Twilight's Last Gleaming: An American Political RP OOC (Open

[New Luciannova]

I wanted to expand family data on my candidate, so I'll be posting some updates soon if that's okay.

[Meretica]

If your character or characters have been ACCEPTED, telegram me the application so that I can prepare the character list. Again, only if they were ACCEPTED.

[North Listia]

Ay dios mio please reply to this post (with your app in a SPOILER) if your app HASN'T been accepted, and you'd like it to be, and you've made changes if you've been told to that haven't been reviewed yet, if not and this is a first app then please also reply to this post (with your app in a SPOILER).

Thank you.

I'm gonna make a list.

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Apps to be reviewed:

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([url=<Photo%20of%20Applicant%20Here>]Image[/url])

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: North Listia
Character Name: Jordan Douglass
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 34
Character Height: 5’11
Character Weight: 180lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: AME Church Leadership (1996-2002); Senior Advisor to Congressman John Clyne (2002-2004); United States Representative of the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina (2005-)
Character Country/State of Birth: 1972
Character State of Residence: South Carolina
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Faceclaim:

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Main Strengths: Douglass is a well established figure within his district and has the support of his popular predecessor. It would be extremely difficult to challenge him in the primary and the makeup in the district would mean that losing to a Republican opponent in the general is almost impossible. Douglass is also young, well educated, and has plenty of experience organizing and public speaking through the the AME Church.
Main Weaknesses: While Douglass has a strong support in the local community, his positions has made him the enemy of some powerful national groups. Douglass’ support of school choice and opposition to powerful teacher’s unions has led him to lose support from a powerful left-leaning union. At the same time, his commitment for police reform has put him in opposition to the powerful right-leaning police unions. As of now, Douglass is also a single man with no kids, which is sometimes looked at with suspicion.
Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)

Jordan grew up in the Church. Many of his earliest memories are of him and his father, a Bishop of the local Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, SC, going to Church together. Whether it be after school to do his homework, or on Sundays for service. While is father instilled within him a love of God, Jordon’s mother gifted him the appreciation of a good education. As school teacher, Jordan’s mother constantly reminded him of the importance of school. She helped him with his homework, constantly checked in on his grades, and even struck up friendships with a few of Jordan’s teachers as he grew up. While Jordan would spend most of his childhood resenting the constant involvement of his mother, he began to appreciate her commitment during high school. While Jordan was on the honor roll and getting scholarships to colleges across the country, many of his old friends were getting involved in gangs in the community.

Jordan was able to get a full scholarship to Howard University and started his freshmen year of college in 1990. There, he studied political science and economics. While an active member of the church and community organizations during his youth, Jordan’s time in college is what really sparked his interest in politics. He volunteered for multiple campaigns, and even became an intern for Congressman John Clyne, a prominent politician in the House of Representatives who was friends with his father.

After college, Jordan moved asked to Charleston and started working in the Church. He quickly rose to a leadership position, becoming a deacon and leading various organizations within the Church including the youth ministry, center of education, and the social justice organizations. His work in the church meant that he became a well known figure to many organizations and community activists within the community. He is known as Reverend Douglass to those who know him within and outside of the Church.

At the request of his old boss, Congressman Clyne, he took a break from his work in the church and became a senior advisor for Clyne. Clyne knew that his health was taking a serious downturn and wanted to informally appoint a successor for his position. To Clyne, Jordan seemed like the obvious choice due to his youth, involvement in the community, and social activism. Jordan worked for Clyne for two years before Clyne announced his retirement ahead of the 2004 election. Quickly after, Jordan announced his candidacy to replace Clyne as the representative for South Carolina’s sixth district. The endorsement from Rep. Clyne meant that he was able to easily defeat his one primary opponent and the make up of the district meant that the Rev. Douglass swept the general election (65-34).

As a freshmen Congressman, Rev. Douglass focused on education and police reform efforts.
Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: North Listia

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Kavanis
Character Name: John Franklin “Jack” Claassen
Character Gender: M
Character Age: 64
Character Height: 5.35714285714 Macedonian cubits
Character Weight: 21266.69007174 zolotniks
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District
Character Country/State of Birth: Illinois
Character State of Residence: Tennessee
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Faceclaim: Dan Tyminski
Main Strengths: Rock solid support among his conservative base. Has attracted substantial federal investment to his district through transport, infrastructure and energy initiatives. Good fund raiser thanks to connections with oil and gas industry.
Main Weaknesses: Long service means plenty of political skeletons. Had a relatively soft-on-immigration stance in the 1980s that is now politically toxic on the right. Strong support of the Global War on Terror, including the War in Iraq, has aged poorly.

