Woolley vs. the Republic - the roots of modern Talossan politics

[GV]

If anyone makes an attempt at tracing the political lineage (people or otherwise) of any political party in today's Kingdom of Talossa back farther than 2005 or 2006, they will fail.  The 2003-2005 period saw a political cataclysm in Talossa, and with the demise of the Conservative Loyalist Party ca. 2007, the old Talossan political order, going back to its founding, breathed its last breath and expired.

The vanguard of the new Kingdom order was the RUMP, which would go on to have the second-most-successful electoral record in all of Talossa, Kingdom or Republic, surpassed only by the Progressive Conservative Party, the last leader of which was JJ who dissolved that party ca. 2005.

Modern Talossan politics is made of three general groups: the RUMP and its successor movements, those who were never a part of pre-15-August-2005 Talossa and who opposed the RUMP, and those who came from the Republic and their never-Republic-citizen political party or movement-members in the Kingdom.  As to the latter, old-time opposition to RUMP has in part moved to their camp, but parties such as the now-defunct AMP and MRPT represent part of the vanguard of a Talossan political order that does not even trace back to the RUMP or the ZRT in any way - a coming order of the coming generation of Talossans already present who never were a part of Talossan life before Reunision and for whom all that drama is lost in the mists of time.

Yet that new vanguard is still in terms of lineage welded in one way or another to the order that will pass away (not literally!) in the next five to ten years.  And without knowing it, they are fighting a political and cultural battle which has its beginnings on 1 June 2004: not giving the Splitters and Quitters the sort of cultural 'slack' appropriate to the extenuating and terrible circumstances which led to the Split in the first place.

In March 2004, R. Ben Madison made accusations against Kane dal Nava (then Chirisch Cavéir) on Wittenberg X of domestic violence.  These accusations are to this day preserved in their original Wittenberg X context in the Lytheria Codex, available on www.libraryoftalossa.com and are discussed and refuted in-full in 'An Nation Sundered' also available at the aforementioned link. 

To this day, no evidence has ever been presented to have proven these accusations to be anything but false.

There is no getting around this.

This vendetta by Madison against Kane eroded the very foundation of internet-trust all Cybercits relied upon to be able to do Talossa.  It also established in the minds of many if Ben did such a thing to Chirisch Cavéir, he could do it to anyone.  The late Bill Cooper in his April 2004 renunciation, and the late Art Verbotten in his renunciation from the same night outlined this situation in such terms.

When Ben made these accusations, he broke Talossa.  When Ben made these accusations, he directly provoked the establishment of the Republic of Talossa on 1 June 2004.

[cont'd]

[GV]

As far as I can tell, the start of Ben's being provoked into his vendetta against Cavéir was a personality conflict between him and Cavéir of monumental proportions. 

Possibly, Ben's vendetta against Cavéir was also due in part to his wanting to get rid of a significant source of political opposition.  Whatever the reasons might have been, the vendetta happened, and so did the history that came afterward.

The founding of the Republic of Talossa on 1 June 2004 is referred to colloquially as 'the Split' or 'the Talossan Revolution', depending on who you talk to. 

I call it 'necessary'.

But We-Who-Split did it wrong.

Talossa in spring 2004 became divided into three camps: the small but disproptionally influential Ben-faction (Ben, Queen Amada his wife, and two others whom need not be mentioned here), the 'Cavéir' camp who wanted Ben expelled for his actions (I was in that camp along with Bill Cooper and so were all who eventually founded the Republic), and a very large 'neutral' faction of somewhat-inactives who did not have the full context of having lived through then-recent Talossan day-to-day life.

When we Split, we failed to take into account this last group: the innocents who should have been by We-Who-Split  given a safe-space to be.

In our righteous indignation, we were right to found the Republic, but in doing so, we cancelled the Wittenberg X accounts of anyone not directly in our group of Splitters and absconded with talossa.com .  By doing so, we destroyed our bridges to this crowd of people who had nothing to do with what happened.

And by doing so, we inadvertently gave Ben a kingdom of rich soil in which to lay the seeds of hatred against the Republic - using truths to obscure his lies.  By using talossa.com and Witt X as a shield, smoke, and mirrors along with his unmatchable cultural cache as Founder of Talossa, he was able to manipulate the narrative, laying the seeds for what in the late 2000s in the Kingdom would manifest as the slogan: "Betrayed.  Stolen.  Kept.".

Ben should never have gone after Kane as he did: false accusations of domestic violence that could have had reprecussions in Kane's non-Talossan life. 

And we should have never deactivated any Witt X accounts save Ben's and Queen Amada's.  And we should have directed talossa.com to a page linking to both countries, but that is a more subjective issue solved by reconciliation regarding Ben vs. Kane.

Ben's vendetta against Kane vs. our treatment of Witt X and talossa.com

Which was the greater evil?

[cont'd]

[GV]

Beginning 1 June 2004, Ben Madison succeeded in bamboozling the Kingdom into believing the issues of the Splitters' treatment of talossa.com and Wittenberg X was evil enough to warrant putting the vendetta against Kane on the back-burner.

