The Crusader (An Interview with Scott)

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

sure looks like it. They rose up from the seabed, and are now rising above the surface, at least I think.

[RC (a la Frémont)]

Reform is old news.

ded.

[windjammer]

Lumine, you are awesome lmao

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

Wow, you guys never covered PUP but you covered Reform. SMH

[Lumine]

Wow, you guys never covered PUP but you covered Reform. SMH

Considering how satire and scandals is what I love to cover the most (along with the odd interview), consider it a compliment!

Lumine, you are awesome lmao

Thank you!

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Wow, you guys never covered PUP but you covered Reform. SMH

Considering how satire and scandals is what I love to cover the most (along with the odd interview), consider it a compliment!

Lumine, you are awesome lmao

Thank you!

Seeing Windjammer and Lumine praising each other "in this game",  just warms my heart.

[_]

Reform lived as it died, as a meme.

[windjammer]

Wow, you guys never covered PUP but you covered Reform. SMH

Considering how satire and scandals is what I love to cover the most (along with the odd interview), consider it a compliment!

Lumine, you are awesome lmao

Thank you!

Seeing Windjammer and Lumine praising each other "in this game",  just warms my heart.

Well,
I must say that if you would have told me 4 years ago I would tell Lumine something like that, I wouldn't believe you!

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Wow, you guys never covered PUP but you covered Reform. SMH

Considering how satire and scandals is what I love to cover the most (along with the odd interview), consider it a compliment!

Lumine, you are awesome lmao

Thank you!

Seeing Windjammer and Lumine praising each other "in this game",  just warms my heart.

Well,
I must say that if you would have told me 4 years ago I would tell Lumine something like that, I wouldn't believe you!

Amazing the way things have changed. You two should get together and make games where you continue to intrigue against each other, but set in European History.

[Lumine]

June 2018 Presidential Election (Poll)

Note from the Editor: The following poll is not meant to be a scientific, weighted reading of how the June Election might go, it is more of an exercise on current public opinion, predictions and the general ideas the public might have on an election which is still far, far away.

Also, I was actually rather surprised at having a decent result here, it did caught me off guard.

Is Atlasia headed on the right direction?

NO: 45%
YES: 33%%
Undecided: 22%

Should President Fhtagn run for another term?

NO: 67%
YES: 15%
Undecided: 18%

Who do you want to run for President?

(Candidates gathered by party due to many single votes,
candidates with more than one vote emphasized)

Various ALL: 23%
(Lumine: 18%)
Various FED: 21%
Various PUP: 21%
(TSA: 5%)
(Weatherboy: 5%)
Various IND: 11%
Various PAX: 5%
Various LAB: 5%
Other: 11%
Undecided: 3%

Full List: Lumine (7), TSA (2), Weatherboy (2), single votes for Santander, Truman, Yankee, Mr. Reactionary, Pericles, TheSaint, 1184 AZ, Mike Wells, Fhtagn, Winfield, Haslam, Poirot, Peebs, Wulfric, Henry Wallace, Blair, wxtransit, DFL, Adam Griffin, ZuWo, LouisvilleThunder, Siren, and a few current non-citizens. 

Who do you not want to see running for President?

Pericles: 21%
Fhtagn: 12%
YoungTexan: 8%
DFW: 8%
Lumine: 5%
PiT: 5%
TSA: 5%
DTC: 5%
Mr. Reactionary: 3%
LouisvilleThunder: 3%
AZ1184: 3%
Bagel: 3%
Other/None: 16%
Undecided: 3%

Who do you think will become the next President of Atlasia?

Mr. Reactionary: 15%
LouisvilleThunder: 11%
Pericles: 7%
Lumine: 7%
Fhtagn: 4%
PiT: 4%
The Saint: 4%
Unknown: 26%
Other/Unnamed: 22%

Which is the single most important issue for you?

Game Reform: 11%
Foreign Policy: 11%

Education: 7%
Activity: 7%
Inequality: 7%
The Budget/Deficit: 7%

Gun Rights: 4%
Gun Control: 4%
Discord/Transparency: 4%
Environment: 4%
Toxic Game Environment: 4%
The Future: 4%
Partisanship: 4%
Kindness: 4%
Abortion: 4%

Other: 14%

[Terry the Fat Shark]

woo I'm not the most despised

[_]

Interesting

[Lumine]

The Crusader is pleased to announce new interviews are finally coming back this weekend, with Lt. Governor Mike Wells and Senator Pericles. We also extend a warm welcome to the Atlasian Star into the media world, and wish them the best.

