The Crusader (Public Service Announcement)

[Mr. Reactionary]

Retention elections and term limits designed to stop the creation of a perpetual class of oligarchs divorced from the people is anti-democracy?

Labor is the anti-democracy party because it wants to keep its Class of 2016 monopoly in power for literally life in a game where we are debating if Cao getting to serve for a full year is too long.

Judicial reform includes retention elections, reasonable term limits, and guarantees that some unelected royal class cant arbitrarily decide when and when not to do its only job. Turnover and voter participation make for a healthy game.

[Pericles]

I thought Labor was supposed to be the anti-democracy party, but it sure doesn't look like that with the attitude that the Federalist and Peace parties have shown to our Supreme Court.

I'm pretty sure sitting on the bench for seven years and doing literally nothing would be abhorrent to IRL Supreme Court justices.

This is completely unfair to windjammer. If you insist on making personal attacks on people, make sure it's accurate first. As someone who knows him, I know he puts in the work and is still very able to keep serving the people.

[YE]

I thought Labor was supposed to be the anti-democracy party, but it sure doesn't look like that with the attitude that the Federalist and Peace parties have shown to our Supreme Court.

I'm pretty sure sitting on the bench for seven years and doing literally nothing would be abhorrent to IRL Supreme Court justices.

This isn’t exclusive to windjammer fwiw. We’ve averaged a limited number of cases per year since the game’s founding.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

I thought Labor was supposed to be the anti-democracy party, but it sure doesn't look like that with the attitude that the Federalist and Peace parties have shown to our Supreme Court.

I would say a Supreme Court whose three most senior members are leftists who seem intent on serving forever is the perfect example of Labor being anti-democracy, but whatever.

[NewYorkExpress]

I thought Labor was supposed to be the anti-democracy party, but it sure doesn't look like that with the attitude that the Federalist and Peace parties have shown to our Supreme Court.

I'm pretty sure sitting on the bench for seven years and doing literally nothing would be abhorrent to IRL Supreme Court justices.

This is completely unfair to windjammer. If you insist on making personal attacks on people, make sure it's accurate first. As someone who knows him, I know he puts in the work and is still very able to keep serving the people.

I think YE has made the case for term limits and judicial reform best, even though he doesn't support it.

I thought Labor was supposed to be the anti-democracy party, but it sure doesn't look like that with the attitude that the Federalist and Peace parties have shown to our Supreme Court.

I'm pretty sure sitting on the bench for seven years and doing literally nothing would be abhorrent to IRL Supreme Court justices.

This isn’t exclusive to windjammer fwiw. We’ve averaged a limited number of cases per year since the game’s founding.

Seven years (or more) hearing a only a handful of cases per year and denying cert to half of them is not how the court should be operating.

[Pericles]

I thought Labor was supposed to be the anti-democracy party, but it sure doesn't look like that with the attitude that the Federalist and Peace parties have shown to our Supreme Court.

I would say a Supreme Court whose three most senior members are leftists who seem intent on serving forever is the perfect example of Labor being anti-democracy, but whatever.

So your problem with them is that their personal ideology and that they vote Labor? Classy.

[YE]

I thought Labor was supposed to be the anti-democracy party, but it sure doesn't look like that with the attitude that the Federalist and Peace parties have shown to our Supreme Court.

I'm pretty sure sitting on the bench for seven years and doing literally nothing would be abhorrent to IRL Supreme Court justices.

This is completely unfair to windjammer. If you insist on making personal attacks on people, make sure it's accurate first. As someone who knows him, I know he puts in the work and is still very able to keep serving the people.

I think YE has made the case for term limits and judicial reform best, even though he doesn't support it.

I thought Labor was supposed to be the anti-democracy party, but it sure doesn't look like that with the attitude that the Federalist and Peace parties have shown to our Supreme Court.

I'm pretty sure sitting on the bench for seven years and doing literally nothing would be abhorrent to IRL Supreme Court justices.

This isn’t exclusive to windjammer fwiw. We’ve averaged a limited number of cases per year since the game’s founding.

Seven years (or more) hearing a only a handful of cases per year and denying cert to half of them is not how the court should be operating.

Term limits in itself won’t automatically increase the number of cases the court sees per year. Even in the judicial reform in itself would just result in a different set of justices which may or may not deny cert less often. Which is what you guys (well mostly Wulfric) really want because they didn’t get there way here and trying to hide behind it through elections or term limits.

