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In this morning’s article, Prime Minister Calbe explained his reasoning for the declaration of war with Australia. Though such an article should not be written by the leader of a country to assuage the disgruntlement of a single citizen, his article, the first he’s written since his campaign for president, seems to be all about Arjay Phoenician’s criticisms, having used my name and my words eight times. It was an article written AFTER the vote for the declaration was final, and it was completely reactionary.

Allow me to add a few more criticisms.

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a politician who only makes public appearances when they’re running for office. Don’t people like that just piss you right off? It’s commonplace in real life, you sort of expect it, you see a candidate’s signs and TV ads for months leading up to the election, then when he wins, he goes away, and you don’t hear from him again until the next go-round.

While it is important to be on IRC and the Forum, in my experience, those meeting places are auxiliary and secondary. They are unofficial. Yes, that’s where deals are made, that’s where you get into the blood and guts of the function of a country, and that’s where you can meet fellow citizens and make friends. They should never, however, be considered a substitute for the newspaper module, because that’s actual eRepublik. That’s official. The newspapers are where you post for the entire country, nay, the entire e-world to see. Sure, you might have a couple dozen devotees on IRC, maybe a few more at the Forum, but by their very nature, what you say in those media do not have a chance to be seen by everybody. IRC and the Forum should augment the newspaper media, they should be places where deals are struck, but in terms of news and announcements from leadership, they should never replace a well-written article that every in the world can read.

Though I believe in democracy and that it cannot survive without an active and educated population, it’s not a two way street between citizens and leaders. If you’re going to call yourself a leader, if you’re going to ask people to vote for you, if you have the audacity to think you can speak for a whole country, then you’re asking for greater responsibility than the average citizen who is just looking to work and fight and live. People deserve to know what’s going on, and it is incumbent on leadership, starting first and foremost with the prime minister, to deliver. Leaders get out in front of an issue, they claim it before it becomes the talk of the town. No one should ever say to themselves when something big happens, hey, this is happening, where’s our fearless leader?

Especially, no one should ever ask that question when the event is created by that fearless leader himself.

I’ll admit to a little bias, I’ve always been a newspaper guy. I’ve made a name for myself in many countries because of this newspaper. I’ve held leaders’ feet to the fire all over the world, and I’ve spoken up when it wasn’t popular. The newspapers have a certain power to them, and if you’re willing to write and be passionate, you can be somebody. You’ll meet people, you’ll hit nerves, you’ll make deals, you’ll show people what you have to offer, and you’ll work your way up. Everybody uses the economic and military modules, but not everybody uses the newspapers. Nations do, national orders are given through them, and some of the more savvy journalists out there will, for a short time, deliver national and world news that is phenomenal. Not many have chosen to use theirs for pontification, for creative writing, for simply speaking their minds on a near-daily basis, but I have, and I am who I am because of it. In this game, I’m no great warrior, I’m a half-assed businessman, I’m maybe a slightly above average politician, but I am a good writer, and I’m not shy in putting my views in this paper, where all 200,000-plus eRepublikans can see for themselves what I had to offer.

That’s the audacity I want to see in the leaders of this country. I don’t want the prime minister to be mousy and shy. I vote for the brave, the bold, the confident. I don’t want leaders who meekly say you can always write him if you feel like it; I want them to be out there, in front, telling us what’s going on as it’s happening and what they’re doing about it. Pushing the button to declare war, and then not stepping up until the vote is over, that’s weak. If you’re going to declare war, even if it’s for the sake of training, step up and be big and bad.

And you can’t be big and bad if you’re just chatting with your buddies at IRC.

As of this writing, there are 714 residents of eNew Zealand. Calbe is the prime minister for the government sworn to work for all 714 residents, not the couple dozen who show up on IRC, not the little bit more who frequent the Forum. The newspapers are the means by which the whole community communicates. I should not need to explain this to someone who calls himself leader of a country, but apparently I have to. I didn’t think it was a lot to ask for a leader who was timely in his announcements, frequent in his visibility, and confident in his office, but apparently, in this case, it was.

I have every reason to think Calbe would not have even written his announcement today, had I not ridden his ass on the subject, here, in the newspapers. The prevalence of my name in his article leads me to believe it. IRC and forums have their place, and that’s where deals get done, but in terms of getting someone’s attention, informing your countrymen on the whole, and getting a point across, newspapers are where it’s at.

And if you didn’t know before, Calbe, now you know.