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I see the mighty city through a mist—
The strident trains that speed the goaded mass,
The poles and spires and towers vapor-kissed,
The fortressed port through which the great ships pass,
The tides, the wharves, the dens I contemplate,
Are sweet like wanton loves because I hate.
-Claude McKay


^{This is what I'm listening to, feel free to listen too~}

Hi.

There are days when it's hard to find the meaning in this game. We have, collectively, put so many hours of work, originating from so many talented individuals, into what, at times, appears to be a chasm.

Today is one of those days for me.

I am writing this article to inform you that my political party, The Federalist Party, is endorsing Tyler Bubblar for another term as President. Tyler won the Federalist primary 15-0. That this is wholly unsurprising says more about Tyler's quality as a candidate than I ever could.

In fact, I'm not sure there's much more for me to say about Tyler as a candidate. Last month, I told you why I thought he'd be a great President. Spoiler alert: he has been. Hell, I was endorsing Tyler 5 years ago. Some things never change: Tyler cares a lot about the eUS, Tyler governs with unimpeachable integrity, and Tyler inspires just huge amounts of work from those around him.

But, while we're all here, I want to say a little more about Tyler. Or maybe, tying this back into the opening of this article, I want to say something about this game. (Warning: this is going to veer away from a strictly party article. Worse things have happened.) Because, as I was alluding to earlier, it's not much of a game. At least, there are few of us who openly talk about enjoying the mechanics of it. And if you do, you're probably not reading my paper anyway. Yet, for a game that is so miserable, in a world that is so harsh, there's an awful lot of activity and time spent here. There have been 11 White House Press Reports this month. Think about that for even a moment, that's insane.

So, why are we here? Why is the entire cabinet writing veritable novels about their departments that will be basically unreadable in a matter of weeks? The hackneyed answer is "the community," but what does that mean? There aren't that many of us left, and even while our numbers fall, the divisions between us seem to widen. That sounds cliché as I write it, but what kind of "community" do we have? We have some players who seem to find joy in creating new accounts just to insult others. And our Congress has a long storied tradition of devolving into absolutely pointless and inane bickering everywhere we gather. And yet, we're still here. And in spite of everything, I'll gladly write another trove of Press Briefings to be lost into this ephemeral chasm.

And it's because we do have a valuable community here, but its not a given. We have a valuable community because of a few truly special people who actively foster it. And thus, despite the abject pointlessness, and in spite of the toxicity around the edges, the eUS does have something positive to offer. As I mentioned earlier, I was having trouble mustering the will to write another endorsement article today. But then I read Tyler's article, which, you should too, by the way.

And it helped a little. Working together with so many people, well, it helps. And seeing how invested, coöperative, and creative players have been this term, well it's inspiring. And it's not a coincidence that it's been this term. And, I think , the takeaway is, that sometimes, when you're down, you want to go where everybody knows your name. And right now, this feels like that place to me.

Anyway, I can't speak for anyone else, but the reason I stick around and play is because of a handful of people like Tyler.

I can't imagine not voting for him.


Be kind to each other.


"Where I am, I don't know, I'll never know, in the silence you don't know, you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on."
-Samuel Beckett


Yours,
with infinite love,
Paul Proteus