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Wow, lots of questions.

http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/questions-and-answers-with-scrabman-pt-1-800948/1/all

Well, let me answer a bunch and then I will either update this article with more answers later or I'll start a new one. I'll get through a bunch and then will take a break and will try to come back. I'm not going to answer them all ... but I'll get through most of them in the order that they were received.

If my answer isn't to your liking or is too short or is too vague then forgive me. I get a lot of mail and this job seriously crunches your free time.

Q. are going for the 3rd term? and why? thank you.
I am considering it. I would love to retire this position but I've had a lot of people ask me to consider another run for various reasons. I've just gotten to the point, after 8 weeks, where I've developed some good relationships with some of our primary allies. If ATLANTIS is going to break up I wouldn't want to dump that on a new President knowing how hard it was when I first took up this chair to keep track of everything that had to be done. So I am considering it ... which is a long way away from saying "yes."

Q. When did you first realize you waned to be president?
A week or so after Uncle Sam got elected. I will not continue to drag Sam through the mud as I understand what a hard job this now ... which I didn't then. I was a 4th term Congressman at the time and I was frustrated with how the President was so far removed from the Congress that I decided that I wanted to fix that. That was my biggest hangup with Uncle Sam and we've since mended our relationship I think. But really, I had no aspirations to be President until my Party asked me to take it up while I was Party President of the USWP (another position that I was called upon to accept). I didn't want it for myself, however, until the time mentioned above.

Q. How do you plan to get back the lost gold? Is our army ready for a defence if it becomes an issue?
Our gold wasn't lost ... it was spent in the interests of the country. We will replenish it via the tax structure that Congress has in place and via the Federal Budget that my Administration worked with Congress to control spending and to build emergency reserves.

Our Military stands ready to defend the nation at any time and we would put up a fierce defense along with our great allies. We have an untapped depth of strength in our large number of citizens. We just have to find a way to further develop that potential.

Q. Do you believe there was anything else you could have improved upon for our fight against FER? Anything you'd like to have done differently if you could do it again?
One thing that could have improved our fight with FER would have been to have had the Army ready for action. This is something that is still being addressed with the new appointment of General Armandez and the careful work of Moishe and Leroy Combs. We used to have a very efficient distribution system to supply our Army and that is something that we need to get back into shape.

I don't think I would have fought FER any differently. I've heard people say that we shouldn't have had war games that day as if PEACE had announced their plans to attack in advance. I've also heard that Russia was completely caught off guard by our attack on FER and were freaking out. Both sides threw nearly 800,000 units of damage at the wall ... those are astronomical amounts and I'm surprised that PEACE managed it since we started late in the day after they had already diverted much of their resources to other fights on the first day. It was the right time to attack, it was the only chance we were going to have to break through the various multi-MPPed nations that hem us in at every border. It just didn't work out. To quote Machiavelli “Never was anything great achieved without danger.”

Q. how do you see the future of eUSA on the world stage personally? will it continue to support Atlantis? neutral? or maybe be a member of PEACE gc? thank you.
With Romania announcing that they are withdrawing from the field that means that the eUSA has to step out of their shadow in leading whatever coalition remains against PEACE world domination. Of course, Romania's withdrawal will severely weaken ATLANTIS and may cause it to crumble. I don't know for sure except that it has been a trouble alliance for some time. I would be lying to say that I have not had some talks with other world leaders about where we are going from here and those options include: 1) rebuilding ATLANTIS; 2) forming a new alliance; 3) joining PEACE; or 4) going independent. The correct outcome has not yet been determined.

Q. Will you withdraw US military forces abroad in Romania to protest against the admins? What is your plan to build up the US treasury and regroup our forces? Do you think that PEACE may invade now with the recent events?
No, we will continue to fight where needed using deployment of our armed forces and upon the advice of my Military leaders and I will not second guess their judgment as they always provide me with clear options along with strategic advice. Money issues were answered above. PEACE may invade, I don't know for sure, but they will have a difficult time of it as we have a sleeping giant in the eUSA and 16 MPPs protect us against invasion. While we are not impregnable it would be a difficult battle that would not be able to be sustained past one state ... which we would retake easily.