I also don’t know if it’s definitely a good idea to drastically increase their workload. The Court is an attractive position for retired players who aren’t super invested in the game but are knowledgeable enough to resolve important disputes from time to time. Increase the workload and it’ll be seen as a certain point as a position that has the responsibilities of an elected official which could make them less attractive and also make the game less appealing to elder statesman types, making the game even less exclusive. There’s probably a happy medium here but it’s not as simple as more cases=better game. Merely making comparisons to the IRL Supreme Court to feel smart is not helpful.

[Sestak]

Well it would have been great if any of this was communicated to anyone yesterday, instead of Windjammer just saying "I don't wanna" and denying certiorari. In fact, the court had over two weeks from when the case was filed to now to say something. Now, the plaintiffs in the case didn't do a much better job on that front, I can't deny that. I wouldn't say that this case in particular was handled all that well either, but until you posted there was never any indication that the court was even open to such a thing. And I don't really appreciate being accused of being part of some plot to undermine the court when I've had no role whatsoever in drafting the proposals for court reform, am not a sitting senator, and have never stated any intention to radically alter the court. So if you have a problem with that, take it up with the people who are actually pushing for that.

Now I'm really not trying to be belligerent towards any particular person, and I would actually like to accomplish something productive. The things I said before were under the impression that the court was a hard no on this concept. So if you would like to stop the back and forth here and try to come up with a framework please do message me about it.

Well the same could have gone for us; we weren’t informed that there was going to be an attempt to change the game’s structure ‘in stealth’; even if we started from that point, precedent is, naturally, very important to our Court’s operation. In the 19 years of this game’s history, so far as I can tell, every single case the Court has taken has had both main parties be either

- A player, in either in personal capacity or ex officio
- An organization (legally recognized or otherwise) made up of players
- A government or government subdivision, controlled by players

The only reasonable thing to do here for the Court was to not grant certiorari. Explicitly overturning a fairly fundamental truth about what the Court does in this game - and has for its entire history - when no one even asked us to - is not a real option. The onus is not in the court here to force these arguments; as with any real court, the onus is on the parties to give their strongest arguments for their position so that the Court may scrutinize and probe them. Never even discussing the elephant in the room leaves no choice for us. Of course this takes us to another relevant convention; one which, in fact, is also adhered to by the actual Supreme Court; denials of certiaorari do not have accompanying opinions. Windjammer’s single sentence there is already highly unusual; I don’t think I would have given it. The explanations for this should have been obvious - basically everything I’ve said in these posts is fully public knowledge.

Also, I did not mean to make accusations towards you or to any other individual - I’m merely noting what everything looks like at an overall level from my perspective. The last time I looked at this board, no decision had been published - though we were, at that point, set to choose what, again, was our only reasonable option based on what we were given. Now what I see is that within minutes of that (inevitable) decision, people have been calling for the Court to be burned down and a proposal that is tantamount to impeachment against four of the five justices has suddenly gained a notable amount of support. It’s a very bizarre looking turn of events to me.

Finally, in response to your other points, I want to emphasize: none of my posts here speak for the rest of the justices or for the Court as a whole. I cannot speak to whether or not the other members of the Court are open to a game reform proposal on court cases regarding NPC characters, other than that they are clearly not open to this setup - whereby we agree to the reform first, then figure out what’s in it afterwards. Speaking personally, what I would need to see before I would even be willing to get involved in something like this: put forth a concrete proposal on how such cases would operate, in what circumstances they could be brought forth, etc. Bring a strong consensus of active players on board with such a structure; including, ideally, specific commitments from the GM team as to how they would interact with the system. I ask for this because I would generally prefer not to have heavy handed involvement in a reform plan that has substantial disagreement within the political player base. At that point, I would be willing to get involved and see if such a proposal was workable or could be changed into something workable for adoption by the Court. Again, I can only concretely speak for myself on this subject, though I have some optimism that all of us could at least agree to something. Again, though, at least the initial draft of the details need to come from the active players who want such reform; not from those people going ahead and putting the cart before the road or the town, let alone the poor horse.

