Office of Frémont Senator Scott (Riding into the sunset)

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Los Angeles, California₁

Hello, Los Angeles!

It's great to be speaking to you all, and to all the people of Frmont, from the world-famous Grove of Los Angeles, during this holiday season. One of the many jewels of this great city, folks sure know how to deck the halls this time of year. Los Angeles is also, of course, the home of my good friend Senator SevenEleven, who has indicated to me that he does not intend to seek reelection in February. I wish him the very best in all his endeavors, and thank him for his years of service to our nation in the capacity of both president and senator.

Folks, you know one of the things I said to you all when I ran for First Minister last year is that, unlike one of my predecessors, I would hand the reins over to another individual when I didn't feel like there was much I had to add to the region. After what will have been three terms of representing the Commonwealth as your First Minister and cleaning up the mess left by Harry Truman, I'm keeping my promise.

I gotta say, I'm glad to see Atlasia reclaim its honor and glory after such a long period of malaise, bitterness, naked attacks on our institutions, and what back in Wyoming we just like to call "bullsh!t."

I'm happy to see constructive ideas for legislation be proposed. Senator Enduro yesterday introduced legislation to ban electroshock therapy and investigate the infamous Judge Rotenberg Center. This "mental health" institution was born out of an idea to establish utopia. But in recent years, let me say that again - in recent years there have been reports of the institution using shock therapy and other harsh punitive methods to "fix" kids with autism. These, of course, are methods which we would rightly call torture if they were used anywhere else. The JRC also has six deaths on its hands, each directly attributed to their egregious practices.

The first thing I'm going to do in Nyman is introduce legislation, complementing Enduro's bill, which would lengthen the statute of limitations so that victims of this evil organization can have their day in court.

The day we see the end of these abuses, funded by insidious groups like Autism Speaks and their ilk, will be a great day for Atlasia and a great day for autistic children. Which is to say, my friends, this will be a great day for more than half the forum.

All joking aside, I am eager to return to the office of senator after over a year, and almost two years since representing our entire region. You know me, folks. I'll fight for you. I'll never miss a vote. I'll be the same independent voice I've always been. I will make your wildest dreams come true and I will make anime real.

Thank you all, may Dave bless this great Commonwealth, and may Dave bless the Republic of Atlasia!



_{1. https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/los-angeles-winter-activities/}

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Endorsed!

[Continential]

Endorsed!

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

Endorsed, fren

[Sirius_]

Endorsed!

[Mr. Reactionary]

Endor!

[Utah Neolib]

Endorsed!

[West_Midlander]

Endorsed

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Endorsed!

[Dr. MB]

Endorsed my friend

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

Proudly Endorsed!

[Lumine]

Not a voter, but wholeheartedly endorsed!

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Minneapolis, Minnesota₁

Musings about the activities of the Senate, the Supreme Court, and Southern partnership negotiations

Good morning, Minneapolis. I'm happy to be with you all, in the Land of BRTD, to discuss the current state of affairs, and to preview how I will approach those issues as your next senator.

Let me start off by saying that I am unequivocally a unionist. The idea of Frémont secession has never been seriously entertained by this region, and I intend to keep it that way.

As most of you know, the South recently voted to instigate a deal that would allow for more regional autonomy over a wide variety of subjects. If I were in the South, I would have voted against this measure, and this is definitely one issue where PPT Reactionary and I don't see eye-to-eye.

Folks, we need to protect our environment if we want to leave our country, and our planet, in a better state than we found it. It is imperative that we prohibit extreme forms of energy extraction - particularly mountaintop removal mining, which destroys biodiversity, displaces hunters and fishers along with wildlife, and creates an unhealthy environment for residents nearby. As the author of the federal ban on mountaintop removal mining, I could never support a deal that enables regions to allow this practice.

Nor can I, in good conscience, support the death penalty under any circumstances. I will always vote to uphold the existing federal ban on this archaic, barbaric practice.

But beyond those things, I do support a great deal of autonomy for the regions. Our regional legislatures generate activity. Indeed, the federalist position is one that elevates the role of the legislator to more than a mere stepping stone. But as my dad would always say to me: "All things in moderation."

No doubt the South has been abused by federal powers. However, the existing partnership - with the Kansas conflict now fully resolved and compensated - is sufficient. The regions have trilaterally dissolved their militias. Peace has been restored to Atlasia.

But we must not use these past injustices to dilute the fundamental responsibilities of the federal government. To protect our environment. To guarantee healthcare for all (by various methods). To keep checks and balances in place.

And so I will not support any deal that weakens our institutions.

