The Crusader (An Interview with Scott)

[Lumine]

"Kingfish" Follow-Up:

Insiders continue to leak against the Former President

Other Atlasians approach The Crusader

A significant public and private reaction has emerged regarding our past article, and since its publication at least three different Atlasians have stepped forward anonymously to speak to The Crusader regarding allegations against former President DFW. While we continue to protect the identity of our sources as an unbreakable rule and we have chosen not to publish some of the more sensational details presented to us, here is a follow up with some of the comments which we have received, the majority of which came from self-described “senior sources inside the Federalist Party.”

Our first source addressed some of the allegations we printed on our last edition, noting that having worked with the former President in the past it could be confirmed there had been attempts to force candidates out of elections in preference for candidates with closer links to himself, even expressing frustration when there wasn’t a chance to exert influence on them. This particular source also expressed as his opinion that the former President was “trying to consolidate the Federalist Party/half of Atlasian politics into his control”, exerting direct control over the Federalist Party in a concrete direction.

Far more controversial (and fascinating) were the comments made by later sources who also approached The Crusader on their own.

The second of them justified his decision not to go public stating “he has such an effect on party higher ups, people like us are afraid to go public”, describing Dfw as “the swamp”, arguing a cult of personality was being built inside the party with the party establishment being manipulated. A particularly poignant point made by this source was the claim that the Federalist Party as a whole was a victim of manipulation as fellow party members were “abused and intimidated” so former President Dfw could retain what was described as a “stranglehold in power”, and even went as far as describing him in harsh terms (many of which we cannot print) such as “dangerous.”

Finally, our third source went as far as describing himself as a victim in the whole affair. Starting by launching the accusation that the former President had “moved to the South in order to prevent any new members from gaining influence in the region with the biggest Federalist Party”, the source argued puppets were thus installed in multiple branches and levels of government. When press by The Crusader as to why exactly this source was a victim, the source claimed to have been intimidated to run for a certain office and sacrificed in another run for office, being “emotionally manipulated”. By far the harshest comments came when the source described Dfw as a “butcher”, “owner of an industrial pig farm” which allegedly “treats party members like pigs.”

This final and most eloquent source also expressed sympathies at President Fhtagn, describing her as a talented politician who "desires to rule as her own person”, but which faces a severe dilemma on account of “owing her victory largely due to Dfw’s machine” and the former President’s attempts (alleged directly by the source) at turning the President into a puppet.

There are more details which we have kept out both to protect identities and to their explosive nature, but as more and more Atlasians voluntarily approach The Crusader with further claims and details we wonder just how much of a story is there.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Look I am not going to get in the business of judging the merits of claims by anonymous sources.

But the main issue I have with the second "source" is this notion of the "establishment being manipulated". The Federalist Party for one doesn't have a stagnant group at the top. It is open operation largely, because I function best as someone who gathers a team of people together and I value their contributions equally. However results are often based on the level of effort and often times DFW just outworks everyone else. But that group has changed markedly and rather quickly. I find it more than likely that some of the very sources you cited are not only among this group currently, but very influential and perhaps more powerful than they reckon themselves to be. And if they are not, they could easily become a part of that team if they so desire it. My door is always open.

While I cannot speak on him forcing someone in or out of a race. Many people in the Federalist Party have encouraged our members to run for various offices. We have done a great job pushing new talent to the top, including I would point out Both DFW and Fhtagn, who were only in this game about 8 months when they became President and Leinad before them who was in this game exactly 12 months when he became President.

This is a democracy though and there are lot of races that are just not going to go our way. I am saddened that someone feels they were led to the slaughter in an election. It is our job to field candidates to give people an alternative and advance our agenda of strong regions, and empowering the main street economy, not the DC-Wall Street Cartel. And at the same time we are trying to get a chance for our rising stars to rise up and be the next Leinad/DFW/Fhtagn who can run for and win the Presidency. If someone feels that not enough effort was devoted on the part of the Party to their election effort than that is something we need to address, but some races are just uphill climbs regardless of effort.

Finally, and on that note of advancing people, we reached out to several people about Southern Governor before DFW made the move South.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

Yep, I was actually asked to run for Governor by Yankee and Leinad.

So I guess recruiting fhtagn to run for House (and later President), recruiting Pessimistic Antineutrino to run for House the first time, reaching out to multiple new recruits in both Fremont and the South to run for either regional positions or even Senate (Sunrise, Lechausser, TheSaint250, MTTreasurer, to name a few out of the several that I reached out to including to run for Governor in the first place.)