[Lumine]

A Interview with Pericles:

Lumine and Senator Pericles sit down to discuss current politics:

Lumine: Welcome to The Crusader, Senator, it’s a pleasure. I think we can agree you weren’t necessarily a protagonist in Atlasia before your presidential run, and yet you have taken a far more prominent role since then. What do you make of the last three months for you personally?

Pericles: I have indeed become more prominent in national politics recently and am a new player on the scene. That doesn't mean I was inactive before-I had plenty of accomplishments prior to my presidential run, just I was the kind of person who was focused on doing their job and not electioneering. I believed that the left had the leadership in place to do well and just assumed things would be OK. However, when I actually looked into the situation, it was clear that things wouldn't be OK by themselves and that there was a role I needed to fill. I'd have loved for Labor to have had a presidential candidate ready so I could just keep on being a Senator-but Labor was in no position to win and really had no future. So I decided to step up and take the opportunity, and I'm proud of the campaign I ran. This has been a very interesting and invigorating experience and I believe my campaign sent a clear message to the political class and Atlasia and the left are better off because of it.

Lumine: For the first time in quite a while there’s several left and center-left parties fighting for supremacy, quite a fascinating sight. Why is PUP the choice for you as opposed to Labor or Peace?

Pericles: I'm well aware that the left is in flux. As you may know, I was originally a Labor member, I was the party's last Senator. I really hoped that Lanor could survive and tried to revive it-you may not remember but I was quite stubborn about preserving Labor. However, I realised that Labor couldn't be preserve. Let's face it, Labor isn't making a comeback. Sadly, the Labor Party is dead. And PUP is the logical replacement for that role. We've got the broadest appeal and can unite the left, and we've got a lot of momentum, as well as being, as I've found, a very friendly, nice and great party. If you are anything left of centrist, PUP is the natural home for you. And if you need more convincing we've got a cool acronym and a cool mascot in the red panda.

Lumine: Now, you’ve been very vocal in asking for the resignation of Attorney General Oakvale, even if the Chief Justice is on record expressing his concern over attempts to meddle with the Ninja trial. Do you think concerns over your comments are warranted?

Pericles: No, people shouldn't be concerned. Ninja will be found innocent and so I don't need to influence the outcome of that process. However, the charges are unwarranted and unjustified. What I'm saying is that I've been proven right about Oakvale. He lacks the judgement to serve as Attorney General and enforce the law fairly. People who are bad at their jobs should be fired. Oakvale is bad at his job. Therefore, he should be fired. I think this issue allows people the chance to realise I was right about Oakvale and to reexamine whether nominating and confirming him was a wise decision. Because frankly, it wasn't.

Lumine: Let me ask you about the Discord issue. What do you think about the idea of conducting official business on Discord or another such platform?

Pericles: It absolutely is inappropriate. Formal official business has to be conducted on Fantasy Government, not any other forum or medium. Ninja0428 isn't a criminal but he did make a mistake in his actions on this issue. That's why I'm sponsoring legislation to resolve this issue by codifying this as a requirement under federal law and urging regional governments to do the same. This is how we should tackle this issue, rather than engaging in petty partisan point-scoring.

Lumine: Without wanting to get too personal, it is a fact that the latest Crusader poll on the June Election had you leading those who the public do not want to see running. Other Atlasians on the left have also been critical of your style as being abrasive at times. What would you answer to this perception?

Pericles: Ah, I do understand that not everyone loves me. First of all though, I'd like to add a caveat that only 21% of people actually don't want me to run. I'm not running, so lucky them, but I'm not an unpopular person. Sometimes though arguments can get heated and I am passionate in defending what I believe in, rather than just following the polls. I'm a principled person, and not everyone shares that. I do recognise that sometimes I make mistakes and occasionally in the heat of the moment I've said things I regret, and I acknowledged in my concession that I made errors in the campaign. But this issue is overblown, I've over performed in every election I've ever run it and I make a constructive, positive contribution to Atlasia.

Lumine: Senator, it’s not secret that you don’t seem to be in good terms (even remotely) with President Fhtagn, offering not only political and issue-based criticism but also ones that some have characterized as personal. So to shed further light on this, what is your single biggest concern or criticism towards the President?

Pericles: I would like to say that sometimes I did go too far there and that in particular was an error I made. However, it is valid to say that the President has been very negative and dishonest in her arguments. I do hope she can try and engage more constructively and honestly with Atlasians in the future, and I know that many people have said they've lost respect for her recently. However, primarily people should be focused on policy and reckon with which party has the best vision for Atlasia. And it's clear that the Progressive Union Party has that vision and the Federalists don't, and they're focused on negativity and point-scoring rather than having a strong vision or agenda for the coming term, so that's the real shame and something that isn't good for Atlasia.