Biography:

Early life, military service and education

Jack Claassen was born in Chicago in 1943, the 4th of 7 children of Perry Claassen, an aviation factory worker, and Roslyn, a clothing store clerk. He is a 6th generation Tennessean and in 1950 the family moved back to Elizabethton to run a gas station, where he would work pumping gas over summers. He attended Elizabethton High School, where he played basketball and baseball, and was a Life Scout. He was raised a Catholic in deference to his mother’s belief, though he now attends a Baptist church.

He attended Christian Brothers University on an NROTC scholarship, initially hoping to become a naval aviator, but failed selection and was instead commissioned as an infantry officer with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. He served for five years, including tours of Vietnam. After leaving as a Captain, he returned to Tennessee and enrolled in the University of Tennessee College of Law, graduating with a J.D. in 1972. He became a lawyer and entered private practice.

State government

In 1980 he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving two terms. He sat on the Finance, Ways and Means committee. In 1984 he was elected to the Tennessee Senate, representing Carter County. He served three terms in the Senate, becoming the Assistant Minority Leader. He was the author of Tennessee’s revised abortion statute that adopted a parental notification provision.

House of Represntatives

With the Tennessee 1st’s long serving Congressman deciding not to stand for re-election in 1996, Claassen won a crowded and competitive primary, which given the district’s political make-up was essentially the general election. He has been re-elected every time since, and in 2006 retained a 58% majority.

He has served on the House Committee on Financial Services and is currently the ranking member of the Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee. He has previously served on the Rules Committee. He is a member of the Republican Policy Committee.

Claassen has held a generally conservative voting record, including 100% from the National Right to Life Committee, and an A rating from Gun Owners of America. His 13% rating from the League of Conservation Voters reflects a mostly poor environmental record, though he has voted for some Superfund cleanup measures in Tennessee. He has received awards from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Family Research Council, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Other Info: He is a capable scratch golfer, and has been starting right fielder for the Republicans in the Congressional Baseball Game, helping them to a heavily winning record during his tenure. A popular Beltway rumor suggests he once consumed 53 cans of beer during a flight back from a junket to Europe. He has been married four times and has 6 children and 6 grandchildren.

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: Kavanis

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

Here is my updated application:

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[img]<Photo%20of%20Applicant%20Here>[/img]

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: North Listia
Character Name: Rev. Jordan Douglass
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 34
Character Height: 5’11
Character Weight: 180lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: AME Church Leadership (1996-2002); Senior Advisor to Congressman John Clyne (2002-2004); United States Representative of the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina (2005-)
Character Country/State of Birth: 1972
Character State of Residence: South Carolina
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Faceclaim: https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/11 ... 00x400.jpg
Main Strengths: Douglass is a well established figure within his district and has the support of his popular predecessor. It would be extremely difficult to challenge him in the primary and the makeup in the district would mean that losing to a Republican opponent in the general is almost impossible. Douglass is also young, well educated, and has plenty of experience organizing and public speaking through the the AME Church.
Main Weaknesses:
Socially Conservative: Jordan Douglass is very conservative on some social issues. He considers himself pro-life, supports a Federal Marriage Amendment to the constitution, and wants to increase restrictions on immigration

No filter: During Sermons led by Douglass, he has been known to say many controversial statements. He has called all members in Congress who voted for the War in Iraq, “white devils in black suits,” said that any Black person voting for a Republican is an “Uncle Tom N*****,” said that Cush Jr. will “rot in Hell right next to his daddy,” and claimed that “America’s forefathers were crooks, rapists, and murderers.”

A hypocrite: While Douglass has spoke multiple times about the importance and sanctity of marriage, he does not even have a girlfriend, let a lone a wife and children. He is facing pressure from his family, friends, and constituents to get married, though Jordan feels like he is too busy to start a family now. Also, he is known to call marijuana the “devil’s lettuce,” but there are images of him smoking it during college.


Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)

Jordan grew up in the Church. Many of his earliest memories are of him and his father, a Bishop of the local Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, SC, going to Church together. Whether it be after school to do his homework, or on Sundays for service. While is father instilled within him a love of God, Jordon’s mother gifted him the appreciation of a good education. As school teacher, Jordan’s mother constantly reminded him of the importance of school. She helped him with his homework, constantly checked in on his grades, and even struck up friendships with a few of Jordan’s teachers as he grew up. While Jordan would spend most of his childhood resenting the constant involvement of his mother, he began to appreciate her commitment during high school. While Jordan was on the honor roll and getting scholarships to colleges across the country, many of his old friends were getting involved in gangs in the community.

Jordan was able to get a full scholarship to Howard University and started his freshmen year of college in 1990. There, he studied political science and economics. While an active member of the church and community organizations during his youth, Jordan’s time in college is what really sparked his interest in politics. He volunteered for multiple campaigns, and even became an intern for Congressman John Clyne, a prominent politician in the House of Representatives who was friends with his father.

After college, Jordan moved asked to Charleston and started working in the Church. He quickly rose to a leadership position, becoming a deacon and leading various organizations within the Church including the youth ministry, center of education, and the social justice organizations. His work in the church meant that he became a well known figure to many organizations and community activists within the community. He is known as Reverend Douglass to those who know him within and outside of the Church.

At the request of his old boss, Congressman Clyne, he took a break from his work in the church and became a senior advisor for Clyne. Clyne knew that his health was taking a serious downturn and wanted to informally appoint a successor for his position. To Clyne, Jordan seemed like the obvious choice due to his youth, involvement in the community, and social activism. Jordan worked for Clyne for two years before Clyne announced his retirement ahead of the 2004 election. Quickly after, Jordan announced his candidacy to replace Clyne as the representative for South Carolina’s sixth district. The endorsement from Rep. Clyne meant that he was able to easily defeat his one primary opponent and the make up of the district meant that the Rev. Douglass swept the general election (65-34).

As a freshmen Congressman, Rev. Douglass focused on education and police reform efforts.
Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: North Listia

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

[New Luciannova]

If your character or characters have been ACCEPTED, telegram me the application so that I can prepare the character list. Again, only if they were ACCEPTED.

Done!

[Melovinta]

So what's the time system gonna be? Is one RL day gonna be one day in the RP? Or is it something else?

[Yaruqo]

So what's the time system gonna be? Is one RL day gonna be one day in the RP? Or is it something else?

What we’ve done in the past (and again, may be subject to change) is that the Admins would set a period of time in the IC (for example, “As of today, the IC date is March 4, 2007 - March 18, 2007). I believe we are intending to revamp that to have actual pacing congruent to the passage of RL time (like 1 RL day = 1 IC week - terrible example, but you get what I mean).

[New Luciannova]

Are there any published rules for the game to help me understand expectations and duties?

[Yaruqo]

Are there any published rules for the game to help me understand expectations and duties?

The OP, which has the rules and additional “commandments”. As a Member of Congress, you can write legislation, cosponsor it, vote on it. You will also have the chance to do more “personal” level RPing, such as giving us a look into his life, campaigning for election or re-election, interacting with other RPers (usually after you and the other RPer have agreed to do that), etc.

[Hopal]

Ay dios mio please reply to this post (with your app in a SPOILER) if your app HASN'T been accepted, and you'd like it to be, and you've made changes if you've been told to that haven't been reviewed yet, if not and this is a first app then please also reply to this post (with your app in a SPOILER).

Thank you.

I'm gonna make a list.

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Apps to be reviewed:

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([url=<Photo%20of%20Applicant%20Here>]Image[/url])

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: North Listia
Character Name: Jordan Douglass
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 34
Character Height: 5’11
Character Weight: 180lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: AME Church Leadership (1996-2002); Senior Advisor to Congressman John Clyne (2002-2004); United States Representative of the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina (2005-)
Character Country/State of Birth: 1972
Character State of Residence: South Carolina
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Faceclaim:

(Image)

Main Strengths: Douglass is a well established figure within his district and has the support of his popular predecessor. It would be extremely difficult to challenge him in the primary and the makeup in the district would mean that losing to a Republican opponent in the general is almost impossible. Douglass is also young, well educated, and has plenty of experience organizing and public speaking through the the AME Church.
Main Weaknesses: While Douglass has a strong support in the local community, his positions has made him the enemy of some powerful national groups. Douglass’ support of school choice and opposition to powerful teacher’s unions has led him to lose support from a powerful left-leaning union. At the same time, his commitment for police reform has put him in opposition to the powerful right-leaning police unions. As of now, Douglass is also a single man with no kids, which is sometimes looked at with suspicion.
Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)