This is not an indictment of anyone other than Ben and Queen Amada, the latter of whom was the driving force, I believe, in a lot of what was going on.  I simply believe this to be fact and one which should not be forgotten by posterity, but has been long ago forgiven by me.

Had the Kingdom not been so bamboozled, the calls for Ben's head (so-to-speak!) would have continued among Those Who Did Not Split and Been might have been tossed out, though given his future real-life Talossan pattern, he would have absconded with the National Archives earlier than he eventually would.

But the Kingdom did not come to its senses.  Ben had won, and he should have luxuriated in that fact and moved on.  And 'move on' the Kingdom did!  ...even as early as 2 June 2004 - the day Pete H. set up Wittenberg XI on proboards.com ., a brilliant choice on his part which cements his place in Talossan history.

Ben luxuriated...but he did not move on.  As 2004 bled into 2005, Ben could not let it go.  And that would be his undoing.

Enter Fritz von Buchholtz, already a legend in Talossan history, in January 2005.  The long-time proprietor of Napoleon's gaming store in Shorewood, Wisconsin, just north of Talossa, he had known Ben Madison and other Talossans for years, and in January-to-spring 2005, he finally succeeded in getting Fritz to join Talossa as a citizen, thus starting the process of rebuilding the Kingdom in earnest and bringing in Fritz - an individual who would go on to become one of the giants of Talossan history.

All went well at first, and I think for the first time in many years, the Kingdom was genuinely having a good time and relaxing. 

But then someone came along who would join Fritz as being the 'twin towers' of opposition to Ben in the months to come.  In May 2005, John Woolley became a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa, and though Ben did not realize it at the time, in John, the Founder of the Kingdom of Talossa had in terms of stubborness and tenacity (though not in vindictivenss) met his match.

John Woolley was and continues to be a force of nature.

[cont'd]

[GV]

Once the Split happened, the 'radicals' who wanted Ben expelled from the Kingdom for life (as anyone else would have been) were gone, leaving behind only more moderate forces who were not willing to go that far.  Yes, they were sympathetic, but again, Ben's smoke and mirrors were powerful.

For Ben, it was his treatment of the Talossan language which brought his power in Talossa to an end.  In spring-summer 2005, Madison sought to withhold Talossan-language materials from the citizens of the Republic of Talossa.  Unfortunately, this would have had the practical effect of withholding those materials and information from all other Kingdom citizens and the outside world.

The language-guru Tomás Gariçéir could not stand for this.  And it was this opposition along with Woolley's and Fritz's calling the Founder of Talossa out on his 'b-s' which destroyed Ben's political powerbase in the Kingdom.  The King had no allies left.

Tomás Gariçéir has been notable for many things: language guru and an incredibly nice and intelligent person - one of the great Talossans of all-time.  Second only to Bill Cooper, he is free of any guile whatsoever and both he and Bill were in their hearts of hearts apolitical.

If Tomás Gariçéir opposes you so vehemently on something, you've done something wrong.  And it was Tomás' not siding with Ben on this key issue of such importance to Ben that was the last nail in Ben's coffin.

On 14 August 2005, King Robert I and Queen Amada, his consort took the National Archives with them, abdicated, and renounced their citizenships.  The Abdication and renunciations became effective the following day, 15 August 2005, and in my opinion, the Kingdom of Talossa was free of its cancer, and in objective fact, the Republic of Talossa had lost its reason to exist.  (A full history of the Republic is years away, sadly.)

Justice Lauriéir's landmark ruling in Erni vs. Talossa from 14 September 2005 fascinates me.  It can be found at https://talossa.proboards.com/thread/669/cort-ruling-erni-talossa and is well worth reading. 

For many newer Talossan citizens, Dan Lauriér is a forgotten giant in Talossan history, and I believe he was the inadvertent foil for Ben to keep going in Talossa's earliest years, thus making Dan even more important in Talossa's development than even JJ was, though no-one put more panache into Talossa than JJ, whose consistent activity in Talossa, the Conâ Wars notwithstanding, seems to not have started in earnest until 1983.

Again, Dan - along with Bob dal Már - were critical in laying the foundation for Talossa's earliest political development with more people than just Ben playing along, with Erni vs. Talossa allowing Dan to personally transcend the 2003-2005 chasm and establish a wake in Talossan life which will persist for all-time.  Even JJ cannot say as much.

14 September 2005 marks the end of Ben's last attempt to make trouble in the Kingdom - a vindictive act on Ben's part and what could have been a toxic parting gift to the Kingdom.  Dan Lauriér put a stop to that nonesense and with this ruling, the modern-day post-Ben Kingdom of Talossa can be said to definitively begin with the Kingdom of Talossa being for the first time on its own with full non-Ben agency for its future.

14 September 2005 should also have been the approximate time when the citizens of the Republic of Talossa made their move back to Abbavilla, but many reasons precluded this and would help to ensure the start of the Talossan Cold War.

[cont'd]

[GV]

https://talossa.proboards.com/thread/588/return From 15 August 2005, this thread is a huge source-document for not only the end of the line for Ben in the Kingdom, but also a full exhibition of just how damaging to Talossa we Splitters inadvertently did with our actions with talossa.com and Wittenberg XI. 