[NewYorkExpress]

Well it would have been great if any of this was communicated to anyone yesterday, instead of Windjammer just saying "I don't wanna" and denying certiorari. In fact, the court had over two weeks from when the case was filed to now to say something. Now, the plaintiffs in the case didn't do a much better job on that front, I can't deny that. I wouldn't say that this case in particular was handled all that well either, but until you posted there was never any indication that the court was even open to such a thing. And I don't really appreciate being accused of being part of some plot to undermine the court when I've had no role whatsoever in drafting the proposals for court reform, am not a sitting senator, and have never stated any intention to radically alter the court. So if you have a problem with that, take it up with the people who are actually pushing for that.

Now I'm really not trying to be belligerent towards any particular person, and I would actually like to accomplish something productive. The things I said before were under the impression that the court was a hard no on this concept. So if you would like to stop the back and forth here and try to come up with a framework please do message me about it.

Well the same could have gone for us; we weren’t informed that there was going to be an attempt to change the game’s structure ‘in stealth’; even if we started from that point, precedent is, naturally, very important to our Court’s operation. In the 19 years of this game’s history, so far as I can tell, every single case the Court has taken has had both main parties be either

- A player, in either in personal capacity or ex officio
- An organization (legally recognized or otherwise) made up of players
- A government or government subdivision, controlled by players

The only reasonable thing to do here for the Court was to not grant certiorari. Explicitly overturning a fairly fundamental truth about what the Court does in this game - and has for its entire history - when no one even asked us to. The onus is not in the court here to force these arguments; as with any real court, the onus is on the parties to give their strongest arguments for their position so that the Court may scrutinize and probe them. Never even discussing the elephant in the room leaves no choice for us. Of course this takes us to another relevant convention; one which, in fact, is also adhered to by the actual Supreme Court; denials of certiaorari do not have accompanying opinions. Windjammer’s single sentence there is already highly unusual; I don’t think I would have given it. The explanations for this should have been obvious - basically everything I’ve said in these posts is fully public knowledge.

Also, I did not mean to make accusations towards you or to any other individual - I’m merely noting what everything looks like at an overall level from my perspective. The last time I looked at this board, no decision had been published - though we were, at that point, set to choose what, again, was our only reasonable option based on what we were given. Now what I see is that within minutes of that (inevitable) decision, people have been calling for the Court to be burned down and a proposal that is tantamount to impeachment against four of the five justices has suddenly gained a notable amount of support. It’s a very bizarre looking turn of events to me.

Finally, in response to your other points, I want to emphasize: none of my posts here speak for the rest of the justices or for the Court as a whole. I cannot speak to whether or not the other members of the Court are open to a game reform proposal on court cases regarding NPC characters, other than that they are clearly not open to this setup - whereby we agree to the reform first, then figure out what’s in it afterwards. Speaking personally, what I would need to see before I would even be willing to get involved in something like this: put forth a concrete proposal on how such cases would operate, in what circumstances they could be brought forth, etc. Bring a strong consensus of active players on board with such a structure; including, ideally, specific commitments from the GM team as to how they would interact with the system. I ask for this because I would generally prefer not to have heavy handed involvement in a reform plan that has substantial disagreement within the political player base. At that point, I would be willing to get involved and see if such a proposal was workable or could be changed into something workable for adoption by the Court. Again, I can only concretely speak for myself on this subject, though I have some optimism that all of us could at least agree to something. Again, though, at least the initial draft of the details need to come from the active players who want such reform; not from those people going ahead and putting the cart before the road or the town, let alone the poor horse.

I've already stated that the lower NPC courts already exists for criminal matters and can be adapted to handle all NPC related issues. This, to me is within the power of the GM Team to simulate.

If we go by that, technically speaking the judicial reform being proposed might not be necessary in terms of Supreme Court workload. While I would still support term limits, grandfathering in the current justices would be acceptable to me.

[windjammer]

Retention elections and term limits designed to stop the creation of a perpetual class of oligarchs divorced from the people is anti-democracy?

Labor is the anti-democracy party because it wants to keep its Class of 2016 monopoly in power for literally life in a game where we are debating if Cao getting to serve for a full year is too long.

Judicial reform includes retention elections, reasonable term limits, and guarantees that some unelected royal class cant arbitrarily decide when and when not to do its only job. Turnover and voter participation make for a healthy game.

You're objectively hysterical because you have hidden purposes.