Now many people have asked what was preventing Russia from coming back and kicking us out of FER if we had won and the answer is that Russia did not have another region adjacent to FER and would have had to wait at least 48 hours before they could get their allies to begin to retake that region. That would have given us plenty of time to move on to the next region and make it a fortress. Alas, that didn't work out. These plans were well made, despite that expat traitors like William Shafer and Navy II tried to ruin out plans by telling our enemies about them. I will never understand why ANY American continues to associate with those two dirtbags.

Q. are you having fun being President?
Yes, more than I had initially imagined upon taking the office and feeling all the responsibility come down on me. And after 2 weeks I got to where I was enjoying it more than I thought I would when I was running. What I enjoy about it now is that I'm seeing the world of eRep from a different vantage. I can see plans, operations, how things work together, and the bigger picture of eRep for lack of a better description. I enjoy that so much that I can weather the insults, harsh critics, and set backs. I didn't ask for this job for personal power and that is not what has kept me in office. I like this job for how it relates to other aspects of the game and I enjoy trying to elevate eAmerica by working hard to improve how it functions. This is why I have chosen my cabinet very carefully with people who are competent and qualified to create this new prosperity.

Q. Why don't you have time to play scrabble with Tiacha? *tear*
See [all of the above/below]. I have started playing again! She's not the only one who has been nudging me. I do tend to go a few days between plays ... sometimes a week. :/

Q. What is your opinion of the state of Atlantis in terms of strength, unity, and effectiveness? What is your stance on the Germany-Sweden situation? What went wrong in the battle with Russia?
ATLANTIS has been declining in all of those areas. My stance on Germany-Sweden has been difficult because of our long-term alliance with Sweden and balanced off of the fact that Germany is now a provisional member of ATLANTIS. I would prefer to see Sweden go after PEACE rather than going after Germany. But having just fought FER and Russia's 10 MPPs I can see why they might want to go to a different border. Russian question answered above (and below).

Q. What are your plans when you are done with office?
I would like to become a USA eMarine and go around the world fighting with a group of guys who I have come to deeply admire and appreciate and who have returned the sentiment to me many times over. I'm halfway to Field Marshall with 11+ strength so I'm qualified and I've been told I would be welcome. This is such a nice turn around from 2 elections ago where the Military seemed sure that I was their greatest foe. I think that we've gotten onto the same page and that I've earned my credibility with the military through my demonstrated support of them. I could be wrong, but it does seem like things are much better.

Q. Would you be visiting France any soon to have "dinner in Paris" 😉 ?
I would rather not. One major offensive every few months is plenty. This does bring up a good point, though it was in taunt. I hope that those who have been reading my paper understand that we will always have the masses clamoring for war and the game is built around war. I give my citizens war games and they like them for a while and then start demanding real wars. Real wars are incredibly expensive due to where we are located in the world but that also gives Americans a sense of domestic security. War games are incredibly inexpensive for their benefits and now that PEACE is doing their own war games they are essential so that we don't fall farther behind. Our tremendous success with the Baja War Games has raised the bar yet people still complain. I delayed war for a long time and was harshly criticized in the last weeks and I can understand better now why Uncle Sam felt like he had to invade Mexico or why Benn Dover felt he had to invade France. The difference is that France and Mexico gave us nothing where FER would have given us high diamonds and Heilongjiang would have given us high iron. Yet, give it 2-3 weeks and the same people will start clamoring for war again. It's an endless cycle.

