Shipwide Announcement [Slightly bendytimed]

[governmentninja]

I really haven't bothered to do any campaigning, for a number of reasons. And even this isn't some kind of campaign speech, but on the eve of elections, I felt the need to talk to everyone for a few moments.

Forgive me if this rambles a bit, I'm not entirely sure what I want to say right now.

My father once told me that God puts you where you need to be. You can either stand there and complain about it, or you can do the best you can, and trust that God has a plan, even if you can't see it yet. I've never been a terribly religious guy, so I don't know if God has a plan, or if this is all random, or somewhere in between. But, looking back on my life, I can't help but wonder if my Dad might have been on to something.

I've been serving as Acting Captain of this ship for the past few weeks. What the title of 'Acting Captain' means is that... that this job belongs to someone else. Someone who, unfortunately, wasn't there to do it, so I took it upon myself because I was there and the job needed doing. I'm only on the ballot by default, basically. I have the job now, so if you want me to keep it, I'll keep doing it. If you don't, I'll gladly step aside for whoever you choose. I was quite content being Chief of Security, I had more free time to spend with my daughter, then.

That's really all I see this as, another job that needs to get done. That's mainly why I haven't bothered campaigning. If given the choice between either A) pandering for votes to keep a job that's been sucking up all my time, been grinding me to death, and wasn't even my job to begin with, or B) doing the job as best I can for as long as I have it... I'll choose option B every time.

And this is a tough job, made all the more harder because everyone I talked to expects me to pander for votes when I just want to cross a few more items off of what's become a massive To Do list. If this isn't my job anymore come tomorrow, then whoever wins, I do not envy in the slightest.

But maybe they'll handle the job better than I have. This job comes with a steep learning curve, and it's not like I'm a natural at this. I'm not a politician, or a monarch, and I've never been commander of an Imperial fleet, or led a revolution. I'm just a guy doing a job because someone had to do it. This whole thing has been a learning experience, to say the least. Which might be why I can't figure out what you all want in a leader.

I realize that, yes, everyone will want something different, but... I've been listening. I've also been barking orders for the past few weeks, but I've also been listening. Listening to the campaign speeches, to the responses, all of it, just trying to figure out what you guys want in a leader.

Strangely, while everyone has been going around saying 'this is what you should look for in a leader', no one has really bothered to ask what you want in a leader. This is probably why I felt compelled to address you all like this, so I can be the one to ask.

What do you all want in a leader? What are you looking for in them? What kind of person do you want them to be? When you go vote tomorrow, are you voting for the kind of leader that you do want? Or are you just voting for someone you can live with?

I guess I'm wondering because, on my world, politics tended to boil down to people voting for the least worst option on the table. I'm curious to see if that's what will happen here. I sincerely hope not.

Best of luck to all the candidates tomorrow.



Special Agent Leon S. Kennedy, US Strategic Command
Acting Captain, Transmigration 9

Comments

[gunslinging.livejournal.com]

...and now everybody who wants to vote for you gets to feel guilty for killing your family time, huh?

This is the first time I've ever...actually paid attention to politics. Not much point when I couldn't vote on anything back home anyway. So I guess what I want in a leader is somebody who's going to just get it done instead of playing the game.

[gunslinging.livejournal.com]

Now I'm kind of tempted to delete this so we can all just scroll straight to the derailment.

[governmentninja]

Nah, kid. You should leave it.

[terminatefate]

Cry me a fucking river, shitbag. C'mon, few more tears. If you can't bother to state your motherfucking opinions and have a decent discourse with the people you're being forced to lead, then fuck you. You don't want the job? Fine. Withdraw your ass and let someone with proper experience lead.

Honestly, if you have to whine and bitch about your family time being interrupted by a motherfucking acting Captain position, then get your ass off the line and pay attention to your family. Obviously, you're shouldering too much goddamn responsibility.

As for me, my vote is going to the man I know has dealt with the sort of shit we're dealing with right now. I trained him, I know his head better than any fucking asshole on this ship, and I know that when faced with jackbags like the Ohm, my son will get us through to see another day. That's what he was motherfucking born to do. So, while you're carrying on like a dumbfuck about God and family with your head rammed up your ass trying to be a Big Man and Make the Right Choice, maybe you should consider that you're not at all suited to the role of being in charge.

A good leader doesn't whine, he doesn't carry on, and he motherfucking doesn't bitch about not wanting the job. Find your goddamn balls. Tack them on with a fucking staple-gun and some super glue if you have to, but strap that shit on, Kennedy.

Jesus H. Christ, the shit I have to listen to today.

[letmelive]

Hey!

Just because you don't agree with how someone is approaching something, doesn't give you the right to be a bitch.

Also, where exactly do you see him whining? Because I see him trying to do the best he can do in a situation with a bunch of judgemental assholes, like yourself, breathing down his neck.