Jordan grew up in the Church. Many of his earliest memories are of him and his father, a Bishop of the local Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, SC, going to Church together. Whether it be after school to do his homework, or on Sundays for service. While is father instilled within him a love of God, Jordon’s mother gifted him the appreciation of a good education. As school teacher, Jordan’s mother constantly reminded him of the importance of school. She helped him with his homework, constantly checked in on his grades, and even struck up friendships with a few of Jordan’s teachers as he grew up. While Jordan would spend most of his childhood resenting the constant involvement of his mother, he began to appreciate her commitment during high school. While Jordan was on the honor roll and getting scholarships to colleges across the country, many of his old friends were getting involved in gangs in the community.

Jordan was able to get a full scholarship to Howard University and started his freshmen year of college in 1990. There, he studied political science and economics. While an active member of the church and community organizations during his youth, Jordan’s time in college is what really sparked his interest in politics. He volunteered for multiple campaigns, and even became an intern for Congressman John Clyne, a prominent politician in the House of Representatives who was friends with his father.

After college, Jordan moved asked to Charleston and started working in the Church. He quickly rose to a leadership position, becoming a deacon and leading various organizations within the Church including the youth ministry, center of education, and the social justice organizations. His work in the church meant that he became a well known figure to many organizations and community activists within the community. He is known as Reverend Douglass to those who know him within and outside of the Church.

At the request of his old boss, Congressman Clyne, he took a break from his work in the church and became a senior advisor for Clyne. Clyne knew that his health was taking a serious downturn and wanted to informally appoint a successor for his position. To Clyne, Jordan seemed like the obvious choice due to his youth, involvement in the community, and social activism. Jordan worked for Clyne for two years before Clyne announced his retirement ahead of the 2004 election. Quickly after, Jordan announced his candidacy to replace Clyne as the representative for South Carolina’s sixth district. The endorsement from Rep. Clyne meant that he was able to easily defeat his one primary opponent and the make up of the district meant that the Rev. Douglass swept the general election (65-34).

As a freshmen Congressman, Rev. Douglass focused on education and police reform efforts.
Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: North Listia

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Kavanis
Character Name: John Franklin “Jack” Claassen
Character Gender: M
Character Age: 64
Character Height: 5.35714285714 Macedonian cubits
Character Weight: 21266.69007174 zolotniks
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District
Character Country/State of Birth: Illinois
Character State of Residence: Tennessee
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Faceclaim: Dan Tyminski
Main Strengths: Rock solid support among his conservative base. Has attracted substantial federal investment to his district through transport, infrastructure and energy initiatives. Good fund raiser thanks to connections with oil and gas industry.
Main Weaknesses: Long service means plenty of political skeletons. Had a relatively soft-on-immigration stance in the 1980s that is now politically toxic on the right. Strong support of the Global War on Terror, including the War in Iraq, has aged poorly.

Biography:

Early life, military service and education

Jack Claassen was born in Chicago in 1943, the 4th of 7 children of Perry Claassen, an aviation factory worker, and Roslyn, a clothing store clerk. He is a 6th generation Tennessean and in 1950 the family moved back to Elizabethton to run a gas station, where he would work pumping gas over summers. He attended Elizabethton High School, where he played basketball and baseball, and was a Life Scout. He was raised a Catholic in deference to his mother’s belief, though he now attends a Baptist church.

He attended Christian Brothers University on an NROTC scholarship, initially hoping to become a naval aviator, but failed selection and was instead commissioned as an infantry officer with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. He served for five years, including tours of Vietnam. After leaving as a Captain, he returned to Tennessee and enrolled in the University of Tennessee College of Law, graduating with a J.D. in 1972. He became a lawyer and entered private practice.

State government

In 1980 he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving two terms. He sat on the Finance, Ways and Means committee. In 1984 he was elected to the Tennessee Senate, representing Carter County. He served three terms in the Senate, becoming the Assistant Minority Leader. He was the author of Tennessee’s revised abortion statute that adopted a parental notification provision.

