is expected to vote "Aye," and Senator Gabu, an Independent, is currently taking a short vacation from the forum.  We project that this confirmation will pass, despite solid opposition.

NEWS UPDATE (10:56 PM EST): Senator PBrunsel has voted "Aye," putting the current tally at 5 to 3 in ILikeVerin's favor.

Now it can't be totally true that the True South is against the SAP, as I am a member of both :D

Perhaps not all of the members of the True South are against the SAP, but that was definitely one of the intents of the coalition.

()

                                  Map 5 has been chosen

Just a few minutes ago, Governor MAS117 voted in the re-districting 'election'. His first preference of Map 5 makes Governor Cheesewhiz's vote irrelevant. The process took exactly 2 weeks. Your new map looks like this:

()
We will report the numbers of the new districts as soon as they are announced by the Governors.

Not a bad map, very reasonable.

yeah it is. it was the one i was hoping would be selected.

That's wrong, actually.  CheeseWhiz needs to vote for Map 5 to win (regardless of what he votes Map 5 will win, but it is a technicality so a map can win).

oh. let me make a little change

Wildcard changed his vote and now CheeseWhiz's vote doesn't matter.  Sorry about that LiberalPA. :)

lol :P :)

The July Archives (http://www.progressnj.com/atlaswiki/index.php/Atlasian_Messenger_July_2005_Archives) of The Atlasian Messenger have been updated through to the latest article.

Yeah now you have to give me credit for saving the day :P

()

Wildcard Saves The Day

Thanks to Wildcard changing his vote in the re-districting selection process to first preference Map 5, i was able to take back the edits i had to make to fix a mistake in my previous article. Because he helped me keep my original writing he officially had saved the day.

NOTE: please do not put this in the archives. attention to my writers: whenever you dont want an article put in thearchives, use the fake report banner.

As an off-hand note, I think the interviews and information Defarge is putting up are of excellent quality (especially the one with Emsworth) and I look forward to reading more of them in the future.

And as with all press organizations in Atlasia, I extend to The Atlasian Messenger the opportunity to interview me at any time, if they care to do so.

Uhhhh... I was kidding lol.... Thanks though.

i know. thats why i chose this banner.

Great paper you got going here.

thank you

()

Two Candidates for Southeast Lt. Governor

ATLANTA—Today saw the announcements of Southeast Lottery Commissioner Q and current Lieutenant Governor BrandonH that they would run for the Lt. Gov. position this August, following the 9-1-1 passing of an initiative that made the position an elected spot, as opposed to being appointed by the Governor.  Governor Dubya is likely to support BrandonH for the spot, while Senator Cosmo Kramer's vote is unknown.  Since both of the Gubernatorial candidates are away this week, no de facto tickets have been formed as of yet.  Endorsements from Union Party chairman and Senator Sam Spade, as well as Secretary of Defense Ebowed, greeted Q's announcement, while Lt. Governor BrandonH is expected to recieve the endorsement of the Atlasian Conservative Alliance if they hold a convention for next month's elections.

Meanwhile, as the Governors have approved a redistricting plan that groups Virginia with the rest of the South, Senator MHS2002 of the Union party faces three, and possibly four, candidates: Bono (an Independent minded conservative libertarian from South Carolina), Ben Meyers (from the Atlasian Conservative Alliance in Florida), and Ernest (a South Carolinian who moved to Hawaii for the Presidential elections, and has now moved back to South Carolina to run for Senate as an Independent Liberal).  In the absense of any economically liberal candidates in the race, Harry has formed an exploratory committee and is likely to run also.  If he does enter the race, this may become the most interesting Senate race in the August elections, with a 5-candidate showdown that would divide libertarians, liberals, conservatives, and moderates into different voting blocs.

You mean people actually read that ?!

I guess so because I read it as well! :D

That brings my readership to two!
*cries in happiness* :)

For once, you are right.

()

Northeast race to be fair and square[/u]

Kevin and Senator Colin Wixted have both agreed to a clean campaign. This is only two candidates, however, and since we are really far from the election, im sure more will declare. Despite it being so early, a poll has been taken showing that the race is close and that the votes for "other" are rather high, proving that there is room for at least one more.  We will have interviews with both candidates (and hopefully with anyone else that declares) later in the election cycle. This one is obviously way too early to call, but its definetly not going to be a landslide. However it turns out, at least there will be no mud slinging from the candidates.

()

Ford on the Trail

SAN FRANCISCO-- Pacific Gubernatorial candidate John Ford (F-CA) has already begun to campaign, with three extensive speeches on topics ranging from redistricting, constitutional conventions, and why we should unify our budget.

Ford made it clear that he supports a Pacific unified economically, politically, and legally, and that he opposes the hodgepodge of states that has existed. He also called for the people to be involved, citing them as the best defense against a tyrannical legislature.

On redistricting, Ford supports changing the districts as little as possible, to give Senators more time to develop a working relationship with his constituents. He also said districts should have a true geographic entity.

He urged for unification of the budget because not doing so is dangerous, with no relation between collecting taxes and setting budget priorities. He hopes to lay out a full vision on this matter shortly. It is clear he already has a campaigning edge in this election.

Look here for full text of the speeches (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=25039.0)

()

Harry in the Race[/u]

JACKSON-- Former Vice-President, Senator, and Governor Harry (SAP-MS) is trying once again for office, this time the Senate. He first signalled he might be interested a few days ago, and confirmed that this morning, with a simple statement, saying "Harry has now confirmed that he is indeed going to be a  candidate for the District 4 senate seat in August."

He will be the most liberal candidate in a five-man field, that includes Sen. MHS2002 (U-VA), Justice Ernest (ILP-SC) Fmr. Sen. Bono (I-SC), and Ben Meyers (ACA-FL). The district is not numbered yet, but includes the states Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

I am stepping down from my reporting duties in the Atlasian Messenger. However, i will continue to own the paper, and do Letters to the editor Wednesday.

()

CheezeWhiz running for re-election

BELLE FOURCHE-- Midwest Governor CheezeWhiz (L-MT)announced yesterday that he would seek re-election as Governor instead of a Senate seat. He cited as reasons the fact that he is more interested in local government than federal government, and that his running for Governor would make sense at this time when considering what positions various people, such as PBrunsel, Ilikeverin, and DanielX are running for.

He summed it up by saying "I’m just not as enthusiastic about the Federal Government as I am for the Midwest, our tiny region with so many little problems ;)" It is not clear whether he will be opposed or not, but there aren't too many possible challengers, especially with Ilikeverin now Secretary of Forum Affairs.

()

Hello and welcome to the first edition of the Northeast Report with A.J. King!  As the newest addition to Atlasia's fastest growing newspaper, I pledge to you fair and unbias coverage that is, of course, accurate most of the time.  Let's begin...

Redistricting Complete: Northeast's First District Wide Open!
NYMAN, D.C.-- The maps are drawn and the numbers are picked.  At 6:57 p.m. Northeast time, redistricting was officially declared over with the Northeast gaining nor losing a district in the process. 

The big news comes from the new 1st District which covers the Pennslyvanian area of the Northeast as the 1st loses the Commonwealth of Virginia and incumbent Senator MHS2002.  Such change now leaves us with the first open Senate seat to represent a portion of the Northeastern Region since Senator Defarge announced his retirement in January of this year.

Floodgates of names on who will declare for the open Southern Northeast-Eastern Mideast shared district have now opened and include Northeasterners such as former Vice President Keystone Phil, Atlasian Messenger CEO LiberalPA, and vaguely-known Kevin Brown--all of which have run unsuccessfully for Senate before.  Other possibilities include Mideast Governor Joe Republic, Attorney General Al Realpolitick, and even former Senator Akno21.

It is uncertain on whether or not any of those mentioned are remotely interested in running, but they would all make for a close race.

()

Editorial: Libertarian Party On Its Last Days?

HELENA--The Libertarian Party of Atlasia is down to only three active members.  The party leader, CheeseWhiz, who is also Governor of the Midwest and will be running for re-election next month, has pleaded for new members and is exploring the possibility of leaving the party for other options such as the Constitutional Union Party or Independent Liberal Party.  Georgia Resident John Dibble, who ran for Vice President on a ticket with Senator King in June, has been a member of the Libertarian Party for a long time and suggests that rather than killing the party, all that is needed is reform.  He says, "give it a new name and a facelift.  I think big-tent libertarianism might be the way to go rather than the somewhat restrictive philosophy we have now."

Despite this public exploration of abandonment options, Governor CheeseWhiz is still asking its member where the party's next convention should be held.  And despite the party's ups and downs over the last year, the party should be able to stick it out.  Centrist parties have come and gone; why should libertarians abandon their true party for them?

NOTE: The views expressed in this editorial are soley those of the author and are not necessarily representative of The Atlasian Messenger management or other staff.

[/b]

We expect to have interviews with Lt. Governor candidates Goldwater and Mr. Hobbes within the next week, followed by interviews with Lieutenant Governor BrandonH and Southeast Lottery Commissioner Q, who are both running for Southeast Lt. Governor.  Please remember that these interviews may not be posted in that order and that all of this is tentative.  Stay tuned.

Dear Atlasian Messenger,
I feel it is necessary for me to comment on the opinion piece on the Libertarian Party. As a high ranking member of the Constitutional Union Party of Atlasia I can tell you personally that if Atlasians who are currently in the Libertarian Party are look for big-tent libertarianism it's home is the Constitutional Union Party. While we are still a centrist party no one would doubt our credentials as a libertarian party that promotes economic and social freedom.

While most Libertarians, like Democrats and Republicans before them, do not want to see Atlasia as a new and different nation with vastly different politics they must come to face the facts and the facts are that the Union Party has become the standard bearer of libertarianism in Atlasia. While I believe that Mr. Bell's assertion that the ILP is taking the middle away from the Union Party is not completely true many of the other assertions he makes in his analysis of the Libertarian Party's demise are valid.

Libertarians need to learn to see that Atlasia is not America. We have a court made up largely of libertarians, we have a Senate that is composed of many libertarians, or regions elect libertarian governors and most of all we are a nation whose centre is in the moderate libertarian range. It is for these reasons that I would welcome any libertarians into the Union Party and the reason why I think the Libertarian Party needs to face the facts and make a tough choice about whether it should continue to be a party.
Sincerely,
Colin Wixted
Northeast Senator

I second Colin's statements on this matter.

Colin - I think the two other members and I know we might not be able to survive in Atlasian politics.  We know Atlasia is not America, but we will try to keep our party alive;  as National Chairman, it's part of my duty to try to keep my party alive, but if I can't do it I will give the Libertarians up for another party.

()

Ford, Goldwater, Lead In Poll

SAN FRANCISCO-- In an Atlasian Messenger poll conducted from July 15-18, Moderator John Ford (F-CA) has a convincing edge in the Governor's race, while Goldwater (U-OR) is leading in the Lt. Governor's race.

Governor

GM John Ford 58%
Lt. Gov. Immy 32%
Undecided 10%

Lt. Governor

Goldwater 42%
Fmr. Pres. True Independent 27%
Mr. Hobbes 11%
Undecided 20%

It should be noted that while the two offices are up for election separately, Ford and True Independent are running together, as are Immy and Goldwater. 19 people were polled.

I hereby resign as a member of the staff of the Atlasian Messenger.  Given that it is my job to cover the workings of the Atlasian government fairly and objectively, I cannot do that while biasing my self by running at the same time.

I wish Akno, King, Ebowed, and all who end up on the Messenger's staff the best of luck.  Gentlemen, your articles are great, and while I won't have the honor of writing besides you, I look forward to reading more of them from the campaign trail.

It was great while you were here, Defarge, your work was the best.

I guess some one will have to pick up the slack. I'm an elections guy, I don't think I could replace Defarge, is there anyone out there looking for a writing job that cares about Fantasy Government?

()

An Interview With Hobbes[/u]

SACREMENTO-- What follows is an interview between Atlasian Messenger writer Ebowed and Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate Mr. Hobbes, an Independent from California.  We have also sent questions to Goldwater, a member of the Constitutional Union Party from Oregon, who was the first announced candidate in next month's Pacific Lieutenant Gubernatorial race.  We anticipate to have that interview posted soon.  We also invited True Independent, of the Constitutional Union Party, to be interviewed to the newspaper, but he never responded, and some days later he announced he was taking a short vacation, so we will assume this was the reason he did not reply to us and leave it at that.

Ebowed: Thanks for taking your time to grace this newspaper with an interview, Mr. Hobbes.  We'll keep this interview relatively brief for the sake of our readers.  My first question for you tonight is, what prompted you to begin an Independent campaign for Lieutenant Governor of the Pacific?

Hobbes: It's my pleasure, Ebowed.  As to your first question, I believe that the Pacific Region needs a social conservative voice in this election. We've got True Independent and Goldwater, both of whom are social liberals or affiliated with social liberalism, and I believe that the wing of Atlasia that supports a pro-family, pro-God, pro-America stand needs to be taken into serious consideration.

Furthermore, I'm running as an Independent and not as a candidate of the Freedom or Alliance parties because I don't want to be anybody's man, I want to stand alone without special interest involvement.

Ebowed: What do you believe seperates you from your opponents, Goldwater and True Independent, and why do you believe that you are the best choice for the Pacific?

Hobbes: Well, like I said, we need a strong voice for the social conservatives.  Perhaps some think that social conservatism has fallen by the wayside out West, but I firmly believe that a values candidate can win this race...and I will.

Ebowed: Of the two Gubernatorial candidates, Game Moderator John Ford and Lieutenant Governor Immy, who do you intend to support, and why?

Hobbes: Neither.  Like I said, I'm an independent through and through and I'm not going to take sides in the governor's race.  I'm here to preach my agenda for the lieutenant governor's race, not meddle elsewhere.

Ebowed: Could you please give our readers a short summary of your views on economic, social, and foreign policy issues?