The Supreme Court is absolutely not partisan and this isn't some power grabs by Labor. After all many laborites wanted to impeach me because of the Louisville trial.


These offices are fundamentally for retired people who are semi active at best

[West_Midlander]

I thought Labor was supposed to be the anti-democracy party, but it sure doesn't look like that with the attitude that the Federalist and Peace parties have shown to our Supreme Court.

@ me when Feds & Peace try to literally overturn democracy

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

I'm leaving this as an open question to readers as I get acquainted with what I've missed: why is the Russo-Ukrainian war now suddenly a thing when it wasn't before in game canon? I don't want to misjudge, but I was a bit disappointed when I realized it.

(I also want to know who had the bright idea to have Zelensky issue a commissar order, because that's both questionable on several levels and, I'd argue, in very poor taste)

I'm just glad we got a new edition of The Crusader. I know I've not posted on Come In Spinner for a while.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I'm leaving this as an open question to readers as I get acquainted with what I've missed: why is the Russo-Ukrainian war now suddenly a thing when it wasn't before in game canon? I don't want to misjudge, but I was a bit disappointed when I realized it.

(I also want to know who had the bright idea to have Zelensky issue a commissar order, because that's both questionable on several levels and, I'd argue, in very poor taste)

I'm just glad we got a new edition of The Crusader. I know I've not posted on Come In Spinner for a while.

The People deserve an update!

[Lumine]

The Crusader

Championing biased news since 2017

January 23rd, 2023

Tales from Atlasland:

HE'S BACK

Two years after historic defeat, YT makes a stunning comeback,
Ethics, supremacy of the federal government to be made "optional",
Federalists mourn Tim Turner defeat, lose a reliable vote in legislature,
Right-wingers vote for Treason 2: Electric Boogaloo

₁

_____________________________
^{1.) Original Image: Puck Magazine, 1893, Wikimedia Commons, modified for arguably unfunny Atlasia satire.}

[Lumine]

The Crusader

Championing biased news since 2017

January 23rd, 2023

An interview with Sirius:

Now entering her sixth year as a citizen, Sirius has gone through a remarkable journey that has led her into the defunct House of Representatives, the Senate, the Game Engine, the Chairmanship of several parties, and most recently, as a member of the Cabinet. Once viewed with some animosity by the editor of this newspaper - fueled by conflicting presidential ambitions -, Secretary Sirius has earned his respect and regard, a "fellow traveler" in that most contradictory area of Atlasian politics known as the moderate center. Now running for Senate, the Secretary is the subject of the first interview by The Crusader since April 2021.

Lumine: Ms. Secretary, how good to speak to you again.

Sirius: Hello. Its always a great thing when The Crusader is active!

Lumine: Upon doing some research, I realized our last interview was on March 2020, when you were GM. Thus, I have to ask: how would you rate the performance of the GM team thus far?

Sirius: So far I'd say I'm satisfied with the new GM team. We've been getting interesting stories from them and although the news releases have been somewhat slow, each one has given us quite a few stories. It might be nice to have more regular updates but we both know from experience that it's a difficult job, so I can't really blame them for having a backlog. It also seems like it has been pretty easy to get in touch with the GM team, although I do have a personal friendship with one of the GMs. I think that creating a team of three has been the right decision and I just hope to see more interesting content in the future.

Lumine: And, as it’s only fair to ask, what lessons should be drawn about the whole controversy with the Supreme Court?

Sirius: I think that the big takeaway here is communication, and there was pretty poor communication from all parties involved. I talk with GM Weatherboy pretty often and based on what he has told me the GM team didn't expect that the individuals affected by the Musk case would rush straight into filing a lawsuit in the Supreme Court. So although I do think that it was an interesting story, it wasn't clear what we in the public were supposed to do with it. Of course, there was poor communication from the plaintiffs, as there was no framework for how this case should be handled. After the suit was filed, pretty much everybody was confused about what would actually happen, and evidently the justices were also confused by it. On the flip side, the court also communicated poorly with the public. There were over two weeks between the filing of the lawsuit and the denial of certiorari, but not once did the justices share their concerns with us or reach out and try to find a way to make it work. And when Windjammer gave his decision, it still wasn't clear why it was denied, other than the court just not wanting to do it. It took until the next day for Justice Sestak to provide us with more details about the court's decision. So all around, everyone made some mistakes with regards to communication here.

