Congressional Insights into the Impeachment of President Oblige

Day 1,586, 07:31 • Published in USA USA • by Zheng He

The word of the day is "Impeachment".

This is a serious article about a serious event, with a minimum of jokes and no gratuitous boobs. Please read elsewhere for boobs, please go elsewhere for opinions and speculations. Here I will lay out the facts as I know them and can reveal, with a minimum of personal opinion and interpretation. As many readers know, some parts of the congressional deliberations are private and I am honor-bound to keep those details private. But I am trying to inform, not hide.

Rumors and Facts

Fact 1: Oblige is in an unprecedented fourth term as Country President.

Fact 2: Only one eUSA president has ever been impeached, Uncle Sam, way back in March 2009.

Fact 3: I am a freshman senator, trying my best to fulfill my duties to my country with integrity and honor, while acting with the humility appropriate for a noob political leader with little knowledge of foreign policy.

Fact 4: As I understand them, Congress has followed all the rules, with an appropriate discussion, followed by an in-forum vote to bring impeachment proceedings, followed by an in-game vote. You can check the eUSA constitution in the erepublik wiki.

These deliberations are supposed to be kept private, although not surprisingly for something so momentous as impeaching a 4th term President, leaks happened. It seemed like everybody knew this matter was under discussion long before it came out in public.

I decided to write this article after seeing some accusations in my shout-out feeds, and want to address some of those first.

First, Senate Speaker Rainy Sunday resigned from Congress last week after a disagreement with President Oblige. Rainy is one of the most beloved members of Congress (and the eUSA) and I have never heard a negative word about her. With characteristic honor and integrity, she first used both of her proposals and all of her citizenship applications, and agreed to continue to fulfill her Speaker duties. She explicitly said she would not vote or comment on any impeachment proceedings, and thus far has been true to her word. She has been less active this week due to RL issues, but Congress is not leaderless, and this this action was not taken behind her back.

Rainy Sunday gave me this information in a private PM and on the USA forums, but has not told me the details of their disagreement. Neither has she discussed these details in public.

Second, Israel Stevens did not orchestrate this move, and did the honorable thing by abstaining from the votes. This is significant because Senator Stevens was the runner up in last month's presidential election. By the eUSA constitution, he will therefore become President if Oblige is removed from office. Israel offered very little input during the discussions, and his inputs were calm and factual. He has not pressured anyone to vote. As he said to me, "this is not how I want to become President." Israel Stevens has been a good friend for many months, since we served in the USA Army together. I have always trusted him implicitly and my respect has only grown in these last two weeks.

Despite our long term friendship, Israel did not lobby me to vote for or against impeachment. He asked me, via ingame PM, if there is any knowledge I needed.

Third, I am a member of the AMP and the Special Forces, and nobody lobbied me to vote for or against impeachment. In fact, the AMP party president, David Wilson, sent a PM to all 12 AMP Senators in which he said "I will personally defend and support each of you no matter what decision you make". I was told by one of my best in-game friends (not in Congress) that if I vote for the impeachment, I am a "colossal douchebag." This is unnecessarily inflammatory and hurtful.



Why Impeachment?

The impeachment discussion was started with two complaints.

1. President Oblige ordered members of the USA Armed Forces, specifically the Special Forces, to vote against hostile takeovers in the recent Party President elections.

2. President Oblige voted for (some say orchestrated) the removal of Chile from TERRA. This was done without consulting Congress or many, if any, advisors.

His treatment of Speaker Rainy Sunday was also discussed, although this was not listed as a reason for impeachment, it may have upset and influenced some Senators.

After taking criticism from many individuals about the SF order, Oblige offered a public and sincere apology in his paper the Savior. This was widely read, and as a member of Congress and the Special Forces, I accept his apology without reservation. An apology is an act of strength, a chance for growth, and a gift of respect.

Furthermore, I personally cannot in any way see how this is an impeachable offense. My view is that if the SF is cool with the apology, Congress should accept it too.

The second question is more troubling. Foreign policy is crucially important to our nation's health, and a major reason why we enjoy the great prosperity we have right now. Was this move clearly against our nation's best interests? Was it made inappropriately? Was it a mistake in judgment, was it done deliberately to undermine the nation, or was it the right call?

My experience and knowledge is limited, and I read everything I could, and listened to all of my more knowledgeable colleagues. This includes friends who I respect very highly, some of whom are strongly in favor of impeachment. Oblige politely defended his decision, even with nasty attacks, on eNPR. He also was gracious enough to submit to a long grilling on the Senate forums, answering most of our questions with patience and grace. In response to my direct question "why didn't you consult others before voting to remove Chile," he replied that the move "seemed obvious."

Top experts in the game have given me conflicting opinions: removing Chile from TERRA was a "terrible move," and that is was "obviously the right decision." The president of Brazil, EddieJoe joined our forum discussion in support of the decision to remove Chile.

My Opinion and Decision

After studying all the debates, facts, and opinions, I am not sure that removing Chile from TERRA was a good or bad decision, but I am 100% sure that it was NOT an offense that justifies impeachment.

Thus, as duly elected Senator of West Virginia, I am voting my conscience NO on impeachment.

Some of my close friends disagree with me, and I hope we will remain friends. I also hope that all Congress-Critters will reveal their votes. In public. Transparency is what makes a Republik succeed.



Why So Much Anger?

Frankly, I am surprised by how many want to impeach Oblige over these matters. Of course, some firmly believe that these are impeachable offenses, and I respect that view. But I also realize that after 3.5 months in office, many leaders in our country have had strong disagreements with Oblige. Many members of his former cabinet members have resigned, refused to rejoin, or been fired for disagreeing with him. This has left an understandable amount of frustration and bitterness.

In fact, I personally thought that three (very successful!) terms were enough, and voted for my long-time good friend Israel Stevens in the last election. Yet the majority of the country disagreed and I am certainly not going to use my position in Congress to overrule the citizens will. Oblige has been an effective leader, although not perfect, and his success came with lots of help.

I hope these facts help the eUSA public understand what happened. Please vote this up so that everybody can find this article.

Update: The final result on the vote was 29 in favor and 25 against. An impeachment requires 66%, not a simple majority, so the vote to impeach President Oblige did not pass.

Senator Zheng "Jed" He
Best Virginia
Newspaper writer (been there)
Army Officer, CO of the 25th Tropic Lightning Division (done that)
Solder in the Special Forces (doing!)
Colonel 2-clicker (always)

PS: If this article doesn't piss you off too much, and you want to keep duty, honor and integrity in Congress, I hope you will move to West Virginia and support me in the next Congressional election. While you are there, just keep your dirty paws off my best girl!