Hobbes: Well, generally speaking, I'm a social conservative.  I oppose gay marriage, abortion, support school vouchers, support the Ten Commandments in public building, and so forth.   Economically, I support a value added tax as the sole method of collecting taxes.  I firmly oppose the idea of the income tax and will do what I can to abolish state income taxes in the Pacific Region.  I also support government subsidies for health care.

On foreign policy, I'm a Wilsonist.  I support getting the world's democracies together in a close-knit alliance for the purpose of protecting liberty, human rights, and defeating terrorism.

Ebowed: If you win the election next month, what do you plan to do as Lieutenant Governor?

Hobbes: As lieutenant governor, I plan to be a voice for my social conservative agenda and serve with dignity as Speaker of the Pacific House of Representatives.

Ebowed: Thank you for your time, Mr. Hobbes, and good luck next month.

Former Vice President May Run For Senate

PHILADELPHIA-- Former Vice President Keystone Phil, a member of the Atlasian Conservative Alliance, announced the formation of an exploratory committee in regards to a possible Senate run this August.  The only declared candidate in the race so far is LiberalPA, an Independent Liberal, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate against MHS2002 in a Special election several weeks ago.  We expect to have full details when and if Keystone Phil announces that he will be running for the Senate seat.

()

PBrunsel Speaks on His Record

BETTENDORF, Iowa-- Sen. PBrunsel (ACA-IA) began his re-election campaign yesterday, and made it clear what he would focus on.

"This message of hope for the future will be personified in my only campaign promise, to continue what I am currently doing."

He went on to tout his record as a Senator, voting for cabinet members of all different political persuasions, voted with environmental causes, and to allow seniors to import drgus from Canada. He said he had strong faith the people will vote on his record, saying that is all you can judge an elected offical on. He said he hoped the winner would emerge as a leader in a united district, and a united Atlasia.

Full Text Here (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=25452.0)

()

MESSENGER POLL:  President Siege Boasts 79% Approval Rating in New District 2;  Gov. Republic Strongest Against LiberalPA

A new poll privately conducted by the Atlasian Messenger through SMF Messaging on the residents of the newly drawn 2nd District show strong support for the newly elected President Siege 40 and mixed numbers for their only Senate candidate at this point:  LiberalPA.

Among residents of District 2, 79% say they approve of the job President Siege has done since taking office and of that approval 25% say they strongly approve of Siege.  Overall, outstanding numbers for the President as not a single person polled a voice of disapproval of him.

In the District 2 Senate race, we matched up LiberalPA with five different challengers who may or may not run for Senate.  The results were:

v. Governor Joe Republic
Joe Republic   51.9%
LiberalPA   17.7%
Undecided   30.4%

v. Attorney General Al Realpolitick
Al   36.7%
NOTA   20.9%
LiberalPA   17.7%
Other   6.3%
Undecided   18.4%

v. Former Vice President Keystone Phil
LiberalPA   60.8%
Keystone Phil   24.1%
Other   6.3%
NOTA   8.9%

v. Former Northeast Lt. Governor J. J.
LiberalPA   66.5%
J. J.    27.2%
Other   6.3%

v. Former Senator Akno21
LiberalPA   54.4%
NOTA   27.2%
Other   6.3%
Akno21   0.0%
Undecided   12.0%

The Atlasian Messenger Poll for District 2 was conducted from July 19-21 and is scientifically weighed based on previous turnout.  Margin of Error is set at 14.3%.

if he focuses his campaign, NOTA could win in a LiberalPA v. Al race. :D

()

Southeast Libertarians Come Out Against Voting Rights

MEMPHIS-- A Constitutional amendment, which passed 7-0 in the Senate, that would remove a rule requiring someone to show their registered location in either their avatar or signature before validating their vote, seems to be going down in the Southeast with just seven votes in.  Only two Southeast citizens have voted in favor of the amendment so far; they are soon-to-be Governor StatesRights and the Secretary of Defense Ebowed.  Liberal and left leaning citizens in the Southeast are also expected to vote in favor of the amendment, which could make the end result closer.  Current Governor Dubya, who is running for re-election next month, has voted against it as has former Governor HTMLDon and Southeast Magistrate John Dibble, who is an outspoken libertarian.  The current result is 4 "Nay" votes, 2 "Yea" votes, and 1 abstention.  We will provide more details as the votes come in.

()

Lieutenant Governor Candidates Interviewed

BATON ROUGE; ATLANTA-- The Southeast's two declared candidates for Lieutenant Governor, Q (a Georgian member of the Constitutional Union Party, and our current Lottery Commissioner), and BrandonH (a Louisianian member of the Atlasian Conservative Alliance, and our current Lieutenant Governor), have both been kind enough to grace this newspaper's current Southeast correspondent with an interview.  Both interviews are displayed below, and we would like to express our great thanks to both of the candidates for doing this.

Southeast Interview #1: Lieutenant Governor BrandonH
Ebowed: Welcome Brandon, and thanks for coming here today to speak with me.  My first question for you today is, why do you believe that you are the best candidate for Lieutenant Governor in this race?

BrandonH: Serving as the current Lieutenant Governor, I have helped the current Governor Dubya out. I have let him know if there is something that should be addressed and he has asked for my opinion on some issues. And while Dubya and I have worked together well and have similar philosophies, I will do what I can to work with Cosmo Kramer or anyone else who will get elected, as the main interest of all of the Southeast's Officers should not be themselves or their party, but the Southeast itself.

Ebowed: How would you describe your experience as Lieutenant Governor since your term began?

BrandonH: The office of Lieutenant Governor's responsibilities only come if either the Governor is unable to fulfill the duties or if the Governor assigns certain duties to the Lieutenant Governor. The only assigned duty I was given was to be on the team Governor Dubya put together to reduce the deficit. Dubya mentioned recently that he will take an absence in the future but did not say when it would be effective, so I did act as governor and certify the voting for the initiatives this past weekend.

I have also been stuck in controversy through no fault of my own. As you know in the April election, as the result of a tie, Dubya and States Rights agreed to split the term and appoint each other as Lt. Gov. Between States Rights announced Presidential run and the nullification crisis, Dubya appointed me as Lt. Gov instead. But States said he could handle Lt. Gov. while campaigning for President, which, as I stated unless something were to happen to Dubya it would not be a problem. So I stepped down after two days as I believed it was in the best interest of the Southeast to honor States and Dubya's agreement, despite the reasons mentioned.

The other lesser controversy occured at the end of June. Dubya and StatesRights tied again. Since Dubya, who was then known as WiseGuy, changed his name, he served the first a half of this term. Since it was another split term, regardless of the order, Dubya had the right to appoint his own Lt. Governor while States shall have the right to do so when he takes office. Some believed that since Dubya was serving consecutive terms, that he was forced to keep StatesRights as his Lt. Governor. So there would be no question about this in the future, this was one of the main reasons I supported the initiative to allow the election of the Lt. Governor, which was introduced by Q. Interestingly enough StatesRights opposed this initiative.

Ebowed: Could you please summarize for our readers your social, economic, and foreign policy beliefs, and how these beliefs will influence your decisions as Lieutenant Governor?

BrandonH: Being a member of the Atlasian Conservative Alliance, I am a conservative. More specifically I consider myself a paleo-conservative rather than a neo-conservative but am libertarian on some issues.

On social issues, I believe abortion is wrong as it is violating an individual's right to life which should be the governments job to protect. While I have always opposed gay marriage, I now believe the government has no business at all being involved in marriage. Having to pay the government money for a marriage license is just another way governement gets involved in something when not necessary. I am a firm believer in the right to bear arms, but I do believe guns should be registered and that by committing a violent crime, a person forfiets their right to bear arms.

On economic issues, I support the free market "laissez faire" capitalism. One person's dollar will provide more service for that individual than that same dollar going through the governement to provide that service would. If a service must be provided by the government for the people, then I would prefer it comes from the regional government rather than the federal government. This would keep Southeasters' money in the Southeast.

Foreign Policy is more of a federal than a regional issue, but I consider myself a realist, which is between interventionist and isolationist. Being part of the Southeast is on the border, I oppose illegal immigrants coming through the Mexican border.
 
Ebowed: You have been endorsed by Dubya and seem to be running on a de facto ticket with him.  What would you like to say to voters who support Cosmo Kramer for Governor but are undecided in the Lieutenant Governor race?

BrandonH: Dubya and I are both conservatives from the ACA. Cosmo Kramer is a populist while Q is a libertarian (using the 2D Nolan Chart). I won't be surprised at all if some populists vote for Kramer and myself while some libertarians vote for Dubya and Q, based on how all of us fall on the political spectrum. Of course it is still early in the race and I am expecting more candidates in the race. I'm expecting the SAP to field a Lt. Gov. candidate as well.

Ebowed: What is your biggest concern for the Southeast?

BrandonH: In politics, you often have disagreements. Conservatives and Liberals, Populists and Libertarians, Moderates and Extremists. But the disagreements are not personal. Now there is another disagreement going on. It's not about ideaology, but about our Southern Heritage. And the disgreements are starting to get personal. I'm concerned that the arguing between the Southern Alliance Party and HtmlDon could tear the region apart. Things seemed like they were about to get worse when HtmlDon formed the True South Coalition, but have instead quieted down. I hope it's over but I'm not going to hold my breath. If it does get worse, then I believe it's up to the officers of the Southeast to help ease the tension and help bring back unity to the region (through diplomacy, not though policy and law).

Ebowed: Thank you for speaking with me, and good luck next month.

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST

Southeast Interview #2: Lottery Commissioner Q
Ebowed: Welcome, Q, and thanks for speaking with me today.

Q: Thank you for this opportunity to speak with the Messenger.  Great newspaper you’ve started here.

Ebowed: Why do you believe that you are the best candidate for Lieutenant Governor in this race?

Q: Southeastern politics have long been the most tumultuous and, frankly, the most interesting, politics in all Atlasia.  I hope to follow in the tradition of our leaders who have sought what they believed was best for our region, and I will always maintain tact and diplomacy in the face of a challenge.

The voters of the Southeast will remember the five successful initiatives I authored that passed, each by large margin, in this month’s vote.  The subjects of my initiatives, I think, are telling of how I would serve in the office of Lieutenant Governor – my aim is never to single out specific individuals or groups, but to focus on those values we share, rather those qualities that differentiate us.  Should the voters of the region elect me as their Lieutenant Governor, I will strive in my every action promote unity and not division.

Should I be elected, I will endeavor to build a coalition of consensus.  Already in the first few days of the campaign, I have attracted a broad base of support, publicly and privately, from the citizens of the Southeast.  From those with red avatars as well as blue, from across the ideological spectrum and the range of parties, from the quietest of citizens to respected regional leaders.  I believe foremost in an inclusive government that accentuates the greatest qualities of the people of the region.

Ebowed: How would you describe your experience as Southeast Lottery Commissioner, and will this experience help you if elected Lieutenant Governor?

Q: It has been an honor to serve the region in this capacity.  I’ve had a lot of fun with it.  Governor Dubya’s appointing me as Southeast Lottery Commissioner was my first experience in Atlasian government, and so I credit him for introducing me to how things work around here.  I’ve tried to bring an air of levity as well as an enthusiasm for non-controversial government to my role as Commissioner.

In the same vein, I will be an active Lieutenant Governor.  The office has largely been relegated to inconsequential, and the only time it has ever been in the spotlight was during controversy over appointment to that very position.  I hope to change the nature of the office to a more active one, and I already took the first step toward this end by proposing the legislation to change how the office is elected.  The voters of the Southeast agreed with me on that, and I hope we will take the next step together also.

Ebowed: Could you please summarize for our readers your social, economic, and foreign policy beliefs, and how these beliefs will influence your decisions as Lieutenant Governor?

Q: Our regional Constitution ensures that the stances on policy of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor will be regulated by the citizens of the region, but nonetheless I feel it is important for citizens to know where their leaders are coming from.

Above all, I believe in a less intrusive government and hold individual sovereignty sacrosanct.  I think all my views on specific issues are true to this ideal.

On social issues, I would say, let the people do as they choose, unless an individual’s action has direct negative impact on the well-being of another’s life, liberty, or property.

Economically, I believe the freer the market, the freer the people.  I support economic opportunity for all citizens, and my vision of an ideal society would be one in which every person can find gainful employment and earn enough to ensure quality of life for his or her family.

Ebowed: Do you have any specific plans for what you would do if elected?

Q: I have learned a lot about the laws of the Southeast, starting with the Regulations governing the Southeastern Lottery.  However, one issue Brandon and I have discussed was whether or not this election would even be able to take place.  It seemed for a time that the lack of coordination among the Constitution, the various Initiatives, Regulations for various subjects, and now the possibility of a separate process for Constitutional Amendments (which I support), would have prevented this election.

I’ve learned that all these various laws and quasi-laws floating around out there need to be better coordinated and perhaps simplified, or at least better codified.  Former Governor Ernest and others did a great job writing legislation and regulations, but over the course of the many changes in administration, the code of laws has become rather tangled. 
The Pacific and now the Northeast are currently revisiting their Constitutions, and I think it might be a good idea to examine whether we might be able to make any changes that will improve the quality of life in the Southeast, as well as have the practical effect of guiding us better in times of adversity.  A few vague passages in the current document have facilitated near-crisis on several occasions.  I believe it would be in the best interest of all to confront these problems head-on, rather than waiting to see if any problems spring up in the future and then having to deal with them at that time.

Ebowed: Dubya and BrandonH are running on a de facto ticket together.  What would you say to voters who will support Dubya for Governor but are undecided on the Lieutenant Gubernatorial race?

Q: Firstly, I am no one’s running mate.  I’m my own man, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to work well with our next Governor, whoever he may be.

I am beholden to no special interests, no particular coalition, and I will owe my election only to the good faith of the people of the Southeast.  I aim to appeal to people on an individual basis, not by forming binding alliances but by working with them for the best outcome for our region.