As I've stated on the forum, I do believe that NPC court cases can work, as long as both sides have an attorney to represent them. It could help make the judicial branch of the game more dynamic and interesting, gives us more things to do, and it doesn't have to be overly intensive, as they could be done at any time. I hope to see the community work together to create a system for these sorts of cases in the near future.

Lumine: You’ve been a member of President Cao’s cabinet for some time now. How would you describe the experience of serving in the Cabinet? And what would you say is your most significant achievement?

Sirius: I would say that it hasn't been my best time in office, but that's mainly on me for holding the position during a period of burnout. That isn't to say that I haven't gotten anything done though, I've written a few directives and recently I've been able to use my position to influence the country's policy direction. President Cao has been a pleasure to work with as well. Probably the biggest achievement is that the office of SoIA exists at all. It is a position that I've held before and I have long advocated for it but we went without it for about three years. I'm somewhat surprised that it wasn't lost to time. At the same time, I would say that the best has yet to come from the DoIA.

Lumine: A Senate run is now in the cards, garnering not insignificant endorsement in the process. Why should the people elect you to represent them? And how do you rate your own chances?

Sirius: The people of Lincoln should elect me to the senate because I know that I can restore activity to our regional senate seat and pass an agenda to lead Atlasia into a bright new era. And I think that conviction is important, because a lot of the time people run for office in Atlasia without knowing that they can do what it takes. I've done it before too, running for office at times when I really had no business doing so. It leads to inactivity and disappointment. But right now, I know that I have the energy and the drive to be a great senator. And if the people elect me, I'm going to build the foundation for our future. That means fixing the problems with our railroad infrastructure, it means getting our grid off of dirty and unreliable fossil fuels and strengthening the grid to be more resilient to weather,  it means ending the housing affordability crisis, it means embracing a fiscal policy that will soften the blow of future economic downturns, and of course it means keeping our country together. So if you want an active senator with a solid plan, I'm your candidate.

Right now I feel pretty good about my chances. So far I don't actually have an opponent, and it is possible that I could be elected unopposed although I wouldn't be so arrogant as to consider that a certainty. Even if I do get a challenger, I expect to have strong support across party lines and I believe that I can appeal to a wide range of voters, so my chances are still good.

Lumine: One thing I’ve noticed is that the current endorsement list includes both the President and citizens one might describe as pro-administration. Is this a distinctly pro-administration run for Senate?

Sirius: It is not entirely surprising that "pro-administration" individuals would be the first to come out in support of me, as I am a part of the executive and I have been supportive of the president. However, my campaign is not about the administration, its about the senate, a body which I haven't been entirely satisfied with recently. I'm running for everybody who wants a better senate. Since "anti-administration" would mostly refer to Labor and their allies, I would like to address them directly here. I have no qualms about working with individuals on the right side of the spectrum to pass legislation, as I believe that its in the public's best interest for us all to come together and combine our best ideas. However, I would not in any way be a rubber stamp for the conservative agenda. In fact, I intend to act as a check on any attempt to pass blatantly partisan right wing legislation. I'm not exactly running on a conservative platform either, I think you'd find a lot to like about it. And I'm happy to elaborate on any topic that you'd like to ask me about. So that said, I hope to have your support too this February.

Lumine: Gun to your head: if you had to vote on the current reform of the judiciary, would you support it or vote it down?

Sirius: I think that in its current form I would have to vote against it, because it is clearly incomplete and the senate can't even seem to agree on what it should entail. That doesn't mean I'm against judicial reform, I especially would like to see the jurisdiction of the court improved to include NPC cases and a term limit system could have merit as well. I am also wary though of any attempt to radically restructure the Supreme Court. In particular, I would be a hard no on an amendment that included judicial elections.
 
Lumine: Since it’s been three years, and looking back since then, what are most proud about during that period? And what is your biggest regret?

