Join the new world

I knew it would happen around now, around the time of the second presidential elections in the post-Theocratic era. Sooner or later, the political scene in South Korea was going to start getting interesting, develop into a more sophisticated tone, with parties starting to slug it out and challenges being made to rivals in the media.

Up until this week, it’s been pretty quiet around here, and I think that’s the way we wanted it up to this point. Quiet means dull, a lack of chaos. It means the government is going about its business with a degree of competence, no egregious errors in judgment, no sudden moves. From the time the Theocrats left until now, this is what we wanted, isn’t it? We wanted to be left alone so we can build our country in our own image, and, thankfully, knock on wood, there hasn’t been any serious PTO threat, no military muscle-flexing from our immediate neighbors, everything has slowly worked for the better.

This last week, two events woke up the sleepy hamlet known as South Korea. The first was the media outburst against the faction referring to themselves as the Goons (I tried calling hem the Bretons for awhile, but apparently they refer to themselves as Goons, so why blow against the wind?), their silence within the Party In My Pants, and what their intentions are. Chancellor Spade seems to be watering down their ability to raise Cain here by letting in the FacePunchers to challenge them within the PIMP, the theory apparently being, if the Goons can’t control their own party, they’re less of a threat to control the country. So far, the Goons, especially PIMP party president Stalin-chan have remained rather quiet, although Park Mai Kar wrote an article about the Goons’ epic journey, their destiny to rule South Korea, and their travails and tribulations on their road to Valhalla. Honestly, their message board banter is much more telling, much more entertaining, and it’s all over the Forum for your amusement.

What I find superlative about this is, this is a country just recovering from a rather intense PTO. We’re not phased by this, no one is in the media saying PTO GROUP IS HERE, DON’T PANIC, Spade acted accordingly to diminish their potency, and that is that. Compared to other reknown PTO groups, the Goons have maintained their silence longer, no real bravado given. I think a lot of South Koreans were shellshocked and discouraged when the Theocrats came, chanting SLIA OR GTFO, and after five months of that, such a thing could lead to a national feeling of dread, of victimization. This time around, it’s the South Koreans putting the wood to the PTOers, not shouting them down, but certainly taking the initiative in calling them out, putting the spotlight on them, and demanding a little transparency, a little honesty. It’s refreshing, it means South Koreans have developed a backbone. There’s always going to be the concern of the dreaded PTO, but everyone in the community is doing his share to fend them off, and when our work bears fruit, when the PTO is discovered before it can pounce, it’s a good feeling.

The other event began yesterday, when presidential contender Andrei Vissarionovich, leader of the largest political party in South Korea, the Democratic Nationalist Party, accused the South Corea of 798 and the Project for a New Korea (my party) of being “satellite parties of the Korean Nationalist Party” because our partied chose to endorse Spade for re-election.

In response, Athasnim wrote a poignant piece, going after Andrei himself, and it seems as if this won’t be the last time we see these two jawing at each other in the media.

Now, since I am president of the PNK, Andrei’s criticism was directed at me as well. Instead of becoming defensive on one hand, or attacking Andrei on the other, let me reply to him by saying, Andrei, you are absolutely right. We’re not in the business of running political parties just to give kudos to our buddies. We have an obligation to give voters a real choice at the ballot box, to groom candidates with a degree of knowledge and integrity, and to promote a democratic South Korea by getting fresh blood circulating through the halls of power. I don’t necessarily consider our party’s endorsement of Spade a sign of being his puppet party, but then again, it is my job as president of a political party to present what we have to offer, what we stand for, in the form of a seasoned, professional candidate.

I can’t speak for Athasnim, but he and I are in the same boat. We didn’t take over these parties until a few weeks ago. The KNP was formed as the Theocrats first came, the DNP during their reign, the rest of the parties are playing catch-up. My hope is to present quality candidates for people to vote for, not just put somebody on the ballot for its own sake, just because we can. Truly, in my party, before this last Congressional election, there were only two of us who had any previous political experience, myself and Iswan, and Iswan’s lone foray into politics came the month before, being a Congressman for the first time. As for myself, I’ve been around, I’ve seen and done a few things here and there, and I thought about running, but I know I can’t commit the time necessary to be an effective leader. Hence, the Project went the endorsement route, because I don’t want to put up a candidate who is not ready, who can’t put the time and energy into the job, just for the sake of doing so.

As such, I have to consider Andrei’s comments a challenge to me as president of the Project, to groom party members, to get them ready for moving up the bureaucratic ladder. Democracy demands choice. To me, however, I refuse to have our elections come down to a choice between the lesser of two evils, my candidate essentially being one of those evils. I want a candidate to emerge from my party, ready to take the reins of power if he or she is fortunate to win an election, but the onus is on me to find that candidate and get him or her prepared.

To me, these episodes—the Goons getting their arses handed to them in the media, and Andrei’s criticism of the PNK and the SC-798—are signs that South Korea is growing up, politically. People are getting involved, taking interest, becoming active and vocal. They’re speaking out. These are all very good things in a country seeking a democratic resolve. I knew it was bound to happen, sooner or later, that we’d start getting citizens talking down to PTO groups, that politicians would use the media to push other politicians’ buttons. Things are hotting up now, becoming interesting, even entertaining.

[img]http://jaysolomon.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/politics.jpg?w=468[/img]