Furthermore, I endorse efforts to reform the Supreme Court by implementing term limits, and at the very minimum, to require our justices to be reconsidered and readmitted in a non-partisan or ideological fashion. It is true that the Court is oriented for our less active players.

But it's hardly unreasonable to suggest that seven straight, unchecked years on the Court is too long. Therefore, I support the bills put forward by my colleagues in Peace to reform the rules of the Court in a fair manner.

But rest assured that as long as I may be allowed to lead this Commonwealth, not a single drill will touch the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We will never allow the exploitation of our many national, state, and regional parks for the temporal satisfaction of Big Oil.

And I say this all with the desire to be energy independent. I support fracking as an alternative to coal, provided that such is done in areas which do not negatively impact the health of our people. I don't think it's crazy to suggest that water should not be flammable.

But Frémont is rich in resources and vacant land. It is also home to numerous Indigenous groups, whose desires must be factored into our policy decisions. I can tell you that as a Christian man, I would never want a pipeline running underneath my local church. The Native Americans feel the very same about their sacred land.

In conclusion, the Senate needs active members, and it also needs to produce policy that is nuanced, balanced, and accommodating of all people. And those are the people I will speak for as your next senator.

Thank you, Minneapolis. Dave bless you. Let's win this thing - for Frémont!

_{1. CREDIT: COURTESY OF MEET MINNEAPOLIS/LANE PELOVSKY}

[windjammer]

I'm not going to Say you're trying to get me out of the Supreme Court because this isn't what you have said and this isn't what you believe I think.

However I will still explain why your support for these judiciary reforms are a false good idea. I have been dealing with radicals and other terrorists in the last 10 years and this is Always how they behave :
-they Come to power when the game is in an inactive phase. They recall and pass votes to dissolve the assemblies to create chaos.
-they Always try to get control of key offices like the president, the GM Office,...
-They clash with the Supreme Court and they Always try to get rid of them too.

The fact is the Supreme Court has Always been a check against terrorism and a stable Institution.

If you start giving the assemblies the power of removing them easily for office. It would be simply much easier to stage a coup and to dissolve the game.
Furthermore, I'm fundamentally hostile to the Idea of giving even more control to the senate regarding the judiciary. The impeachment threat is already enough. There is.nothing that warrants that as the Supreme Court has never tried to expand its power for example overturning an election based on a partisan affiliation. And Justice isn't doing what is popular. It is obvious the senate would have likely removed all the bench from.office during the Louisville trial and this is against the independence of justice.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I'm not going to Say you're trying to get me out of the Supreme Court because this isn't what you have said and this isn't what you believe I think.

However I will still explain why your support for these judiciary reforms are a false good idea. I have been dealing with radicals and other terrorists in the last 10 years and this is Always how they behave :
-they Come to power when the game is in an inactive phase. They recall and pass votes to dissolve the assemblies to create chaos.
-they Always try to get control of key offices like the president, the GM Office,...
-They clash with the Supreme Court and they Always try to get rid of them too.

The fact is the Supreme Court has Always been a check against terrorism and a stable Institution.

If you start giving the assemblies the power of removing them easily for office. It would be simply much easier to stage a coup and to dissolve the game.
Furthermore, I'm fundamentally hostile to the Idea of giving even more control to the senate regarding the judiciary. The impeachment threat is already enough. There is.nothing that warrants that as the Supreme Court has never tried to expand its power for example overturning an election based on a partisan affiliation. And Justice isn't doing what is popular. It is obvious the senate would have likely removed all the bench from.office during the Louisville trial and this is against the independence of justice.

No, no. This wasn't intended as an attack on you and I would have said the same thing regardless of who was on the Court.

And perhaps you're correct; IRL judges and justices are usually voted for based on how they are expected to rule. There could be partisan bickering, although that certainly wasn't the case with Cao, a Federalist president, allowing tack to appoint another leftist and not involve himself with the ensuing controversy.

But I am uncomfortable with the notion that justices can serve for life in this game, and not be scrutinized every now and then to keep their position. It's an important albeit seldom part of the game. We have elections every month for most offices but not even the Senate may review a justice based on merit and pass a vote of confidence.

(There is also the principle of giving everyone a chance to hold a certain office to keep in mind.)

And I respectfully doubt how much of an impact the Supreme Court has on coups. Both of us read that chatlog and were upset with how people were mocking us. But the Supreme Court wasn't a factor here. The prime motivation of these "terrorists" was boredom. Boredom is why they do it, and boredom is why they leave afterwards. We made a good example out of Truman and OBD, certainly. And the game is still here.

