Ocie Elliott - Wild rose

Yeah. The thing about the PA is that, well, parties in that tradition get mean around election time. But they're actually patriotic and committed, even though I find their vision of Talossa a bit creepy. And if the alternatives are sex pests and back-to-the-Byzantine-Empire types, and barring someone getting a near-absolute majority, there's not really much of an alternative.

"Fraichetz dels punts, es non dels mürs."

These words -- "Build bridges, not walls" -- adorn the arms of His Majesty the King. Earlier this year, he mentioned to me that he wanted to help put them into action a little better to serve Talossa and encourage a more positive environment. In light of this fact, and in light of the fact that I've had a few citizens ask me who it is I can see myself working with in the next term, I see no reason not to lay out a few of my possible bridge-building intentions now.

Acknowledging that no party is anywhere near likely to get a majority -- as I mentioned at Coffee With the King on Saturday, it's almost a mathematical impossibility with five parties on the ballot -- coalition government is pretty much a given, so I may as well start with the groups I would be open to leading the URL in cooperation with in the next term.

• The PA: This probably surprises some of you given the fact that neither party is particularly keen on each other, but frankly, there is a good chance of a grand coalition being the outcome of this election. That can happen in democracy -- our German-Talossan citizens would know! There are, of course, some things I would expect out of such a partnership: respectful dialogue in private; no throwing people under the bus in public. Keeping our business honest, avoiding mischaracterization. Maintaining a decentralized model of Cabinet organization; many hands make light work! Respecting the continued neutrality of the justice system and the civil service. Agreement to pursue minor bipartisan reforms -- something along the lines of pro-democratic electoral reform, perhaps -- but also agreement not to bite off more than we can chew. Anything more specific than that, of course, will depend on what we know two weeks from tonight.
  
• Independent Green / Anarcho-Surrealist: Admittedly, there's not much I can say about @Garth Spencer 's platform, but I like his commitment to "keeping Talossa weird", so to speak. I think his lone campaign mailer thus far shows that he's an open-minded fellow that can find something positive in everyone else's platforms, and I respect that. Hard to put down any guidelines for cooperation at this point though, so we'll just see where the chips fall, I guess.

There are, of course, a few groups I can't see the URL agreeing to work with on points of principle:

• Green Party: I mean, this one is obvious. We've already pledged not to work with the Greens, and that's a promise we're going to keep. 'Nuff said there.
  
• In Defensa Traditionis: Don't get me wrong, I'm always happy to see new citizens getting involved in politics. Talossa's democracy is one of it's strongest suits -- which is exactly why we need to keep it that way. As Talossa's principled, pro-democracy party, the URL is simply too far from IDT ideologically to envision any possibility of cooperation, though I wish S:reu Maltezos well on his Glheþ-related pursuits and look forward to seeing him around the Cosa.

Q. What do you call a Talossan politician who makes a habit of telling inflammatory falsehoods about his political opposition; recruits inactive citizens on the basis of those falsehoods; and then when this upsets people, lectures his opponents about "angry fights" and "the politics of hatred"?

A. If there's not a big turnaround in the election, you'll call him Seneschal.

Baron Davinescu keeps doing this because it works politically. If you wrap serious accusations of corruption and criminality in polite language, then you look like the good guy when your opponents get mad (for those who weren't paying attention). Ironic, because he recognizes the routine of victim-blaming ("my behaviour is not the problem, but your reaction is") when the Sex Pest party leader does it.

Anyway, ere are some historical memes of previous elections where Baron Davinescu he did exactly the same thing; found these when looking for something else.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on November 17, 2025, 09:54:22 PMWe're not pledging that we feel honor-bound to work with literally everyone about literally everything

I'm taking this as an indication that Mic'haglh's intervention has brought about some necessary political clarification, so thank you.

More political points have been moved elsewhere to respect the sanctity of this Joint Statement, which must be held to.

We're not pledging that we feel honor-bound to work with literally everyone about literally everything, but obviously no one really thought we were, lol.  An election is a heck of a thing, I guess. 

I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to get into an angry fight or whatever.  I'm not going to, sorry.  It doesn't sound fun or interesting, and I don't think it's what the people want.  A big part of our campaign is that we don't want these angry speeches or the attempts to start a fight.  We don't think anyone does, really.  And while I understand that they're part of the URL brand, we're just not interested.

To me, Talossa is about doing fun and interesting stuff.  It gives me the push I might never have gotten to try new things.  In just the last year, I've had that experience so many times!

• I had never done short-form video before just this past month!  (And maybe it shows, lol)  But after that language Tiktok went viral, I thought it might be a fun thing to try.  So I just... did it!  Filmed some short clips, and experimented with editing them together, and started up the whole Progressive Alliance account.  It's been another crazy thing I never would have tried, I think!
• I'm not sure I would have ever even thought about making a website to teach language skills, if it hadn't been for Talossa.  And Tafi, of course, who made it possible at all.  And even aside from the lessons themselves, I learned some new things about HTML.  It's amazing!
• Or to hearken back to an old one, I never even opened desktop publishing software before I started Beric'ht Talossan.  And then I just went ahead and did it, and it ran for two years.

Talossa gives you a chance and an excuse to do things you might never try.  And I can't wait to share that with more people.

The contempt you have for the intelligence of voters is astounding.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on November 17, 2025, 05:36:30 PMSo are we confirming that "work with anyone" means anyone except the Sex Pest?

Don't even need to ask about Green Party voters, the contradiction is even more obvious. "Work with anyone" and "refuse to work with the Green Party" are mutually exclusive promises, which means one of the two overrides the other.

Not sure I've ever seen anyone break a campaign promise before the election ends, but there's a first time for everything I suppose.

I'll pass with a brief snort over the PA leader complaining about "dishonesty" and "creativity with the truth".

So are we confirming that "work with anyone" means anyone except the Sex Pest? The problem is that, as the Baron previously argued in his arguments against party lists, when Talossans vote for a party they are really voting for a leader. Do people who've associated themselves with the Green Party have to disassociate themselves from the Sex Pest to be candidates for cooperation?

The Independent Greens are a different party, led by Garth Spencer.  We remain open to working with anyone from the Green party that we can, with the obvious exception of their leader.  Everyone knows I take the whole thing with Breneir about as seriously as anyone... look at the names on the bottoms of the First Step Towards Decency and the Consequences Act.  Look at the thread for where they were developed.  It is dishonest to pretend I do not take this seriously.

It would be nice for a day to go by without an angry URL denunciation of one kind or another.  Everything's a sign, everything's an outrage, everything is so serious that it merits a little creativity with the truth.

Vote Progressive if you're ready for a change from... well, all of this.