Confirmation Hearing: Harry S. Truman for GM (Confirmed)

[Associate Justice PiT]

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     Senators are invited to ask questions of the nominee.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I am at your service, senators.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Do you prefer foreign stories or domestic stories?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Does the nominee have enough information and resources available to pick up where AZ left on the budget?

[Anna Komnene]

Would you make any changes to how the GM department is run. If so, what changes? What will be your priorities as GM?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Do you prefer foreign stories or domestic stories?

Oh, I couldn't possibly choose; I love them both, for different and complementary reasons. From all the enjoyment I derived from my time as Secretary of State, I'm looking forward to working in foreign relations from the other perspective; on the other hand, I feel domestic stories are an underdeveloped element in game moderation, and I hope to be able to move beyond the standard trifecta "terrorism, separatism, and natural disasters" that have been the modus operandi of past GMs on the domestic front.

Does the nominee have enough information and resources available to pick up where AZ left on the budget?

At the moment, no, but then I was only nominated two days ago. I am in the process of reaching out to my predecessors in the game engine and relevant officers of the cabinet to collect as much information as possible on this and other topics, and completing the budget estimate will naturally be among my first priorities upon taking office.

Would you make any changes to how the GM department is run. If so, what changes? What will be your priorities as GM?

Yes, several. I think it can be fairly stated that my predecessor was supremely successful in asserting the game engine as an active and relevant force in the national drama, and many of the policies from his tenure I intend to carry over; but of course, I also have my own ideas, and I will run the office after my own fashion.

As I said earlier in response to the Secretary of State, domestic narrative is an underdeveloped genre in the game, going back long before the reset. Generally, we see three sorts of stories on the home front: terrorist plots, secessionist movements, and natural disasters. Personally, I don't find these sort of unambiguous calamities very interesting; these stories tend to burn short and bright, and in the long run have very little impact on gameplay or the functions of government. Of course, hurricanes and hate crimes will continue to happen, but I hope to be able to press beyond these obvious battles to new ground. One way to do this would be to probe the relationship between state and regional governments, which is largely undefined, or to present legal challenges to controversial legislation passed by Congress or the regions. The unemployment calculator developed by Encke is an excellent improvement to what was previously a highly subjective and inconsistent factor in the game, and I intend to continue using it. Another innovation (one shamelessly stolen from Lumine's work on the Elections and History Games board) would be to introduce a number generator to simulate random "acts of God" — both for good and for ill.

On the foreign policy front, while I disagree with some of my predecessor's narrative decisions (for instance, I feel the Chinese were given an unrealistically strong negotiating position during the Second Korean War), I intend to continue to model an active and noisy world in which Atlasia is but one country of many. As with domestic policy, I'm not personally enamored with "spotlights and cymbals" storytelling devices, preferring more subtle developments to doomsday narratives. In the same breath, I intend to hold to the principle that every action begets and equal and opposite reaction — so if y'all order a preemptive strike against against a nuclear power, expect things to get very messy very quickly.

[Pragmatic Conservative]

If the senate and nominee don't mind I would like to please take the opportunity to ask the GM a few questions. For transparency sake I believe the nominee to be highly qualified and think he would do a great job as GM.

1. How would the popularity of certain events/stories with the people of Atlasia impact your story development and what events you choose to simulate? (This is mostly in regards to wars/armed conflict oversees, but could be for things like mass shootings and other potentially unpopular events; essentially would you take into account how popular something might be before publishing it.)

2. Are their certain bounds you would not cross when writing stories? if so what would these be?

3. If a major controversy or uproar came about because of a story you published how would you handle that situation?

4.What kind of GM team would you assemble if any and how would you interact with it?

5. Do you believe the GM should engage in partisan activities such as sending out GOTV PM, publishing partisan material (speeches), running for office, launching attacks against other politicians/policies, and filing lawsuits? Would you engage in any partisan activities as GM?

6. How long do you envision yourself staying in this roll as if confirmed? 

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I certainly don't mind more questions; fire away!

1. How would the popularity of certain events/stories with the people of Atlasia impact your story development and what events you choose to simulate? (This is mostly in regards to wars/armed conflict oversees, but could be for things like mass shootings and other potentially unpopular events; essentially would you take into account how popular something might be before publishing it.)

