Archive:Nathan Maine/On Hester's Departure and Compromise

**Presented By:** Major Executive Nathan Maine

**Date:** September 1, 2013

Members of the Triumvirate, as we start the last trimester of this year, it is with a heavy heart that I must deliver tragic news to you. Earlier today Andrew Hester, the widely beloved Head of the Treasury, and a great aide to myself and to the entire Union as Minor Executive, resigned from both offices and renounced his citizenship from the Triumvirate.

Andrew Hester was re-elected as Minor Executive only two weeks ago, he would have served this trimester as Minor Executive had he not resigned. Now, the Executive Branch has been forced to adapt to his departure. Ryan Bleitze has been made the new Head of the Treasury and Lanclot Rice the Minor Executive. I have utmost faith in both of them, and the Triumvirate knows of them both, but no one, not myself, not the Executive Branch, not Rice or Bleitze, none of us were prepared for this. The Triumvirate assumed that Andrew Hester, the man that has been seen as a titan in the economy, would be here to stay for a very long time. You don’t realize how great something was until you lose it.

Andrew Hester was a man of moderation and of decency. He was well-mannered and universally respected as an economic and business leader in the Triumvirate. Why is it that a man who was so enjoyed, so trusted, and so respected would resign from two of the grandest offices in the land? That is the heartbreaking part, is that it is no one’s individual fault, but, it is the fault of us all. His departure was the result of the political climate that we have allowed to foster and flourish here; one where political opponents would sooner destroy their careers than see their challenger succeed, one where politicians backstab each other to get political gain, where there is downright refusal to work together, and where we put our rivalry above what is best for the Union.

If someone were to look in on the Triumvirate today, what would they view? They’d see the ruthless crusades by conservatives to prevent progress by the Executive Branch. They’d see the attempts by liberals to portray those conservatives as demons who despise the Triumvirate and its people. They’d see how politicians in the Administration will call each other disgusting things over matters as simple as award nominations. These things are only a few small examples, but there are hundreds of others. It would turn people off of the Triumvirate, wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t want to join this Union if you saw what you would see. And you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t want to see a place like this. I’m embarrassed by it, Andrew Hester was embarrassed by it, and I’m sure most of us are. Where did things change? What went wrong? When did we decide that we’d rather block each other off instead of talking through our differences?

I’m not innocent here, none of us truly are innocent here, not even Andrew Hester, but that doesn’t excuse our actions. It’s not all bad either, there are great benefits that have come from our political system. In the end compromise is usually reached, and we see a wider range of views than we thought possible. Politics is not inherently evil. It is a testament to the strength of our Union that our political system is so vibrant. There is clearly a time and a place for politics, but anytime, everywhere, is not the time nor the place.

At the beginning of this trimester, the Administrative Branch elected, for the first time in history, two men of the same political party, the Establishment Party, to the two top positions. It’s supposed to be practically impossible to do that by the way the Administration is designed, but it happened, clearly indicating that the people desire conservative thought in the Administration. The election wasn’t tweaked, it wasn’t unfair, it just happened. I am a Progressive, a man of generally liberal ideology, and to be honest, I find Speaker Mearl to be judgemental, harsh, elitist, and obstructionist. Just like Speaker Mearl, I’m sure, finds me to be a loose cannon, populist, playboy, liberal wingnut. Andrew Mearl and I disagree on the economy, we disagree on business, we disagree on weapons regulation, on the role of government, and on the purpose of foreign affairs. Yet, we agree on far more than we disagree on. We both believe that this Union is stronger when it puts itself first. We both believe that the Triumvirate is a political marvel, unlike anything else ever established. We both think Arnold Ogamon was the greatest thing to ever happen to this Union and that the greatest concern of the government should be recruitment. We both would rather leave the Triumvirate forever than to ever see it die out. The things that we agree on are far more numerous than that which tears us apart.

Though this loss is severe, and though it touches all of us, it is not meaningless. Loss is never meaningless. Perhaps, if we really work at it, we can repair the wounds of the past, and Hester’s departure will be exactly what we need to get this government to come together. Think about how much we were able to accomplish over the summer, when the feuding between myself and the Establishment Party was at its peak, we were able to pass a massive stimulus, see rules and regulations for banks passed, improve recruiting, pass monetary policy, and form our first major alliance in over two years. All of that when we were working against each other. Imagine what we could be able to accomplish if we worked together, if we put aside our differences to do what is in the best interest of the Union. This trimester will be difficult, I recognize that we’re not going to be able to come together overnight, but I know that if we can each put in some effort, we can put this government back on the right track, one that would make Andrew Hester proud. So that this loss will not have been in vain, and that this Union, which will have endured for four years in just two weeks, can break the bonds of political brinkmanship and make the first of many steps to building a path not of dispute, but of compromise.

-*Nathan Maine, Fifth Major Executive of the Universal Triumvirate*