View from Benacia/Issue 70: Kaiser Makes Statement on Shirekeep
This imported article was originally posted at http://viewfrombenacia.blogspot.com/2005/03/issue-70-kaiser-makes-statement-on.html at 03/19/05.
In an Imperial Proclamation on Wednesday (which the Kaiser wrote instead of doing his work for the View... sigh), the Kaiser, sleep-deprived and delusional, felt it himself to be in the proper state of mind to comment on the Shirekeep issue, currently being debated in two bills in the Landsraad.
The crux of the argument lies in the placement of the capital of Shireroth, Shirekeep. Although tradition places Shirekeep and its territory within the Duchy of Brookshire, there are no laws or Decrees fixing its place. Some have said the territory more rightly belongs in Elwynn, and others have suggested that it shouldn't be in any Duchy at all, since this would undermine the authority of the Kaiser.
Although the Kaiser refrained from issuing something that would have the force of law, his Proclamation did set out his position, stating that
"...if Shirekeep is to be associated with any one Duchy, it shall be a special enclave of Brookshire; for Brookshire was First among Duchies, in the days of yore, and Shirekeep was established under its provenance. And this would not undermine the supremacy of the Kaiser; for wherever the Kaiser is in Shireroth, he is the Law. The Decrees of the Duke of Brookshire therefore by definition cannot affect the Imperial City, for they, like all laws, may be overridden by the Kaiser's will."
The Kaiser went on to say that if Shirekeep were not included in Brookshire, it should stand on its own rather than be included in some other Duchy.
Hypatia's Mom agrees to join Shireroth!
After what seems to have been intense badgering, the famed Hypatia's mom stated in the Tetrapylectomy Poll thread that she would join Shireroth, utterly disrupting underground betting pools throughout Shireroth. The mother of the Kildari Dutchess is known for her habit of silently observing Shirerithian events most of the time, and occasionally surfacing with nice and well-spoken comments.
After speculation that she should be made Kaiseress, Hypatia's mom made her announcement. She did, however, try to clarify matters:
"I want to make it clear I do not want to be given a position of any sort just because of the novelty of it. The main reason I find micronational political discussions so fabulous is that this regular, measured (usually) give-and-take is the way real world political discourse used to be back in the long-ago days of my college-age self."
Citizens rejoiced at the idea of an intelligent person joining the nation, and the 20+-year-olds were horrified to learn that their high age compared with the national average is no longer quite so impressive.