Sirius: There are two things I'd like to highlight from the last few years that I'm happy about doing. The first is helping to create the DA, and finally, after seemingly so long establishing a credible and stable third party in Atlasia. Ever since my turn towards the Atlasian center there have been so many attempts and failures to do this. Of course when I first joined there was Alliance, which seemed to be doing well during my Atlasian youth but ended up falling into irrelevance until I revived it again. Then as I'm sure you remember we founded the Montfortian Party, which for a short time punched way above its weight but it seems like it fell apart just as quickly as it worse. After that I attempted to bring back the Liberal party, a move that accomplished absolutely nothing but ironically did come back to bite me a few times. For a while I even gave up on the dream of a viable third party, until summer 2020 when I was contacted to help establish DA. Boy am I glad I said yes, because I am so proud of this party. We've gone through many ups and downs, there were times when people thought we would dissolve just like our predecessors, we've had fluctuations in membership, and even somewhat of an ideological shift, but through it all we've stayed strong. We managed to develop a culture of toughing it out, and through that actually accomplish goals of ours, while existing continuously for over 2.5 years now. Our core membership is united and tough, and I'll be damned if this party couldn't last at least another 2 years.

The other thing I'm proud of is getting involved in the NPC elections. Of course, those are now long gone, but its arguably a miracle that they ever happened to begin with. Through the NPC elections we were able to innovate our campaigning and focus on things we wouldn't normally get to, and it was some of the most fun I've ever had in this game. I'll never forget the month that DA swept the Great Lakes. They might not have lasted forever, but for me, it was rewarding and I'm glad it happened.

My biggest regret would have to be my tenure as Game Moderator, and my earlier than promised resignation from that position. I regret it especially because it was really something that I wanted to do. I wanted to create engaging storylines and breathe life into the game, but ultimately I wasn't able to accomplish my goals. A lot of that came down to mental health, I did deal with depression during that time especially after COVID lockdowns started, and that made it harder for sure. But there is one decision I made while I was GM that I particularly regret, and that was introducing COVID-19 to the game. At that time, I admittedly underestimated how big of a deal it would be, and I expected it to come and go like many of the other disease outbreaks that get hyped up by the media. In game I thought it would just be another story for the government to respond to. But as we all know, COVID was no ordinary disease outbreak. It ended up being what everyone focused their attention on, and all anyone would ask me about, but it really wasn't what I wanted to be doing. Perhaps some day, when I don't have other things like a cabinet position and a senate run on my plate, I'll offer my services again as a member of the GM team.

Lumine: You’ve mentioned not taking Atlasia as seriously – or perhaps, not as personally – as before, a sentiment many of us veterans have learned to adopt. And yet the question is always there. Will we ever see a President Sirius?

Sirius: My answer has to be, never say never. Of course I have already announced my support for Cao's reelection bid, so February is off the table. But maybe in June, if there's a demand for it, I'll throw my hat in the ring. Looking back at my previous runs, the first time I placed third, and I came in second the second run, so third time's the charm?

I also have one question for you, if you don't mind. Will we ever see a Registered Voter Lumine again?

Lumine: I must say I'm not used to being actually asked as question, so that comes off as a surprise. Truthfully? I think I enjoy being able to snipe from the sidelines a bit too much, but never say never. Thank you very much for your time, Ms. Secretary.

[Lumine]

West Virginia's Body

A Rallying Cry in Times of Strife

West Virginia's body lies a-mouldering in the grave
West Virginia's body lies a-mouldering in the grave
West Virginia's body lies a-mouldering in the grave
Its soul goes marching on
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Its soul is marching on

The Southern traitors killed it, all them cowards to a man,
While giving old Young Texan all the powers of the land,
They call themselves for freedom, they themselves the tyrant crew,
But its soul is marching on
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Its soul is marching on

The stars above in Heaven are looking kindly down
West Virginia may have died, but it will soon be alive again,
These traitorous delusions have dug very deep graves,
And its soul is marching on!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Its soul is marching on

The Army of the Union will be going on the march,
For Sherman’s work is left undone and Grant looks in disgust,
Secessionists can go to cry back to Conservacord,
These childish games will end
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Its soul is marching on

There will be no compromises, and no giving in to fear,
The People will no longer stand for treason in out midst,
Three rousing cheers for Liberty, the Union marches on!
The Union marches on!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Its soul is marching on!

[Lumine]

Treason and Reconstruction, Part II

Why justice must be delivered, and change enacted (again)

Editorial, by Lumine

It was on April 2022 that I wrote an editorial for this newspaper titled "Treason and Reconstruction". At the time, this was directed at a cabal of left-wing politicians, many of them distinguished servants of the state, who had committed treason against our Republic. In their case, using the Federal Government to trample on the regions and bring down the game by abusing the powers of the Presidency, the Justice Department, and other key institutions. Perhaps depressingly, many of the arguments still stand. Although, of course, this time it is a right-wing conspiracy from a Regional Government to trample on Nyman and the rest of the country using violent means, electoral chicanery, outright regional tyranny and a wide array of increasingly delusional threats.