I will serve as an independent Lieutenant Governor, not as the Governor’s lieutenant.

Ebowed: Thanks for speaking with me today, Q, and good luck next month.

Q: It's been a pleasure.

;D

()

Sam Spade Interviewed

NYMAN--Sen. Sam Spade (U-AL) is a popular and influential member of the Union Party. He is also the Southeast's Senator. He agreed to be interviewed, as he plays a big role in the issues that face us today, and his views should be known.

Akno21:  You had indicated a willingness to be interviewed for The Atlasian Messenger, so here we go.

Sam Spade:  Thanks for the interview, Akno.  It's always a pleasure..

Akno21: Would the Union Party be best served by reaching out to more radical libertarians and attempting to gather them into the party? If so, would you be willing to move out of the center to accomdate them?

Sam Spade:  Well, Akno, first of all let me say this.  I believe very much in the opening words to the Union Party's bylaws, written by our founder Htmldon, which says and I quote, "The Constitutional Union Party is a libertarian party of the center-right and we accentuate personal liberty, a strong national defense, and capitalism.  Unlike other political organizations, though, we encourage our members to always support ideas that have strong merit and proof of effectiveness, regardless of their ideological foundations. We believe that ideology often gets in the way of progress and unnecessarily divides people by cultural, racial, and religious boundaries. Science, reason, and common sense are our primary values."

One of the reasons why I believe the Union Party has been the longest-running, most successful centrist party is because we are confident in where we stand and what we believe; no matter where our members stand for in the broad political spectrum of what these ideals cover, we are all united behind the same banner that this party represents.

I view myself as not being a party chairman, but rather a steward of this vision.  Certainly, our membership changes as time moves on; we might become more conservative or certain issues and more liberal on other issues, but our fundamental beliefs stay the same.  And at no time will I abandon these beliefs in order to pander to a particular political group in order to gain members or to curry influence within a certain organization.

This does not mean that others are not welcome, those who do not agree with every last word the Union platform offers.  As I have said countless times before, we are a tolerant, thoughtful party that  welcomes all Atlasian citizens who agree with our basic vision and values.

What this means I think, is that the Union Party and I, as party chairman, respect what our members believe above all else.  They are the ones that drive this party forward.  They are the ones who define what those words that Htmldon said in the Party's statement mean in specific terms.  And they are the ones who will keep this party unified and growing in the future.

Would you be willing to run as a Vice-Presidential candidate, or would you only leave your Senate seat to run for President?

Sam Spade:  As I have consistently said from the moment the wonderful citizens of the Southeast elected me Senator, I will only serve two terms and will not run for re-election this upcoming October.

As to the possibility of me running for President, Vice President, Governor or any other position in the Southeast or Atlasia, let me first and foremost say that I have not ruled out running for any of these positions come October, depending on what circumstances may arise.  I have only ruled out running for re-election to the Senate.

My interest in any position in Atlasian elected life must occur from an inner need to exact new and fresh from the position and I will not run for any office unless I feel that need.

As a resident of the Southeastern Region, do you believe that the Southern Pride movement is a positive for the region, or does it have too much risk of causing rifts between the South and the rest of the country?

Sam Spade:  In my mind, there is nothing wrong with being proud of the South.  It is a proud Region, filled with wonderful citizens, excellent leaders and a competant government.  What I disapprove of is the rather boisterous and chauvenistic way some members have chosen to exhibit their pride in the South, whether it be through territorial aggrandizement or through pointless displays of arrogant behavior.

However, I am a supporter of reuniting the Southeast.  I believe, through my various conversations, that the citizens of Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky wish to be members of our Region.  But I also realize how hard even reuniting even Virginia alone with the Southeast will be.  We, as Southeasterners, must use thoughtful discussion, reasoned arguments and common courtesy to our fellow Regions in order to ever have any chance of reuniting the Southeast.

Simply put, I would rather have Southeasterners who believe in Southern Pride and the re-union of the Southeast use a Southern Sensibility to get things done that will strengthen the South and modernize the Region as a whole.  We must show that we respect and cherish everyone in Atlasia who is not a member of our Region and that we honor their beliefs, needs and wants.  Through this, the reunification of our Region can finally be achieved.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

()

Sam Spade Interviewed

NYMAN--Sen. Sam Spade (U-AL) is a popular and influential member of the Union Party. He is also the Southeast's Senator. He agreed to be interviewed, as he plays a big role in the issues that face us today, and his views should be known. (CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE)

Can the Union Party hold on to the five Senate seats that it has, or is it impossible to sustain such dominance over an extended period of time in Atlasia?

Sam Spade:  Akno, you know as well as I do how volatile Atlasian politics is and how hard it is to simply maintain unity within a party, much less dominance over an institution such as the Senate.  We have two seats coming up for election in August and one of our incumbents, King, has already decided not to run for re-election.  MHS2002 is in a dogfight with four other excellent opponents and will be hard-pressed to win re-election, even though I hope he does so as his record as both Attorney General and Senator has been stellar.

My goal for the present and future of the Union Party is simple, yet deeply important.  Rather than trying to acheive dominance over one institution of Atlasian politics, my goal as Union Party head is to maintain and strengthen Union Party influence in all realms of government, from the Executive to the legislative to the Regional, so that our wide spectrum of ideas and beliefs permeate the whole of Atlasian life and government.  By emphasizing these goals over simple masses of numbers and spheres of power, we can bring out the best in our membership and influence other members of Atlasian society to come to the conclusion that the basic values that the Union Party stands for are the best for Atlasia's future.

Frankly, if the Union Party is able to maintain control of half of the Senate then I will certainly be happy, but I don't view it as being necessary for our party's success and inner stability.

You were opposed to Ilikeverin as SoFA. Who would you rather have seen nominated for the position?

Sam Spade:  First, let me say that I do not think ilikeverin is a bad person or a "meanie" in Atlasian politics; however it is my opinion that the SoFA position is by far the most important position in Atlasian politics, and I felt like that ilikeverin was not qualified to meet the vigorous requirements that the position asks for.  Rest assured, if ilikeverin does a good job as SoFA in the next couple of months, specifically with regards to the August elections, I will quite happy to change my mind on his ability to handle the job.

Two candidates that specifically come to mind right now that I would have assuredly supported are former Supreme Court Justice John Dibble and former Senator Defarge, who appears to have taken a more active role in Atlasian politics of late with his campaign for Senator.

Both of them would have the experience, the qualifications and the ability to handle the position with great ability.

How would you rate Vice-President Emsworth and President Siege at this point into their terms?

Sam Spade:  At present, I think Vice-President Emsworth has done a exemplary job in his running of the Senate during Gabu's prolonged absence.  The handling of the Budget, the PPT vote, and these early votes show to me that he is a politician of the utmost character and shows extraordinary ability in handling the affairs of the Senate.

I think that President Siege's performance so far has been very satisfactory.  His cabinet choices, with the exception of the aforementioned ilikeverin, have been extremely competant, well-intentioned government officials who are extremely qualified and suited for their jobs.  I personally wish that he would have offered with his words a much more of a unified vision for the future of Atlasia in the world, and of his Presidency within the legislative scene, but there still is plenty of time left for him to make his mark in those two areas.

Finally, do you think that from the hard work of yourself, Colin Wixted, Gabu, and others, almost all procedural problems in the Senate have been fixed, and the focus can be on law-making after spending many months perfecting the process?

Sam Spade:  Of course.  I view this as being one of the great lasting legacies from the three Sessions of the Senate that I've had to work with my excellent colleagues, especially the two listed above.  With this reworking of procedural legislation, we have finally created tools with which the Senate can move forward at a normal, reasonable pace and we have finally protected the rights of Senatorial minorities to stop radical legislation from all corners.

It is therefore my hope that every Senate from now on can push forward with law-making, unhindered by procedural concerns or confusion, and make better laws for the whole of Atlasia.  I am also confident that future Senates will use these rules to the fullest of their intent.

Akno21: Thank you very much for your time.

That isn't bad for a forum poll. ;)

()

Libertarian Party to fall?[/u]

ATLANTA, GA -- After being one of the most inactive parties for two months, National Chairman and Midwest Governor CheeseWhiz (L-MT) pleaded for more members, saying that without "new members who will be enthusiastic and active in forum affairs, this party can’t survive much longer."  This opened some debate about how to keep the party going, but members did start looking into new parties to join.  CheeseWhiz then stated that they had four options: to become a near duplicate of the Union Party, to dissolve the party, to get a new member (which he is something he has already tried,) or to become the Liberty Caucus.  John Dibble, the oldest member of the party, agreed with CheeseWhiz that becoming a caucus was probably the best idea.  CheeseWhiz has just recently left the AFLP for AMRLP, saying he'd stay there until he decided which serious party to join.  With the move of CheeseWhiz, this leaves the Libertarians down to their last two members, meaning the Libertarian Party could die, again, very soon.

I'm Mark CheeseWhiz, and this has been an Atlasian Messenger report.

Actually the LP does have an elected official; John Dibble is the Southeast Magistrate.

Oh yeah, forgot those were elected :P

For some reason, that reminded me that I need to write my constitutional amendment.

Hmm.

Anyway, does anyone know if there's a totally updated copy of the Midwest Constitution anywhere? (Heck, I'll take the Atlasian constitution to look up some dates so I can do my sofa job :))

It's very odd.  All of the sudden quite a bit of my inertia went *poof*, and suddenly I want to do things.

I think I'll go bump our budget thread :)

ok, since i dont many (i actually dont get any) letters to the editor, instead of doing letters to the editor Wednesday, im just to review each letter and release it immedeatly. (i know i spelled it wrong.)

()
Letter To The Editor:

"Dear Editor,

Whats it like being editor? :D

Sincerely,

King"

Answer: Well, its easy. really, really easy. :)

Perhaps the newspaper should run a poll on the approval ratings of all federal and regional officials (like the ones Colin Wixted did last month).

I am currently polling the President's approval ratings district-by-district and then will compile the results after all 5 districts have been polled.  A national poll using FreeOnlineSurveys sounds like a good idea, however.

What about the rest of us? :'(

It will probably be taken by a national poll.

()

BRTD Announces Candidacy, Lags In Polls[/u]

MINNEAPOLIS-- Well-known liberal, BRTD, of the Farmer Labor Party, has announced that he will be running for Governor against popular incumbent CheeseWhiz, who until recently was a member of the Libertarian Party.  BRTD has already released an ad, and appears to be focusing his campaign almost entirely on legalizing prostitution and getting rid of federal and region strip club regulations.  Current polling, while incomplete and unscientific, suggests an easy CheeseWhiz victory, but the actual voting results may be affected by low voter turn out.

BRTD ran for Senate earlier this year in a special election following the resignation of Senator Chief of Staff Mike Naso.  Running against Dean, a libertarian-leaning liberal from Wisconsin, the left vote was split and MasterJedi, of the Atlasian Conservative Alliance, won.  Senator MasterJedi, who has remained a healthy level of popularity since being elected, was easily re-elected in the federal elections in June 2005.

In other gubernatorial races, a poll by The Daily Planet suggests no clear winner in the Southeast race between Dubya and Senator Preston Cadwell, and a likely, but not definite, win for John Ford over Lieutenant Governor Immy in the Pacific.

()

Poll Shows Mixed Approval Ratings for Senate, Cabinet

NYMAN-- The results of a poll conducted by the Atlasian Messenger were released today.  The approval ratings for the Senate were mixed, while approval ratings for the Cabinet were mostly high.  The poll had 30 respondents to questions asking about federal positions and an average of 18 respondents to the questions asking about Senators.  What follows is a summary of the results, with added commentary for selected poll questions.

Do you approve of the job Senator Sam Spade has been doing?
APPROVE - 94.7%
DISAPPROVE - 5.3%

Senator Spade of Alabama, who is also chairman of the Constitutional Union Party, has maintained a high level of popularity throughout his career in the Senate.  Although he faced a challenge from Ben Meyers of Florida in his re-election bid last month (who did better than expected), he remains well liked by citizens of all parties both in his region and across Atlasia.  He has the highest approval rating out of anyone polled, and was recently interviewed (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=25279.msg560882#msg560882) by the Atlasian Messenger.

Do you approve of the job Senator MHS2002 is doing?
APPROVE - 77.8%
DISAPPROVE - 16.6%

Senator MHS2002, of the Union Party, was elected in a special election a few weeks ago following the resignation of Senator Supersoulty.  Due to redistricting, he faces a tough re-election bid next month against four candidates: Ben Meyers (ACA-FL), Harry (SA-MS), Bono (I-SC), and Ernest (IL-SC).  He was also the running mate of Keystone Phil (ACA-PA) in the last presidential election.  Despite all of this, he has consistently maintained a high level of popularity both as Attorney General and Senator.

Do you approve of the job Senator Colin Wixted is doing?
APPROVE - 73.6%
DISAPPROVE - 21.1%

Do you approve of the job Senator Cosmo Kramer is doing?
APPROVE - 35.0%
DISAPPROVE - 55.0%

Senator Kramer, of District 4, has been a polarizing figure since his remarks regarding the Southeast Nullification Crisis in April 2005.  His unpopularity outside of his home district continued to worsen when he began an attack on what he called a Forum Elitist Conspiracy.  However, he will not be running for reelection next month but will instead run for Governor against Dubya, and has a good chance of winning due to his populist views.

Do you approve of the job Senator Masterjedi is doing?
APPROVE - 68.8%
DISAPPROVE - 25.0%

Senator MasterJedi of the Mideast, while a member of the Atlasian Conservative Alliance, is popular with both liberals and conservatives.  He supported legalizing euthanasia in the Mideast, as well as a secret ballot proposal and other voting reform.  His willingness to cross the lines on certain issues could be one reason for his high approval rating.