Perhaps this is something better discussed in private. But I want to make clear that my stance on Supreme Court reform has nothing to do with personal strife. As I've said, I would be saying the same thing if the idea were proposed with anybody else on the Court who was also on the bench for all that time. (I also confess that the IRL partisan games of the past several years have soured me on the authority we give to SCOTUS, where justices are expected to serve for life or if they are no longer mentally/physically able to.)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I'm not going to Say you're trying to get me out of the Supreme Court because this isn't what you have said and this isn't what you believe I think.

However I will still explain why your support for these judiciary reforms are a false good idea. I have been dealing with radicals and other terrorists in the last 10 years and this is Always how they behave :
-they Come to power when the game is in an inactive phase. They recall and pass votes to dissolve the assemblies to create chaos.
-they Always try to get control of key offices like the president, the GM Office,...
-They clash with the Supreme Court and they Always try to get rid of them too.

The fact is the Supreme Court has Always been a check against terrorism and a stable Institution.

If you start giving the assemblies the power of removing them easily for office. It would be simply much easier to stage a coup and to dissolve the game.
Furthermore, I'm fundamentally hostile to the Idea of giving even more control to the senate regarding the judiciary. The impeachment threat is already enough. There is.nothing that warrants that as the Supreme Court has never tried to expand its power for example overturning an election based on a partisan affiliation. And Justice isn't doing what is popular. It is obvious the senate would have likely removed all the bench from.office during the Louisville trial and this is against the independence of justice.

No, no. This wasn't intended as an attack on you and I would have said the same thing regardless of who was on the Court.

And perhaps you're correct; IRL judges and justices are usually voted for based on how they are expected to rule. There could be partisan bickering, although that certainly wasn't the case with Cao, a Federalist president, allowing tack to appoint another leftist and not involve himself with the ensuing controversy.

But I am uncomfortable with the notion that justices can serve for life in this game, and not be scrutinized every now and then to keep their position. It's an important albeit seldom part of the game. We have elections every month for most offices but not even the Senate may review a justice based on merit and pass a vote of confidence.

(There is also the principle of giving everyone a chance to hold a certain office to keep in mind.)

And I respectfully doubt how much of an impact the Supreme Court has on coups. Both of us read that chatlog and were upset with how people were mocking us. But the Supreme Court wasn't a factor here. The prime motivation of these "terrorists" was boredom. Boredom is why they do it, and boredom is why they leave afterwards. We made a good example out of Truman and OBD, certainly. And the game is still here.

Perhaps this is something better discussed in private. But I want to make clear that my stance on Supreme Court reform has nothing to do with personal strife. As I've said, I would be saying the same thing if the idea were proposed with anybody else on the Court who was also on the bench for all that time. (I also confess that the IRL partisan games of the past several years have soured me on the authority we give to SCOTUS, where justices are expected to serve for life or if they are no longer mentally/physically able to.)

When it comes to the big things like say the constitution, or the court, it creates a fear that if the terrorists in such a scenario were to succeed, then it would create a panic and the game would collapse thus, especially if seems like something was permanently broken.

Would enough people in a situation like that ignore the court as easily as the GM was?

Its less about why they did it, and more about how much damage can be inflicted before they stopped and if it is enough to discourage everyone else to the point of leaving.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

When it comes to the big things like say the constitution, or the court, it creates a fear that if the terrorists in such a scenario were to succeed, then it would create a panic and the game would collapse thus, especially if seems like something was permanently broken.

Would enough people in a situation like that ignore the court as easily as the GM was?

Its less about why they did it, and more about how much damage can be inflicted before they stopped and if it is enough to discourage everyone else to the point of leaving.

This is true, but I think the fact that the game is still here, and that we have always prevailed against those terrorists, is a testament to our success in that front.

But, obviously, the game isn't nearly as active as when you and I started out here. The trolls might have something to do with that, but that isn't necessarily the only factor.

[windjammer]

I understand very much your concerns about the checks being needed and I understand you don't have a kill list of judges either and that you have nothing against the Supreme court.

There are absolutely no active players who are interested in this kind of position and the super difficulty of finding a recruit proves that.

As for the Supreme Court being some kind of powers against the terrorists, I Can guarantee that had they replaced the court with some of their puppets the risk of destroying the game would have been higher.

I think our main disagreement is over the senate. You have some good positive views about them. In my case the senate has done so many stupid stuff in the past I can't consider it as some Always rationale body. After all they stripped the VP of all of their powers 8 years ago because they were used of VPs not doing their jobs (really absurd in retrospect) and in the end regarding the Supreme court amendment being debated, this os obvious half of the senators are going to vote while not having read anything about the debates and vote just how they would be told to do so.