In this linked thread, Tomás says: "Also, my bitterest anger towards them is due to the fact that they took Talossa.com away and immediately erased months and months worth of the best web design work I ever did, and never had the decency to send me a copy of my work on a CD, or give me access to the server for a week to download my files back, or anything, and I lost my local copies when our computer died, so all that was taken from me and apparently irreparably lost. I am still furious about that."

Tomás' words still sting.  He was right to be angry.

But he and so many others were wrong to not be even more angry over Ben's falsely accusing Chirish Cavéir of domestic violence. 

And here is something else: as elucidated in 'A Nation Sundered' (or at least in the Lytheria Codex), Ben even mentioned (at minimum) interfereing with Kane's real-life custody battle for his son.

Put yourself into Kane's shoes...  Witt/talossa.com vs. Ben's accusations/vendetta...   

Can you now see why we Splitters, Betrayers, Thieves, and Quitters were so incensed and baffled over the failure of so many in the Kingdom to look past even the stupidity of Witt X and talossa.com to the real problems facing the Kingdom?

Had the many left in the Kingdom done so, they would have rightly said, "What you did with talossa.com and Witt X was terrible, but compared to the stunts Ben pulled?  Ben, oh my God!"

Instead, Ben's smoke and mirrors were all-too-powerful, and with this post and if I have not done so earlier, the 'many' have my forgiveness.  I only ask we all as Talossans and as people who value God-given common decency learn from all these mistakes and exalt standards of decorum and behavior becoming of all Talossans.  I, for one, never held a grudge against anyone save Ben and Amada.

Once Dan issued his landmark ruling, the Kingdom was truly and finally 'free' and experienced, I believe, a moment of exhilarating  liberation such we in the Republic had in the first weeks of June 2004.  (I speak as though I were in the Kingdom in August 2005, but I was privy enough to what was going on I can speak not from direct experience, but certainly from direct perspective.)

Naturally, the Republic would dissolve itself with its denizens returning en-masse to the Kingdom, right?

Wrong.  Among other things, Ben's cultivated Kingdom-culture of antagonism toward the Republic survived him. 

To the Kingdom, we in the Republic were second-class Talossans.  If you are in the Republic at this time, why would you want to make a return (or a new immigration from scratch) to a Kingdom that hates you?  Yeah, I would have stayed away, too.

To us in the Republic, the form of our country's governance was paramount.  In his vendetta against Kane/Chirish, Ben Madison used the Talossan monarchy to terrible effect and succeeded in his aim of driving Chirisch out of Talossa. 

A friend outside Talossa said after Trump's election in 2016 and on Facebook something to the effect of government's purpose being the maintenance of power (paraphrased badly).  I say the purpose of government should be the facilitation of a framework in which the 'better angels of our nature' can best flourish.

Sir Winston is still correct: Democracy is the worst form of government save for all the others.  And among many of us in the Republic, monarchy was a baroque and must-filled vessel of oppression which needed to be excised from the earth.

Thus, in the same week in April 2005 Josef Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Bishop of Rome, the Republic of Talossa put into effect its permanent Constitution, it being the product of months of blood, sweat, tears, and genuine hope for the future. 

This singular event marks the high-water mark for the 2004-2012 Republic and the great poo-pooing-off of Ben Madison.  We were doing Talossa without him, and in April 2005, the prospect of having Ben Madison as a forever-foil was real and fully-expected.  We were in this for the long haul.

In getting back to why we didn't immediately return to the Kingdom in August 2005, one more critical consideration comes to the fore: the Republic's new citizens who had never been citizens of the Kingdom.  To have effectively abandoned them by returning to the Kingdom would have been reprehensible, and we knew it.

Thus, we had a triple-barrier to our return to the Kingdom: a desire for the genuine respect we rightly deserved at preaching truth to Ben's power, keeping our new citizens in our community, and not wanting to abandon our work on the Republic's new constitution.  We were nation-building on our own and were standing on our own two feet.

And on 14-15 August 2005, the rug was ripped from under our feet. 

When in 2004 the majority of the Kingdom elected to not have Ben thrown out - a punishment he rightly deserved - a clear precedent was set: Ben could go after whoever he wanted with no reprecussions.  We knew this, and this is why we made the Split.

For as long as Ben remained in the Kingdom of Talossa, that precedent was in full-force.  The existence of that precedent was the justification for the existence of the Republic.  And when Ben and Queen Amada left - of their own accord, mind you - the reason for the Republic's existence was moot.

This was the time for the Kingdom and Republic to get together.  Unfortunately and for all the reasons I've put together, the power of logic was supplanted by water overtaking the bridge.

It is at this point we must discuss the person and role of Ián Lupul.

[cont'd]

[GV]

When I came to Talossa in June 2000, the Kingdom's society and social structure revolved completely around Ben Madison, as it should have.  The Kingdom of Talossa does not exist without Ben, and without Ben, none of us ever meet online or in real life.  If we ever forget this, we forget a centrality of our lives as Talossans and do not give Ben the eternal credit he deserves.

