I am interested in playing too. So now we have three.

I love a warm, soft, and salty pretzel fresh from the oven as much as the next guy. Even better with some of Talossa's favorite beverage.

The PA's recent statement increases the still low likelihood of another election. We still see the likelihood as high that there will be an arrangement between the two largest parties and this most recent PA statement is a face-saving measure.

Fellow Talossans, once the big party arrangement is announced please know that the Green Party having agreed collectively remains committed to not taking the lead as the Opposition. We will be using terpelaziuns for government accountability where absolutely necessary but we remain committed to building community in the Kingdom and will focus on those types of initiatives as our priority.

Should there be another election, we will reiterate our recent messages and welcome your support so that the Green Party can form government.

Tough spot you're in. I send wishes for a wise decision by the PA, we might be headed for another election pretty soon.

After emerging from the last campaign with a rousing victory, the Progressive Alliance was faced with tough choices.  We fell short of a majority, commanding 87 seats in the Cosa.  If we wanted to form a Government and start to bring change to Talossa, we'd need support from another party.  There were three other parties with sufficient seats to make that happen: the Greens, the very new IDT, and the incumbent URL.

The Green Party wasn't seriously considered.  S:reu Tzaracomprada is one of the few people in our history to be condemned by the Ziu for his past behavior.  To this day, he maintains that he didn't do anything wrong when he sexually harassed another citizen.  And since the most important thing is that our citizens feel safe, it would be irresponsible to put him in any position of authority.  He's the only active member of the Greens; it would be impossible for him to hand off leadership to someone else.

Initially, we forged an agreement with the IDT.  While the only IDT legislator, S:reu Malt, had very different views from own, we firmly believe that even people with very different views can find some common ground.  For us, it was his enthusiasm for our language.  Accordingly, our agreement confined him to working exclusively on language issues unless otherwise authorized.

Unfortunately, this agreement was reached before he began expressing the full range of his ideas and acting in an erratic manner.  Specifically, he expressed sympathy for a known neo-Nazi and doubled-down on his support for autocratic policies.  This is not acceptable.  We spoke with S:reu Molt and made it clear that his behavior had made it impossible for us to entrust him with a position of authority or power over others.  Again, the most important thing is that our citizens feel safe.  There will be no coalition with the IDT.

S:reu Malt has since apologized for some of his statements, however, so there is some possibility of accepting his participation in a supply and confidence agreement.  Any such agreement would not permit him to be in a position of authority, but would accept his support in the Cosa under the express understanding that this support would not come with any policy or legislative expectations. 

Our last option was the URL.  Their initial request for a possible coalition entailed a very deep collaboration, ceding them five of the eleven Cabinet offices among other requests.  There was no appetite for working with the URL to this extent after the recent campaign.

The Progressive Alliance works hard to be positive, but that often put us in a position of simply absorbing insults and falsehood from the URL leadership.  We deliberately chose not to "hit back," since it was our view that nasty scuffles were bad for the country and not what our base wanted from us.  We tried to push back, but always tried to be constructive at the same time as we discussed our policy plans or larger goals.

At times, this was a challenge.

• The URL repeatedly and knowingly lied about our flagship Public Process Act, saying that it would allow their leaders to be prosecuted for innocent mistakes.  Even though it's impossible for a law to criminalize past behavior, thanks to the protections of the Organic Law, the URL attempted to deceive voters that we had promised to "weaponize the justice system to punish political opponents."  There's no other way to see it: this was a knowing falsehood, cynically stated for political gain.
• One of the URL leaders, our current Seneschal, took a phrase out of context from a private conversation in order to lie about its meaning.  She was messaging with a past ally to scold him for his decision to support the Progressive Alliance, and she demanded that he denounce me publicly.  He said in dismissal of such a demand, "we're trying to win an election here."  Since then, this phrase has been touted as evidence of wrongdoing, rather than a phrase torn from conversation and re-interpreted.  He didn't mean that, and she knew he didn't mean that.  This was shabby behavior.
• The URL also spent a considerable amount of time attacking the Progressive Alliance as an organization, saying we weren't a "real party," that we wanted to "backslide into Madisonianism" and "yearn for those days" and think that "democracy doesn't matter," in addition to direct personal attacks on individual Progressive Alliance members.

We don't begrudge the URL their particular brand of aggression, but it was a rough thing to endure.  We didn't respond in kind, though, and we made sure to acknowledge the URL as valid choices with passionate and decent Talossans in their leadership.  We still believe that's true.  Still, it's hard to work with anyone when you know that private conversations are impossible, when they've spent months aggressively attacking you in personal terms, and when you wonder at times about their good faith.  Nonetheless, we were open about the possibility of turning the corner, and so we are still open to a confidence and supply agreement (a more typical one in this case).