Lumine: Finally, I’m bound to ask about this: What do you make of the upcoming June Election? Will you take an active role on it?

Pericles: June looks like it'll be a very interesting contest and one that is very important for Atlasia's future. I'm not running in it and I don't plan on running for President. However, I will support the PUP nominee, at least judging from our party right now we have a lot of good candidates and people who will do well as President, and I do plan on continuing to stand up for what I believe in in Atlasian politics. I'm running for another term in the Senate, and after that election I can think about June further and discuss how it's going to go. That's a bit far away though right now to be able to say much about, and you know, things change, so we'll see what happens.

Finally, as a comment, thanks for giving me this interview. It's been very interesting, and I'll keep being an avid reader of The Crusader. The press has a noble mission in informing Atlasians of the truth, and so keep up the good work both here and in the Senate!

Lumine: Thank you, Senator, a pleasure to talk to you.

[wxtransit]

Just to clarify, I wrote and sponsor the legislation Pericles is speaking of.

[Pericles]

Just to clarify, I wrote and sponsor the legislation Pericles is speaking of.

Yes, good on you and I've said that previously, but I probably should have this time. Thanks for clarifying.

[Lumine]

The Trial of Speaker Ninja (Poll)

Do you agree with the Attorney General's decision to file charges?

NO: 71.4%
YES: 21.4%
Undecided: 7.2%

[Lumine]

Labor Party is still dead:

Our top story tonight

[Lumine]

Breaking: Labor Party is still valiantly holding
on in its fight to remain dead

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

Truly riveting news.

[Pericles]

Truly riveting news.

[_]

And the Labour Party is, totally missing

Video

[Lumine]

A Interview with Mike Wells:

Discussing the Left, the Senate and Discord:

Lumine: The last time I interviewed you was back in February 2017, when you were Governor and running to be Labor Chair. How much would you say you’ve changed in the span of a year?

Wells: The past year was an experience for sure, in Atlasia at least. After losing the run for Labor chair, I believed I needed more experience. I spent a total of one year as governor, and I must say that I got a lot of experience there. I have already said this or something to this extent to others before, but I was always annoyed that I seemed to be more active than most of the people in the Assembly. I held everyone, including myself, to a high standard. In fact, I still do. In that sense, I suppose I haven't changed, but I think that even if the change isn't really clear on the surface, the perspective I have of Atlasia is of a much greater depth than it was a year ago (I can only imagine what it must be like for a Yankee) and the reasoning behind my viewpoints is coming from more experience as well. It may sound like I'm repeating myself there, but I think with some people, it seems to me like they manage to have the former but lack the latter.

Lumine: One of the most curious developments across the past year has been the decline and fall of the Labor Party, and the reconfiguration of the left as whole. What went wrong with Labor?

Wells: I don't think any one thing went wrong with Labor. Instead, it was a death by a thousand paper cuts, with some stab wounds as well, if I may mangle a metaphor. Looking back, I can see a bunch of things that could have been done better, starting with the February 2017 election, and moving forward from there. The most notable event in my mind is that we tried to expel AZ, which I think was a mistake. Of course, there were also things that Labor couldn't control, like dfw's insane campaigns, which pushed down Labor both in registration and number of officeholders.

Lumine: The Progressive Union Party has achieved some significant momentum over the last couple of months to arguably become the second most powerful party, but let me ask you this, why should Atlasians prefer PUP against alternatives such as Peace or Labor?

Wells: At this point, Labor isn't coming back, so I'm not sure why anyone would join it. Perhaps in five years or so it can be the new meme party for people to join, so I could see joining it then. As for Peace, I think Peace is a great party run by a collection of my favorite Atlasians, but I find that PUP also is great for having connections in Atlasia. By which I mean the reason I'm in it is so that I can have discussions with Trumanand dfw, who both have good insights into policy and Atlasia that are good to have. I suppose you could be in the Federalist Party for Yankee or in the Alliance Party for Lumine and it would be the same logic. But, PUP is the party that most fits my left-leaning ideology.

Lumine: You’re running for Senate, of course, in what promises to be a very engaging race. So let’s go to the more critical side first, what do you think Senator LouisvilleThunder has done wrong?

Wells: I don't want to get too negative when it comes to my opponent, but I have found that his activity isn't as great as he might claim it is. I think that he lacks in two important areas: debate and writing bills. When it comes to debate, he often offers very little in the way of support for his position and really just offers his position with something along the lines of "this is good for Atlasia" and some other nice sounding words. I assume that he keeps accidentally hitting post before finishing them and just leaving it at that. And there were two times, once while he was in the House on a bill regarding police brutality and another time just recently with the End to Privateering Amendment where he was the sole Nay vote without any other posts in the thread. Does he have an explanation? And the bill writing issue is basically the fact that he doesn't. And I do. Of course, I'm not trying to bring down LouisvilleThunder here. I think I'd be happy if I lost this campaign but made LouisvilleThunder a better Senator while doing it.

