17 Days: A Response To Euro Today 8/21
Written by HEM
President of Europeia
Article is a reply to 08/21/16 EuroToday on EBC Radio
Just two weeks ago, I had a conversation with President Trinnien that would change the trajectory of the rest of the term. One of my newest, but closest, friends in Nationstates told me that he was going through significant stressors in real life and would need to step down from the Presidency. His goals, his hopes, his aspirations, and those of the region were going to be passed down from him to me.
Up to that point, I hadn't spent much time in the limelight. I very much saw myself a technocrat Vice President, working behind the scenes to establish a project that people have been skeptical and critical of since the start. I was working on an almost daily basis with the Cabinet: first trying to set an appropriate timetable for my ambitious project, and then hiring a deputy who would help me achieve our goals, and finally setting the Internship program's curriculum and goals.
While I tried to keep the public in the loop, it was difficult because our daily discussions were around tiny details and not big picture. We already had the big picture — we had to figure out how to make it work. Setting the foundation of any new endeavor is not a sexy process, but it is an incredibly long and ornery one. There were many times I felt tremendous sympathy for President Anumia and Minister Lethen who were constantly hounded during the establishment of the GAP about more progress updates — but there were no "updates" to give.
However, after trudging through a week without Wi-Fi, we finally began to see progress in the program. We had our first four interns, and they were doing tremendous work. Ministers were starting to get on-board with the program, and they were finding new and innovative ways to get interns involved in tasks within their department.
And then Trinnien resigned.
Suddenly, I was thrust from my project-based passion initiative before the entire region as President. I had to figure out how to reconfigure the Cabinet to ensure that Europeia could keep up the accomplishments we have seen under President Trinnien. I also hoped to make a mark of my own.
My first priority was to keep going while causing as little disruption as possible. I didn't want to overhaul the status quo or overthrow what was working. To that end, I immediately decided that I would elevate Common-Sense Politics from his advisory Chief of Staff role to Vice President. His foreign policy savvy would be invaluable to my administration, and I knew I could count on him to give free and frank advice.
I also knew that I needed Rand to step up into the role of full-time Civil Service manager. As President, I would not have time to help him out and represent the program in the Cabinet.
Then of course, we know what happens next. The Senate, in a surprise move, rejected my second official act as President and refused to approve the commission of Minister Rand. As the clock ticked, I knew that the Internship Program could not succeed without Rand's steady hand working seamlessly within the Tomlinson. I set off to convince Senators, one-by-one, to give this program and nominee a second chance.
I knew I was hemorrhaging political capitol in this fight, but I also knew that without a Cabinet-level supervisor, the Internship Program — and the new integration opportunity it represented — would be a failure. Many urged me to appoint Rand as Civil Service head as a deputy only, warning that a loss here would cripple my mandate for the rest of the already short term.
But for me, this wasn't a political fight — it was a fight for an innovative program that I believed in. It was a fight for our newcomers who were slipping through the cracks. Going into a second nomination process, I knew the odds were a crapshoot, with most Senators telling me that that they could not promise to vote one way or another.
And ultimately, I'd like to believe that that passion shone through the politics, and the Senators decided to give me a chance. Since then, Rand has been working tirelessly to build the Civil Service into an enduring program. He has reformed the internal reporting structures to ensure that no interns are lost in the shuffle, and has created data spreadsheets that will track every intern and their progress in their region, giving us hard numbers to back up our progress. Not a day has gone by where I regret fighting for him, and fighting for the program.
For me, every day in this job has been a learning process — every single day I have learned something new about being a good President. But the work I have seen from my Cabinet, our citizens, and even those who oppose my agenda has inspired me. While I go to bed tired, I am more encouraged about Europeia than I have ever been before.
For those of you who listened to the latest Euro Today podcast, you heard a different story. You heard a story about an administration that is beleaguered in inactivity, that arranges Q&A's solely to hide from accountability, that is engaging in petty politics, that has refused to innovate, and is *possibly* trying to mislead newcomers by congratulating an Interior Ministry for their hard work recruiting.
(Around 33:00 it is also erroneously stated that I supposedly had an interview in which I claimed to "refuse to compromise" with the Senate, which was wholly untrue).
I will say that this is not the Europeia I believe we live in. I do not believe that we should be more fixated on how many names a President lists in a speech than how many new citizens engage in a festival. I do not believe we should turn a blind eye to a brand new program, and then claim that there is no innovation. I do not believe that we should complain about little happening, and then question why there is "late term" stuff even happening.
And that's not to say that we don't have problems. In communications we need to be putting out more written content, and in culture we need to find more innovative ways to express our cultural energy. We need to completely overhaul how we see festivals, and we need to do it today. We need to find more ways to utilize the World Affairs hub, and we need to find ways to groom sailors into our next Grand Admirals (this position has been one of the most static position in history).
And that's not to say I haven't had shortcomings as a leader. I have. But despite what others may tell you, I promise I will spend every day left in this term working for you. And if you have more questions, please, visit my Press Conference
