Post by Hooligan on May 4, 2007 23:25:03 GMT -6
[The Prime Minister rises from his seat. Amidst the sound of boos and hisses, the moans and groans, and the cries of "here he goes again," he hears the ruffling of plastic bags containing fruits and vegetables.]
My Lord Túischac'h, Fellow Cosâ members --
As shall be my custom for each Clark, I come before you to give you the government's positions (or at least my own) on the legislation that is to be considered this session, and some thoughts on planning for the month ahead.
The First Clark
Taking the six bills that are before us in reverse order, I will begin with RZ6. This proposed amendment is relatively simple. It (necessarily) changes the name of our royal house, while (importantly) leaving in place most of the law that has governed the inheritance of the throne in our Kingdom for years. The changes to the law of succession are what make this bill. Let us go through them:
Moving on to RZ5 (and I'll try to pick up the pace here), we find an act that I sponsored, so it will come as no surprise that I support it. In fact, I could either repeat here everything that I typed in the WHEREAS clauses, or you could go read those clauses yourself. I'll choose the latter, and simply say that the government supports the passage of RZ5.
Next we find RZ4, which, once again, is an act that I sponsored, so by standing behind those WHEREAS clauses, the position of your Prime Miniter is clear: the government supports the passage of RZ4. To those in my house especially -- this is our chance to kind of boss those Senators around a little. (Not as much as I would have wished, since the proposal was essentially torn to a single piece in the Hopper by a certain ex-Senator, but hey, we lower house members do what we can do.)
RZ3 comes next. Again, I am involved, but in this case, the idea and much of the work was contributed by our fine Secretary of State. The oath of citizenship is already something which current law calls on us to create. Here is a fine oath, true to the spirit of our nation, ending with that whimsy for which we are known, and one that has survived months in the Hopper, so we all know that it is supported by the nation. The government recommends the passage of RZ3.
One more of mine, and yes -- you guessed it -- it is the propoal numbered RZ2. This one, again, has some pretty dang good WHEREAS's (if I do say so myself), so I will be brief and say only that we seem to need this law, in order to clean up a truly horrible mess surrounding our laws regarding "micronations" and the effect of these laws on immigration to our nation. Long story short, the government recommends the passage of RZ2.
And finally, we reach RZ1. I can't take any credit for this one, although some would say I take the blame for it. As the ministers in this administration can testify, the pledge I made to be their "brutal taskmaster" is being fulfilled as best I can. I hope to soon deliver to this body a report on the activities of each of the ministries. Until then, however, you may safely assume by this act -- which is a plea for life to allow enough time for Talossan business, and which was drafted by the Right Honourable Minister of Immigration -- that they are busy. This act is one of those proposals that have come before this body since its very formation, intended to harmlessly bring a smile to the nation, without any real effect. Personally, I don't eat LIFE cereal anyway, so I'm fine with putting my tongue in my cheek while discouraging people from doing so. The act, though, will not in any way help or hurt our nation, so the government issues no position on RZ1.
The Second Clark
It is not too soon to consider the draft acts that are being circulated, hopefully to place into the Hopper soon, to allow sufficient discussion for their presentation to the June Clark. This government reports that one such draft -- which would reform the provincial system -- will hopefully be ready for introduction into the Hopper soon.
The government, of course, invites all members of the Ziu to approach the ministries for any assistance, and with any ideas for legislation. The Attorney-General stands ready to assist any member with the drafting of legislation or providing statutory research or advice to assist in such drafting.
Thank you for your attention. I repeat now that I hope to soon come once again to this podium to report to you at some length on the activities of the cabinet ministries. In conclusion, I now call on this house to stop throwing all those tomatoes at me.
My Lord Túischac'h, I yield the floor.
[The Prime Minister returns to his seats. The Cosâ janitorial staff mops up behind him.]
My Lord Túischac'h, Fellow Cosâ members --
As shall be my custom for each Clark, I come before you to give you the government's positions (or at least my own) on the legislation that is to be considered this session, and some thoughts on planning for the month ahead.
The First Clark
Taking the six bills that are before us in reverse order, I will begin with RZ6. This proposed amendment is relatively simple. It (necessarily) changes the name of our royal house, while (importantly) leaving in place most of the law that has governed the inheritance of the throne in our Kingdom for years. The changes to the law of succession are what make this bill. Let us go through them:
- Contrary to the current law of succession, the proposal will deny the throne to a successor chosen by (or adopted by) the sovereign. This is sensible, as we do not want (someday long from now) for any Talossan King to come under the influence of some calculating politician who manages to cause himself (or some creature of his) to be adopted or otherwise named heir to the throne.
- Contrary to the current law of succession, any person to whom the throne descends may choose to decline to serve as King (or Queen). The last thing we need is someone to become King who does not know he is our King, or does not want to be. We have been through this before. (Note that we are already much more protected against a recurrence of this state of affairs by the passage of the "The King Must Be A Citizen" Act, first drafted and proposed by a certain now-royal personage. This proposal strengthens that one -- together, they will forever limit our line of succession to those who care for our nation.) A King must accept our throne. To borrow a phrase, blood is not enough. Talossa is too active to suffer an inactive, inattentive, unaware, or uncaring King.