Jesus Christ, if your kid has an attitude like yours I hope to hell he doesn't get elected because the last thing we need is someone who can only approach things with aggressive bitching in charge.

[terminatefate]

Listen up, fucker. I don't agree with this shit because he's a fucking pussy. He doesn't want the job, but he has to do it and it's killing his family time--that right there is whining. Fine, you go ahead and call me a bitch, but at least I'm a fucking honest bitch. I call this like I see it. Kennedy doesn't have the experience to lead, much less the balls if all he's gonna do is complain.

If he can't take people 'breathing down his neck', then he shouldn't be in fucking charge of jack. Hate to break it to you, fucker, but I'm part of this shittastic crew of assholes. I'm pretty sure not everyone fucking agrees with me and guess the fuck what?--more power to them. I'm getting pretty fucking tired of people getting up in my face for stating my own goddamn opinion just because they don't agree me...or my son. John can take care of himself and he's been in worse places than you can fucking dream about.

You spend your whole fucking life being hunted by machines that are linked to each other all the fucking time, machines that don't stop to refuel, to eat, to take a shit. You motherfucking go through the terror of watching you planet become a decimated wasteland where it had once been green and full of life, you watch your friends and your family being torn apart, hunted like rats, flushed out, killed, and left bleach-boned in the sun while the world around your crumbles. You do that and you still, after seeing all the fire and destruction and shit, find enough hope and fight left in you to not only fucking survive, but organize a fucking resistance against the metal motherfuckers who have killed and maimed and destroyed everything you ever loved.

Kennedy doesn't have the fucking experience. He doesn't fucking know this shit. Trying to do his fucking best doesn't cut it. You don't show weakness. You don't give the enemy something to hook into. You don't complain and whine and moan about your responsibilities. You fucking do it every single day regardless of your family time being jacked.

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

Hello,

Can you please stop calling my mother and father names? It's sort of unnecessary if you wanted to get your point across. Thank you.

[letmelive]

Are you honestly using your terrible past as a reason to be such a fucking bitch?

You know, maybe you should take the time to get to know where other people are coming from first, before assuming we're all so useless because you're a survivor.

Machines? Sure. Okay. I've seen things you can't even imagine and if all of what you're describing alone is what's made you bitter you obviously couldn't hack it in my world.

And Leon's had it a hell of a lot worse than me.

[daemonomicon.livejournal.com]

It must be a simple mind indeed that rests inside your skull to resort to such words so quickly.

There is a difference between confidence and humility. That mister Kennedy chose to speak plainly instead of pandering to fools like yourself speaks quite a bit on his humility.

Confidence alone is worthless. I could have the absolute, utmost confidence in myself that I could go out and slay all the Ohm in existance with my bare hands, yet that confidence does not make it true. One also needs the wisdom and humility to admit to themselves that there will be times that they will not know the answer, but have the confidence that is necessary to seek out those who will.

Mr. Kennedy is not perfect. Neither is your son, nor is anyone here. To balance confidence with humility is what is absolutely necessary for a leader of a crew such as this.

From what I have seen of his skill and temperment, I believe Mr. Kennedy is one of the few among us to be close to achieving such balance. I have yet to be able to say the same of your son.

[terminatefate]

Thank you for calling me a fool, shitbag. I appreciate that. I would think you of all the jackbags and assholes on this ship wouldn't pander to weakness and evident unwillingness to one's duty without whining about that duty. Am I somehow fucking mistaken in the fact that you're something of a space marine? A soldier?

Furthermore, I never said my son was perfect. Nor the fuck am I. My point was, Kennedy has no experience with this shit. I don't give a flying fuck who you vote for--though it's obvious you're a Kennedy man. I'm pretty fucking sure John will turn to the people he needs when he needs them. That's part of what he's had to fucking do as the main leader to the resistance against the goddamn metal fuckers that tore my home apart. I'd say he manages that shit real well.

Maybe you ought to sit down and have a talk with John, soldier to soldier, before you open your trap.

[daemonomicon.livejournal.com]

Duty? Serve for nigh on eight centuries and then speak to me of duty, child. We might then actually have something to truly speak about.

Mr. Kennedy has been doing this job precisely because it was his duty to do so. Duty does not mean that one wants to do so, but that one must, above all else, do so. That Mr. Kennedy does not quit merely because it would be inconvenient to him, without hiding such feelings, shows me where his sense of duty lies.

In this case, your son's so-called experience is ultimately worthless. He has fought a nigh undefeatible enemy? So have I, a thousand times over. I intend to share that experience with my comrades-in-arms, yet that alone does not make me suitible for Captain. Other factors must be taken into consideration, most paramount among them is the ability to trust.