I am one of the main people in the Federalist who actually tries to run new people, I mean consider that half of all the new recruits in 2017 were my doing.....

I was hoping to work with you on your new project as you and I had agreed to in private after your Presidential run, but if you keep printing these tabloid stories, then shame on you. I mean even Wells paper has more legitimacy than yours and at least bothers to get the other side of the story before printing lol.

[Lumine]

I was hoping to work with you on your new project as you and I had agreed to in private after your Presidential run, but if you keep printing these tabloid stories, then shame on you. I mean even Wells paper has more legitimacy than yours and at least bothers to get the other side of the story before printing lol.

Mr. President,

If multiple and respected officeholders and citizens approach me of their own accord with a story such as this, then I feel it is my duty to print it. Personally I don't lose sleep on whether people see The Crusader as having "legitimacy" or not, and if someone is not interested on what we have to say or disapproves of it I would suggest they simply stop reading The Crusader.

If you feel your honor has been slighted (which seems likely as you took the time to insult me), feel perfectly free to invoke the Atlasian Duels Act and challenge me to a duel. I won't shy away from defending my newspaper.

Sincerely,

The Editor.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

I would rather permanently deregister than invoke an adam griffin law.

An actual newspaper, one that has any form of legitimacy, would consider the facts before publishing such literal trash.

I mean really, what actual newspaper publishes "anonymous sources" when they are probably being trolled (no seriously, I know who is doing this and you are actually being trolled right now)

[Lumine]

National News:

October 29th:

Is Atlasian credit about to be downgraded?

Budget Woes: With a deadline of October 31st almost upon us and despite having existed for over a month, it appears the Budget Process Committee is not yet ready to present a final report despite having already missed its original deadline of 30 days as stated by the Budget Process & Control Act. Even more concerning, only two days remain until S&P downgrades Atlasian credit from "AAA" to "AA" in an act that could cause significant economic damage to our Republic. Only two days remain for that deadline, and despite the brave efforts of Speaker Yankee to put together a more complete version it seems clear the October 31st version won't be met as their final report requires majority support in the Committee.

The Crusader, while understanding of the fact officeholders may be busy or facing other dilemmas, feels forced to condemn the lack of a stronger effort to get the budget done before further economic chaos is inflicted on Atlasia. Having said that, we also recognize the work placed on the issue by Speaker Yankee, and we express our hope a budget can at least be completed before our credit is downgraded yet again to "A" on December 31st.

[Lumine]

I would rather permanently deregister than invoke an adam griffin law.

An actual newspaper, one that has any form of legitimacy, would consider the facts before publishing such literal trash.

I mean really, what actual newspaper publishes "anonymous sources" when they are probably being trolled (no seriously, I know who is doing this and you are actually being trolled right now)

Well, Mr. President, if you won't go to duel then I am left to assume no unbearable offense to your honor has been made.

As I've said before, if you believe what The Crusader prints is "literal trash", then feel free to cease reading it, no Atlasian is forced to read it. If I publish a story, it is because I trust my sources and research and because I do not believe I am being trolled.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

I would rather permanently deregister than invoke an adam griffin law.

An actual newspaper, one that has any form of legitimacy, would consider the facts before publishing such literal trash.

I mean really, what actual newspaper publishes "anonymous sources" when they are probably being trolled (no seriously, I know who is doing this and you are actually being trolled right now)

Well, Mr. President, if you won't go to duel then I am left to assume no unbearable offense to your honor has been made.

As I've said before, if you believe what The Crusader prints is "literal trash", then feel free to cease reading it, no Atlasian is forced to read it. If I publish a story, it is because I trust my sources and research and because I do not believe I am being trolled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o51rzRr1GJY

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

National News:

October 29th:

Is Atlasian credit about to be downgraded?

Budget Woes: With a deadline of October 31st almost upon us and despite having existed for over a month, it appears the Budget Process Committee is not yet ready to present a final report despite having already missed its original deadline of 30 days as stated by the Budget Process & Control Act. Even more concerning, only two days remain until S&P downgrades Atlasian credit from "AAA" to "AA" in an act that could cause significant economic damage to our Republic. Only two days remain for that deadline, and despite the brave efforts of Speaker Yankee to put together a more complete version it seems clear the October 31st version won't be met as their final report requires majority support in the Committee.