The names have changed, and perhaps so have the ideologies. This time, the inspiration seems to come from the disgusting and morally bankrupt regime known as the Confederate States. "Dixieland", according to the most recent so-called "constitutional conventions". It will be up for the moderators to decide whether this breakaway delusion, made illegal by the Supreme Court and soon to be completely and utterly unconstitutional by the overwhelming will of the People, belongs in a certain board. What is up to us is decide what we do about the crisis today, and what we do about it tomorrow. And when it comes to current actions, we in The Crusader stand by what we said before:

Thus, it is important that the current impeachments be allowed to run their course, regardless of who deregisters or not, and result in conviction. It is also important that others who committed crimes or planned to do so (...) also be investigated and, if necessary, stand in a fair trial to determine their responsibilities. To do anything less would be a disservice.

Senators Reactionary and OSR, currently going through an impeachment trial in the Senate, must be removed from office. The first as one of the masterminds behind treason, who patiently and persistently provided the legal grounds for southern regional tyranny, seccession, and making it as difficult as possible for the federal government to restore order. That he has made substantial contributions to the Republic from many fronts - particularly legislative - makes it a sad affair, certainly. But if we rightfully swung down the hammer of justice on Truman - an even more accomplished citizen - it is ultimately necessary and fair that we do so on the ideologue of treason.

The same applies to Senator OSR, if from very different reasons. To advocate for a compromise of sorts, regardless of how flawed and/or futile the compromise was (and the Regional Rights Amendment solved nothing), is in no way worthy of contempt by its own. And to be a dissident voice unhappy about a break-up of the Union is not worthy of contempt either. And if had retained a sense of responsibility to the Republic, and stayed in the Senate, even as a dissident Unionist of sorts, we could have opposed his views, but not rightfully denied a right to champion them. But to endorse seccession and treason openly, to incite to action against the nation, to justify southern tyranny, to refute the supremacy of laws and the Game Engine, and to do all this while holding a high office, is simply not acceptable. Both men, regardless of the friendships they've created, and the good they've done in the past, must go.

Beyond that, court cases must proceed, and treason punished harshly. The tyrannical Southern Government, which tramples on democracy and makes a mockery of due legislative process, will have to be replaced with a properly democratic and responsible government. Insane legislation must be repealed, and we will do our utmost to identify such laws. The South will have to be Reconstructed. And we will have to rethink the relationship between the regions and the federal government. As we said a year ago:

The task that awaits the President and his or her eventual successor is a monumental one. Aside from this call for justice, we in The Crusader also believe that, after treason, there must be a period of Reconstruction. We must have a conversation on what works in Atlasia, what doesn’t work, and what can work better, a conversation not constrained to a few people in a Discord server. We must look beyond the Constitutional provisions, and also consider which behavioral things can be changed or worked upon. We must, essentially, seize the opportunity to see what can change for the better, and rebuild a stronger nation.

Tonight, seccession will be made illegal. Now and forever. Let us build on this magnificent accomplishment, and continue the quest to make our Union stronger. Let us punish traitors harshly, reconstruct the South with wisdom, and strengthen our Republic with vision. May we not waste this singular opportunity!

[OSR stands with Israel]

I mean regardless of what happens to me , the fact is the old pre Discord days of Atlasia isn't coming back. It's like trying to go back to the pre social media days or pre cable news media days IRL politics which also is never happening.

The fact is Lokcord, Conservacord, Philcord etc are all part of the Atlas Communty and while Old Timers may not like it(including Atlas posters outside Atlasia) that is a fact and it will remain that way for a while.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I mean regardless of what happens to me , the fact is the old pre Discord days of Atlasia isn't coming back. It's like trying to go back to the pre social media days or pre cable news media days IRL politics which also is never happening.

The fact is Lokcord, Conservacord, Philcord etc are all part of the Atlas Communty and while Old Timers may not like it(including Atlas posters outside Atlasia) that is a fact and it will remain that way for a while.