Do you approve of the job Senator PBrunsel is doing?
APPROVE - 86.7%
DISAPPROVE - 13.4%

Do you approve of the job Senator DanielX is doing?
APPROVE - 31.3%
DISAPPROVE - 62.3%

There is no clear explanation for Senator DanielX's surprisingly high disapproval rating, though he has been slightly controversial as of late, including pushing for a pro-prostitution initiative in the Midwest that allowed 17-year-olds to visit prostitutes with parental consent (this portion of the initiative was later removed due to the negative reaction), as well as abstaining on important issues such as the Midwest ratification of the Signature & Avatar Amendment.  He was also the only Senator to vote against the Atlasian Wetlands Act.  Still, this is not enough reason to explain a 60%+ disapproval rating.  The result is, in the view of the author, frankly puzzling.

Do you approve of the job Senator FuturePrez is doing?
APPROVE - 31.3%
DISAPPROVE - 62.3%

Senator FuturePrez, of the Union Party, has been almost completely inactive since being elected, and a possible expulsion has been suggested by some citizens.  Senator Gabu, the President Pro Tempore, said he's going to wait for two more weeks before taking any "appropriate action."  Senator Spade has added that he will vote for expulsion if necessary.

Do you approve of the job Senator King is doing?
APPROVE - 88.2%
DISAPPROVE - 11.8%

In an amazing comeback (Senator King once had an approval rating of less than 30% in his home district), Senator King of the Union Party boasts a very high approval rating.  He has announced he will not be running for re-election next month (and Defarge, IL-NY, has announced he will run for the seat), but may instead focus on a possible run for Northeast Governor.

Do you approve of the job Senator Gabu is doing?
APPROVE - 88.9%
DISAPPROVE - 11.2%

Do you approve of the job Governor MAS117 is doing?
APPROVE - 45.0%
DISAPPROVE - 30.0%

Do you approve of the job Governor Dubya is doing?
APPROVE - 55.0%
DISAPPROVE - 35.0%

Do you approve of the job Governor Joe Republic is doing?
APPROVE - 62.5%
DISAPPROVE - 25.0%

Do you approve of the job Governor CheeseWhiz is doing?
APPROVE - 53.4%
DISAPPROVE - 46.7%

Governor CheeseWhiz, of the Midwest, faces BRTD (FL-MN) in his re-election bid next month.  Since BRTD has soley focused his campaign on strip club deregulation and prostitution legalization, he is not expected to do well.

Do you approve of the job Governor Wildcard is doing?
APPROVE - 87.6%
DISAPPROVE - 12.6%

Do you approve of the job Vice President Emsworth is doing?
APPROVE - 82.2%
DISAPPROVE - 14.2%

Do you approve of the job Secetary of State WMS is doing?
APPROVE - 75.8%
DISAPPROVE - 3.4%

Note: WMS ties with Attorney General Al for the lowest disapproval rating.

Do you approve of the job Secretary of Forum Affairs ilikeverin is doing?
APPROVE - 76.7%
DISAPPROVE - 13.3%

Do you approve of the job Attorney General Al is doing?
APPROVE - 79.3%
DISAPPROVE - 3.4%

Do you approve of the job Secretary of Defense Ebowed is doing?
APPROVE - 53.4%
DISAPPROVE - 26.7%

Do you approve of the job Secretary of the Treasury Supersoulty is doing?
APPROVE - 75.8%
DISAPPROVE - 13.8%

Do you approve of the job President Siege40 is doing?
APPROVE - 70.0%
DISAPPROVE - 20.0%

The full results can be viewed here (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=25840.0).

()

Voting Rights Amendment Gains Momentum in South

A popular Signature and Avatar Amendment, which passed 7-0 in the Senate, that would remove unnecessary restrictions on voting rights for Atlasian citizens got off to a bad start in the Southeast, with the region's Magistrate (John Dibble), and then-Governor (Dubya) voting against it.  The other Nay voters were Jake (SA-MS) and hmtldon (CU-TN).  Senate Candidate Ernest (IL-SC) also abstained on the amendment.  After this slew of votes, leaving the tally at 4-0-1 against the amendment, there have been seven consecutive votes in favor of it, starting with Ebowed (FL-SC), and the latest being Gubernatorial candidate and Senator Cosmo Kramer (SA-AR).  The other "Yea" votes are Governor StatesRights (SA-FL), Senate candidate Bono (I-SC), Senate candidate Harry (SA-MS), Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate Q (CU-GA), and TCash (IL-TN).  That leaves the current result at 7 yeas, 4 nays, and 1 abstention.

The amendment is also passing in the Northeast, Mideast (where District 4 candidate, Senator MHS2002 (CU-VA) voted in favor of the amendment), and Midwest.  A poll has yet to be opened in the Pacific.

()

This is a Messenger Polling Center News Alert:

New District 4 Poll shows Siege with 63% District Approval as Senate Race "Leans" Harry

This is a poll of 18 likely voters in the 4th District taken from July 22nd-24th. Margin of Error is set at 15.8%.

1.  Siege40 Approval in 4th District
Strongly Approve   12.3%
Somewhat Approve   50.7%
Somewhat Disapprove   9.9%
Strongly Disapprove   0.0%
No Opinion   27.2%

2.  4th District Senate Race
Round 1
Harry   47%
MHS2002   19%
Ernest   12%
Bono   6%
Ben Meyers   5%
Other   0%
None of the Above   0%
Undecided   11%

Round 2
Harry   47%
MHS2002   19%
Ernest   12%
Bono   11%
None of the Above   0%
Undecided   11%

Round 3
Harry   48%
MHS2002   24%
Ernest   16%
None of the Above   0%
Undecided   12%

Final Round
Harry   48%
MHS2002   40%
None of the Above   0%
Undecided   12%

()

Amendment on It's Way[/u]

COLLEGE PARK-- The repeal of The Signature and Avatar Amendment looks to be favored in the Mideast, as it has come for a vote. Since the voting booth opened on Friday Morning, 6 people have voted for the amendment, and none against. Those six are Governor Joe Republic, Senator Master Jedi, Senator MHS2002, Akno21, Frodo, and Lt. Governor Dean.

That is some very promising polling data. :)

Siege

Very interesting polling data, very thorough as well. I really liked it and all the articles as well. :)

()

Peter Bell Forms Senate Exploratory Committee

INDIANAPOLIS-- Former Mideast Governor and Vice President Peter Bell, an Independent Liberal from Indiana, has formed an exploratory committee for a possible District 3 Senate run this August.  Fritz, an independent from Minnesota, announced he was running for Senate against incumbent PBrunsel of Iowa and then did very little campaigning.  He has stated: "I do not wish to split the leftist vote in the District, but leaving voters on the left with the option of an inactive candidate is not acceptable to me.  If Fritz does mount a campaign, I will likely not run."

Due to Former Governor Bell's popularity, if he entered the race, he could potentially beat Senator PBrunsel; however, the Senator remains popular in his home district.  The District 3 race will lie, for now, mostly on whether or not Fritz does any campaigning; if he does not, the race will be open for Mr. Bell or other candidates to run.

---

As a side note, this newspaper is preparing for an interview with Senator PBrunsel, and we expect to post that sometime this week.  If you have questions you would like to see asked, please send me a private message with the question and I may ask it (this will be my new policy for interviews from this point on).

()

StatesRights Begins Half-Term, Appoints Bono As Lieutenant Governor[/u]

PLANT CITY, FL--StatesRights, a former five-term Senator who resides in Florida, began his term as Governor today after an election last month that saw a tie between himself and the then-incumbent, Dubya (who is seeking re-election next month against Cosmo Kramer).  StatesRights' first act was to appoint Bono, who is running for District 4 Senate, as the Lieutenant Governor to replace BrandonH (who is running in the Lieutenant Gubernatorial election next month).

But what followed the appointment from Bono was a rather surprising resignation, and we shall quote from the resigned Governor himself:

"This weekend started my term as southeast governor and I for one and very humbled by the choice of the people to select me to be their governor. I must tell my friends and supporters that we could have done great things if I had been elected for a full term. But alas, people with bad intentions undermined our effort to do such things."

This section of the speech refers to a group of people in the last election who successfully altered the outcome by convincing StatesRights voters to invalidate their ballots.  We shall now continue the resigned Governor's speech:

"I see I as governor now I no longer have any major support within the southeast with the voters. This saddens me but I feel as if we must move and and try the heal the old wounds.

I have now come to a decision on my status here as a result of my unpopularity. I can see that their is no benefit to me staying in any political office here in Atlasia. People are against me no matter what I do and I no longer have any say in the affairs Atlasia. People who have not been here long oppose me no matter what and have not even looked at the good things I did in helping to found the government in the past and that saddens me as I feel I have not been given a fair shake by the newer folks here. It is therefore with a very heavy heart that I shall resign this half term of my governship effectively immediately. I will not stay in charge of a place that is so hostile towards any actions I make. I will no longer run for any office in Atlasia either. This 'game' has evolved into something I no longer can enjoy and therefore I will not stay in such an enviroment. I ask Sofa Ilikeverin to strike me from the voter rolls immediately as I no longer wish to participate. This is a very hard decision for me but I feel drained by just coming to these boards. I hope my supporters aren't felt left down and I apologize. Thank you for your kind ear folks. And to the people that opposed me no matter what, I hope you may give me a second chance in your eyes. Thanks and good night."

This effectively means that Bono is the Southeast's new Governor.  We at The Atlasian Messenger are sorry to see former Senator StatesRights leave and wish former Senator Bono good luck as he takes over as Southeast Governor.

()

Senator Kramer To Resign, Drops Out of Race

BENTON, AR-- Senator Cosmo Kramer has dropped out of the Southeast gubernatorial race citing personal reasons, including a lack of time due to a tougher schedule in the coming months.  He says he will "be here only to regularly vote.  Other than that I am going to take the role of an occasional spectator."

He also says he will be resigning from the Senate soon, "perhaps at the end of this week."

I wonder why this LiberalPA guy got his letter in but I sent mine about six times and didn't make it. Hmmmmmmm....maybe he knows that guy I'm running against? Na...it can't be...   :P

He DoEsN't KnOw AnYtHiNg! So StOp AsKiNg QuEsTiOnS!!![/b] j/k :D

just playin around a little ;)

()

Master Jedi Begins Re-Election Bid[/u]

NYMAN, D.C-- Senator Master Jedi (ACA-WI) is going to run for re-election, and he has already begun to seek support among Mideastern residents. He recently sent many residents a personal message reading

"Hi citizens of the Mideast. I know it's still a ways away until October comes around but I would like to announce to all of you that I do intend to run for re-election.

I hope to gather support from all corners of the political spectrum like I gained last time. If everyone could I would like if you could reply with if you'd vote for me, not sure, or the dreaded NOTA. :)

I hope to hear back from all of you soon."

The Senator won re-election easily in June, and was expected to run again. Several observers thought he may run for President in October, but it appears those plans have been shelved - for now. Jedi had a 69% approval rating and 25% disapproval rating according to a poll released by The Atlasian Messenger[/url] on July 24.

Hmm.  I was thinking of him as basically the only person who could win a presidential election for the ACA.  Strike him off the October Watch List, then.  ;)

PD leads D6 Senate Race[/u]

Thats right, PD leads the race according to a recent poll with approx. 25%, with Ilikeverin holding about 12%, and Max Power about 6%, while 44% are still skeptics of District 6. This comes as a major surprise since Ilikeverin was supposedly  frontrunner in the race. The Atlasian Messenger is getting news that another candidate is thinking about joining the race. We will keep you updated.

Surprise Candidate announces in D6; Other candidates scramble to take away attention form new comer.[/u]

Former Atlasian Libertarian 'activist' Mr. Milk_and_cereal has returned to join the D6 race. Worried that he might be a powerful candidate, SoFA Ilikeverin has attended a $478.98 plate fundraiser tonight, inhopes that it would get alot of media attention. Rumors are that Mr. Reese will be running in a marathon in the biggest city in D6, New Dublin, tomorrow. Earlier today he said, "I've been training for this for a while now. I hope this proves to the great people of District 6 that I am a dedicated person." Mr.PD will be resting next, saying that he can't miss the Dharma and Greg 7 day marathon next week.

Here are some campaign buttons that were not sent to us by the candidates for the D6 race:

()
()
()
()

                             Atlasian Messenger Op-Ed

D4 special election gets personal

As the voting opened at 12:00 EST Friday morning, the fighting continued between Ebowed, Harry, Josh22, and HTMLDon. Things dont seem to be slowing, in fact they may be heating up. this 'vendetta' between eachother has lasted all week. the only candidate to keep quiet in the fierce debate is Write-In Candidate Ben Meyers (ACA) of Florida, but name recogniton and experience seem to be the anchors that are dragging the Meyers campaign at a slow pace. Harry has a good lead now, but i think if this keeps up, NOTA might be headed to Capital Hill.

We'll keep you updated on the special election all weekend.

This news article / editorial is factually inaccurate.

Harry has not been online since Don began spreading lies about him, so he is not involved in the "fighting."

The vendetta would be more accurately described as one I have against Don; not one Harry has against Don.

That's because he just got back from vacation.

Or maybe people just prefer Harry.

The race will either go to Ben or Harry; Don seems to have thrown his chance out by voting against himself.

hhhmm...you sure sont like when people have opinions' other than yours, do you Ebowed? notice at the top of the article it says "Op-Ed", that means i can say whatever i feel like saying.

I was not disputing the opinions; I was disputing the factual inaccuracies.

1. not all of the things you quoted were factual inaccuricies

2.

Look at the five points I raised.  The only one that could be interpreted as an opinion is Statement 4.  Statement 5 is a prediction; Statements 1,2, and 3 are factual corrections.  If you write an editiorial, you should not only be prepared to have your opinions challenged, but you should write one that doesn't have factual inaccuracies disguised as opinions.

in which case my statement that not all of your statements were fact is true.