Kingdom society, to put it in more complex terms was in June 2000 approximately as follows: Ben, JJ, and Eif were the Old-Growthers around all-else revolved.  Xheralt Conâ was around, and other old-timers were still contactable through Ben, who had at that time only recently moved from Vuode Palace to live with Amada.  Ca. June 2000, they had been dating about ten or so months, having met through a dating service the year prior (Ben told me this in 2002 or 2003).

The cyber-aspect of Kingdom society at this time is directly reflective of the Kingdom's political parties.  The Progressive Conservative Party was a Talossan-within-a-Talossa, as I suspect the RUMP would later become to at least a certain extent.  The PC enjoyed a monopoly on power which had been the case for about seven years at this time.

The many growing pains (mainly Ben-created) of the early Cybercit Era (1996-1998) had provoked Ben into a defensive mode too complicated to discuss here: suffice to say, he was never fully comfortable with people he could not see in-person (aka Cybercits) and for better and worse, he defended the Kingdom to the last.

This involved pitting the various factions of the Opposition not against each other, but by marginalizing the third Liberal Party of Talossa (Ián Anglatzarâ et al), which was most sympathetic to the crowd which had become the Commonwealth of Penguinea (a very long backstory with all of this too long to discuss here), Ben was able to make that party into a political pariah and keep the Opposition hamstrung.

The non-Liberal Opposition consisted of the Rally for the Citizens of Talossa, founded originally by Mximo Carbonél and headed at the time I came on the scene in June 2000 by Daviu Foctéir.  This was my first political party in Talossa.  The ZPT (too late to get the full Talossan name) was populated in part by Ken O., Gjermund, and J. P., who I think tried to revive the party recently, allowing the ZPT to transcend the 2003-2005 chasm.

And of course, there were many Milwaukee-based Old-Growthers plus a good number (I think) of politcally-independent Cybercits.  At this time, one's 'family' in Talossa tended to be one's political party, and in today's Talossa, I think this is still the case in very large part.

However one may see Talossan society in June 2000 when I arrived, one thing is universally agreed-upon: the triumverate of Ben-JJ-Eif being the real power behind the throne (and on the throne!) in Talossa with the absolute center of societal gravity and gravitas being East-Side Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

When John Woolley came on the scene in spring 2005, becoming a citizen in May of that year, he not only brought himself.  He brought a number of family members along with his best friend, Mha la Mha aka 'Hooligan'.  In one, swift stroke, Milwaukee as the absolute center of gravity in the Kingdom of Talossa for the first time ever had a serious rival: Centennial, Colorado.  Thus in jest, Woolley is termed by some as 'Colorado John'.

When Ben Madison left the scene in August 2005, becoming an ex-Talossan along with Amada and their closest allies, the power of Ben's prestige as King, Founder, and 'Guru' was fully extinguished.  With him not only went Amada and a number of other citizens, but also Talossan's society's link with many Old-Growthers and Milwaukee in general.

When Ben and company left, Ben left a societal and cultural vacuum.  Colorado John and his family and friends were there to breach the gap, and this is where the term 'Diplomacy John' comes in.

[cont'd]

[GV]

I had a choir director for many years who classified voices not only by 'fach', but also informally in pipe-organ terms.  Voice with brighter overtones than others are 'reeds' and voices with fewer or 'darker' overtones are 'flutes'.  Ben Madison's speaking voice is a flute.  Ben can also hold a tune, though he is a singer only in the shower (lol).  John's speaking voice is a reed, but I've never heard him sing.

Both Ben and John are 'religious'.  At one time in a non-LDS (Utah) sect of the Mormon faith, Ben held the office of High Priest (which in spite of the lofty title is in Mormonism among the lowest 'ranks' of clergy and is a volunteer position).  Ben's speaking voice is suave and smooth.  John's is reedy and not as pleasant to hear as Ben's, but is still not unpleasant.

John Woolley is an ordained Deacon in the American Orthodox Church, which is descended from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (John, am I right on this?).  Both men take their faith seriously. 

As a side-note, as of June 2019 at least, Ben is Christian (Episcopalian).  Students of Talossan history will know Ben's journey from atheism and into, through, and now out of the the Mormon faith and this faith-journey's profound effect on the mythos of Talossa.

Ben Madison is about 5' 8".  I suspect John is about the same height.  Both were born with red hair.

Both men are profoundly intelligent, witty, though John seems to be more street-smart.  Both are also as stubborn as mules, implacable, and tenacious.  What Ben has and John has always lacked, however, is vindictiveness.

Ben in-person is incredibly charming and hospitable.  When I was in Talossa in 2002 and 2003, he was the perfect host.  And I strongly suspect one would love hanging around John.

One small regret I will have is not talking on the phone with John more during the years of the Talossan Cold War.  I will always rue having not known him (heretofore at least) in real life and outside of Talossa, for from everything I've seen of him, he seems to be an outstanding leader and human being.

Though only when you give him a really good reason, John Woolley can be a bad enemy.  He is strategic and sees far ahead of the present.  It is by no accident he bears the colloquialism in some circles 'Diplomacy John'.