I don't see how this doesn't end up into some partisan justice where justices would be confirmed/ denied based on their partisan affiliation.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This is true, but I think the fact that the game is still here, and that we have always prevailed against those terrorists, is a testament to our success in that front.

I have to wonder how much of that is also luck. We have seen regional hijackings and then first a partial and then a full hijacking of the executive branch.

I wonder if we would have had been as lucky if we had a 2-1 radical court in 2015 for instance. Imagine a world where say TJ got radicalized #Atlasforum where he frequently was present throughout that period. Or alternatively, Ebowed did go radical in that period, which put a rather interesting question mark on bgwah who was nearing the end of his days in the game at that point. And the last justice, until he joined the Senate, was Oakvale.

Of course the presence or absence of term limits doesn't do much in regards to radicalization of existing court members, but it is something to consider anyway.

But, obviously, the game isn't nearly as active as when you and I started out here.

Correction, its not as active as when you started in 2011. It is still more active I would argue than 2008 when I joined, though only barely.

I also don't think that the situation is addressable in the way that the RPP-JCP boosted activity, because of discordification, people get sucked into their cords and very few participate in the AFE board discussions. This not only reduces activity, but increases the risk of under handed plots, poorly thought out actions and so forth. Sure we had private forums in the RPP era, but they were a very small percentage of posting. One thread with Hamilton or later with Napoleon could easily exceed weeks of private forum posting in a matter of days. These days, I would wager you have many people who spend 90% of their Atlasia activity on discord, and only 10% on the boards itself.

The trolls might have something to do with that, but that isn't necessarily the only factor.

Its a nice paradoxical question that is very hard to measure. Do they add to the inactivity as a reaction to disgust at their actions, or would that slope of the activity decline have continued anyway and they just expedited the process.

[windjammer]

On an another note,
There was the point you made that it is important that players Can be elected to all the different offices. I just want to further Say that no actives players are interested in this kind of position. Only people.who.want to retire want to join the supreme court. People being active who joined the supreme court end up leaving it to run for office (for example yankee).


Every vacancy on the bench, this is always a mess to find a replacement. WD can confirm you that lol.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

As we head into the elections this weekend, I want to clarify that I no longer support the proposed Supreme Court reforms. Ultimately PiT's concurrence with windjammer is what nudged be over the fence. And if a Supreme Court proposal doesn't have a mandate or any institutional support whatsoever, it should probably be rejected.

Meanwhile, I am working with Senator Laki on legislation to research Alaska's Iliamna Volcano. As the senator for Frémont, it is prudent to have as much influence as we can over policy directly impacting our territory. It should be noted that volcanic drilling is not without risks, but we are working carefully to ensure local populations are as sparse and undisturbed as possible, and that any research be within commonsense safety regulations. We have established that there will never be volcanic drilling at Yellowstone National Park, and I will continue to insist that Frémont has the final say on how her resources are used.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Thank you, Frémont! And thank you, Atlasia! This is certainly a great time for the Peace Party. Not only did we keep our incumbents, but we grew our numbers with Labor and retook the White House! I can only imagine how proud Siren would be.

I'm proud to enter this new government as floor leader of the largest number of Peace members elected to Congress under this current constitution, and indeed in years. While there have been discussions about leadership, I want to affirm my confidence in Mr. R, as well as Vice President-elect Laki, in presiding over the next Senate.

In the coming months, I'm eager to give better representation to Frémont and flip this seat's vote attendance record from an F all the way to an A+, and lead on a number of issues and bills currently in drafting stages.

One issue I discussed with Chief Justice windjammer this weekend is to consider returning our Congress to a bicameral one, which among other things would reduce seat inflation and enable the VP to have more than a minor, ceremonial role once again. But as with the proposed reform to the Supreme Court, I pledge to only support major game changes that enjoy a broad consensus of support. Such would be necessary to change our constitution, and it is the right way to approach all matters of game reform.

Great things are up ahead. And now I prepare to pass the torch to FM-elect Ishan on Wednesday afternoon.

Finally, thank you to President Cao for his service as our president. It was an honor to work with him as Secretary of State, and I look forward to continuing that work in the new adminitration.

Thank you again, Frémont!

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Congratulations on your election victory. I look forward to hearing your important voice in the senate.

[windjammer]

Congratulations my friend

[nerd73]

Congratulations Scott. I look forward to working with you and Peace in the Senate.