House of Represntatives

With the Tennessee 1st’s long serving Congressman deciding not to stand for re-election in 1996, Claassen won a crowded and competitive primary, which given the district’s political make-up was essentially the general election. He has been re-elected every time since, and in 2006 retained a 58% majority.

He has served on the House Committee on Financial Services and is currently the ranking member of the Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee. He has previously served on the Rules Committee. He is a member of the Republican Policy Committee.

Claassen has held a generally conservative voting record, including 100% from the National Right to Life Committee, and an A rating from Gun Owners of America. His 13% rating from the League of Conservation Voters reflects a mostly poor environmental record, though he has voted for some Superfund cleanup measures in Tennessee. He has received awards from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Family Research Council, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Other Info: He is a capable scratch golfer, and has been starting right fielder for the Republicans in the Congressional Baseball Game, helping them to a heavily winning record during his tenure. A popular Beltway rumor suggests he once consumed 53 cans of beer during a flight back from a junket to Europe. He has been married four times and has 6 children and 6 grandchildren.

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: Kavanis

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

My app

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Hopal
Character Name: Greg Shields
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 60
Character Height: 5"10
Character Weight: 220 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: US Representative from the State of California (1983-Present) - 26th District (1983-2003), 28th District (2003-Present)
Member of the California State Assembly (1979-1983)
General Manager of Betty's Grocery (1975-1979)
Clerk at Betty's Grocery (1974-1975)
Corporal in the US Army (1967-1970)
Private First Class in the US Army (1966-1967)
Private in the US Army (1965-1966)
Character Country/State of Birth: California
Character State of Residence: California
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Faceclaim: James Baker III
Main Strengths: Plainspoken, Charismatic, and Popular: Greg has always been honest with his constituents, and has been loyal to them, and in turn they are loyal to him. He has natural charisma and charm, and can almost always be relied upon to win over a crowd.
Master Negotiator: He's a compromiser, and can usually turn out an agreement which is supported by members both sides of the aisle.
Influential: Greg has influence in DC, in all of his years on Capitol Hill he's learned the tricks of the trade, and ins and outs of Georgetown. He's gained seniority and influence and is friendly with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and can always get a person or two to support his causes.
Safe District: He's never fought a competitive general election, and will never have to. He's popular and is in a safe Democratic district, and he views himself as too old to try to run for another office.
Main Weaknesses: Not the Sharpest Tool in the Shed: He isn't as knowledgeable as his colleagues on a whole host of different issues, he's learned much during his time on Capitol Hill, but his lack of higher education still plagues him. He makes frequent factual errors.
Impatient: He really can't stand waiting for all too long.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: His PTSD from his time in the Vietnam War still haunts him.
Alcoholic: While he thinks he's gotten over this from his time after the War, he's still prone to binge drinking when he feels anxious or aggravated
Criminal Past: It isn't in the public purview, but a good investigative reporter wouldn't have to go too deep to find a connection to his murderer brother, his past drug usage, and his cooperation with his brother in theft.
Biography: Born January 27, 1947, Gregory Thompson Shields was born into a comfortable middle class family in Westside LA. His father Keith Shields was a firefighter, while his mother Patricia Thompson was a housewife. Young Greg spent most of his early childhood at home with his mom, younger brother James, and older sister Betty. His mother doted of Greg and his siblings and they were spoiled by their parents. By the time Greg reached elementary school, he was a bit of a bully, picking on other kids and messing around in class with his younger brother James. Greg consequentially did horribly academically and his grades were terrible, his 6th grade math teacher later remarked "Gregory and James Shields were the worst sibling duo that I have ever seen in all my years of teaching." Greg barely past 12th grade in 1965.

Without the academic capability to go to University, and near the height of the Vietnam, and with few options available to him, Greg enlisted in the US Army at the age of 18 in the Summer of 1965. After three months of training, Greg joined active duty in the US Army in Vietnam, and there he fought hard. But he also discovered a side of him that he didn't know he had, a natural charm and charisma that he didn't know he had. He had been a trouble maker in school and was hardly interested in building friendships, but he found that in the Army, half-way across the world, and scared out of his mind, he made friends very easily. He spent his nights in Vietnam drinking with his Army pals around a fire at Camp, drinking away their concerns and the situation around them. Greg narrowly avoided death on multiple occasions, in '66 he was just outside of the blast radius of a grenade that killed many in his battalion, and in another incident, a bullet grazed his hip, landing him in a field hospital for a week. In 1967 he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal after bravely destroying Vietcong ammunition under heavy fire during a raid on a Vietcong warehouse in 1967, which caused him minor injuries and landed him in a field hospital for another week. But not all of his friends were as lucky as he was, most of the friends that he had made during the war, died during the war. Many of them were killed before his very eyes, this and all of the close calls took a toll on his mental health, and he developed PTSD, and would be honorably discharged from the Army in 1970.