The wargame Diplomacy is a true classic and when released in the late 1950s, it was groundbreaking.  It was and continues to be remarkable in that it bears no random elements as well as being the catalyst for play-by-mail for board games around the world.  I have heretofore never played Diplomacy, but I have come to respect this game of knives, subterfuge, and betrayal.

Someone who would know described Hooligan as being a 'cog in the Diplomacy community', and I know John is a cog in that world as well. There is no question such a game fits John's strategic brain as well as his seemingly clear ability to judge character in real-life.  He is a people-person who understands people and certainly seems to be 'as wise as a serpent and as gentle as a dove' (paraphrased).

In terms of American politics, he stands clearly in the conservative camp.  I do not believe he would call himself 'evangelical', but he is absolutely a 'conservative Christian'.  Anti-same-sex marriage, anti-abortion, and since he is Orthodox, the idea of 'women in ministry' is not his cup of tea...

In terms of personality, I am of the very strong impression nothing but God or his family could change his mind about anything, but I also get the impression of an open mind to many things: an adaptable brain and keen intelligence that is not, I think, rigid to the point he cannot evolve, though his conservative Christian values are set in stone.

When I first spoke by phone with John (ca. 2006 or earlier), something he said to me resounded: "When I started reading Ben's posts, my first thought was 'What a son-of-a-bitch.'"  Unlike me when phoning Ben for the first time in August 2000, John had Ben Madison figured out from the off. 

I believe it is a very strong possibility John at this point thought something on the lines of "We need to get rid of this guy." and realized immediately Ben's Achille's Heel: his vindictiveness.

And in all objective senses, John was right to call Ben out.  It was he and Fritz together who did so throughout summer 2005, but even they together could not have forced Ben out of Talossa, nor did they ever want to.  We must remember in August 2005, not one person remained in the Kingdom who would have supported Ben's expulsion.  Had Ben played nice with the language at that time, he would still be King of Talossa today.

And it's critical to know there was never any attempt made to 'throw Ben out of Talossa', though with John's innate strategic and psychological insight (he's a Diplo fiend, after all), I cannot imagine his brain not imagining things for Ben could be made hot enough for the Founder and Guru to want to jump ship.  But perhaps, this is taking things too far on my part.

In the end, though, and as I've discussed before, even the combined might of Fritz and John could not bring Ben to heel.  It was Tomás who became the critical straw that broke the camel's back.

All Ben Madison ever had to do was to play nice with the language.  And even by not doing so, he was still in no danger of being deposed as King or being thrown out of Talossa, the inorganicity of the Republic and the issues with talossa.com and Witt X being too engrained at this point in the Kingdom collective consciousness for vendetta to be remembered above all-else and ensuring Ben could do Talossa for as long as he wanted.

No-one ever 'stole' Talossa from Ben Madison.  Ben Madison, again, left of his own accord.

[cont'd]

[GV]

On 14 September 2005, Dan Lauriér, John Woolley, and Fritz von Buchholtz effectively ran Talossa.  Legally, Ben's grandson Louis G., who was about six at the time was King of Talossa - maybe.  There can, I believe, be made a very strong argument since Louis' mother is known to have never wanted Louis or his name involved in Talossa, macronational law would, in some way, trump Talossan law such his reign would be null and void.

At any rate, the 'reign' of Talossa's boy-king 'happened' in about the year 2006, and it was one of the more bizzare episodes in Talossan history, and we in the Republic were glad at that time to not have anything to do with all of that.  Had we had our way, Louis would have been shown the door more than quickly, but we were doing our own thing 'down south' and rightly had no say in the matter.

Fritz had brought in a friend, Greg Raxala of Milwaukee, technically an Old-Growther from Milwaukee (though having never before been a Talossan), into the country at this time.  During the time of the 'boy-king', Greg was made Regent and served with distinction as such until John took the Throne in 2007.

All during this time, however, I believe John Woolley had not been idle.  He was ably serving as Secretary of State up through his accession, but far more importantly, he was active politically behind-the-scenes.  The Throne was effectively vacant, he was a medievalist through-and-through, and he set out (I believe) to take the kingship for himself by fully-ethical and legal means.

This would not be too difficult.  In the summer 2005 pushback against Ben, John was quickly cementing a reputation for competence and leadership.  What I don't think he knew he was doing was setting up the core of a new post-Ben Talossan society almost unrecognizable from the old which had its beginnings in 1979 at the Founding. 

I may have been around in 2005, but I still know I cannot fully ever appreciate just how apocalyptic the 2003-2005 period really was: the Great Change in Talossa.

The Woolley clan (I mean that quite nicely - a bunch of really nice people, actually) saw the vacuum Ben left in his wake and stepped right in.  The Woollerian ascent to the Throne was accompanied by the beginnings of the formation of the friendship-network-foudnation of the next great power of Talossan political history: the RUMP.

But no RUMP just yet.  I suspect moves to formally put that party together did not really begin until late 2006 when it was clear the Conservative Loyalist Party was ready to ride off into the sunset.  But when it begn its rise, the RUMP's ascent to Talossan political dominance was swift.  Hooligan was at the helm of the RUMP, and the RUMP was 'the Party of the King' as the old Progressive Conservative Party was to Robert I.

