SENESCHÁL 2022: Debate me, Brenéir!

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

I'm calling you out, Mr Senator from Florencia and Talossan National Congress leader. A debate between candidates for Seneschal.. Prove your mettle.

As the challenged party, it's your call as to format and moderator. Best to do it before people start voting, though.

Clock's ticking, va amic. "If you want to be the champ, you've got to whup the champ" - Muhammad Ali

[Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB]

So, no response? Really?

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Probably Breneir's getting some "advice" backstage that he shouldn't make himself vulnerable in this way. I don't think such people have a high opinion of his ability to hold his own in a free debate.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

The Senator is prepared to sign his name to a campaign email written for him by the actual TNC leader, the Baron*, making personal attacks, but not prepared to debate the issues in real time.

(* We can tell, dude, you've got a very distinctive writing style)

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

I mean, let's just start with this bit from your 50 words, which for some reason has not been publicised:

working with King John to implement monarchical reform

You realise that that makes as much sense as "working with Vladimir Putin to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine"?

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

If the TNC have adopted a platform of simply refusing to respond to Free Democrat criticisms of their platform (or lack of it), I might as well use this thread to put forward questions that need to be answered - regardless of if they're ignored or not, at least the people have a right to know.

For example, it seems that the TNC believe that the Government should simply be sacking/replacing members of the Royal Civil Service who drop the ball for whatever reason. Certainly this could be easily done, assuming you have a replacement in mind. So can we confirm the Burgermeister of Internal Revenue would be on the chopping block under a TNC government? Who else?

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Do the TNC have a policy of "spamming" threads on Wittenberg so as to push Free Democrat campaign messages down, without having the nerve to even respond to them?

[Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir]

Do the TNC have a policy of "spamming" threads on Wittenberg so as to push Free Democrat campaign messages down, without having the nerve to even respond to them?

This seems to be the case based on recent activity and evidence, which is honestly shameful

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump both know the power of a "projection" strategy - accuse your opponents of exactly what you're going to do yourselves (a "nasty personalised campaign")

[Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir]

Why should people put trust in someone who operates in an underhanded way, and who doesn't have enough strength in their convictions to have an honest debate? ITs because the opposition is nothing but an empty shell front, who has the ideas of one person, who isnt at the forefront of politics, and that they have little to no intention of winning seats honestly, nor do they have a platform or policies of their own to counter ours. So if this isnt true, why is the opposition leader trying to bury our election views, and why wont they engage in honest debate?
As it just seems like their a coward on the run, who only cares about winning because they hate the FreeDem's and our Senchal nomination pick, which is ridiculous, as Miestra does more to hold together the FreeDems, government, and country, than any talossan i know. And what does she get in reward? Ridicule and distain from the side opposite, just because she presented ideas and a path that they didnt like. Do talossa a favor, and stop it, before you on the opposite side, sit in the ruins of a great country, which will be entirely your own fault.

So grow up, act responsibly, and engage in a good, honest, and decent debate, than hiding in the shadows, using underhanded tactics, and pretending you own the place, when Talossa belongs to its people.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

At a guess, what's happened is that the TNC leader has been told by the TNC "Chief of Staff" to minimise how much political debate he gets involved in - because, when he does get involved, he can't keep a civil tongue in his head and resorts to nasty personal insults. And the TNC "Chief of Staff" knows that makes his party look bad. So best if the leader smiles and waves and avoids showing off that side of his personality?

It's as if he doesn't think we see the posts he deletes or edits to be more polite after the fact

[Açafat del Val]

Color me shocked that the one-man dictator of Florencia is too chickenshit to have an open debate.

He likes and prefers to work in the shadows, because that's where he can win. Ethics tend to be below him!

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

A week has passed and the TNC are still not interested in defending their programme - aside from acidic personal abuse against yours truly. No, Brenéir, we won't forget "bottomless maw" for a long time, if ever.

I also notice that most of their programme is things they could do themselves of their own private initiative. They don't need to get elected to issue cookbooks and run a lottery.

In contrast, Free Democrats will:

• cut red-and-green tape to make the Talossan Government less labour-intensive, boring and annoying;
• make the King accountable to the people for his inactivity and blatant partisanship. I suppose it's not a mistake that the pro-King party are as adverse to fronting up as their monarch.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

I also notice that most of their programme is things they could do themselves of their own private initiative. They don't need to get elected to issue cookbooks and run a lottery.

Um.  Sometimes things are just what they appear, not some sort of hidden campaign promise.  Breneir made a cookbook because he likes Talossa and doing Talossan things, and he thought it would be fun.  I like the idea of a lottery because I like Talossa and I like doing Talossan things, and I thought it would be fun.

It's actually okay to just do fun stuff, I promise.  No one's going to get upset at you.  You might even have a good time.  Talossa is supposed to something you enjoy doing, not an "annoying, onerous chore" like you've said it's become for you.  You used to like doing language stuff... maybe pick something fun to translate and mess around with it?  Geek out on diacriticals like Tafi and Iac like to do?  Or you make music: you could make some music about Talossa.  You could join our tradition of Berber-themed musicals, for that matter.

