Senators All Glancing Awkwardly Back And Forth At Each Other As Hezekon Vote Toils On

HEM

former
Jorts Connoisseur
Honoured Citizen
Citizen
Pronouns
he / him / his
"Senators All Awkwardly Looking Back And Forth At Each Other As Hezekon Vote Toils On"

(E-Mensa) -- Nearly twelve hours into the vote to confirm Hezekon as Minister of Culture, new information from the Europeian Senate floor indicates that all elected Senators are awkwardly looking back and forth at each other before quietly shifting their gaze back to their voting panels.

One key exception: Senator Lime who voted immediately when the balloting opened, has gotten increasingly inebriated through the day and now occasionally boos his fellow Senators while rotating shots of vodka and coconut rum.

Even a well-timed game of "noes goes" from newly elected Senator Rand has failed to break the gridlock.

Oof.

##​
 
Why vodka and coconut rum? You could have gone for a tequila and lime joke. Or a Scottish whisky joke. So many missed opportunities in front of you. 😔
 
Why vodka and coconut rum? You could have gone for a tequila and lime joke. Or a Scottish whisky joke. So many missed opportunities in front of you. 😔
sometimes the low hanging fruit doesn't need to be picked
 
I was at work and couldn't log in. I am now online and I have voted.
 
Why vodka and coconut rum? You could have gone for a tequila and lime joke. Or a Scottish whisky joke. So many missed opportunities in front of you. 😔
my new brand of humor is absurdism
"I've founded a region named Europeia"
 
Why vodka and coconut rum? You could have gone for a tequila and lime joke. Or a Scottish whisky joke. So many missed opportunities in front of you. 😔
my new brand of humor is absurdism
"I've founded a region named Europeia"
will you join my new region?

"no."
joins a month or so later anyway, then leaves for a month...lies to the region with the help of the founder and Lord Alphanesia to make the return more "triumphant"
 
I was really intrigued by Senator Boisenberg's comment just prior to voting aye:

"I do believe that in the future executive leadership should seek to reward players who are active in their respective ministries with these types of positions."

This school of thought appears to be inconsistent with an aye vote.

I read it as "I'm going to vote 'aye' on this one right now, but in the future, I likely won't."

One interpretation is "My 'nay' vote would make no difference here, so I'm just going to vote 'aye' and avoid the problems that may come with voting against a nominee."

Just an interesting comment.
 
I was really intrigued by Senator Boisenberg's comment just prior to voting aye:

"I do believe that in the future executive leadership should seek to reward players who are active in their respective ministries with these types of positions."

This school of thought appears to be inconsistent with an aye vote.

I read it as "I'm going to vote 'aye' on this one right now, but in the future, I likely won't."

One interpretation is "My 'nay' vote would make no difference here, so I'm just going to vote 'aye' and avoid the problems that may come with voting against a nominee."

Just an interesting comment.
There is a school of thought that the Senate should consider only the nominee in front of them rather than considering the other potential nominees that were passed over. In a vacuum, do we believe Hezekon is qualified to do this job and will be successful? While I agree to an extent, I do think it is fair to consider the whole field and whether, with reasonable leeway, the nomination makes sense in context. I do not think the Senate should thumb through every possible nominee that wasn't chosen and judge the president's selection against them, as then we get into the uncomfortable situation of demanding why the President didn't choose option B, C, or D, for which there could be various reasons, including some that would be more polite not to share in public. But to consider the field as a whole and to ask, of all possible options, does this seem reasonable? That, in my opinion, should be part of the process.

With due respect to Hezekon, as I believe he is a capable individual, I think this is among the most egregious nominations we've seen in the context of all possible options. While I understand the rationale of the senators who voted "aye" to some degree, with respect to Senator Boisenburg, I do not think you can sternly suggest the president not repeat the same behavior in the future while actively condoning it with your "aye" vote.
 
I think several Senators twisted themselves in knots to get to aye. I mean, seriously some of ya'll should consider changing your username to "Susan Collins" for how deeply you opine about his being a bad decision and then voting Aye.

And frankly, there's no universe in which I think an 86% approval vote is reflective of the will of the people. But I also know there's the simple human inclination to not go out on a limb and say the polarizing thing if there's little chance it will make a difference. So I get it.

I do think it's almost time to move on from this topic and judge the now-confirmed Minister on his work product, rather than theoretical worthiness... but this process has definitely left me questioning the purpose of these confirmation hearings.
 
Yeah Bosienburg's comments while simultaneously voting aye confused me, since he was saying one thing while doing the other. And if a nominee who regained citizenship 8 days before and a majority of the region opposes that nominee can be confirmed by the Senate, it really does raise concerns about the point of Senate confirmations. Which I know is a debate we bring up a lot (heck I just made a meme about) but this confirmation certainly raises those concerns again.
 
I mean, I said it during the PA discussions that we should move confirmation duty to the PA to give it a meaningful role.

This confirmation process really enforced that might be a prudent move to make at this point.

Nothing against Hez - it’s a comment regarding the senate and not the nominee nor nominator.
 
I disagree that the PA should take up Ministry confirmations. If we consider going that route we should instead remove confirmation entirely - which at this point appears to have happened in practice.
 
I think we're missing the important subtext regarding Boisenburg's comments - He's been nominated by Lloen, and while he might not have an explicit obligation to support other nominees, it is likely to affect his vote.
A large portion of this Senate has seen Hez in action before, they know (and I believe that they're correct there) that Hez has the abilities necessary to do the job. So I'm not surprised that we've seen a rather positive vote for such a controversial nominee.

I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with bringing back an older player to serve as minister, even one that wasn't too active in the recent time, in order for them to take care of a specific task that the President believes this person can do better than others. On the other hand, Hez's answers haven't really convinced me that him being Minister will allow him to do more than he would've been able to do as deputy Minister.
Lloen could've easily nominated an active culture staffer and asked Hez to be the new Minister's deputy in order to make sure they don't get get overwhelmed - it's a similar solution as having a first time President with an experienced VP.
 
Back
Top