We in the Republic stayed away and made no attempt at a return, as much as I personally wanted otherwise.  We wallowed in 'What Ben did to Us', our fancy new Constitution, and the fact we could not and would never abandon the citizens we had gained on our own as an independent micronation.

I could go out on several tangents from here, but suffice to say, pan-Talossan relations soon came to an impasse.

[cont'd]

[GV]

The Republic of Talossa on 15 August 2005 no longer had a reason to exist.  John Woolley knew this, and subconsciously, I think everyone in the Republic knew it, too.  However, we collectively justified our continued existence at least in part by saying since the monarchy was inherently corrupt, Talossa needs the republican alternative the Republic provided.  And we had to keep a home for our new citizens who had never been Kingdom citizens.  The Republic was the only Talossa they'd ever known.

The Talossan Cold War is term used for the years from 15 August 2005 until December 2011 when relations between the Kingdom of Republic chilled to the point where many in both camps were not antagonistic toward one-another, but certainly were not talking to each other.  The one person who for many years served as a go-between was myself as the Republic's Goodwill Ambassador.  It was no secret I was the most pro-monarchy and pro-reunification citizen the Republic ever had.

As I think on this, the first thing I must do is to try and see things from John Woolley's perspective.  He was the greatest political and cultural power in Talossa in the years following Ben's departure, and he alone could have moved the mountains necessary to quicken what became Reunision. 

We in the Republic felt we deserved a lot of slack for what we pulled in June 2004 due to the nature of Ben's false accusations against Kane.  How we handled talossa.com and Wittenberg X continues to be sorely regretted not so much as the set of strategic blunders they were, but for how morally wrong they were.

Had John Woolley himself in 2005 genuinely reached out to us in the Republic, even through back-channels, I think Reunision could have been hastened by at least five years.  But he chose not to do so.

Yes, the Republic was treasonous.  Yes, it was patently inorganic.  But in June 2004, it was necessary.  Talossa was and will always be too special to allow someone like Ben to hijack it as he did. 

But the post-Abdication existence of the Republic was against all logic and common sense.  I'm sure John was thinking on this, and I know he would have been right.  I knew this, too. 

The Republic also was asking something of the Kingdom the Kingdom could not give and should not have ever given (which it never gave): a regard of the Republic as a full equal.  The inorganic Republic.  The traitorous Republic.

But here's the thing: we were still calling ourselves 'Talossa'.  We were still 'claiming' Talossa.  To John's brain-of-logic-and-rules, this could not stand, and in the post-Abdication world, if this is what he was thinking, of course, he was right.  I knew this, too.

Yes, we could have changed our name and branding and declared ourselves a fully-independent micronation with our own history, traditions, and heritage, though with Talossan origins.  We could have continued speaking the Talossan language and provided a home for a 'classical Talossan' not affected by the 2007 Arestada, which along with John's election to the Throne on 14 March 2007 was a affront to many in the Republic.

But it never really occurred to us or was never really a seriously-considered option to re-brand and go it on our own.  Perhaps we should have, but we all loved Talossa too much to genuinely consider such a move.

Why, John, why?  Why did you not reach out to us?  Why did you not, as the most popular person in the Kingdom and as a mentor to so many younger Talossans, not be the reunifier you should have been?

One phone call to Kane, and the Talossan Cold War never happens.  We could have been persuaded to bring along our new citizens and do the normal re-immigration procedures.  We could have come home, and we would have.

We could have had a part in your confirmation as King of Talossa.

But John knew we had it in for the monarchy, and monarchy was without question the way he and many others wanted to do Talossa.

We in the Republic were a threat to John Woolley and the way he wanted to do Talossa.

[cont'd]

[GV]

August 2005 to December 2011 are rightly seen as at least a silver age in the Kingdom of Talossa.  The year 2007 saw that era's high-water mark.

On 14 March 2007, John Woolley was made King of Talossa, and with it, the post-Ben monarchial order was swept away.  This year marked the culmination of much work on heraldry and the Talossan language, the Arestada of December 2007 enacting many orthographical changes, which, again were a great affront to the Republic which felt it had been stonewalled out of genuine input into that process.

This year in the Kingdom saw the full flowering of heraldic blazons (a flowering which I continue to heartily approve) and a definite SCA-vibe in Talossa, which Ben always detested - a point in which he and the Republic were in full agreement.  We in the Republic laughed at 'Lord this and Dame that', even to the point of genuinely offending someone in the Kingdom whose boy scout project was medieval in nature and got a few laughs (deserved or not) from some in the Republic.

Notable (to me, at least) on 'Kingdom Witt' were the really beautiful posts of Hans Jürgen von Knapp, which I now wish I had save at the time.  When Hans renounced his citizenship a few years following 2007, he took the photos in his posts down to the great loss of posterity.

Above all, what strikes me about the years 2005-2011 in the Kingdom - and 2007 in particular - was the Kingdom was having fun and a genuniely good time.  I'm not sure if the Kingdom ever had had such a time since the mid-to-late 1980s when JJ was cranking out TNN and Robert II and Flo were wearing the Crown.