Not at all. I will make decisions about which stories to publish and which narrative arcs to pursue based on two factors: realism and game mechanics. Whether people like those decisions is, from my perspective, irrelevant; if I wanted to be popular, I would have retired from public service and started a meme factory long ago.

2. Are their certain bounds you would not cross when writing stories? if so what would these be?

Yes; I will never publish a story reporting the death or permanent incapacitation of a registered voter, nor will I use the powers of my office to "punish" the people I don't like. I will also refrain from publishing stories reporting that the president/Congress/other actual Atlasians have done things they have not actually done (i.e. you're not going to see headlines like this coming out of my GM office). Realism is a matter of its own, but generally, don't expect UFO stories or ISIS leading a ground invasion of Detroit either.

3. If a major controversy or uproar came about because of a story you published how would you handle that situation?

I would of course be willing to speak with the involved parties to attempt to resolve any confusion or misunderstandings that may be the cause of said controversy; what I will not do is pull a story because it polls poorly with the politicians. In the past, GMs have responded to controversy by backing down, which has only weakened the office and harmed the game; while the game engine has a responsibility to stay within the bounds of realism, and that responsibility must be taken seriously, mob rule cannot be the mechanism by which we enforce this standard.

4.What kind of GM team would you assemble if any and how would you interact with it?

I will select lieutenants whose strengths complement my weaknesses; for instance, while I'm probably no worse a mathematician than your average poster, mathematics are definitely not my area of expertise, so that's an area to which I would look for the assistance of a deputy GM.

5. Do you believe the GM should engage in partisan activities such as sending out GOTV PM, publishing partisan material (speeches), running for office, launching attacks against other politicians/policies, and filing lawsuits? Would you engage in any partisan activities as GM?

"Should" is an interesting question — I would note that we've had GMs in the past who simultaneously chaired political parties — I don't intend to run for office or play much of any role in party politics in the coming months, regardless of whether the Senate should see fit to confirm me. I will still continue to vote, of course, and may make my views known on issues near and dear to my heart (constitutional law, for instance), but if I wanted to be a politician right now, I wouldn't have taken this job.

6. How long do you envision yourself staying in this roll as if confirmed? 

As long as I am able to.

[PPT Spiral]

While we have a Deputy GM role in place to help you out, do you see yourself as the kind of potential GM who would instigate storylines on your own most often, or are you more of a collaborative figure by nature? Would you first reach out to other important figures in government such as those of us in Congress to create stories?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

While we have a Deputy GM role in place to help you out, do you see yourself as the kind of potential GM who would instigate storylines on your own most often, or are you more of a collaborative figure by nature?

I prefer to think of myself as a benevolent monarch — I'm always open to new ideas and will encourage my deputy to be innovative and proactive, but at the end of the day I will be in control of the story line and the rest of the game engine will report to me.

Would you first reach out to other important figures in government such as those of us in Congress to create stories?

I'm not entirely sure I understand what you're asking. I will, of course, endeavor to keep Congress and the administration up-to-date and offer my assistance where it is possible and appropriate, but I'm not going to pass around a questionnaire asking what the unemployment rate should be.

[Wikipedia delenda est]

Do you have any ideas for policy simulation, such as simulating how bills affect economic and unemployment figures so that they are not as arbitrary?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Do you have any ideas for policy simulation, such as simulating how bills affect economic and unemployment figures so that they are not as arbitrary?

Broadly speaking, I'd like to extend and expand the formula developed by Encke during his time as Deputy GM to calculate unemployment numbers and other economic statistics based on a variety of real game factors, as opposed to the old method of "nobody posts in Congress so unemployment increased by one zillion percent I guess LOL?"

[Associate Justice PiT]

     A few days have passed without comment, so I am issuing a final call. If there are no more comments in the next 24 hours, I am going to open a final vote on this bill.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     A final vote is now open on the nominee. Senators have 72 hours to vote aye, nay, or abstain.

[PPT Spiral]

Aye

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Aye.

[ZuWo]

Aye

[Wikipedia delenda est]

Aye

[Anna Komnene]

Aye

[Associate Justice PiT]

     The nominee has enough votes to be confirmed. Senators have 24 hours to change their votes.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     With 5 votes in favor and 1 abstention, Harry S. Truman is confirmed as GM.

Be it resolved, X Vice President PiT