Plus:

Yes, you are entitled to say whatever you want to say, but that's a horrible defense of factual inaccuracies.

ill give you that Ebowed, but remember, im the media, i dont need to be correct, especially not during 'Op-Ed' time. ;)

oh well, LiberalPA can write anything he wants, even if its wrong, but should expect people to analyze what he says.

LiberalPA, it remains the responsibility of the media to be factually accurate, even in op-eds.  Don't want to turn out like Fox News, do you? :)

or do i........hhhhmmmmm.......no,definetly not.

Ilikeverin Rallies His 'Troops' in District 6

A new poll shows PD is losing speed to Ilikeverin, and that now only 1/3 of Atlasians don't believe District 6 exists, down from the original 45%. Max Power has also jumped up a few precentage points, while M&C suprisingly holds almost 0% of the vote. The M&C squad did manage to get a float in the Writingville, 2nd largest city in D6, Parade. Rumors are that Atlasian Messenger CEO liberalPA will begin a petition to get the D6 Ofiicial voting booth in the voting booth subfolder later today.

MUAHAHAHAHA

I SHALL TRIUMPH

I WILL BRING LIGHT TO DISTRICT 6 IN THE FORM OF CUTE, FURRY ANIMALS

On a side note, if you start your own directory thread, will you include the new generation caucus?

()

Sex Crime Legislation Fails[/u]

COLLEGE PARK-- The Sex Crime Legislation, as proposed by Former Governor Peter Bell, was called dead yesterday by it's creator, who blamed it on the fact that the Mideast is full of inactives who do not take interest in governmental affairs. It did not get the required amount of support in the week allotted by the constitution.

The full text of the bill can be found here (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=25561.0)

()

Ballot Set

NYMAN, D.C. -- The offical ballot for the August federal elections was set by Deputy SoFA Peter Bell at the declaration deadline. The ballot is as follows.

()

District 1:
Defarge
Texasgurl
King

District 2:
Keystone Phil
Al

District 3:
Fritz
RBH
PBrunsel

District 4:
Ebowed
Ernest
MHS2002

District 5:
Gabu

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASH.-- The Atlasian Messenger has interviewed former President Alcon San Croix, a Washingtonian from the Constitutional Union Party.

Ebowed: Mr. Former President, do you have any future political ambitions?

Alcon: No.

Ebowed: Thank you for your time.

Hahahahahahaha!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Best interview ever.

JACKSON, MISS.-- Harry, former Vice President and Southeast Governor, is currently serving District 4 as Senator.  Today Atlasian Messenger correspondent Ebowed spoke with him about a variety of issues.  Enjoy.

Ebowed: Senator Harry, thank you for speaking with us today.

Harry: You're welcome.

Ebowed: How well do you think you're doing in the Senate right now?

Harry: I'd say I'm doing pretty well; I've sponsored a couple of bills and have debated.

Ebowed: What has been your major legislative defeat since your term started?

Harry: I don't think there has been one.

Ebowed: What about the Pledge bill?

Harry: I don't consider that a personal defeat.

Ebowed: Who do you support in the Southeast Gubernatorial and Lieutenant Gubernatorial elections and why?

Harry: For governor, undecided.  And Q... he's the man for the job.

Ebowed: Why do you support Q over BrandonH?  Ideology, personality, experience, or something else?

Harry: Q's always been a friendly hardworking guy; nothing against Brandon H, but that combined with ideology makes Q my man.

Ebowed: Who do you support in the upcoming District 4 Senatorial race to replace your seat?

Harry: You.

Ebowed: Thank you for your support.  Let's see...  You've been at Atlasia since the beginning.  Have you done anything in the past that you regret now?

Harry: Ethically, no, I don't think I've done anything that I should be ashamed of.  However, some things that spiraled out of control and cost me politically (like the UAC thing that cost me the presidency); obviously I wish that had gone differently.

Ebowed: You've been accused of corruption by several.  When a newspaper implied you were corrupt, then asked for evidence and didn't receive any, and retracted (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=17820.msg397736#msg397736) the statement; the allegations of corruptness continued.  Why do you think that event was ignored by your detractors?

Harry:  Because for whatever reason some people have decided to go on a witch hunt against me and they're certainly going to ignore obvious evidence that they're wrong; that being said the witch hunt seems to have slowed down lately, so maybe the old wounds are healing.

Ebowed: Looking back on all of the elections where you were a candidate, what was the most exciting?  The most predictable?  The most enjoyable, and the most painful?

Harry:  Let's see...  Most exciting-- the 2nd and 3rd senate races were both very close and exciting.  Most predictable-- none!  Most enjoyable-- without a doubt, the first one with Nym90... before the whole forum got nasty.  Most painful-- this last time, knowing 24 hours in advance that I would lose it in the closing minutes and not being able to do anything about it-- I must have sent out 100 desparate PMs.

Ebowed: In the last Southeast gubernatorial election, you voted for StatesRights over the more moderate Dubya, as did several other left leaning Southeasterners.  Those who voted for the former Senator received a lot of criticism from outside of the region.  Do you stand by your vote?

Harry:  Of course.

Ebowed: Why did you support StatesRights over Dubya?

Harry: He's one hell of a guy.

Ebowed: Are there any particular actions of Dubya that you did not like?

Harry:  Nope.  Dubya is fine, but Statesrights and I have been buddies from the start.

Ebowed: Of all of your opponents for various elections over the last year and a half, ranging from Al to Siege40 to StatesRights to WMS to Josh22, who was the strongest?  Who was the weakest?

Harry: PBrunsel and WMS were the strongest opponents I think.  Josh22, I hate to say it since he's a cool guy who gets unecessarily slammed by a lot of people, has been the weakest.

Ebowed: In the June 2005 Presidential election, you only preferenced your ticket, Harry/Ebowed.  Who would you have most liked to see win the election aside from your ticket?

Harry: Siege40 and Phil would've definitely been on my ballot, and probably Supersoulty as well.  But with it being so close and total preferences being a tiebreaker, it would've been dumb for me to possibly shoot myself in the foot by preferencing others.

Ebowed: Atlasia has had five presidential elections and you have been on a ticket in three of them.  Do you plan to run on a presidential ticket in any later elections, or is your nationwide career over?

Harry: We'll just have to see.

Ebowed: So you can't say for certain?

Harry: I can't.

Ebowed: Possible candidates in October include Siege40, Emsworth (if Siege doesn't run for re-election), John Dibble, and Ernest.  Would you be able to support any of these candidates?

Harry:  It's too early to say.

Ebowed: You have long been no fan of write in candidates.  Why is this?

Harry:  Because you should vote for a serious candidate who actually cares enough to get on the ballot.  Plus, with preferential voting it's totally pointless.

Ebowed: What about serious candidates who run as write in candidates?

Harry: Case-by-case basis, I guess.

Ebowed: Are you getting along well with your fellow Senators?

Harry: Sure.  I get along with almost everyone in Atlasia, even True Democrat and Kemperor.

Ebowed: What is your opinion on current voting restrictions?  Do you think that the ten day waiting period for allowing someone to vote is too strict, too lenient, or just fine?

Harry:  It's just fine.  Make it more lenient and you'd get rampant tomatosouping, which is a bad thing, even though I kinda did it once.  But note that my tomatosouping was within the rules, I didn't violate any rules.  She went through the ten days and everything.

Ebowed: But you no longer stand by your actions?

Harry:  I'm neutral on the actions.  It would probably be better for everyone if no one did it.  Now, I'm about to have to go--

Ebowed: In that case, we will conclude the interview.  Thank you for your time, Senator.

Harry: You're welcome.

Imagine - he flew all the way out to Bainbridge Island just for that insight.

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASH.-- The Atlasian Messenger has interviewed former President Alcon San Croix, a Washingtonian from the Constitutional Union Party.

Part 1
Ebowed: Mr. Former President, do you have any future political ambitions?

Alcon: No.

Ebowed: Thank you for your time.

Part 2 (The Actual Interview)
Ebowed: What action as President are you most proud of?  What action do you most regret?

Alcon: Overall, I most regret not being more active.  The Presidency just came at a poor time for me.  I felt like someone needed to do the job, though, for the sake of the nation's stability.  I think I did a decent job with the Southeast, though, thanks in part to the level-headedness of the vast majority of the Atlasian citizenry.

Ebowed: What was the campaign like for you in February?  Did you take a lot of heat for running, as a Democrat, with KEmperor?

Alcon: I enjoyed it but I wish I had ran in a summer month instead.  I probably took less flack for running with KEmp than I deserved.  At first, KEmp was seen as very moderate.  Then he released his latest Political Compass score - with both positive - and, surprisingly, few people noticed that.  I thought that, if we were to lose (which, of course, we did), it would be because of the Political Compass release, not because the new candidates were viewed as "fresher."  If "fresher" is the word.

Ebowed: A lot of conservatives voted for Al/Siege over KEmperor/Alcon.  Even former President PBrunsel supported the Lewis Trondheim/True Democrat ticket.  Do you think your place on the only "conservative" ticket had to do with it?

Alcon: I recall that much of that was due to abortion, even though Lewis had a similar position to KEmp.  I think it reflected a general malaise among the population about electing a ticket that had been the assumed winner for month.  Being a latecomer is always an advantage in races.  In reality, I don't think I changed anyone's mind for or against the ticket.

Ebowed: How did you feel throughout the race about your chance of winning?  Who did you most fear would step into the race that would hurt KEmperor, before Al and Lewis had announced?

Alcon: Well, I knew that polls showing us with 75% of the vote wouldn't last, of course.  I assumed we'd lose in the last week.  I still had hopes, of course.  Still, to this day, I blame the exploding ballot boxes.

Ebowed: What ideological differences did you have with KEmperor?  Did these hurt the ticket during the campaign?

Alcon: KEmp and I were pretty aligned in our economic-relative-to-social views.   It's just that he was four points more conservative than me in all cases.  There were times when I thought he was too conservative.  But I supported KEmp, and would have if I wasn't on his ticket, because I thought he'd do the best to resolve the Forum Affairs issues (and Constitutional issues), which were plaguing us at the time.

Ebowed: How did you feel during the crisis where Lewis Trondheim refused the presidency?  How did you come to the agreement with True Democrat to be Vice President?

Alcon: I've always liked Lewis, but that disappointed me.  It was pretty obvious that it would upset everyone.  He should have just dropped out and endorsed Al, who would have subsequently won in a landslide.  He was well-intended, though.  As to the True Democrat Vice Presidency, he basically just asked me, and I accepted, although I wasn't very excited about it.  I knew for a while I was in the final running through Teamspeak and whatnot, so it wasn't a huge surprise.

Ebowed: What did you think of True Democrat's presidency?  Were you expecting him to resign so suddenly?

Alcon: I think I missed his Presidency.  I was making a sandwich.

Ebowed: You left the Democratic party for the Constitutional Union Party.  What about the Union Party was appealing to you?  Do you think the party can continue to hold the plurality of seats it has in the Senate?

Alcon: I'm a libertarian, really.  I liked the Democrats, but it became difficult after all of the scandals to sustain the party.  I like pretty much everyone in the Union Party (although I do in the ILP and many other parties, too).  The Union Party was just most appealing to me because it has such a libertarian lean, even if I am one of the more liberal memebrs.

Ebowed: Why did you choose Peter Bell as your Vice President?

Alcon: I chose Peter Bell because I knew I would be preoccupied with school.  And because everyone knows that British people are smarter than us.

Ebowed: Why did you ask Cosmo Kramer to resign as Secretary of the Treasury?

Alcon: I would have had no problem with Preston's support of the Southeast if he had not also supported the voting rights nullification put in place by Governor StatesRights, which was an intolerable breach of civil liberties.  He knew what his reactions would result in, though.  I at least admire his bravery in standing up for what he believed in, even if I believe it was destructive toward Atlasian democracy.

Ebowed: From a former President's point of view, how do you think Siege and Emsworth are doing?

Alcon: Both are very smart and I think they are doing the best they can within the rather limited functions of President and Vice President.  It's funny that we have a system in Atlasia where a Senator would rather stay a Senator just because they could get more done in that position than as President.

Ebowed:  How do you think your regional Senator, True Democrat, is doing?  Did you support the expulsion of Senator FuturePrez?

Alcon: I haven't really been following Atlasian politics lately, but if he's voting and proposing decent bills, I definitely think he's doing fine.  I did support the expulsion of FuturePrez, because he was far too inactive.  Has anyone heard from him since?  I'm worried.

Ebowed: No; FuturePrez has not signed on once this month, and still has the title "Senator" in his username.

Alcon: Yikes.  Hopefully just a long vacation.

Ebowed: How will you be voting in the upcoming District 5 Senatorial race?

Alcon: I will be voting against Gabu, because he is a tyrant and must be destroyed.

Ebowed: How about in the Pacific Gubernatorial/Lieutenant Gubernatorial election?  What do you think of Immy's unexplained absence?

Alcon: He disappeared about three days after FuturePrez, right?  I'll have to support John Ford, since Immy has been gone for nearly a month.  Maybe there's a bad case of Internet mono going around.

Ebowed: Immy has been absent since July 19.  He told his de facto running mate that he may be busy before the election, but he did not explain why to the forum.  Speaking of which, how will you be voting in the Pacific Lieutenant Gubernatorial race between Robert Goldwater and Mr. Hobbes?

Alcon: I generally don't make decisions before Election Day.  I'm usually genuinely undecided.  This is one of those cases.

Ebowed: What is your greatest concern for Atlasia currently?

Alcon: I think that we may end up hemorrhaging members.  Enabling Google searching of the Forum would certainly help.

Ebowed: Throughout your time in Atlasia, who do you think has been your greatest ally?  Your toughest foe, if any?

Alcon: I've never been real in to that "allies and enemies" thing.  But I would certainly have to say that my greatest enemy has been Cashcow.  To Cashcow: I will hunt you down and kill you.