Lumine: And in the opposite side of the argument, what would you say you can offer to Lincoln as their representative in the Senate?

Wells: As Lincoln's next Senator, I will bring new ideas to the table. I think that with the issue of gun control making the rounds, measures to decrease gun violence are sorely needed. I plan on coming up with a solid plan to do that once I get elected to the Senate, that involves deterrences to gang violence and reaching out to people who want to improve and rehabilitating them. We must also focus on suicide prevention and better mental healthcare services to ensure that the high suicide rate is dealt with. If we are looking for specific instances of gun control, age restrictions and background checks are reasonable solutions to mass shootings. This is the bill I am currently researching and writing for Lincoln, but I think that it could easily get applied to Atlasia. And this is just one example of the things I want to do, I may turn to immigration after I'm done with gun violence.

Then we have my record of activity, which was a major component of my announcement speech. I made activity a central part of that speech with the intent to draw a contrast between me and LouisvilleThunder, and the rest of the speech had a similar objective. However, I don't want to turn the campaign negative. We must focus on the merits of the candidates, and not their negatives. I think that my strong record of experience in Atlasia, my commitment to activity, and of course my character make me a great candidate for Senate.

Lumine: The Discord issue – let’s call it Discordgate for fun – has taken the center-stage these days, even involving a trial for treason against a sitting officeholder. Leaving aside private conversations, should Discord be a place for official business? 

Wells: I think that Discord should be an option that is always kept open, but I don't see many good reasons why we should do things on Discord when we have Atlas, and I don't think anyone wants things to happen on Discord, except dfw and maybe some others. One recent development as a response to the minor slip-up that Ninja made - and might I add that he was a fantastic Speaker regardless of one single motion - is that we are legislating the use of Discord. I don't think that is at all necessary but I am willing to work with it, and I have already with an amendment to the bill that Jimmy introduced.

Lumine: Mr. Wells, the latest Crusader poll on the June Election had you receive a vote in terms of candidates people want to see running. So what do you make of the June Election, and do you have any plans yourself to be involved in it?

Wells: I don't want to run for president in June. Some people have tried to recruit me very recently, and I have turned them down. I wish anyone who does run good luck on the election, and I think that PUP has a very good shot at winning the election. I hope that the election is enjoyable for everyone involved. It sure is exciting to see what will happen.

On that note, thank you Lumine for granting me the opportunity to participate in this interview. It was a good experience.

Lumine: And you have my thanks as well for a fascinating interview.

[Wells]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Maybe also a better person as well. I wouldn't joke about the transgender community in the way LT does.

I also didn't know about that. Who knows what else I don't know?

[Lumine]

Special South Senate Election - Poll:

Note from the Editor: Responses were limited, so please don't treat this as anything resembling an exact poll. Results are, however, rather interesting.

Who will you vote for in the upcoming Special Election? (South)

Mr. Reactionary: 45%
Weatherboy: 33%
Other: 11%
Undecided: 11%

What is your personal view of Mr. Reactionary? (South)

Favorable: 78%%
Unfavorable: 11%
Undecided: 11%

What is your personal view of Mr. Reactionary? (General)

Favorable: 70%%
Unfavorable: 15%
Undecided: 15%

What is your personal view of Weatherboy? (South)

Favorable: 78%%
Undecided: 22%

What is your personal view of Weatherboy? (General)

Favorable: 85%%
Undecided: 15%

Who would make a better Senator? (South)

Mr. Reactionary: 56%
Weatherboy: 44%

Who would make a better Senator? (General)

Mr. Reactionary: 46%
Weatherboy: 46%
Undecided: 8%

Both candidates have been subjected to Presidential speculation. If they contested the June Presidential Election, how would you vote? (South)

Mr. Reactionary: 45%
Weatherboy: 10%
Other: 45%

Both candidates have been subjected to Presidential speculation. If they contested the June Presidential Election, how would you vote? (General)

Mr. Reactionary: 39%
Weatherboy: 22%
Other: 39%

How would you describe Mr. Reactionary in one word? (General)

Efficient (2), Obsessive, Lawyer, Tryhard, Hardworking, Winner, Ok, Responsible, Lit, Alpha, Intelligent, Active.

How would you describe Weatherboy in one word? (General)

Don't Know, New, Who?, Fun, Coworker, Me, Ambitious, Lit but Oof, Betacuck, Progressive (2), Vague, Better Policy.