We in the Republic were taking ourselves way too seriously.  Our hurts were real, but we needed to move on, too, or return to the Kingdom.  We could build a strong future wallowing in our past.

This is not to say we should have minimized our past hurts, but too much we were letting them define our Talossanity.  (Kane and Rischa get a pass on that, however.)  Once Ben was gone, we in the Republic were no longer having fun, though we didn't know it, yet.

But John could have still reached out.  But at the same time, we in the Republic were still putting up roadblocks.  What we in the Republic failed to realize the resumption of our societal leadership in the Kingdom for which we were pining so was simply not possible.  Once we had left the Kingdom, allowing Colorado to take over eventually, we had abdicated our positions of societal leadership and our right to have a say in the Kingdom's future.

Because of this we were not there to stop John, who had been a Talossan all-but two years, to become King.  Because we stayed away, we were not in the Kingdom to forestall the Boy-King, SCA-Talossa, and to have a real say in the Arestada.  Because we stayed away, we abrogated our rights to help make the Kingdom in our own image.  If we wanted to make things better for the Kingdom in 2007, we needed to have returned to the Kingdom in 2007 or earlier.

Were we wanting John to be one of our bearers as we were carried in triumph into Abbavilla?  Were we wanting the newly-rebuilt civil service to resign and let us take over once more?  Is this what we really wanted?

A great mistake of the Republic was its inability to regard the Kingdom with the same level of equality it so desparately wanted from the Kingdom. 

Then again, 'Betrayed.  Stolen.  Kept.' was in 2007 a mantra.  And John Woolley was doing nothing to stop that.

All he would have had to do was to have the government overturn the silly Kingdom indictment against We Who Left as well as simply say 'Stop the Betrayed stuff.  Yeah, what they did with talossa.com and Witt X was absolutely wrong, but they were genuinely provoked and what Ben did was a thousand times worse.'

John never did any of that.  The Kingdom RUMP government of the day did none of that.  John and Hool, all it would have taken was a phone call to Kane.  That's it.

To John Woolley and the RUMP, monarchy, pomp, and circumstance was more important than Talossan family?  Is this really what was going on??

[cont'd]

[GV]

The Vuode Wall was high.  And it was strong.

Mr. Woolley did not tear down this wall.

But the Republic in 2008 didn't, either.  Enter Alexander Davinescu, who became a Talossan citizen in 2006 and for reasons God cannot even fathom took to the Woollerian-RUMP line like a duck takes to water.  He would go on to have a career in Talossa of activity, enthusiasm, and genuine contribution with its high-point being his leadership in re-organizing the edifice of Talossan statute law in to the epic el Lexhatx in 2014. 

I've always gotten along well with him, and may he continue his Talossanity for years to come.

Unfortunately, in 2008, his good-faith attempt at establishing an account on the Republic's Wittenberg was rebuffed.  I had some stupid part in that, and for my part, it is sorely regretted.  I think had we let him come onto Witt, who knows what good it might have done.  AD was the unofficial chief spokesman for the RUMP and continues to be a powerful voice for conservative Talossa, it now being that which pines for the truly-halcyon days of 2005-2011 Kingdom life.

For my part, I remember little else from the years 2008-2011.  At some point, I was Prime Minister of the Republic (twice, I think), but both times were uneventful.  One thing in these years is clear: while we in the Republic were not wholly innocent of trying to build bridges, John Woolley was derelict (I use this word deliberately) in his duty as King of Talossa to unify the whole Talossan nation.

If coming to our Witt was unpalatable to him, he certainly could have reached us through private channels.  Let him send emails and make calls.  If Kane and Miestrâ rebuff him, then he can at least say he tried, and who knows?  Maybe he did, and I would love to be proven wrong on all of this. 

But I do think had he made real unofficial overtures of friendship and unity, I would have heard something about it.

In the end, it was Miestrâ Schivâ who made the first move.  Her 'modest proposal' of December 2011 was received favorably, but perhaps more out of pragmatism than anything else. 

Schivâ did not send the modest proposal gladly, I believe.  By December 2011, the Republic of Talossa was dying: immigration was nil, and we had (rightly) lost the war of the internet search engines, the Kingdom's long presence being too much for the Republic to overcome.  We twenty or so in the Republic were certainly in it for the long-haul, but our long-term future as our own country was bleak.

The Kingdom was not in such dire straits, but as I recall, the Kingdom, too, was stagnant.  Thus in December 2011, President Miestrâ of the Republic sent King John her 'modest proposal', again favorably received. 

In one horrible moment, negotiations for what would become Reunision nearly imploded, but as it was with all the other elaborate hoops we set for the Kingdom to have to jump through, Woolley's side was gracious, and Reunision was in effect from 20 April 2012 onward.

Yes, Reunision de jure took place in 2012, the Republic being dissolved at that time and its community miraculously remaining mostly intact for its transfer to the Kingdom, but Reunision of the heart...  Has that ever really come to pass?

If the eternal spats between Miestrâ Schivâ and Alexander Davinescu are any indication, the answer is a loud 'NO'.  And in the Proclamation Crisis of 2015, King John let the world know how he still want to do Talossa, monarchy and all.

