Public Office of Lincoln Governor R2D2: Simulcast of farewell address

[Modernity has failed us]

Thank you, everyone! I would've made a proper statement sooner, but I have been swamped with IRL stuff, so I hope you'll forgive my lack of formality!

[LAKISYLVANIA]

congrats.

[PSOL]

You’ll be a great Governor

[Modernity has failed us]

August 4th 2020
Portland, ME

Public Statement from Governor R2D2 on the Ongoing Impasse in the Lincoln Council

Good afternoon everyone.

Like many others, I am frustrated by the continued impasse at nominating a Chancellor to serve this session. I have nominated two very worthy Councilors to serve in the position, but have been unsuccessful in finding someone who can garner the confidence of Council. Today, I am nominating N1240 to serve as Chancellor in hopes that this nonsense ends and we can get on with our business.

This process illustrates the need for radical reform in our government to tear down the partisanship that allows members of any party to hold offices hostage in service of some greater chess move that benefits their personal interests. This is not what our government should be focused on and it's certainly not how I intend to govern.

I am calling today for the Council to consider a measure to abolish the position of Chancellor and reform our executive power structure to avoid additional roadblocks that cause the legislature to become mired in obstructionism. This should be advantageous for any current and future councilor--seeing how this process has unfolded.

Once a Chancellor is given confidence and a Speaker is named, I would urge the Council to consider this as one of the very first legislative actions of this session and I am eager to get such a measure onto a referendum and ratified to our Constitution.

Thank you for your time.

R2D2

[Modernity has failed us]

August 7th 2020
Portland, ME

Public Statement from Governor R2D2

Good afternoon everyone,

Today is the first full legislative day with a functioning Lincoln Council. I am eager to see how our Councilors work together to tackle the issues most pressing to our region.

In addition to the legislative recommendation made in my last statement, I would like to see a few more things passed, either in one large coronavirus relief bill or several smaller bills:

-A mask mandate in Lincoln
-A commitment to keep schools in Lincoln closed until health experts deem in-person instruction safe again.
-A region-wide stay at home order for all non-essential workers through at least the end of September.
-Direct cash payments to citizens who are unable to work at this time.
-Punishment for businesses that fail to follow the stay at home order in the form of fines or other measures deemed suitable by the Council.

I am also eager to hear feedback from our citizens about how we can best tackle the issues--both COVID-19 related and otherwise--in our region. Please feel free to express your concerns in this thread. You may also submit legislation to our Legislation Introduction Thread which will then be sponsored and brought up for debate.

Please continue to be well and stay safe.

R2D2

[Esteemed Jimmy]

August 7th 2020
Portland, ME

Public Statement from Governor R2D2

Good afternoon everyone,

Today is the first full legislative day with a functioning Lincoln Council. I am eager to see how our Councilors work together to tackle the issues most pressing to our region.

In addition to the legislative recommendation made in my last statement, I would like to see a few more things passed, either in one large coronavirus relief bill or several smaller bills:

-A mask mandate in Lincoln
-A commitment to keep schools in Lincoln closed until health experts deem in-person instruction safe again.
-A region-wide stay at home order for all non-essential workers through at least the end of September.
-Direct cash payments to citizens who are unable to work at this time.
-Punishment for businesses that fail to follow the stay at home order in the form of fines or other measures deemed suitable by the Council.

I am also eager to hear feedback from our citizens about how we can best tackle the issues--both COVID-19 related and otherwise--in our region. Please feel free to express your concerns in this thread. You may also submit legislation to our Legislation Introduction Thread which will then be sponsored and brought up for debate.

Please continue to be well and stay safe.

R2D2

For reference, there are 4 executive orders I signed as Chancellor that are in effect yet.

All four were posted in this thread: https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=352070.msg7235118#msg7235118

[Modernity has failed us]

Yeet, I totally forgot about that.

Welp, mission accomplished everyone--we did it and I'm taking credit for it

[Modernity has failed us]

Good morning.

As many of you have seen, I failed in my duties as Governor this past weekend and did not post a ballot for the Gubernatorial election that was supposed to happen. I see this as an embarrassment on my part and am deeply sorry to the voters of Lincoln. In the past few weeks, I’ve become somewhat disengaged from Atlasia due to irl issues like my workload and becoming burnt out from politics due to the US elections. While this is not an excuse, I hope it at least helps to understand why this might’ve happened.

That being said, I will run for re-election with the promise that this will be my last term as Governor and I intend to retire from politics at least for a little while at the end of my term. I will work with our region to continue passing legislation that supports our citizens during this time of hardship. I will also work with my successor (whomever that may be) to ensure there is a successful transition at the end of my term so that issues like this can be avoided in the future.

I hope you will accept my deep apology and allow me another chance to serve as your Governor. I am happy to take questions from the public if necessary.

Thank you all.

R2

[Modernity has failed us]

Good morning everyone,

I want to start by wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving for those who celebrate. Hopefully your day is filled with (socially distanced) gatherings of friends and family as we continue to adjust to our strange world.

In accordance with my duties as Governor, I will be posting the ballot for this month's Gubernatorial election later today in preparation for this weekend's election. I hope that my oversight last weekend can be forgiven as I ask for one last term before I ride off into the sunset--for now, at least.

I want to thank Ninja for also throwing his hat into the ring and wish him the best of luck this weekend--I know Ninja well, he's a fine legislator and would make a fine Governor should that be the choice of our region. Though I accepted his offer for a debate prior to this weekend's elections, I did not hear back with any offer to do so. Hopefully I didn't scare him off by calling his bluff!

