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I would have thought, on the day New Zealand Prime Minister Calbe pushed the button to start a war (training or otherwise) with Australia, there would have been a bit of discussion on the matter. I don’t mean the classified, for-your-eyes-only, super-special, double-top-secret, behind-closed-doors discussions between Calbe and a few of his buddies… sorry, “ministers”… that goes something like:

CALBE: Hey dude, wanna attack Australia?
MINISTER: Yeah, sure, whatever.

Forgive me for thinking there’d be some level of discussion on the matter, public and transparent.

Forgive me for thinking our freaking Prime Minister would at least step up, at the Forum or in the newspapers, and tell us what’s going on.

As of this writing, our fearless leader Calbe hasn’t so much as written an article about anything since his presidential campaign. Apparently an offhand remark on the forum, in response to an MPP deal—not even bothering with starting a thread on the subject—is all we get for an explanation.

Fionia doesn’t even mention it in the press until the final hours of the congressional vote, when the decision was already well in hand.

Now, I’m not seeking to tick off those who think this is the perfect time to start a war (training or otherwise) with anyone at all. Personally, I think it’s a gross mistake on several levels. If you want this newbie of a country to start playing the role of aggressor, I’ll gladly close down my companies, throw twenty New Zealanders out on their asses, leave the country, and let you run this country into the ground. I have no problem acting by my own conscience. I didn’t come here to be part of a country wanting to bully its neighbors, because, in all honesty, if this is what New Zealand reaps, it is also what it will sow, and when it gets overrun by superalliance powers and becomes a failed state, forever manipulated by EDEN and Phoenix back and forth, it will have no one to blame but itself.

Of course, if this were a training war, I’m waiting for national leadership to explain that it is what it is. Where is the grand statement, either at the Forum or in the newspapers, that states what this damn thing is? I see all of one article in the media, from Michal Lodziana 1, with the very simple philosophy, support the president off the cliff.

Was I the only one who first learned of the declaration of war by way of an Australian article advertised in the NZ media?

My big peeve in all this, regardless of the reasoning for or against the war (training or otherwise), is the inherent lack of discussion on the matter, the absence of transparency, and no show of leadership whatsoever.

All this, I plop in Calbe’s lap. Don’t blame the Serbs, don’t blame any warmongering faction in this country. Calbe pressed the button, this is on him, completely.

This is a guy whose slogan in running for Prime Minister was Calbe: A Candidate Who Cares. Not writing since the election doesn’t show me he cares. Not explaining to the country and the people who voted him into office the reasoning behind the declaration of war isn’t a sign of caring.

I realize Calbe was voted into office in the name of unity, not because he was the best or most qualified among us. A lot of people put aside their personal beliefs and voted for him, including the Serbian faction, simply because they wanted a clean election, no PTO’s, no worries. Is Calbe’s lack of professionalism and transparency the price this country has to pay for wanting an uneventful election and voting him into office? There are many of us in this country with presidential, ministerial, and congressional experience, and I don’t think any of us would be so nonchalant about declaring war (training or otherwise), at all, let alone for the very first time in our nation’s history.

For all the investment in time and gold the several hundred of us have put into eNew Zealand to make it a decent country with a solid economy, a busy media, and a semi-stable community, am I asking too much that our Prime Minister write an article once in a while, or start a thread at the Forum? Do I sound like I’m coming out of left field to expect the cat with the power to declare war (training or otherwise) and start battles to explain to the people who voted him into power what the f*$& is going on? Really? The country’s grace period is ending, the Prime Minister is declaring war (training or otherwise), he’s not going to step up and explain, and I’m the one you’re going to bag on?

Yes, things like this matter. If you want a country where anything goes, where it doesn’t matter who gets into positions of power, where unprofessional and unqualified people call the shots, where no one steps up to tell you when something important is happening and why, none of this really matters to you anyway. But if you’re about democracy, if you’re looking for signs of real leadership, if you care about what New Zealand stands for, then you have to look at Calbe and wonder, is this the best we can do? Whether you’re for or against the upcoming war (training or otherwise), you at least have to say to yourself, he should have said something.

And yes, as a citizen of New Zealand and a believer in democracy, I most certainly do believe Calbe owes me, and everyone else, an explanation.

In any event, Calbe woke up Arjay.