I Have Some Things to Say

[StevenNick]

As most of you know, I was recently confirmed by the senate as Secretary of Forum Affairs.  Although I have not yet taken office, I immediately began the process of examining Atlasian statutes regarding election law in preparation for taking my new post after I was confirmed.  My findings have startled me.  To be entirely frank and honest, the constitution is a mess.  It is an unmitigated disaster.

For instance, while there is a constitutional provision prohibiting vote "amending" in presidential elections, there is no such prohibition in the case of senatorial elections.  This calls into question the results of a number of past senate elections in which vote editing has been an issue.

There are also other problems in regards to powers granted to the Judiciary.  While the constitution in one clause gives the Judiciary the right to "make any ruling they see fit to uphold the Constitution of the Atlas Forum," it also inhibits the rights of the Judiciary in the subsequent clause which states, "The Supreme Court may only interpret the law, and if they pass any ruling that usurps the senate's lawmaking authority, they are abusing their power and therefore subject to impeachment."

There are other strange and contradictary statements in the constitution.  These other examples will be highlighted in the second of two reports that I will be releasing upon taking office as Secretary of Forum Affairs.

These revelations have led me to reevaluate my political allegiances.  It is unfortunate, but I do not believe that President PBrunsel has paid sufficient attention to the coming constitutional crisis.  There were warnings, some that I didn't even quite take seriously.  First there was the Supreme Court decision rendering all senate decisions unconstitutional.  This was meant in part to bring our attention to the breadth and depth of the problems within the constitution.  Then Peter Bell brought the constitution's problems to the senate's attention again.  While I made a meager attempt to get the ball rolling after Peter Bell's warning, I did not fully understand the crisis.  I do now.

I do not blame PBrunsel for failing to take action on this constitutional crisis.  I, myself, did not take sufficient action to remedy the problem.  However, I have an opportunity now to ensure that these problems are fixed once and for all.  We need a president who will take on these problems right away.

There are other concerns I have with the PBrunsel administration.  The China policy is a little over-zealous, to say the least.  The communication between the president and the senate, and between the president and his cabinet has been abominable.

Although I believe that PBrunsel is a wonderful human being, and would make a wonderful president in better times, I cannot give him my full support in his bid to win reelection.  I am announcing my support for KEmperor for President.  I have spoken with him and it is clear to me that he clearly understands the urgency behind constitutional reform.  It is for this reason that I have agreed to chair his campaign in the 5th district.

To those of you who may feel betrayed by this decision, I assure that I made this decision with the best interest of the forum in mind.  Perhaps when the constitutional crisis has been resolved, we can return to partisan politics.  Until then, I plan to work with KEmperor and others to make this forum work.

Thank you all.  God bless.

[StevenNick]

"I told you so" really does come to mind at this point.

However, I had planned to wait for the New Year personally before essentially pushing a massive drive for a Constitutional Convention to fix the damn thing because right now everybody is busy or away with Christmas and the New Year.

I'd just like to remind StevenNick that there is also a massive problem inherent with the impeachment process before he goes about trying to impeach anybody. My reasons can be found in this thread.

I am aware of the problems facing the impeachment process.  Honestly, when I read the constitution it wasn't even really clear to me whether or not the impeachment process was supposed to start with the senate or with the Chief Justice of the Supreme court.  The impeachment process is a mess.  However, I feel that is of such vital importance that all three members of the Supreme Court be active and informed to deal with the coming constitutional crisis.  I filed impeachment papers against MasterJedi just to make a point about activity in federal office.

[StevenNick]

"I told you so" really does come to mind at this point.

It does to me as well. We could have had several Nyman insiders who have been dealing with the constitution for about a year, but we chose PBrunsel.

I think we really need to abandon partisanship for the next couple of election at least (if not entirely) and focus on forum affairs issues.  It's time to stop electing presidents based on party and begin electing them based on expertise in regards to forum affairs.