Greg returned home, a very troubled man, clearly struggling to come to terms with the death of all his friends, and with his PTSD. He would be taken in by his younger brother James, who had been his partner in crime for all of those years, and who had been discharged from the Army a year earlier after his hand was burnt. They lived in the slums of LA, where Greg turned to binge drinking to drown his grief and pain. Both him and his brother weren't suitable for proper work, and Greg didn't look for work anyway. James had come home from Vietnam in a lot of pain as well, having also lost many of his friends in the War, and he was still a troublemaker, the war hadn't changed that out of him, and his friends had also pushed him to a life of crime, which came to easily accept. James made his living as a pickpocket and thief in an under-policed and crime-ridden part of the city. James would expose Greg to this life of crime, and to various hard drugs which Greg would take along with alcohol to drown his sorrows. On various occasions Greg would accompany James to various thefts, and would even sometimes help his brother carry out these acts, they were quite lucky, in that in 3 years they were never caught.

But James' luck would run out in 1973, when he would be arrested for murder, during a robbery, where he had killed the homeowner when he had been caught. Greg only didn't go because he was too hungover. James' arrest would be the final straw Betty, the eldest of the Shields siblings, who would stage an intervention for Greg, forcing him to give up drinking and drugs, and forcing him to go to rehab, and bringing him to live with her. As his condition improved Betty made Greg work at her small Grocery Store in San Fernando, first as a clerk and cashier, but eventually as a kind of General Manager of the store, in charge of the day-to-day running of the shop. In 1975, Greg met Ellen Maurino, a secretary for a hotel in downtown LA, and the two soon began dating. They married in 1978, and would have one daughter, Diane in 1980.

Greg also took an interest in Democratic State Politics, especially with the volatile situation in Sacramento at the time. Thinking he could make a difference, and improve the situation of those who been in difficult situations like him in the past, Greg ran for the State Assembly in 1978. He ran in primary of the seat of the retiring Democratic incumbent in San Fernando Valley, narrowly winning the primary with grassroots more progressive support, over the Stanford-graduate establishment choice. He had galvanized support with his strong speeches, grassroots appeal, and targeted mail campaign. He would go on to win the general election pretty handedly. He led a relatively unremarkable tenure in the State Assembly, in the more progressive wing of the party. He supported Willie Brown in his bid for the Speakership in 1980, gaining favor within the party, and was rewarded with a prominent Committee position.

In 1982, growing old of the tumultuous and volatile situation in Sacramento, thinking he could make more of a difference in Washington, and with redistricting making the 26th Congressional District far more Democratic, Greg decided to run for the House of Representatives. He won the primary with strong support, and easily won the general election. Since 1982, all of his re-election bids have gotten more than 62% support. When he came to Washington he was appointed to the House Small Business and Veterans' Affairs Committees. Initially joining Congress as one of the more left-wing Democrats, over the years as Greg spent more time in Congress, he slowly moved more to the right. He has frequently sought bipartisan solutions, and has moved to the right of the party on many issues, though he is still hard on the left on many issues, including healthcare, marijuana legalization, gay rights, and abortion.

In Congress, Greg was an active lawmaker, and became one of the more influential members of Congress, though one that worked behind the scenes, and didn't get much publicity. He's tried to stay with the party line, at least for his first few years in Congress, while pursuing personal projects. He was the House sponsor of the 1986 False Claims Act that authorized civil litigation by whistleblowers. In Congress he's championed copyright interests and the American film industry, sometimes being referred to as the "Representative from Hollywood". He proposed legislation under which copyright holders would be able to employ technological tools such as file blocking, redirection, spoofs, and decoys, among others, to curb piracy (Peer to Peer Piracy Prevention Act). He's also tried to protect American film industry jobs from outsourcing, and has receiving large donations from industry groups.