Q. Are you satissfied with what you have done as president? If not, Why?
Yes. I think that we have seen unparalleled growth under my watch and a stabilized dollar, though some are trying to apply real world economics again to throw water on that success. We also have seen an improvement in our world relations with non-PEACE nations and that is something that I've been enjoying these last weeks that we've been working on these USA-Ireland War Games. We have a Federal Budget now and we have Congress in control of the majority of the funds again as is their mandate while the President works on other aspects as the nation's chief diplomat. Now we are working on bringing the Military up to the same high level that we have our Marines at and the advanced units of the National Guard. I'm very pleased and I have to give a lot of credit to my cabinet and military leaders. I have to borrow from Machiavelli again “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.” By that measure I must be the most intelligent ruler in eRep.

Q. What has surprised you the most being president? What has humbled you?
The biggest thing that has surprised me is how I immediately became everyone's friend and punching bag at the same time. I wasn't prepared for either as I get 10-20 friend requests a day as well as 50-75 PMs if not more. While most of those are favorable there are the tons of haters who troll my articles and seem to self-defeat their calls for me to be more transparent making me not want to write more articles. The most humbling thing is related to the most surprising thing in that I had to realize that you can't be everyone's best friend or favorite person. Thus, I've borrowed a page from Machiavelli who said "Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.” I'm not saying that anyone has a real reason to fear me as I have limited power, but I don't put up with a lot of bullshit and I'm not that worried about my image so long as I'm getting the job done. Many people seem to have a hard time with that concept.

Q. Any thoughts on the idea of independent armies?
We do have independent armies ... independent of the government. Britain has a bunch and we have at least two that I can think of in the eUSA.

Q. What have you learned being president? What could you pass on to future presidents?
I have learned that you have to have good and strong advisers who you can trust with delegation of duties - one person cannot do the job of eUSA President and do it the way that it should be done. Also I would borrow from Machiavelli again and say "Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil." My advice would be that you will always have haters and they are bugs. Every so often you need to squash one as a reminder to the others that you are still paying attention and will not let them start to feed off of your flesh. You will have people gasp and say "I can't believe you would say that" or "that's not very Presidential" and you have to be prepared not to care or you won't get anything done.

Q. Can you send Jessica Alba to improve US diplomacy on PEACE nations?
I would ... but she's almost dead. http://www.erepublik.com/en/citizen/profile/1213652

Q. Do you have any plans to end the long inactive wars with France and Portugal?
No.

Q. Am I right to think that mid and low level users aren't well organized when it comes to battles?
If this contributed (partly) to the last defeat, what should be done about it? Or what the administration thinks they can do about it?
Yes, that is probably correct. The problem is that we don't have a mass communication system any longer now that eRep has shut down script mailers. The old Army Echo system is very flawed and doesn't tend to work right now. This is an issue that I've asked our military leaders to find a way to address. But that is only part of the problem. There are many, many more people who are not military who are not organized and do not understand how to maintain their wellness or to use hospitals. We try to address this with the Dept. of Education and other programs that reach out to such users. Meals on Wheels is looking at expanding into a wellness program that should try to reach more users who may be missing out on the bigger picture of eRep as there are many people out there who have no idea what is going on in the world.

Q. What's your favorite country besides the US?
I've really liked working with Canada over the last several weeks. That is not to say that it's their country that I like, but I really like their President, Bruck. The same goes for Nithraldur who is President of Ireland. There are many other leaders who I have enjoyed getting to know in the last several weeks so I don't mean to slight them. South Africa, Israel, the UK, Sweden, Croatia and Germany also come to mind.

Q. Did you like the new Star Trek movie? Have you always been a Trekkie? Is Tiacha even more attractive in RL?
Yes, I liked the new movie a lot. I've seen it twice now. I've always been a Trekkie but my three favorite sci-fi shows of all time are Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica (new one), and Firefly in that order. And Tiacha is a hottie ... she really is ... too bad she has a boyfriend (she's also short ... small but mighty).

Ok ... that's 20 questions answered ... I'll try to come back and add some more later but I have to go play some RL SCRABBLE ... after doing some war gaming first.

stay tuned...

Next 35 answers:

Answers - Pt. 3
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/questions-and-answers-with-scrabman-pt-3-802374/1/all