Your son's first action upon awakening aboard this vessel was to steal weaponry from the crew and hole himself up in the city. This does not speak to me as a man who trusts, but one who looks out for one life only: his own.

Does this act show him as a good survivor? Certainly. But a good survivor is not necessarily a good leader.

[robots-omgh8u.livejournal.com]

Don't call my mother a fool. She's a lot of things, but a fool isn't one of them. She's just expressing her opinion, which something she's always done, and I wouldn't ask her to hold back with it. Just like I wouldn't ask anyone on this crew to stifle their opinions. It's not always pleasant, but it's a part of this process.

Like Kennedy I too have a family. A wife, and an infant son. I have no idea if their on this ship, or not. I can't let that distract from the mission we have right now though. That might seem cold to some of you, but my wife wouldn't want me to act any other way. Even in my universe they had to be a secondary priority to doing my job. That's the price of leadership. If you can't handle that you shouldn't be leading. It always has been.

I've also listened to several members of this crew if anyone bothered to notice. Kang seems to have a good head on his shoulders, and he understands what it's like to live through a genocidal war. He also was willing to extend me a bit of trust even though he didn't have to. I don't know if he trusts me, or even likes me, but he has my respect for that. I'm also willing to return that trust because he was willing to actually talk to me reasonably instead of just calling me crazy.

I've also been nothing, but honest. I'm a soldier, not a politician. My only goal is to win this war. I'll contribute to that however best I can.

[terminatefate]

JOHN.

YOU HAVE A SON? WHEN THE FUCK WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME I HAVE A GRANDSON?

[daemonomicon.livejournal.com]

A fool is a fool, and I have seen many in my time.

And you are capable of putting such things behind you in times of war, then? I would applaud you, if you were content with merely being a soldier.

Such a nature is not one this crew needs in a captain. Their heart must be tempered not only with the fires of conflict, but also with compassion and peace.

The force that lies dormant within the walls of this ship can be counted among the most powerful in all existance. A callous hand such as yours nor mine should not be that which holds its reigns, for it is capable of far more harm than good if wielded with such detachment.

[governorkang]

Your mother is most definitely allowed to express her opinion. However, to be frank, others would be more inclined to agree with her if she would exercise a bit more tact.

And unfortunately, being the Captain of this ship requires the ability to be diplomatic as well as decisive. It's a military position, yes, but you will be representing every single person here.

[jesushasayak.livejournal.com]

Leon faced a relentless enemy before this ship just like your son did.

And at this point, we've all seen our worlds decimated. We all face a relentless enemy. So far you're the only one that sees fit to try to tear down one of your own for weakness. Pointing out the flaws in his words is fine, but you don't have to be a boarcupine about it. Spines in.

And by the way, you're not honest, you're just rude. There's a difference between honesty and what you're doing here.

Your son may have been what your world needed, just like I was what my world needed, but after fighting a devastating war for that long, it means he knows how to lead against one enemy, one way. This crew may need to be governed another.

Either way, you're not doing your son any favors for his campaign.

[birthmural]

Astonishing. In all my dealings with demons I have not conversed with one who used as many curses and invectives as you.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

Isn't it impressive? I'm impressed.

[terminatefate]

I'm stuck on a goddamn fucking living ship at the edge of fucking nowhere fighting bitches that look like giant asshole bugs--in space. Ontop of that, I am doing this shit without cigarettes and motherfucking proper coffee. IF I HAD SOME OF THESE FUCKING THINGS MAYBE I'D BE MORE PLEASANT, FUCKER.

THIS WHOLE POST

[so-pregnable.livejournal.com]

+1

[gunslinging.livejournal.com]

Arguing about credentials: now just one step up from a MY WORLD WAS FUCKED pissing contest.

Re: +1

[so-pregnable.livejournal.com]

"But my world was mooooooore screwed."

[in-venting.livejournal.com]

That isn't very nice, Kon.

...Not that that woman up there is necessarily being nice, or civil, or anything like that.

Anyway, Daddy, I support you.

[so-pregnable.livejournal.com]

Hey, if they wanna turn it into a circus, I'm breaking out the popcorn and tossing pies at the clowns, okay?

No offense to your dad, though. He did the thing that made the most sense and said his piece and didn't join in.

[godimgood.livejournal.com]

I am abstaining from voting, though I run myself for the Council. I justify it thus; the men who have commanded me have always done so out of right and out of appointment by someone higher than myself, be it God or a man in a pointy hat with a cushion under his bum. I can only say the good and the ill of where I have been led, or perhaps recite the chivalrous code which the leaders of my people are meant to abide by. Yet it would likely be an interesting discussion, this what makes a good leader, if anything does. Or is the question what makes the best leader? For many men are good.

What do the people want? Many things, always, often contradictory. What do they need? Another question entirely. The answer is often similar, but the question is different.