- Contrary to the current law of succession, the Ziu will be able to remove any person from the line of succession (and replace him where he was, if it ever so chooses). This, my friends, is an important innovation. Although we in this Kingdom can never in any way act or speak disloyally of a sitting King or Queen, we can and do say -- here, now, and forever -- that we give no such pledge of loyalty to any other person, including the heir of the King, or anyone else in the line of succession. Should the Prince of Prospect be a disinterested, inactive Talossan, the Ziu can remove him from the line of succession, guaranteeing that when an unhappy event deprives us of our Sovereign, no bad apple can spoil the pie that is Talossa. This is a small but extremely important distinction between this proposal and others that have been floated. Once a King is our King, we absolutely must be loyal to him. We cannot consider dethroning him in any way, we cannot organize to elect a new King periodically, we cannot give to a sitting King anything but that to which a King of Talossa is due: the same eternal, neverending respect we give the nation itself. That is how monarchy works, and binds the nation together as one. This loyalty to the King is paramount. But we, the Ziu, share responsibility for the future of the realm, and should we ever determine and decide that someone -- anyone -- at any place in the line of succession would make a poor monarch for our nation, we can act to ensure that he or she shall not reign. To repeat a borrowed phrase, blood is not enough. The Ziu shall be given the organic responsibility to monitor the integrity, interest, and activity of those who would rule us, and to be constantly vigilant so as to prevent the throne from falling into unready or incapable hands. Should anyone in the royal succession who falls from grace with the Ziu reform themselves (for example, by becoming active, fulfilling their community service hours, escaping from foreign captivity, whatever), we can return them to their place in line. Should the line be exhausted (or all persons who would be in the line have been removed from it by the Ziu), this proposal will leave in place the provision of Organic Law which calls for a royal election.
Moving on to RZ5 (and I'll try to pick up the pace here), we find an act that I sponsored, so it will come as no surprise that I support it. In fact, I could either repeat here everything that I typed in the WHEREAS clauses, or you could go read those clauses yourself. I'll choose the latter, and simply say that the government supports the passage of RZ5.
Next we find RZ4, which, once again, is an act that I sponsored, so by standing behind those WHEREAS clauses, the position of your Prime Miniter is clear: the government supports the passage of RZ4. To those in my house especially -- this is our chance to kind of boss those Senators around a little. (Not as much as I would have wished, since the proposal was essentially torn to a single piece in the Hopper by a certain ex-Senator, but hey, we lower house members do what we can do.)
RZ3 comes next. Again, I am involved, but in this case, the idea and much of the work was contributed by our fine Secretary of State. The oath of citizenship is already something which current law calls on us to create. Here is a fine oath, true to the spirit of our nation, ending with that whimsy for which we are known, and one that has survived months in the Hopper, so we all know that it is supported by the nation. The government recommends the passage of RZ3.
One more of mine, and yes -- you guessed it -- it is the propoal numbered RZ2. This one, again, has some pretty dang good WHEREAS's (if I do say so myself), so I will be brief and say only that we seem to need this law, in order to clean up a truly horrible mess surrounding our laws regarding "micronations" and the effect of these laws on immigration to our nation. Long story short, the government recommends the passage of RZ2.
And finally, we reach RZ1. I can't take any credit for this one, although some would say I take the blame for it. As the ministers in this administration can testify, the pledge I made to be their "brutal taskmaster" is being fulfilled as best I can. I hope to soon deliver to this body a report on the activities of each of the ministries. Until then, however, you may safely assume by this act -- which is a plea for life to allow enough time for Talossan business, and which was drafted by the Right Honourable Minister of Immigration -- that they are busy. This act is one of those proposals that have come before this body since its very formation, intended to harmlessly bring a smile to the nation, without any real effect. Personally, I don't eat LIFE cereal anyway, so I'm fine with putting my tongue in my cheek while discouraging people from doing so. The act, though, will not in any way help or hurt our nation, so the government issues no position on RZ1.
The Second Clark
It is not too soon to consider the draft acts that are being circulated, hopefully to place into the Hopper soon, to allow sufficient discussion for their presentation to the June Clark. This government reports that one such draft -- which would reform the provincial system -- will hopefully be ready for introduction into the Hopper soon.
The government, of course, invites all members of the Ziu to approach the ministries for any assistance, and with any ideas for legislation. The Attorney-General stands ready to assist any member with the drafting of legislation or providing statutory research or advice to assist in such drafting.
Thank you for your attention. I repeat now that I hope to soon come once again to this podium to report to you at some length on the activities of the cabinet ministries. In conclusion, I now call on this house to stop throwing all those tomatoes at me.
My Lord Túischac'h, I yield the floor.
[The Prime Minister returns to his seats. The Cosâ janitorial staff mops up behind him.]