Another one bites the dust.

Day 1,299, 21:05 • Published in Canada Canada • by Alias Vision

Impeachment motion that is.

Full disclosure because a) those that elected me have a right to know and b) it wouldn't be that hard to guess. I voted to impeach Rolo.

The vote failed by the smallest possible margin as 13 members of Congress said no.

The debate was framed along these lines (minus a lot of the name calling):

Rolo's theft is ancient history, it is just a game, get over it, he is the best candidate for the job of Country President.

Furthermore, we were told during the campaign by Addy and his Herd to give the proverbial finger to role play and elect a man based on mechanics alone.

Each of these points could have merit and indeed a lot of Canadians (vocal ones anyways) appear to have agreed with exactly that premise. After all, contrary to what the 35.9% approval rating would suggest, the race was never close.

I could never get that far with that argument, it would stick in my throat and I simply couldn't swallow.

Here is why:

First of all, it was role-play that deemed the previous impeachment of Rolo as illegal. Game mechanics, the First Rule of today's elite, was respected to the letter. Then role-play and community rules were good, now they are bad. This is Herd mentality.

Nine months is a long time, a lot of people around today won't be if we could look that far in the future. For some players it would be ancient history but it was something that really happened and affected everyone in Canada for months. Everything changed after that.

It is just a game and sometimes I wonder if the fact that the powers that be have destroyed the integrity of the game so many times over that old timers that now support Rolo feel they simply can't be bothered to protect the last things remaining... community and the spirit of the game manifest in the community.

Rolo best candidate for the job? You never know. A lot of people believed Kaz was ready and in the end he gave the country a spectacularly insulting exit while siding with the very people who had been his tormentors.

Parties supporting Rolo used tricks and lies to attract votes. That used to earn an automatic temp ban (from Admin) for the party president guilty of the stratagem... now it is matter of course.

So I wondered who the 13 Congressmen were... the first was easy, Addy has made no secret his involvement or his championing the Rolo cause. I figured a bunch would be easy and come from MOO but honestly, that is not true. Ehab would be another good candidate as he appeared to say as much a few times in Congress.

Jacobi voted to keep Rolo. That was/is just a hunch at the time but our God King knows his legacy is safe no matter what and he benefits more from a friend than an enemy when it comes to our reviled CP.

(Finally the exercise is futile as there was no advantage for pro-Rolo camp to whip any votes... they already knew and likely had voters from each party.)

So now I had three firm names, two of which are arguably some of the most influential public thinkers in Canada currently active. No wonder they weren't worried about the motion, they probably had all their ducks in a row for a while.

The final nail in the coffin is the apparent admission of Rylde that he cast the deciding vote. I say apparent because once upon a time I felt I could read the man, now I'm clueless.

The motion and Canada, had no chance against that unholy alliance.

Now the second wave of public opinion shaping has started. The message is not to spread hate, to accept things as they are. To feel honoured we have such an active and accomplished leader showing us the way.

Opposition is not automatically hate. I was not elected to Congress under the Rolo ticket, it was under the EPIC ticket which is a lot more about equality and community building than anything provided by our executive so far. If I disagree with the statements, actions of elected officials... as an elected official myself, am I not honour bound to raise my voice?

The crux of the matter however boils down to this... and you can take it as my tl:dr...

If you want to be my friend, you can't come to me nine months later and say, "Dude, that shit was messed up... now let me back in."

You stole from "me" (metaphorical me here) and now you want me to accept you back. So if I give you my cooperation, what are you going to give me back to try and mend fences and create a working relationship again.

You can't just use the Herd, make patronage appointments, rule by dictat and think that’s cool. You already poked me in the eye and laughed in my face. At least try to say hello first this time.