The Crusader, while understanding of the fact officeholders may be busy or facing other dilemmas, feels forced to condemn the lack of a stronger effort to get the budget done before further economic chaos is inflicted on Atlasia. Having said that, we also recognize the work placed on the issue by Speaker Yankee, and we express our hope a budget can at least be completed before our credit is downgraded yet again to "A" on December 31st.

95% of what is left to be done is the estimates that have to be provided by the Game Moderator for the revenues, which have been sitting since October 14th. Also I believe AZ said that he pushed the deadline back to November 11th.

While I would have preferred a greater level of involvement from the committee as a whole, the notion that the hold up is on our end is flat wrong. Once we fill in the remaining gaps on the spending portion, our portion will be 100% done and the hold up will be entirely one of getting the Revenue estimates from the Game Moderation Team.

Part of the problem is that the Game Moderators in the past have used an activity factor to determine unemployment numbers, but this has created a substantial disconnect between the GDP numbers as posted and the unemployment rate as posted. So it is difficult to calculate revenues and even some expenses, when GDP would dictate basically 2016 RL revenue levels, and unemployment would probably dictate 2014 RL revenues or 2013 numbers. So I cannot calculate them myself, the Game Moderation Team has to decide how to calculate the numbers and whether or not to make changes to either the GDP or Unemployment calculations as well.

Without the activity factor, unemployment would be 5.5% or in that ball park, instead of the recessionary levels over 7% that the GM team has been using basically for the past year over the course of several Game Moderators.

I am encouraged to see AZ taking the lead to reform the way things operated with past GMs, and this is something that needs to be established firmly before we get further away from the reset, but that being said, you cannot punish the players with a deadline set by the GM when the Game Moderation Team has to rework the rules.

[Pragmatic Conservative]

National News:

October 29th:

Is Atlasian credit about to be downgraded?

Budget Woes: With a deadline of October 31st almost upon us and despite having existed for over a month, it appears the Budget Process Committee is not yet ready to present a final report despite having already missed its original deadline of 30 days as stated by the Budget Process & Control Act. Even more concerning, only two days remain until S&P downgrades Atlasian credit from "AAA" to "AA" in an act that could cause significant economic damage to our Republic. Only two days remain for that deadline, and despite the brave efforts of Speaker Yankee to put together a more complete version it seems clear the October 31st version won't be met as their final report requires majority support in the Committee.

The Crusader, while understanding of the fact officeholders may be busy or facing other dilemmas, feels forced to condemn the lack of a stronger effort to get the budget done before further economic chaos is inflicted on Atlasia. Having said that, we also recognize the work placed on the issue by Speaker Yankee, and we express our hope a budget can at least be completed before our credit is downgraded yet again to "A" on December 31st.

95% of what is left to be done is the estimates that have to be provided by the Game Moderator for the revenues, which have been sitting since October 14th. Also I believe AZ said that he pushed the deadline back to November 11th.

While I would have preferred a greater level of involvement from the committee as a whole, the notion that the hold up is on our end is flat wrong. Once we fill in the remaining gaps on the spending portion, our portion will be 100% done and the hold up will be entirely one of getting the Revenue estimates from the Game Moderation Team.

Part of the problem is that the Game Moderators in the past have used an activity factor to determine unemployment numbers, but this has created a substantial disconnect between the GDP numbers as posted and the unemployment rate as posted. So it is difficult to calculate revenues and even some expenses, when GDP would dictate basically 2016 RL revenue levels, and unemployment would probably dictate 2014 RL revenues or 2013 numbers. So I cannot calculate them myself, the Game Moderation Team has to decide how to calculate the numbers and whether or not to make changes to either the GDP or Unemployment calculations as well.

Without the activity factor, unemployment would be 5.5% or in that ball park, instead of the recessionary levels over 7% that the GM team has been using basically for the past year over the course of several Game Moderators.

I am encouraged to see AZ taking the lead to reform the way things operated with past GMs, and this is something that needs to be established firmly before we get further away from the reset, but that being said, you cannot punish the players with a deadline set by the GM when the Game Moderation Team has to rework the rules.

It was pushed back to November 10th.
As for revenue estimates encke is currently working on that and should complete that task soon.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

National News:

October 29th:

Is Atlasian credit about to be downgraded?

