US, Others hit by PTO

Day 798, 00:48 • Published in USA New Zealand • by WahooBob
United States Hit by Midnight Attack!
President Jewitt: "We're still targets"



Last night, less than half an hour before midnight eRepublik time, the United States came under fire from a sneak attack attempt at political takeover. As many as seven states were initially identified as potential targets as the flury of votes came in hours after most Americans had gone to bed. Personell in military, congressional, and executive channels responded quickly, mobilizing allied voters from around the globe to rush to the aid of the United States.

Despite their best efforts, it believed at this hour that three regions were lost to Phoenix-based individuals, while at least five races targeted by officials were secured by Americans. Kardos Bela, of New Mexico; Lora Devis, of Illinois; and Esmond_Gr, of Washington DC, were immediately placed on government watch lists and forum administrators have been advised to restrict access by these individuals to the private congressional boards. Investigations into the history of the three suspected attackers are already underway, and they would be in the custody of the FBI for questioning right now if that were mechanically possible.

President Jewitt, who some have critisized for lack of activity, was on the scene despite having already gone to bed for the evening. A quick telephone call by a cabinet level member woke the president. "That is the quickest I've gotten out of bed in a long time," he commented, "Yay for being woken up when there is an exam at 8am." Speaking briefly to members of his cabinet before returning to bed, he told them that the "last minute scramble tonight has reminded us that we're still targets."

What Happens Next?

Though the three seats alone will fall far short of causing any laws to pass or fail, the ramifications can be large and far-reaching. For starters, each senator will be able to approve approximately 22 requests for citizenship in the next month. This could make it even easier for a Phoenix group to make a grab at the US government a month from now. Furthermore, the senators will be able to propose two laws each. This could be used to slow down the process of donating tax revenue to the Congressional Budget Office, or they could even propose a presidential impeachment. While the impeachment would be unlikely to pass, it can only be proposed every 10 days. This means that if President Jewitt were to be hacked to banned, the Congress would be unable to remove him from office. We have seen this situation before in Indonesia, Russia, and Turkey, and absolutely do not want this to happen in the United States. Unfortunately, there is no way to impeach a senator.

How Do We Prevent Future Attacks?

An increased level of political activity in the US, experts say, will be the most effective way to prevent another political attack in the future. Joining a political party and becoming active on their forums and in their community will help citizens become more involved, and thus more likely to move and vote for their candidate. This month, we saw top candidates in the fortress states draw hundreds of votes, and losing candidates drawing hundreds more. If just a fraction of those voters had moved to vote in wasteland states or gone abroad to help allied ATO efforts, it would have been much more difficult for those who hate our nation to bring it harm.



News from Other Places

There was a free for all in the newly-freed nation of Belgium yesterday. Both Phoenix and EDEN forces attempted to gain control of the geographically strategic republic. American intelligence reports that the following results:
Belgian Defense (US) - 3
Movement for Belgium (POL) - 6
Belgian Neutrality (CRO) - 2
Belgium for Belgians (Phoenix) - 9

In the South Pacific, the nation of Malaysia briefly conquered several regions of the Philippines to prevent a suspected political takeover by a group of players from the image-board website 4Chan. The Malaysian president did not immediately return Update's request for a comment.


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