Ebowed: What do you think about the existence of a Forum Elite Conspiracy, and your participation in it?  Do you believe that Atlasia has problems with elitism?

Alcon: I think that if there is an FEC, it sucks at what it does.  Has the FEC ever been declared to be behind a candidate that actually won?  It's like being endorsed by NAMBLA, except with less pedophillia.

Ebowed: Do you think there are problems with elitism in Atlasia?  Some say that Atlasia is tough for new members to get into and that the Fantasy Government is hard to keep track of.

Alcon: Elitism and intellectualism tend to blend together in unfortunate ways.  I don't think we're ever going to change that.  But I think, yes, we need to make the game more accessible for new members.  We have like six "READ THIS FIRST!" threads.  We can do better than this.

Ebowed: What do you think of current voting restrictions?  Do you think the ten day rule regarding registration and voting eligibility is too strict, too lenient, or just fine?

Alcon: I have mixed feelings.  I don't think the ten-day rule does much to stop cheating, but I also think that it doesn't do much to stop newcomers.  I support investigating reform, and, if necessary, making the rules more lenient to increase the number of new voters.

Ebowed: Does it bother you that you spent 58 minutes on this interview?

Alcon: It just increases my bloodlust for you.  And Cashcow.  God, I hate Cashcow.

Ebowed: All right, well that concludes our interview.  Thank you for your time, Former President San Croix.

Alcon:  No problem.  Thank you for having me.

Very nice :D  A person a low intelligence would think that you made a very good point and start to disbelieve in the FEC.

Ever been raped, Alcon?

()

Fmr. Senator Naso looking into October presidential run[/u][/size]

Returning to Atlasian politics just recently, Mr. Naso has announced that he is considering a run for president in October while D2 Sen. candidate KeystonePhil seems a bit more certain than that saying yesterday that Mike Naso is the first man 'officially' in the October race, even saying that Naso For President signs were found in the back of the Fmr Senator's (Naso) car.

While some believe his past and his recent inactivity will hurt him, he still seems to hold a good rep. with some Atlasians. We hope to have an interview with Mr. Naso soon.

Siege40 For President bumperstickers are already all over his homestate of vermont. The President has reportedly made quite a few thousand dollars on signs and bumperstickers alone this early in the campaign.

Despite the race being so far away, the proof is clear that we have one Hell of a race ahead of us. We'll keep you posted on all the new throughout the campaign.

Siege40 announced he will be retiring at the end of his term yesterday in his "Atlasian Journal" newspaper.

its a write in campaign :)

I intend to grow a large beard, walk around barefoot in rural Vermont, and bellow into the woods, commonly being confused for Sasquatch. Oh, and write lunatic editorials smashing anyone I care to. Glory Halllaluha! (sp?)

Siege

Well, Harry, I'd say that 3rd Senate race must have been the 'Where the hell did he come from?' race from your perspective. Exciting, definitely. :)

And thanks for the compliment. ^_^

Well is it actually official? Since he did not post it in the candidate declaration thread, no, it is not but it's very likely.

thats why it says 'officially' instead of officially.

()
MIDWEST GOVERNOR ENDORSEMENTS[/u]

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – The Midwest Governor’s race against CheeseWhiz and BRTD is the Midwest first opposed Governors race in eight month’s, but seems to be an easy win for the incumbent.  As endorsements votes go, CheeseWhiz has already won the endorsement of the Right to Life League, the Atlasian Civil Liberty Caucus and the Atlasia Monster Raving Loony Party.  CheeseWhiz leads in the Independent Liberal Party, Progressive Caucus, Constitutional Union Party and National Rifle Association endorsements, while BRTD seems to have the backing of his own party, the Farmer Labor Party.

The AMRLP endorses you :)

()
          Populism has returned with a new party up its sleeve
With the official forming of The Christian Democratic party today, membership quickly jumped from zero to eight as of 10:00 PM EST today.The party holds many popular and influental people including  Senator Harry and SoS WMS. The party's quick popularity shows that it has the potential to become a powerful party very quickly. The party is focused around the populist ideology, a rather frequently seen ideology in Atlasia. Expect to see this party put up some rising stars and powerful candidates in October.

It is 8 now.

()
 LiberalPA announces presidential run
LiberalPA, a member of the Social Democratic Party from Pennsylvania, announced yesterday he will run for president this October, and said that he would announce his running mate choice sometime soon.  Other announced candidates include Wildcard and Mr. Hobbes, while DanielX has formed an exploratory committee.  Other citizens who are widely expected to run include Senator Sam Spade and Vice President Emsworth.

Huh?

()
CHURCH OF PD ELECTS POPE[/u]

NYMAN - With the election lasting eleven days, the College of Cardinals has elected his Eminence John Fitzgerald Cardinal Kennedy, in a vote of 9 for Cardinal Kennedy, 2 for non-PDist WMS and 1 for Emsworth.  Cardinal Kennedy has yet to accept, and it is still unknown wheither he will change his name or what name he will take if he does.  Cardinal Kennedy has the support of the following Cardinals in the last round:  Cardinal Emsworth, Cardinal Republic, Cardinal Ebowed, Cardinal Jake, Cardinal Independent, Cardinal Ernest, Cardinal Wixted and Cardinal 21.

()

Jake takes early lead in SE gov. runoff; Still way too close to call[/u][/size]

The polls are open in The Southeast runoff election which begun at 1:00 PM EST today. Jake holds a one vote lead as of 6:30 PM today. We will keep you updated on the current vote count:

Bono-2
Dubya-1
Jake-3

Updated To Last Voter:John Dibble

Current Prediction: Too Close To Call

This just in:  Cardinal Kennedy has accepted the Papacy, but has yet to choose a name.

NEWS WIRE -- Cardinal Kennedy has chosen the name Pope Praefectus Californicus I.

()


                            Atlasian Messenger Back In Action; Looking To Hire 3 Reporters

Finishing his campaign for president, Speed Of Sound has now stated that the extra time will give him a chance to begin writing The Atlasian Messenger again. THe Lieutenan, who just recently joined the Atlasian Army, is looking for 3 people to help him run the messenger. It will be on a first come, first come basis. Welcome back Atlasian Messenger!

                         Atlasian Messenger seriously going to start up again this time, still looking for some reporters

         With nothing to do (again) Ive started to re-start up the Atlasian Messenger (again). Enjoy! ^_^



       OP-ED Cheesewhiz gets big backings in Senate race


         This has been a great week for the Cheesewhiz for D3 Senate campaign, as they pick up some big endorsements. With the backing of people such as current D3 Senator PBrunsel and SE Lt. Gov Ian, it also seems that he will most likely get the endorsement from  Frm. Gov. MAS117. But Cheesewhiz also has some sizable opponents stacking up as well. He may have to fight off Gov EarlAW, Boss Tweed, and Senator Masterjedi as some major opposition, however, the overre-action of Tweed and earl to the secession incident will most likely lower credibility oduring the race, giving them little voice. Currently polls show the public leaning towards Cheesewhiz, but his opponents (Opebo and J-Mann) should be underestimated, especially since polling was done without Opebo on the list and before any endorsements or much campaigning. So with 2 big names backing him, and 2 major opponents silenced, things are looking up for Cheesewhiz The race should definetly be one to watch.

*The Atlasian Messenger is not endorsing any candidates, nor is SoS.

If you're trying to write in English, you're going to have to do a better job than this. 

Here is my more coherent rewrite of this same article:

This has been a great week for Cheesewhiz, one of the main candidates for the District 3 Senate seat, as he picks up some major endorsements. With the backing of politicians such as the current D3 Senator PBrunsel and SE Lt. Gov Ian, it also seems that he will most likely get an endorsement from former Gov. MAS117.  However, Cheesewhiz has had some major figures endorse his main opponent, J-Mann, a Christian Democrat from Kansas.  Such figures include NE Gov. EarlAW, Boss Tweed, and Senator Masterjedi.  However, the overreaction of Boss Tweed and EarlAW to the Midwest secession crisis will most likely lower their credibility during the race, and blunt the potential impact of their endorsement of J-Mann.


Would you mind explaining (as coherently as possible) exactly what you meant to say in this paragraph?  I can't make head or tail out of it.   

Oh, and another thing: could you show me where you got the information about these endorsements and the poll results?  You seem to be privy to this kind of information, and the rest of us (well, me) are not. 

yeah, it was a terrible article. Its been a while since ive written one of these things. Just attempting to outline some bumps in the cheesewhiz campaign that were smoothing out.

Maybe this is the Op-Ed you were trying to write?
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This has been a great week for Cheesewhiz, one of the main candidates for the District 3 Senate seat, as he picks up some major endorsements. With the backing of politicians such as the current D3 Senator PBrunsel and SE Lt. Gov Ian, it also seems that he will most likely get an endorsement from former Gov. MAS117.  However, Cheesewhiz has had some major figures endorse his main opponent, J-Mann, a Christian Democrat from Kansas.  Such figures include NE Gov. EarlAW, Boss Tweed, and Senator Masterjedi.  However, the overreaction of Boss Tweed and EarlAW to the Midwest secession crisis will most likely lower their credibility during the race, and blunt the potential impact of their endorsement of J-Mann.

Currently, polls show that D3 residents are leaning slightly in favor of Cheesewhiz, but J-Mann should not be underestimated, especially since these polls were made before any endorsements and campaigning by either of these two major candidates.  Yet, with two big names backing him, and the two other politicians (who endorsed J-Mann) having compromised their credibility prior to this upcoming election, things are looking up for Cheesewhiz.  However, this race should definitely be the one to watch.

That was exactly what I was trying to write, except you forgot Opebo.


BTW, perhaps you would like to become a writer for the paper?

Opebo is a joke candidate who will likely receive only one vote -from himself, or maybe BRTD's.  I think we can safely dismiss his candidacy as having no measurable impact on this race.


I appreciate the offer, but I am already busy trying to build the Christian Democratic Party, as well as doing job searches in real life.  I doubt I would have the time to juggle yet another responsibility.  So I am going to duck this one.  :)

You can probably use more practice writing more articles before you get back your groove, and I don't want to stand in the way of that.  However, when I read Op-Eds like this that I perceive as favoring J-Mann's opponent, I will be more critical than most. 

well, I appreciate the criticism (honestly) and if people feel fit to, they can certainly dismiss the next few articles, as they most likely wont be much better. I think im done Op-Edding for a while though. ;)

                             Libertarians back up and running

Today DanielX, well known Atlasian libertarian activist, announced the creation of a new political party, The Free Democratic Party. The party will focus around strong libertarian values (obviously), and it will have no foreign policies, with the exception of one thing:
Based off the german FDP, the party is to replace thier fallen party, the party that I cant think of at the moment. :D
The party seems to be off to a good start, holding 7 members, including Senator DanielX, and Lt. Gov Max Power, along with senatorial candidate, Cheesewhiz and Midest Gov. candidate Afleitch.

To read all about it: visit the founding thread here. (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=32521.0)

                     Election Reform Is Now On The Ballot


Today begins a week long vote on the ratification of an amendment which would legalize and put into effect optional secret ballot voting. We will keep track of the vote here.


MidWest Yea-4 (SoS, Ilikverin, Cheesewhiz, Dubya) Nay-1 (BRTD), Abstain-0

Northeast No Votes Yet;Note that voting for NE wont start till 12:00 A.M. EST

Southeast Yea-2 (TCash, Don) Nay-5 (Emsworth, Jake, Ebowed, Q, Preston) Abstain-0

Mideas Yea-4 (Joe Republic, Afleitch, Masterjedi, Dean) Nay-1 (Liberty) Abstain-0

Pacific Yea-2 (Gabu, Wildcard) Nay-3 (Jesus, True Indie, Alcon) Abstain-0

Completely Updated

BUMP!

Atlasian Messenger looking for new owner

I love this paper, but its clear im a little bit too busy to take proper care of it. I want to see it flourish though, and so im looking for a new CEO to take over. Just send me a PM with a reason why you should be picked (assuming more than one person wants this old thing :P) I really want to see it go out in style, and it hardly got the chance last time. The AM is up for grabs, so give me a PM.

You know you want to......;D

Wow, theres seriously noone that wants this thing?

I would have done if I'd lost last the election month. Though with the amount of resignations today you never know ;)

lol. Trust me, Id rather have a citizen like yourself in a position higher than CEO of the AM. :)

Well I may go back into journalism if I lose my Senate seat but I would be much more likely to restart my National Atlasian then anything else.

Presidential race continues to form

    SOMEPLACE--As the race draws closer, we get a few more surprises. Just earlier today Everett shocked Atlasia by announcing that she was running for President alongside the recently returning Peter Bell. The ticket is bound to make the next round of polling an interesting one. (speaking of which, Ill throw one together tonight)

    To make the race even more interesting, we see the unofficial forming of the Naso/NixonNow ticket. This sure to be controversial ticket will be just one of up to 6 tickets we may see on the ballot in June. Let the race begin!

Out with the old......

NEW YORK--The northeast region has seen itself the breeding place of new members. This cause has had the effect of bringing new fresh new candidates itching for change into races. In the Northeast senate race, Jerusalemcar5, the outspoken (not always a good thing :)) young man from the SDP has announced his candidacy. While he seems to have party support, he's gonna have a tough time rallying those outside of that realm.  Coincidentally, his opponent, Harry Hayfield, is also a rather new kid on the block. An honest and happy person, he seems ready to serve the people diligently. The main problem with the Hayfield campaign seems to be name recognition. Even newer than Jerusalem, he's gonna need to get his name known if he wants a shot at victory. Either way, it appears likely that the Northeast heart will get a feel of new blood come June.