Budget Woes: With a deadline of October 31st almost upon us and despite having existed for over a month, it appears the Budget Process Committee is not yet ready to present a final report despite having already missed its original deadline of 30 days as stated by the Budget Process & Control Act. Even more concerning, only two days remain until S&P downgrades Atlasian credit from "AAA" to "AA" in an act that could cause significant economic damage to our Republic. Only two days remain for that deadline, and despite the brave efforts of Speaker Yankee to put together a more complete version it seems clear the October 31st version won't be met as their final report requires majority support in the Committee.

The Crusader, while understanding of the fact officeholders may be busy or facing other dilemmas, feels forced to condemn the lack of a stronger effort to get the budget done before further economic chaos is inflicted on Atlasia. Having said that, we also recognize the work placed on the issue by Speaker Yankee, and we express our hope a budget can at least be completed before our credit is downgraded yet again to "A" on December 31st.

95% of what is left to be done is the estimates that have to be provided by the Game Moderator for the revenues, which have been sitting since October 14th. Also I believe AZ said that he pushed the deadline back to November 11th.

While I would have preferred a greater level of involvement from the committee as a whole, the notion that the hold up is on our end is flat wrong. Once we fill in the remaining gaps on the spending portion, our portion will be 100% done and the hold up will be entirely one of getting the Revenue estimates from the Game Moderation Team.

Part of the problem is that the Game Moderators in the past have used an activity factor to determine unemployment numbers, but this has created a substantial disconnect between the GDP numbers as posted and the unemployment rate as posted. So it is difficult to calculate revenues and even some expenses, when GDP would dictate basically 2016 RL revenue levels, and unemployment would probably dictate 2014 RL revenues or 2013 numbers. So I cannot calculate them myself, the Game Moderation Team has to decide how to calculate the numbers and whether or not to make changes to either the GDP or Unemployment calculations as well.

Without the activity factor, unemployment would be 5.5% or in that ball park, instead of the recessionary levels over 7% that the GM team has been using basically for the past year over the course of several Game Moderators.

I am encouraged to see AZ taking the lead to reform the way things operated with past GMs, and this is something that needs to be established firmly before we get further away from the reset, but that being said, you cannot punish the players with a deadline set by the GM when the Game Moderation Team has to rework the rules.

It was pushed back to November 10th.
As for revenue estimates encke is currently working on that and should complete that task soon.

I would point that we are going to need time to get this passed in Both Houses. So I would advise that I need these estimates very soon.

As for the final product, we are not proposing any changes to anything, this budget will merely be a reflection of currently exists based on RL+Post Reset law. Once it is passed, we can then spend all the time we want debating changes, so I expect quick passage.

[Leinad]

Just chiming in to say that Yankee and dfw's accounts of the party's inner-workings are correct.

Lumine is clearly using sketchy sources, and it's kind of infuriating (but sensationalist to the point that it is kind of funny).

[Lumine]

Just chiming in to say that Yankee and dfw's accounts of the party's inner-workings are correct.

Lumine is clearly using sketchy sources, and it's kind of infuriating (but sensationalist to the point that it is kind of funny).

Well, you can't say this is a boring newspaper.

I do believe my sources would dispute being "sketchy", but I can't say more if they are to remain anonymous as they wish to.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

Being SoIA doesn't make you legit when you literally don't know what's going on

[windjammer]

I mean I don't understand,
It is an open secret that he made fhtagn become president through resignations etc etc.

So how can this fact be refuted?

[Adam Griffin]

Being SoIA doesn't make you legit when you literally don't know what's going on

I really don't understand what you're implying here. Are you saying the SoIA is incompetent or something, or am I missing the implication?

[fhtagn]

Anyone who has truly been actively involved in my administration knows and would tell you that there is no "co-presidency", or even any influence from dfwlibertylover in relation to my actions and decision making. The most he's done is help with GOTV during elections. We do not discuss policy (or very rarely at least), nor is he even one of the resources I turn to when I need advice.

He is not involved in the White House, nor do I have any reason to believe he wants to be. So anyone suggesting otherwise clearly has made no effort to get involved within my administration, and clearly knows nothing about me.

[rpryor03]

Being SoIA doesn't make you legit when you literally don't know what's going on

I really don't understand what you're implying here. Are you saying the SoIA is incompetent or something, or am I missing the implication?