"1. You cannot survive without us"
"2. Without insert poster(s), this game is dead"
"3. Insert media platform is a fact of life, deal with"
"4. Atlasia is doomed to be dominated by insert echo chamber"

2015 called, they want their talking points back.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

That he has made substantial contributions to the Republic from many fronts - particularly legislative - makes it a sad affair, certainly. But if we rightfully swung down the hammer of justice on Truman - an even more accomplished citizen - it is ultimately necessary and fair that we do so on the ideologue of treason.

We also did likewise with Averroes Nix in 2015, who likewise had to that point strong record of contribution in the Senate and as President and many other capacities.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I mean regardless of what happens to me , the fact is the old pre Discord days of Atlasia isn't coming back. It's like trying to go back to the pre social media days or pre cable news media days IRL politics which also is never happening.

The fact is Lokcord, Conservacord, Philcord etc are all part of the Atlas Communty and while Old Timers may not like it(including Atlas posters outside Atlasia) that is a fact and it will remain that way for a while.

"1. You cannot survive without us"
"2. Without insert poster(s), this game is dead"
"3. Insert media platform is a fact of life, deal with"
"4. Atlasia is doomed to be dominated by insert echo chamber"

2015 called, they want their talking points back.

My point applies to Atlasia , Atlas as a whole and IRL . Discord is to Atlas what social media is for RL politics .

You can choose to prefer the pre discord days just like many old time politicians may prefer the pre social media days of politics but those days were over .

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I mean regardless of what happens to me , the fact is the old pre Discord days of Atlasia isn't coming back. It's like trying to go back to the pre social media days or pre cable news media days IRL politics which also is never happening.

The fact is Lokcord, Conservacord, Philcord etc are all part of the Atlas Communty and while Old Timers may not like it(including Atlas posters outside Atlasia) that is a fact and it will remain that way for a while.

"1. You cannot survive without us"
"2. Without insert poster(s), this game is dead"
"3. Insert media platform is a fact of life, deal with"
"4. Atlasia is doomed to be dominated by insert echo chamber"

2015 called, they want their talking points back.

My point applies to Atlasia , Atlas as a whole and IRL . Discord is to Atlas what social media is for RL politics .

You can choose to prefer the pre discord days just like many old time politicians may prefer the pre social media days of politics but those days were over .

What I prefer is make sure people aware, that there is another side, a different approach and light on the other side of the darkness in all of this.

We have the power to choose how we use these tools, and whether they control us or we control them.

[Lumine]

The Crusader

Championing biased news since 2017

May 22nd, 2023

The Union forever,
Hurrah! boys, hurrah!
Down with the traitors,
Up with the stars

Secession made illegal!

Regions vote overwhelmingly to pass the Stop Our Secessionists Amendment,
Supreme Court, Game Engine shoot down traitorous fantasies,
Traitors in disarray, about to take the train to loserville

₁

_____________________________
^{1.) Original Image: Harper's Weekly cartoon depicting celebration in the House of Representatives after adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, Wikimedia Commons, modified for patriotic Atlasian purposes.}

[Adam Griffin]

I mean regardless of what happens to me , the fact is the old pre Discord days of Atlasia isn't coming back. It's like trying to go back to the pre social media days or pre cable news media days IRL politics which also is never happening.

The fact is Lokcord, Conservacord, Philcord etc are all part of the Atlas Communty and while Old Timers may not like it(including Atlas posters outside Atlasia) that is a fact and it will remain that way for a while.

"1. You cannot survive without us"
"2. Without insert poster(s), this game is dead"
"3. Insert media platform is a fact of life, deal with"
"4. Atlasia is doomed to be dominated by insert echo chamber"

2015 called, they want their talking points back.

My point applies to Atlasia , Atlas as a whole and IRL . Discord is to Atlas what social media is for RL politics .

You can choose to prefer the pre discord days just like many old time politicians may prefer the pre social media days of politics but those days were over .

Translation: "my brain got rotted because I was in too many off-site chats and therefore did a dumb thing I wouldn't have done even a year ago"

[Joseph Cao]

Secession made illegal!

Regions vote overwhelmingly to pass the Stop Our Secessionists Amendment,
Supreme Court, Game Engine shoot down traitorous fantasies,
Traitors in disarray, about to take the train to loserville

Hurrah! Though my 3am brain would like to know, is the I-FL Dereich or someone else?