   Internal issues causing problems for ILP

ILP HQ (around here somewhere)--WARNING: Editor knows/can find little about this happening. May result in very vague report and incorrect statements. Please indetify anything wrong with this immediately. Thank you. A few days ago, already brewing problems with leadership came to a head when Chairman Yates endorsed candidates for the party without allowing a party-wide vote. The final straw being this unpopular expansion of executive powers, TCash and former Chairman Jas quickly scratched thier names from party registration.
Yesterday, Yates resigned from his position of Chairman, citing a need for a change in party leadership. He also spent this time assuring the party and the nation not only that he meant no harm in his actions, but also that there were no hard feelings.

---

Thats all for now, Ill see you in about 10 minutes, eager to fix all the problems in that last article I wrote. :D

Peter Bell had quit weeks ago.

To be fair to Yates, I believe it may have been just the one endorsement, and he did not imply it was an ILP endorsement; however, he was the chairperson, which was clearly stated in his signature, and as such, I believe any chairman's personal endorsements would reflect on his party.

         Interesting results in early polling for President


Pleased with the number of voters so early, Ive decided to just release the reults today, since I have nothing else to post on. :p

total of responses: 38

Party Membership
ILP=2   ACA=3   SDP=4   CDP=9   FDP=3   PCP=2   Independent=11       Other=4 (mainly AMRLP)

Who will most likely be your top three preferences?
President True Dem/Senator Colin W   22.5%
   
Senator Yates/Senator Dave Hawk      22.5%
   
President Ebowed/?   25.5%
   
Lt. Governor Everett/Peter Bell      18.6%
   
Senator Naso/NixonNow   4.9%
   
Undecided   2.0%

Other   3.9%

Who will most likely be your first preference?
President True Dem/Senator Colin W   10.8%
   
Senator Yates/Senator Hawk   29.7%
   
President Ebowed/?   29.7%
   
Lt. Governor Everett/Peter Bell     18.9%

Senator Naso/NixonNow   5.4%
   
Undecided   0.0%
   
Other   5.4%

---

And so at this early point, the race is a dead heat, with Ebowed pulling out in top 3 preferences.

MidGard lies about rebellion

In an unsurprising turn of events, Midgard, the "official GM" of Atlasia, has claimed the lighting of the White House, despite it never happening. The paper also lied about AWN reports. The biased paper goes on to claim the injury of a five year old girl, despite no injuries in Nyman today due to gun violence. We're haring rumors that the paper is to be renamed "The Presidents Lie Outlet".

I'm sorry, the GM doesn't lie.  What the GM says is reality.  It is therefore impossible for him to lie.

Reporter killed!, AM names itself vigilante GM[/b]


Breaking news! While in Nyman, An Atlasian Messenger reporter has been shot and killed by a Secret Service agent. The reporter was covering a story about weapons being used against the peaceful objectors by government agents. More to come.

In another breakoff of the rebellion, The Atlasian Messenger is naming itself GM of Atlasia. Said the Presidents Press Secretary: "And we thought we were good at ridicuolous actions that made no sense!"

Atlasian Dictator bans  Atlasian Messenger, AM prints anyway; Poll shows Chinese prefer thier leader to Ebowed


Despite being banned by Atlasian dictator Ebowed, The Atlasian Messenger has decided to continue to print, despite rumors that Ebowed is to have the building bombed at 12:00 AM EST July 15th, 2006. CEO SOS was quoted as saying


In a quick online poll taken today, the Chinese have shown in a landside 90-10 that they would rather live uner the Chinese Government that de facto Dictator Ebowed. Other countries including N. Korea are being polled as we speak.

Kramer violates constitution, swears in as General of Armies

Cosmo Kramer was appointed General of Armies and accepted without a senate confirmation today, sources from the white house confirm. This constitution violation comes as no surprise as Ebowed goes on a rampage of fascism. Sources tell the Atlasian Messenger he may be back on drugs, mainly LSD. This would explain his slurred speech and belief that Monica Lewinski was 99.5th President of Atlasia. More to come.

Forces sent to destroy Atlasian Messenger, publishers escape unscathed

Today General Preston "Skippy" Kramer sent a "sizeable force" to destroy the buildings used by the Atlasian Messenger. The AM was able to get its stories and employees out of the building befores its early destruction. While on the run, the employees found an abonded printing press, where they printed this article, announcing they are still alive and publishing!

Yawn.  Publishers winning a battle?  What, did you throw a typewriter?

Actually, I forgot to change the title.

But that does sound cool.

"Skippy?"  Now you're going to die.

There you go, all fixed. Now dont you have some unconstitutional/idiotic things to be doing?

'Criminal' SoS shows up in Nyman with 'thousands', Earl in NY, Vlad in Texas and JCar in Maine, and others make same claims[/b]

Upon hearing of the attempts to arrest Atlasia's freedom fighters, the nation is going crazy. Each of the leaders of the rebellion has rallied thousands and thousands of people, many armed, but not firing. All of the leaders are being well protected. Speed OF Sound was quoted as saying:

The groups are growing by the second, and should soon match Skippy army, if not surpass it by the end of the night.

Ohh, a few thousand anarchists versus the entirity of the armies of atlasia.

I didnt say how many thousand. Wait till you get to Nyman. *laughs*

Military uprising in North Dakota

Soldiers at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota today mutinied in response to the unconstitutional actions of the President and appointment of Preston "Skippy" Kramer as General of the Armed Forces. Officers opposed to Skippy led military police as they arrested and detained forces loyal to the regime. Later an F-16 piloted by a rouge fired missles at a nearby evacuated supply depot and nuclear silo, presumably as a show of force.

More to come on the increasingly successful rebellion

I ask that the soldiers at Minot not get too out of hand at destroying property etc.

Umm, no it didn't.

Ahh, but you did.

And dont worry, Daniel, Ill keep an eye on them, I have control of the group in bodering Pierre.

Skippy sends troops to Midwest, slowed by mutiny[/b]

Skippy is slowly making his way to the Midwest Region, especially the Dakotas, but is being slowed by more and more troops taking the side of the rebellion. Shouts of "Our arms are for freedom!" can be heard echoing from his camps. At this point it looks like by the time he gets to Pierre, He'll hold 55% of his original army, which will be give him less troops than the rebels.

Rebel setting fire to White House not SoS[/b]


Despite claims by certain News Services, the rebel seeting flames to the White House is not SoS, but instead.....True Dem? more to come!

Nyman settles, White House is fine[/b]

The small group of pseudo-rebels under TD have calmed, a reporter tells us, and the White House has suffered almost no damage in the small, short fire. TD escaped after his group turned against him.

Freedom Fighters win, Skippy, Ebowed get off scott-free


A victory for the Crimson Revolution as Ebowed backs down, and gives a weak statement around 2:30 EST. Despite the victory for freedom, it seems the culprits, reston and Ebowed, will get off with no punishment. In fact, Ebowed will continue to run our great nation. I suggest that instead of a third term, we cut his second term short. As in cut it to end about......now.

Video proves that JCar didnt kill Harry
DEVELOPING STORY

Despite claims by other, incompetent news services, It has been proven that Senator JCar did not kill Harry Nelson. There is video proof, given to the Atlasian Messenger recently, that proves that JCar was at an enviromental rally outside of Augusta at the time of the murder.

Continuation of JCar story. More proof against Claim.
DEVELOPING STORY

More news has come out debunking the claims of the anti-SDP newspaper, Midgard. It seems that, despite thier claims, there are no grassy knolls near the area of the duel. This would make it impossible for JCar to have fired a shot from one.

Midgard is not a newspaper, it is the GM.

Actually, citing the White House announcement made a few minutes ago, those articles arent valid, so Im correct. Chew on that Skippy. Hate me all you want, Im still right. And youre still Skippy.

AM bought by Atlasia World News

Since the papers been bought (finally), Im locking up this thread to be kept for historical purposes.


We had a good run, and garnerend about 3300 views, a very impressive number. We were the home of a revolution, and we are famous for polling.  I enjoyed serving you all, and I hope you enjoyed reading. I love you all, even Preston (usually ;)). This is the Atlasian Messenger, signing off.

Good night, and good luck.


(Sorry for being so dramatic, I had to :))

Prez Election Results


Howdy gang! Miss us? :D I'll prolly forget about it afterthe election, but I figure the Atlasian Messenger can re-start for a little to keep results.

()


Ill keep major presidnetial updates, as well as eventually calling the election. No regionals though. Ill also update results as much as possible, though most of the evening tomorrow Ill be gone.

()

Why not keep the paper going?... I'd be glad to commentate.

We'll see how the election goes. Maybe I will keep it up. :)

()

Comorant Comorades Fight for Regional Recognition


Today, Lewis, citizen of the Midwest and supporter of the Comorant in its' bid to be Midwest Regional bird, began a campaign to challange the Midwest Governor-for-Life's decision to break a popular vote tie in last week's election. There has been no word from the Governor, but many supporters have rallied around Lewis, including VP-elect Jas. We will kep you updated on the situation.

Messenger Again Looking for Employees


CEO of the AM, Speed of Sound, has announced that he is looking to interview for some columnists. These writers will not write general news, but rather write specific themed columns.

Jas Already Delivering On Promises


In what is a very promising development, Jas is already beginning to outline one of what is sure to be many reforms to our current system. The VP-elect has decided to spread out his first reforms, tackling controversial issues, like Line-Item Vetoes, and very agreeable changes, like the Judicial Term Limit proposition. We will keep you updated on the progress of the Initiative, as well as the actions of the new Administration.

I'm not much for writing straight news. I'd much rather stick to political commentary. However, we could compromise. You could assign me what issue or going-on you wanted me to commentate on.

BREAKING NEWS!


This just in! Governor ILV has just announced that he is rejecting and will reject any attempt to add the Comorant to the Midwest National Bird Slate.


EDIT (12:53 AM 6/27/07): The Atlasian Messenger, while on very good terms with the Governor, urges all citizens, both of Midwest citizenship and not, to message the Governor and tell him to allow the Comorant to join the ranks with the Cardinal as Midwest Regional Bird. (Sorry Gov'nr :()


Check back to this post for any more news on this subject, as I will edit it in.

Also, I plan to use an edit in style for every article, so be sure to check back on current events often. (I will make new edits quite clear)

Election Disagreements Finally Decided in the Courts, Not on the Battlefield

In the last few days, Atlasia had its normal wave of post election backlash. Something was different this time though: No bloodshed. Instead, those who had something to say did it with a lawyer, not a gun. Both the Midwest and the Pacific are facing lawsuits in the wake of the election's end, by Ernest and King respectively. We will keep you updated on both cases.

Atlasian Messenger CEO Stays Up Too Late, Miscounts Votes


Apparently it was a tie. Im going to bed now. :P

While that would be great, I believe it is currently a tie.

Fixed

We're ready to project Al Gore the winner in Florida!

()

Hey now! Its mistakes like that that made this paper famous in the first place! :P

Keystone Phil Wins Election, Paper Actually Right This Time

True Democrat conceded the Northeast senate seat to Keystone Phil today after the Supreme Court found that Defarge's vote for TD did not count, thus handing the election over to KPhil. The Conservative movement and the newly formed ILAC, both of which Phil is a member of, are both very pleased with the victory.

Welcome, my friends, to The Speed of Sounds, the new editorial by Atlasian Messenger CEO and social activist Speed of Sound.


The senate has, in its many months as an institution, benefit this great nation with its better than expected effeciency, something that I have always taken pride in and still do (except for the Free Trade era :P).

But one thing has sat in the shadows, taunting senators, economists and more for quite some time. The necessity for a new budget is not unkown, and yet every term it gets pushed aside for something more important (And I too am guilty of voting to table the budget as a senator). In fact, here's an interesting tidbit. The last time we passed a budget? Late 2005! So whats the point? Good question, because Im afraid I just dont have an answer. The budget at this point is nothing more than a tri-monthly blemish on the Atlasian Government.


And so today, I call upon the senate to finally pop this insufferable numeric pimple.

I corrected your job title for you. ;)

Really I fully agree with this and will support the Senate completely in any attempt to do away with the creation of and passing of a budget as part of Atlasian policymaking.

Good to see you back in business Speedy. :) I look forward to reading the AM's take on Atlasian affairs.

On the budget issue, I agree entirely. I have posted the following in the Senate Protest & Analysis Thread:

I appreciate your choice to move this to the senate floor greatly, sir. :)

Atlasia has evolved itself over time to meet new needs and take on new challenges. Unfortunately, small loopholes and nitpicking have left many unhappy with Atlasia, sometimes to the point of leaving. The nitpicking, while often correct, has been a serious issue that has left to inactivity issues and difficulty confirming election results without a bloodbath be it in the court or on the battlefield. This weekend, Atlasia has a great opportunity to get rid of at least some of that nasty red tape. All across the nation, pople will be voting on the Fairness to Office Holders amendment, recently passed by the senate. The amendment will effectively remove the requirement for office holders to make thier state of residence known at all times, the exact rule that was key in the DWTL witch hunt. I urge my readers to go out to the polls, and fry off some of that beureaucratic fat!

bumping article as voting continues.


I would also like to give thanks to the Midwest, Pacific, and Mideast for all but passing the amendment, and I hope to add the Southeast and Northeast to this list soon! :)

Does the editor believe we sholuldn't know where our officeholders live?

I obviously support this measure, as most people will probably make where they live in the fantasy world known, and those who dont wont have to suffer the way DWTL did. Its just another way people who arent aware (AKA new people) or people who make one mistake and remove it by accident thrown out of office for political reasons. I dont like the option even being open, and therefore I support this amendment.

Letter to the Editor

Dear Sir,

In response to the post of the newly self-proclaimed King of Atlasia (who btw doesn't seem to have the good grace to let us know his state of residence despite his claimed office holding), I would say the following.

The amendment doesn't condemn the populace to a state of general ignorance as he so claims - there remain plenty of reliable ways of looking such information up. The SoFA maintains a Registered Voter Roll which is publicly viewable; the Office Holders page on the wiki is generally updated and includes states of residence; or one could simply ask the individual concerned which state they're in.