Do something fun!

We do have a programme, though, and I'm happy to post it.

What will the TNC do for Talossa?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ZL8g9O74s

• We will issue ID cards for everyone.  Have a piece of Talossa to hold in your hands  -- and maybe even to show off to friends and family who might be interested!
• We will be open with the Talossan people when government officials are not able to perform their duties.  When someone can't do their job, we'll let you know.  If there's some particular difficulty, we'll let you know.  We will remember that we work for you, not the other way around.
• We will remove officials who fail to perform their duties so that we don't have large moribund pieces of government.  A lot of things can come up that get in the way of executing complex or even simple duties, and everyone understands that.  But things still need to get done.  While being kind and understanding, we'll still focus on results.
• We will provide regular updates to the nation on our efforts to address the crises of immigration and inactivity.  The Government should be transparent about what it's trying to do.  Some things won't work out and may not happen, and that's fine, but no one should be left wondering what's happening in the country as it tries to solve its greatest crises.
• We will set up TalossaWare so people can order Talossa-themed goods again.  Citizens should be able to purchase flags, shirts, and coffee mugs.  It's a way to show off our patriotic pride, it can earn a small amount of revenue for the state, and it provides a talking point for potential new immigrants.
• We will get the Zuavs active to honour and promote achievement.  It's an organization devoted to promoting and recognizing activity, and that's just what we need.

cut red-and-green tape to make the Talossan Government less labour-intensive, boring and annoying;

You've been making this excuse a lot.  I'm not sure it holds up to any scrutiny.  You may have missed where I responded to this repeated claim elsewhere, but again I'm happy to help:

The Free Democrats promised to do a bunch of things when they took office.  Very few of them happened.  Some of the ones that did happen, like the redesign of ID cards or the New Citizen's Information packet, happened just because citizens started trying to work around their own do-nothing Government.  Could you tell us which restrictions you're talking about?  What needs to go in the "bonfire?"

Which restrictions prevented the Government from running any sort of advertising campaign?  This seems like a pretty obvious priority... what "red-and-green tape" got in the way of making this actually happen?

Which restrictions prevented the Government from creating any kind of memorial, including the promised stamp, for Art Verbotten?

Which restrictions prevented the Government from firing inactive ministers, as repeatedly and explicitly promised?

Which restrictions prevented the Government from being honest about the Seneschal's inactivity?  The guy was understandably unable to do his job, so why did the Government explicitly keep announcing that he was still very active and busily running things?

Which restrictions prevented the Government from relaunching TalossaWare?  Not even flags can be purchased right now, nor anything else.

Which restrictions prevented the Government from reforming or moving on from the database?  I don't think there were even any attempts to find a Talossan (or non-Talossan) who could devise a replacement.

Which restrictions prevented the Government from doing anything at all with the Zuavs, as promised?

Which restrictions prevented the Government from using the Talossan Job Centre at all?  Which restrictions prevented the Government investigation and appointment of a registered agent for Talossa?  Which restrictions prevented the Government from creating new learning materials for our language?  Which restrictions prevented the Government from creating tournaments, gaming streams, a "battle of the bands", or online quizzes?  Working more on their official state history?  Creating a formal military awards structure?  Reviving BHAID?  Setting up a Landing Pier?  Creating ambassadors?  Raising funds for charity in the GTA?

I think some of these things were good ideas, and some were not.  But they're all things that this Government promised to do, yet they never happened.  And I don't think the problem was any sort of "red-and-green tape."

The problem is that you tried to take a step back this past term, since you said you wanted to see if the Free Democrats were a "real political party or just a Miestra Schiva fan club."  That didn't work.  So you basically had to do most things yourself, and you're just one person, and you mostly focused on remaking the laws the way you want.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

I mean, firstly, I don't see where you get off criticising my covering for Txoteu when you're doing exactly the same thing for Brenéir. Txoteu's term as Seneschál was not successful, but at least he got through it without doing any unexplained 180 degree turnabouts on things he'd solemnly promised during the election. The person you are proposing as head of government is not credible because not honest; but I suppose you figure you can fix that if you give him a list of jobs and threaten him if he doesn't do them?

As for the remainder of your list of places where the Government dropped the ball: I really wish more outgoing Cabinet ministers would chime in here to answer your questions about why they didn't do what they'd promised, because you know what? I'd kind of like to know what happened, in particular re: the Verbotten stamp. (Txoteu has done so, to his credit.) But that line about you basically had to do most things yourself, and you're just one person is a perfect prediction of what any TNC government would be like. And that one person is you, my dear Baron. Look, you're even having to do Breneir's campaigning for him! We wonder whether it's your usual micromanaging I-alone-can-fix-it style; or whether you've had to tell him that the more he responds to challenges with misogynist slurs, the worst it looks.

The whole TNC campaign is based on the idea that a different team, working with exactly the same bureaucratic apparatus, and having the usual amount of "interference from real life" will somehow do much better. It's possible. But the TNC don't have a team - they have a Baron pulling the strings of the barely-active and the barely-involved. Not credible. In contrast, Free Democrats want to streamline the apparatus.