Ad Astra - The Alagore War

AA V3 Vagahm, Chapter 4

"On Friday March 16th, the State Legislature passed a resolution to recall Senator Brian J. Fields from Congress. The Senate bill was passed by 35 of 40 while the Assembly 99 of 120. This marks the third time a State has recalled its sitting Federal Senator since the passing of the 31st Amendment.

Two weeks ago, a leaked video was discovered showing Senator Fields at an International Forum in Istanbul, Türkiye, discussing expanding democratic norms and institutions.

During the conference, the Senator stated that for a democracy to thrive, speech must be policed and limited to prevent external voices and dissenting opinions from directing national policy in the wrong direction. Countries exploring the concept of people-vote systems should avoid adopting a First Amendment similar to the United States, stating that it had repeatedly gotten in the way of the government's desired outcomes.

The only way for democracy to thrive is if the state could adequately sway the population down into a majority consensus. With modern technologies such as instant communication and programmable intelligence assisting in creating and spreading information, it has become incredibly hard for government agencies to sheer the population toward policies and viewpoints that the State deems critical.

When the video was released, the Senator refused to resign from his seat after a public uproar. Believing that the Senator no longer represented Floridian values and interests, and successfully recalled the Senator. Governor Zoey Foster has stated that she would be ready to appoint one of the five pre-listed appointees on Monday to replace Senator Fields until the legislator elects a replacement temporarily.

After what is known as the Dark Decades or American Troubles in the 2020s and 2030s, many constitutional amendments were passed to help address structural issues within the American system. the 31st Amendment repealed the 17th Amendment, giving the power to elect Senators to Congress back to the State Legislature over direct vote. The motive behind this was to limit career politicians, to empower State authority over an overbearing Federal Government, and move politics from a national focus back to the States.

The 17th Amendment moved the State's right to elect a Senator by direct vote because Congress was jammed politically. While rare, the few times when a State Legislature failed to elect a senator to Congress typically wreaked havoc on addressing pressing needs or creating a deadlock to the point the entire session was frozen until an appropriate replacement was chosen.

To prevent this, the Legislature also votes on a nomination list of three pre-approved individuals to replace the sitting Senator until one is appropriately elected. If the State Legislature fails to choose a successor within 60 days, the vote will go to a popular vote. Up until now, the closest to this threshold of happening was during the Pennsylvania recall of 2057 after being discovered taking foreign bribes for favorable policies." - Indie News Channel

March, 17th, 2068 (military calendar)

Northern Gate, Salva, the former Confederacy of Daru'uie

Nevali Region, Aldrida, Alagore

*****

Standing by the eastern Gate, Assiaya saw the two Minutemen teams preparing to drive away. Comanche and Ghost were on a mission, where she had no idea.

Seeing Ryder talking with Rommel King. Based on the Comanche leader's mannerisms and tone, he seemed upset that he had been sidelined. The Comanche Captain continued to explain what to do if the team ran into a particular situation, attacked, etc. The Warrant Officer had an annoyed facial reaction from the lecture, continuing to interrupt the Captain to state that he had everything under control. The gray-brown-haired, dark-skinned man with brown eyes commented that the officer was no longer an NCO, so stop micromanaging.