In the end, the war for Talossa's soul in the wake of the abdication of Robert I goes on.  Both sides want their vision of Talossa to take center stage, and each wants respect.

[cont'd]

[GV]

Miestrâ Schivâ, Kane Gruber, and Mike Loquatsch came into the parish hall at [name] Orthodox Church in Wakesha, Wisconsin, all on their knees, all wearing sackcloth and ashes...  All in repentance...

John Woolley, Mha la Mha, J. P. Ventrux, and Alexander Davinescu were there to receive them.

"I have sinned!", Miestrâ cried out to God.  "I have repented of my wicked ways.  The Republic was fully inorganic, and our flags are ready to be burned in the brazen brazier in the courtyard.  We should have come grovelling to the rightness of the Talossa you built from nothing!  I am ready to revive the RUMP.  The glory days of 2005-2011 Talossa shall return under J. P.'s premiereship!  I shall move to dissolve the Free Democrats - Alexander, forgive me!"

Kane chimed in, "How I wish I had voted for Donald Trump!  J. P., you led the way.  You were the visionary.  You were right to lead the way in our return to the Kingdom.  We should have returned as the beggars we are!"

Mike Loquatsch said, "How could we have asked for anything in 2011.  We should have asked you for mercy and graciousness in our wretchedness and republicanism.  I cannot be active in Talossa, but I will donate money with great liberality!  All the FreeDems, I think, will be joining the RUMP as silent members immediately.  All hail King John!  King John of Talossa, all hail with Alexander Davinescu as perpetual Regent forever!"

All three wept bitter tears...  It was a great TalossaFest afterward.

+ + +

A knock at the door.  Miestrâ answered it.  It was...Jacinda Ardern? 

"Umm...  Prime Minister?", Miestrâ said.

"Call me Jacinda, please.  Are you ready to go?"

"I think so.  When your people called me yesterday, it was a nasty shock.  Where are we going?"

"You are needed at [name] Orthodox Church here in Auckland.  And you will have company.  Ián Anglatzarâ and Kane Gruber are here, too.  Surprise.", Jacinda smiled.

Twenty minutes later, and Miestrâ jumped out of the car.  Jacinda was most-pleased.  It was always good to meet a fellow PM, even if it was from another micro, and to meet the King of Talossa too?  Yes, that was the case today.

Greetings between Kane, Ián, and Miestrâ ensued, and they walked into the parish hall of the church together...and what beheld them took their breath away: into the room and on their knees knee-walked Alexander Davinescu, Mha la Ma, J. P. Ventrux, and John Woolley...all in ashes and sackcloth...

"Forgive me, Miestrâ.  I was being a total bitch to you all the time.  I was just trying to be a RUMP-troll.  You were right about me all the time!", Alexander said.  "I will listen to Vostok Lake every day for the rest of my life, and I will learn Maori!", he then said.

"I am the true troll of Talossa.", J. P. uttered in wails and sobs.  "How could I have been so foolish to have left you all in the lerch.  Jesus, forgive me - a turncoat!".

"Tell Gödefrïeu that night on IRC I was purposely leading him in circles.  We only wanted to keep monarchy around without pesky republicans tinkering with it.  I was running interference for John all the while.  He is the true RUMP leader, even if he is a silent member - he's our spiritual leader - our guru - the party of the king!  Talossa was never more than a Diplo game for us all the time - have mercy on me, a Diplo-fool!"

"Ián, the Crown of Talossa is yours.  How I wished I'd voted for Obama and Hillary!  I wanted the halcyon days of 2005-2011, and I should have reunified Talossa years ago.  Trump is evil, and I am a stubborn goat.  May God put me in with the sheep and not in with the goats - baaaaaa!  I'm recruiting Patrick and his friends to bear all the neo-Pengos into the Regipäts in glory and honor to Vuode Palace where you all belong - that is if the new owners will let us do T-Fest there.", John said.

All four wept bitter tears.

"May it never be said I was not magnanimous.", Miestrâ said.

Ián declined the Throne, and Miestrâ was elected Queen of Talossa soon thereafter.

+ + +

The eternal battle for the soul of Talossa between Those Who Left and Those Who Scorned Those Who Left...  This is the root of modern Talossan politics. 

[end]

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

"You are needed at [name] Orthodox Church here in Auckland.  And you will have company.  Ián Anglatzarâ and Kane Gruber are here, too.  Surprise.", Jacinda smiled.

... I live very near the local Hagia Trias Greek Orthodox Church, I go to their bakesales. There's a Serbian and Russian church within cycling distance and I think an Antiochian and an Assyrian one on the outskirts of town.

But this fanfic is demented and you should be ashamed of yourself.  ;D

[owenedwards]

I think it's fair to say there were some strange and unpleasant things in the Kingdom during that 07-11 period - I say that with some unfortunate personal experience! But yes, if one looks at "relative vibrancy", that period - up to and including the Early Reunision Days - do now seem like halcyon days of energy and engagement.

(I remember I was given a guest account at the old Republic forum. I don't really remember why I was welcomed!)

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

We welcomed all Talossans of good will. You had to be a real jerk to be denied a Landing Pier account.