All jokes aside, I'm running for another term so that we can continue to have a Governor with experience who is dedicated to our region. I've avoided running for other office in my time as Governor because Lincoln is my focus, first and foremost. While I admire the aspirations of others who seek to attain higher office, my interest has always been in getting things done for our region. And we have. Under my watch, we've passed legislation to reform our criminal justice system in the wake of a nationwide movement to hold our police accountable just as we hold members of our government accountable, we've passed legislation to expand grants for our public transit so that we can become a national leader in that department, and we've passed comprehensive COVID-19 safety legislation to help keep our citizens safe in the midst of this global pandemic that has taken so many lives.

With that in mind, I ask once more for your vote this weekend. I look forward to what we can achieve in these next few months.

Thank you and be well.

R2

[Modernity has failed us]

LINCOLN!!!!

i’ll make a real statement when the results are officially certified

[Modernity has failed us]

Good morning everyone!

I'd like to thank the voters of Lincoln for giving me another opportunity to serve as Governor. As promised, this will be my last stint in office for a little while and I look forward to more productive work with our council to help better our region.

I want to thank Ninja for a spirited challenge and wish him the best of luck in future endeavors.

Lastly, I want to apologize once again for my oversight last weekend in not opening the election on time--I will do my best to ensure this does not happen again, though as many of you know, life sometimes gets in the way. Please do not hesitate to PM me with any questions or drop a line in here if you'd like to chat about anything.

Thank you all once again!

R2

[Modernity has failed us]

Following the Lincoln Supreme Court's ruling in Dwarven Dragon vs. Region of Lincoln, Governor R2D2 released the following statement:

While I am pleased with the court's ruling in this particular case, I am saddened by the discourse surrounding the Lincoln Election Law Amendment Act.

I announced prior to my re-election in November that this would be my final term as Governor. I have come to realize more and more lately how right I was to make that decision.

The discourse in Atlasian politics has become toxic, partisan beyond reason, free of nuance, and oftentimes devoid of substance beyond personal attack. Party loyalty has become more important than doing what's right--and this is true of all parties. In all my years of service to the nation, I have never seen a point in which such fierce, biting rhetoric has become the norm the way it has today. I wonder if we are simply too far gone in this regard.

The mental toll that this game can take has been one I've been all too familiar with over the past several years. During my first stint as Governor of the old Northeast, I had to resign due to the stress I was dealing with in the day-to-day operations of my position. Nowadays, I don't feel that stress is worth it anymore. I don't see service to the region as something I can legitimately call a goal anymore, and I fear that we have leaders who aren't looking out for anyone other than themselves anymore. The game is no longer fun. And it no longer feels like a game, but a war.

I have not been this candid regarding my personal feelings on the state of our nation because I've always felt it's not my place. But I must say something, and now feels like the most appropriate time. There is no winner in this game. Those who win elections simply own the day. But at what cost are we willing to tear each other down in order to win the day?

I have many regrets in my career. You won't often hear leaders admit their wrongdoings. I have failed many times. But I always sought to do the best I could with good intentions. But now I feel that good intentions are not welcome here anymore. So I will leave the game entirely at the end of my term. I will deregister and no longer participate in Atlasian politics until serious changes are made in the way business is done around here. If nothing else, I hope others can read what I've written and engage in some honest self-reflection.

In solidarity,
R2D2

[Modernity has failed us]

The following is a simulcast transmission of Governor R2D2's farewell address, delivered from a small, socially distanced gathering at the Maine State Pier in Portland, Maine

Good morning everyone,

Thank you for joining me remotely as I close in on the end of what has been the experience of a lifetime serving as your Governor.

While it would be easy for me to make this speech about my regrets--I have many--I would instead like to focus on where we are as a region and as a country.

For those that know me best, you know that I am a son of Lincoln. I've been here during some of the best times and some of the worst times in the history of our region. Service to this region has always been something I've craved. We are home to some of the greatest cities in the world. In my very biased opinion, there is no better place in the world than right here in Lincoln. The friends I've made along the way have been instrumental in both policy and personal growth. You have all taught me more about legislating, governing, organizing, and politics in general than anyone, anywhere has ever taught me. You've also taught me a lot about myself.

That is why I am so troubled by the state of our nation at this time. I fear we risk losing everything if we continue to put our allegiance to party first. The "teams" we are on should be secondary to our obligation to our fellow Atlasians. I have never seen such deep partisan divide, such venom, such animosity driving our politics in my many years of service to this nation. I won't rehash last month's statement on this same topic, I would like to leave here with a warning to you all--you will bring down this great experiment if you continue to make this about winning elections instead of electing the best people. One of the things that drove down my passion and enthusiasm for this game was the fact that I knew I was tethered to my party. Many of my decisions were made not by me, but by the party I represented. That is not how one is supposed to govern. I became too comfortable turning over decisions on appointments, legislation, and voting to line up with what my party would need from me. I considered serving as an Independent, but knew I would be washed out by someone more obedient. Therefore, out of self-preservation, I ultimately gave up and became a Governor-by-proxy for quite some time. In conjunction with real life struggles with depression, I lost all interest in this game that I once loved so dearly. I owe a great apology to the people who believed in me, elected me, and expected better of me.

In the grand scheme of things, I am nobody. I am not a power player or someone who will be remembered. That's why I'm expecting this statement to largely fall on deaf ears. But I would be remiss if I didn't at least get this message out on the off chance that someone would hear it.

It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your Governor, and I am sorry that I failed you. Luckily, our incoming Governor is more than exceptional, and I am confident that he is the type of leader that we need at this time. I hope that he learns from my failures, heeds my warning, and leads you with an independent heart. I trust his judgement.

Goodbye, Lincoln. I hope you remain true to yourself. Thank you and God Bless all of you.

R2D2