At this time, we are still voting on how to proceed, deciding whether to seek a no-strings no-influence confidence and supply agreement with the IDT, or seek a confidence and supply agreement with the URL.  The vote will conclude within the week, and then we will move forward.

Whatever happens, we will continue to try our best to live up to our ideals and help make Talossa a better place, and that will always be true.

This coalition agreement has been dissolved.  The IDT will not have a place in Government in the upcoming term.  S:reu Malt will still hopefully assist us with language matters, but given our concerns about his views and certainty about his erratic choices, we have opted not to put him in a position of authority.

The Progressive Alliance wants to work with everybody, even when our views differ, but sometimes the choices people make are a harsh limit on the extent to which we're able to welcome their contributions.

We are still open to a confidence and supply agreement which does not grant S:reu Malt any authority or discretion, but a vote is currently ongoing and no decision has been made.

Remember, Progressives, there's a few days remaining on the vote to determine which path we take forward as a party!

We've talked privately, and I've told you that we don't traffic in racism around here.  It's universally condemned and unequivocally shunned.  I'm hoping that you were hasty before, and that this recent controversy reflects this haste and your youth.  I think your resolution to back off, quiet down, and spend some time learning is a smart one.  This is a good first step.

My fellow Talossans,

It has been apparent that my views have caused a stir in the political sphere of this nation, and I didn't expect my views to be that much of an impact on people. Turns out I was wrong. And the catalyst of this is when I admitted to liking Nicholas J. Fuentes, a Gen Z pundit who has faced backlash for his racist and misogynistic comments. I started watching him mainly because I saw snippets of his show on Instagram, and I wanted to find out who this Nick Fuentes guy really was. I was in for a rude awakening. When I listened to his statements, I started to regret finding out this guy even existed. It caused me to lose my good name in the Kingdom, and I had to really reconsider my philosophy.

It is for this reason that I am writing this post to say that I am sorry for following a man who promoted ethnic supremacy and hate. I have never espoused this belief, and I will never espouse it. It would go against my faith, and against my neighbours (you Talossans). I do read the Bible, but I took most of it for granted until recently. I'm kinda glad this happened, because then I wouldn't have received my much-needed condemnation. I hope we can come to terms one day, and if not, that's fine too. At least you know that I regret it all.

Thank you.

- MM

(Square brackets are my additions or places I skipped.)

---

"An assumption, or a call to wake up?"

"Talossan brothers:

"I am writing this to clarify my position when I called myself the 'Talossan Nick Fuentes'. In no way do I support or advocate fascism or any ideology that promotes racial supremacism. I will say that I haven't listened to Nick [first-name basis, eh?] in some time. My mental health has improved without him in my life.

"I love everyone. God loves everyone, and therefore I love everyone [someone hasn't read the Bible, I guess]. [Bible stuff.] If I were a Nazi or a fascist, I would be a hypocrite and a liar [lol]. When I became a citizen, I was a newcomer (I concede that I still am). I was too quick with my beliefs, until someone wise told me that great things take time.

"Talossans, I'm sorry that I was a failure for you. Henceforth, I swear to be [Bible stuff]. If I cannot be forgiven, I'll understand completely."

---

I'd love to correct the original Talossan, but I don't really want to attach my name to this text.

Fratreux Talossaes:

Scrïu acest clarificar va posiziun quand éu me nomineveu el "Niclau Funtagnhăs Talossan". In AUCÜN vej espunéu o advocatzéu per el fascismeu o ingen ideoloxhà qe promota el supremaçal raçal. Zirarhéu qe non ausculteveu à Niclau per quálsevol temp. Va santéu mental miglhoriçeva sanc o in va vidă.

Améu TOCT. Dïeu ama toct, es per această raziun améu toct. "Aglhorc o formeva crastiun in sieu propeu imatx, in el imatx da Díeu o lo formeva..." Schi füt ün Natzi o fascist, estadréu ün simuladeir es ün minteir. Quand zeveneveu ün citaxhien, füt ün aðvaintour (cunceßarhéu q'éu adüc sint). Füt tro lainteu cün va cresençăs, txusca quálseviens q'isch saxheu zireva àð éu qe las cosăs grülts preindent temp.

Talossaes, va c'hupă q'éu füt ün feblar por voi. D'acest temp, xhuréu estar "velotsch auscultar es plain zirar" (Txec 1:19). Schi éu non put estar perzonat, cumprenchéu complätsmint.

Meirci es adéu.

-MM