The provision requires all federal and regional office holders to comply. For the vast majority of office holders, the need to declare a state of residence is an irrelevance. What does it matter what state the Supreme Court Justices are from; or the SoFA; or the President; or the various Lt. Governors? All of these officers (and more) are subject to the provision, yet a brief glance will reveal that a significant number of office holders continue to breach it. Why? Because it's not important, it is irrelevant, superfluous information of no consequence. How are the people served by providing this information?

Finally, the provision has been disregarded on many occasions - only recently did it seriously arise and there few seemed genuinely concerned at not knowing the state of residence of the protaganist. It continues to be flouted and will continue to be flouted because the Court has ruled that it is not willing to reprimand anyone in breach of the provision - they obviously do not view it as a serious matter either.

Yours, etc.
Jas

Response to VP Jas's letter:


May I begin by saying that I am honored to have you writing in to the paper. You have been a fantastic success, and am proud to see you backing up the paper (or actually the paper backing up you) on this issue. You are absolutely correct. Its not like we are blocking the populace off from information, we're just stopping annoying witch hunts which only pop up when necessary. I hardly see why anyone needs to know this info other than in rare occasions, in which case it is readily available. Your perspective is crystal clear, and I appreciate it.

I hope you dont hate me for voting nay, SoS. I did notice you took my banner out of your sig.

That wasnt for negative reasons, though. I needed room for the Reading Resistance pic, and I hate having two rows of pics. I figured that, being an out-of-towner, my sig wouldnt do much anyway. I want to assure you that I have no hard feelings about it at all, and that I am supporting EarlAW in the District 1 run-off, and doing it proudly, my friend. :)

Yes, this week the Atlasian Messenger welcomes a new article: The Cheese of the Week! As a huge fan of all kinds of cheese, the editor in chief is proud to bring you this fine new addition to the paper.

Roquefort, one of France's most famous cheeses, is one of the few cheeses in the world that is made in just one town, Roquefot-sur-Soulzon. Along with many European cheeses, Roquefort comes from ewe's milk, instead of cow's milk. It takes three months to make a truly great batch of Roquefort, as it as blue cheese created by penicillium roqueforti mold. The mold is found only in nearby caves, which explains the legend of its beginning. According to legend, a shepard is eating cheese in a nearby field. When he sees a beautiful girl, he rushes out to meet her. When he comes back, his regular cheese has turned to Roquefort! The cheese is unique in that it has many different flavors, distinct enough in themselves that its almost like it goes through stages of flavor. It is a semi hard cheese with an edible exterior. So today, salute the French for thier wonderfully delicious (and very old [It was first praised by Pliny the Elder in 79 CE]) blue cheese, Roquefort!

Hey-O! I am proud to announce that The Atlasian Messenger has officially hit 7000 views! Huzzah! I would like to thank all of my loyal readers, as it is because of you! And so, in honor of this, I hereby declare this week Letter to the Editor week! All week I encourage you to post in the AM thread your letter to me regarding any Atlasian issue, be it senate actions, election results, or current Atlasian sports. You name, you write, I respond to it. Go to town, my spirited readers!

You are absolutely right. In fact, and I have just skimmed it, but I believe the last time Kevin wasnt invalidated was the August elections......which Kevin didnt vote in. :) Keep trying Kevin, keep trying, I love your enthusiasm and wish you the best in escaping the technialities.

It's actually pretty sad, hopefully he'll get it right next time. :)

I want to first thank Alcon for translating for me. :)

---

Me: Thank you for sitting down to talk to me today, sir.

kljackson: ...

Me: Recently you have been offered a spot on a presidential ticket with GPorter. Are you going to join him in his executive ambitions?

kljackson: ...

Me: I see. Do you have political ambitions of your own?

kljackson: ...

Me: Very interesting. You suffer from mass unpopularity, including being the most ignored member on the forum. How do you propose to overcome this obstacle?

kljackson: ...

Me: Another problem will surely be your experience. You currently have a rather low post count of 0. Do you believe you can make up for your lack of time in the Atlasian political arena?

kljackson: ...

Me: If you do run for an office, what will your platform include?

kljackson: ...

Me: And last, lets get a little personal: Whats your favorite food?

kljackson: ...

Me: hahaha.....very nice. I enjoy that too. Well, I appreciate you sitting down with me, kljackson.

kljackson:...

()

Sweet! Now I can make a new fancy logo for my award winning news organization!


()

I was being sarcastic :P

O rly? :P

Yes. Yes, really.

I dont always go looking through the senate legistion introduction thread, as I figure it will hit the floor eventually anyway. I was bored today, however, and so I decided to take a look. What I saw was pretty......retarded. Apparently these are "Who can out radicalize the other" days. Here are the last three bills to be announced:

---

Atlasian Flag Burning Amendment (DownWithTheLeft)

1.) Burning of the flag of Atlasia shall become a prosecutable offense
2.) Individual states may introduce there own penalties will cannot be less than a $500 fine and no greater than 10 years in prison

---

Mmmmmmmmm....I love the smell of my rights being wittled away in the evening. The fact that we are even gonna think about giving 10 years in prison to someone for burning a flag makes me shudder. Every other sophisticated country has shown that without a shadow of a doubt that flag burning is not somehting to be punished, as it is, while stupid, not harmful, and arguably not even un patriotic. Freedom of speech, since it is extended to dance, music, and the like, must sure be extended to this, especially when this is MY PROPERTY! I request the senate not even see this bill, as it would have to be a constitutional amendment, not a law. If it passes as a law, I will sue the senate's brains out, and win.

---

Bill to Raise the Retirement Age(Ebowed)

1. F.L. 13-15, Clause 1, which states, "A senior shall be defined as a person aged 60 or older" is amended to read "A senior shall be defined as a person aged 65 or older."
2. Persons under 65 receiving benefits shall not have their status altered.
3. This bill will take effect one month after it becomes law.

---

Without any serious proof of economic problems in Atlasia, I see little need for this. If there was proof that it was necessary to save the economy or Social Security, then fine, I would support it, but without it, all this is is an attempt to tkae 5 years of active enjoyable life away from Atlasians. Highly unecessary, and really quite sad.

---

Creation of Federal Holidays Bill (Ebowed)

1. January 22 is hereby Women's Rights Day, a federal holiday.
2. February 24 is hereby Mexican Flag Day, a federal holiday.
3. May 17 is hereby LGBT Rights Day, a federal holiday.
4. July 2 is hereby Civil Rights Day, a federal holiday.

---

First of all, I would like to begin with this: Mexican Flag day?!?!?! Isnt this Atlasian? Why in the world do we have a Mexican Flag day as a federal holiday. Unofficial holiday, sure whatever, why not? But as a federal holiday, I think we should stay with things relating to......us. :P As for the other parts, I find the first and third to be uneeded propoganda. If anything people will be annoyed by it, not truly celebrate it (at least not the third one). Federal holidays should be agreed upon by a healthy majority of Atlasians, I would think. As for the fourth, its pretty much just fluff, btu I do love a good day off, so I guess its off the hook.


Senators, you may as well take the days these bills come up off, as you jsut may use more intelligence doing the newspaper's morning sudoku than you will debating these bills.

I knew it. Zack hates gays and women.

Oh noes. Ive been discovered. -_- Ill just go change my party registration to KKK! nao...



Oh! And dont forget Mexicans!

Or does he just hate gay women?

I don't mind your hate for Mexicans. Everyone hates Mexicans.

Does the Atlasian Messenger have comment on any of my other bills?  I have a feeling there are a few the Messenger would be proud to recommend a vote in favor of.  However, I respect the paper's disagreement with my Flag Burning Amendment, but I will proceed as follows and see how the debate goes.  If it does not look to have the votes to pass, I will withdraw it.

Oh Im sure there are, Mr. Senator. I, however, am far too lazy to write an opinion on everything. And so, I pick big events, like this trio of questionableness to write on. Note that your bills dont even hold the majority of my criticism.

The retirement age was 65 until the relevant bill making it 60 was passed.  I don't know anyone who doesn't consider the clause which made it 60 to be anything but a mere oversight.

And yes, technically we are in a deficit although that is not my reason for wanting to raise the retirement age.  There is a lot of stigma associated with retirement, and practically forcing seniors into retirement earlier than necessary is quite unfair.

You know, you can work after the reitrement age. My grandfather is turning 70 and still works 3 (sometimes 2) days a week because he can. It isnt a "you cant work" its a "you dont have to if godforbid you'd like to have some Golden Years while you still can."

Today the Atlasian Messenger has a simple message for its viewers. As we close in on another series of elections, I urge my readers to, rather than search for change in candidates, be the candidate for change! Atlasia has seen an explosion of activity, new voters, and new ideas, but if this wave of new never finds itself in Atlasian office, it will all have been in vain. So go out and put your offer on the table, theres nothing to lose! At the same time, I would also like the voters of Atlasia to not put so much emphasis on experience this time around, as it often overshadows the real issues and even candidate quality. Lets see democracy truly in action this August.

I don't want to be a candidate due to my relative lack of experience in high offices, but I'm not enthusiasmed to say the least by any of the D4 candidates thus far. What do you propose?

I won't be running for Senate for the following reasons:
1. I'm running for reelection as Lt. Gov.
2. PBrunsel is doing a good job (See the National Weekly Atlasian, page 2 for our Senatorial vote rankings.)
3. Yet another unsucessful Senate run could ruin my credibility as a candidate.

What does BRTD have to do with any of this?

lol :)

Gotta love when a good op-ed is killed by a typo. Good catch though. :)


.........good for you?

Well, maybe a "Draft _____" campaign for someone else in your region that you think would be a good candidate.

Almost forgot!

bumpity >_>

Rarely do you find a senator that introduces as much legislation as Senator Ebowed, and you cant deny that. Lately, however, he has doubled up his efforts. Not only are the last four pieces of legislation introduced written by him, but they are also very good bills.

Lets take a look:

Water Purity Bill
1. No person shall supply for drinking any water that he knows does not meet the primary drinking water regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
2. Any person who violates clause 1 of this act shall be imprisoned for not more than 3 years, or fined not more than $10,000, or both.
3. Sections 1 and 2 shall only apply within the District of Columbia and all federal territories.

This is just a no brainer. The fact that we have let our water go unregulated this way for so long is kinda scary! Drinking water is something that is so used in our society; we cant let just anything put placed in a plastic bottle and sold! No more greenish tint to my H20.

Ratification of the Convention of the Rights of the Child Bill

1. Atlasia hereby ratifies the Convention of the Rights of the Child, as agreed to by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989, and signed by U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright on February 16, 1995.

Yeah, it is probably just ceremonial, but still. I think passing this will be a good sign to our commitment to children to give them a happy, healthy beginning to thier life. Never hurts to do some UN action, keeping foriegn relations up.

Cruel and Inhumane Treatment Bill

1. The government of Atlasia officially condemns the practice of torture and affirms the principles of the Geneva Conventions as well as its commitment to its prohibition of cruel, degrading, inhumane, and/or humiliating treatment of suspects or prisoners.
2. No evidence obtained from the use of torture will be admissable as valid in a court of law.
3. All branches over which the Atlasian government has jurisdiction, including the military, are required to accord to non-citizens all of the relevant rights of citizens (namely, the right to a fair trial and the right to be free of cruel, degrading, inhumane and/or humiliating treatment).
4. The government of Atlasia will refuse to return any person to their home country if there is any chance that they will be tortured.

This bill will be great for foriegn relations. Re affirming our strict following of the Geneva Conventions will have people supporting our war efforts much more assuredly. By the way, did I mention the whole human rights improvement thing? This bill goes above and beyond by saving internationals who are at risk of being tortured.

Racial Profiling Bill

1. No branch of law enforcement shall be permitted to use the practice of racial profiling in attempting to catch or determine suspects.
2. "Racial profiling" is defined as the use of selecting someone for targeting solely on the basis of their skin color, race, language, or nationality being perceived as more likely to commit a crime than someone of a different skin color, race, language, or nationality.

No duh bill number four. Discrimination is a horrible thing, and to allow it at the national level? Ugh. What a sickening thought. One step closer to complete equality! (We're gonna get thier eventually......seriously.....we are gonna....just...after this commercial break.........)

The Atlasian Messenger has gotten a hold of a leaked email being transferred inside the  Speed of Sound offices, which included this image:

()

Speed of Sound has yet to make any comment on the discovery. We will keep you updated as we get more news.

The hands of the government, at work again...

Well, you may run into some stiff opposition in the Progressive primary.

Here we go, Atlasia. Here's our shot. We have one chance to actually have our presidential elections matter! After years of the president sitting and signing, the revolutionary Colin Wixted, whose choice to be re-elected will bump me out of the presidential race with my endorsement, continues, along with Jas, to push executive involvement to a whole new level, not that thats difficult. The amendment passed by the senate this week allows for the presidential to offer a line item veto form of any bill back to the senate. Unlike a standard line item veto, the bil must go back to the senate, allowing for a checks and balances of sorts. This is exactly the kind of action against senate omnipotence that I pushed for under the brief time of the ILAC. Lets have a government of three branches; lets vote Aye to the line item veto amendment!

With a last vote by Boris at 11:21 Sunday night, Lewis took the lead in the first all-Atlasian senate election. Colin had held a three vote margin until 10:34, when the first of three last Trondheim votes crowned Lewis victor in what will certainly by seen as a surprising upset, as Colin led at one point by 10 votes. A giggle by Governor bgwah in the Examiner's thread sparks rumours that the late GOTV was fully run and funded by Lewis' new party of choice, the JCP.

Cool. Update. :)

Blast from the Past!

I like to pull it out of nowhere every once in a while just for the hell of it. Plus, No other news writer was up when the election was done. Dont expect it to last. :D