I believe he is implying that the SoIA is the leaker.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Anyone who has truly been actively involved in my administration knows and would tell you that there is no "co-presidency", or even any influence from dfwlibertylover in relation to my actions and decision making.

I don't recall him ever being present for a NSC meeting, and ive attended close to 10 over the past few months.

[Simfan34]

We have an operational National Security Council?

[Terry the Fat Shark]

We have an operational National Security Council?

yeah check the White House threads, Yankee and Fhtagn had/have one, I was the President in between to not have one.

[Lumine]

A Farewell Surprise:

The Crusader hasn't published news for a few weeks now, although I don't consider it truly closed. That is about to change as I'm taking some time off from Atlasia (which includes my resignation as the Party Chairman of Citizens) and as a result The Crusader will be officially suspended until I return to active public life. Alas, I've been approached by sources regarding a fascinating story of betrayal, backstabbing and intrigue, which I feel is worth publishing given its current relevance. It will be up within the next few minutes.

[Lumine]

The man who would be King:

Sources leak the story behind Young Texan's statement

How far did the Senator go in sabotaging the President?

One of the more surprising developments in the past few hours (in the surface) is the sudden resignation of Senator Young Texan from the Federalist Party, even though the Senator (and former cabinet member) was believed to be a rising star within the party and a man with a strong future ahead of him on account of his latest political triumph on his run for Senate. Speaking with apparent regret, the Senator stressed his wish for a “new start”, explaining he had engaged in substantial plotting to rise in Atlasia and advance his own career and promising that he was placing that behavior behind. For some reason unknown to the Editor when he first read the Senator’s statement, this vague and unconvincing statement and this curious resignation was apparently enough grounds for redemption in a case all too vague to be fully understood.

The Crusader was approached by sources all too willing to explain the true situation that took place behind the scenes, a story we cannot refrain from publishing given the circumstances. From what sources have separately told The Crusader it seems that Senator Young Texan’s private misgivings and criticism of the President had risen to the point in which the relationship between the Senator and the White House had completely broken down after the midterms. The Senator was, so it seems, the ringleader of a concerted effort to sabotage the potential reelection of President Fhtagn by gathering votes and supporters for what we infer could likely be a primary challenge inside the Federalist Party. But rather than an open challenge, sources agree that the Senator decided to proceed by leaking private information and opinions regarding the President to Atlasian newspapers, among other shady moves to ensure the success of his coup.

Alas, the plot thickens further. Sources stress that President Fhtagn discovered the efforts of her would-be political rival and started an immediate full-scale investigation on the Senator with the support of prominent figures inside the Federalist Party. Even more, in the course of this investigation sensitive logs of Senator Young Texan’s talks with other Federalists were discovered by the President and leaked to other members of the party, supposedly detailing efforts to undermine the President while giving a large bolster to the Senator as a more ideologically consistent leader for the dominant party in Atlasian politics. According to these separate versions, the discovery of the presidential investigation was what led to Senator Young Texan to leave the Federalist Party, rather than a sincere damascene conversion.

Even more, it appears to be a commonly known fact in political circles that the Senator was undermining the President and her Administration all the way back to his service in Cabinet a few months ago, and involved in varying attempts to bolster his own profile by contemplating resignation and/or defection at an earlier point while openly misleading several prominent Atlasians on his actual intentions and actions. Normally such a story would require a greater deal of prudence from The Crusader, but seeing as the Senator has spoken with such eloquence about the need for greater transparency in Nyman, about the importance of a “work ethic”, and of being a “fighter” ready to fight back against those who were “in it to advance their own careers”, it seems to us that publishing this story is about as consistent as one can be with the views so bravely put forward by the Senator in earlier days.

In any case, it is a most fascinating case for a political "new start."

[windjammer]

After all these years it's funny how the federalists remain the same, composed by people who hate each others in secret lol.


But yes, my solidarity with fghtagn, from my experience, it sucks all the energy to have to deal with this kind of crap.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

lol

Very amusing, this is the same paper that happened to report on the allegations against me which were proposed  (and 100% made up) by YT and his allies, when you say he has been sabotaging "party people" for months, well yes, he tried to sabotage me with his allies through this very paper, quite a weird......twist?

Not to mention he went after me because he thinks I control fhtagn or something (as the earlier story perpetuated by them suggests) so it seemed very amusing to me. Guess this is how everything turns out in the end.