On foreign policy, he has sort of been all over the place with his positions, he supported NAFTA and CAFTA, and has generally been in support of free trade and has voted for many trade agreements with various countries. He reluctantly voted for both of the Iraq Wars in 1991 and 2003, being genuinely convinced by both Cush Presidents that they were necessary, and genuinely believed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He would be influential in convincing Democratic House Leader [not-Dick Gephardt] to fully support the Cush Administration in the Iraq War, and going against many other senior members within the party. But he's said that he's generally against American military intervention and war, saying he's seen the catastrophic impact it can have on people, from personal experience. He was against military involvement in Yugoslavia in the 90s. He's advocated for more supports for veterans, expanding veterans benefits, funding veterans healthcare, and is helping to author a new GI Bill for veterans of the Iraq and Afghan Wars.

While he voted against amending the constitution to require a balancing budget in the 80s, he gradually became more supportive of a balanced budget, and helped co-author the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. He was appointed to the House Budget Committee in the 90s, and when the Democrats took power in 2007 became Chair of the Committee.

Other Info: Greg has been open with his use of alcohol after the war, but not about his brother, his criminal activity, and his drug use.

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: Hopal

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

[Gyoric]

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([url=<Photo%20of%20Applicant%20Here>]Image[/url])

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Gyoric
Character Name: Alexander Baker-Albescu
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 38
Character Height: 6'2
Character Weight: 194 IBS
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Alaska (HOR) (2002 - Present Day)
Character Country/State of Birth: Juneau, Alaska
Character State of Residence: Juneau, Alaska
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Faceclaim: https://imgur.com/a/m28XrGH
Main Strengths: Easy-Going, Charismatic, Well-Respected in Home State and Young.
Main Weaknesses: Could sway to Democrats, Inexperienced in Politics, few connections in the political world, Unliked in the Republican Party due to very moderate views. Despite being charismatic in terms of talking, he struggles with public speaking. Has sometimes been considered a "career politician" due to his views swaying frequently. Calling his political thinking as the "Common Ground", some of his views can change if the situation changes, in which has seen attacks suggesting his credibility as a "man of the people".
Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)
Born in Juneau, Alaska In 1969, to Mary Baker-Albescu, who was born within the same City, and to his native Romanian Father, Costin Albescu, who had fled Communist-ruled Romania at the age of 17. His mother was 23 when she had Alex, and Costin was 27 and left his native country at the age of 17 in 1959 left the Capital city to go to the Land of the Free and Opportunity in Alaska. Though his mother had wanted more children, his father had refused to have another, suggesting his numerous low-paying jobs during his infancy wouldn't pay the bills for multiple children.

At the age of 12, he would gain an immediate interest in Basketball and would join the School's team. Between 12 - 14, Alex would become a promising player due to tall height at that age, and at 14 would go and play for Alaska Fairbanks' Youth Team at that age. However, his lack of skill on the ball and his lack of movement off-ball would lead to humbling cut 9 months later, with him going from one of the tallest member on the team to being fairly average height in the team. However, his love for Basketball wouldn't fade, and would continue to go for try-outs at the Youth Team until 16, which would be unsuccessful. However, by 16, Alex was a fairly bright student, focusing an academic studies of History and English Literature. This would lead to him at 18 going to the University of Alaska South-East, and would be studying Political Science. It was his time at College which would see his political views mould in.

It is believed Alexander's views were moulded by two factors, his Professor and his friends. His professor was a fairly moderate man in a political sense, belleving in mild conservatism. His views would transform over to Alex, who would, in addition to the classes, attend events held by the Democratic Party. However, his shift over to the Republican Side would occur after he would have a seat under a local council in a town near Campus. This was were he developed an idea of moderate conservatism, and his time spent at the council, in which was between 1988 - 1992. However, his political ambition would go further than local council, and would join the Republican Party in 1993. Between 1994 - 1998, he would join the council of the capital, in which was Republican-Controlled. It was in 96' in which Alexander would befriend the Mayor and would quickly have a lot of influence in the Judaea's Local Councils. He would push bills to support families, swell as using his long bands of influence to prevent certain motions going into place. It was 1998 in which would resign and would then prepare for even more ambitious areas, Governor of Alaska.

Alexander went for the Governor role twice, in 1998, when he would lose in the Primaries to another Republican Candidate. However, it was a surprise to seem him make it to the last 4 for Alaska, seemingly the youngest candidate. He would quickly prepare for 2000, where it was the mid-terms. Though he wasn't backed by much, a few former council members, his major backing was former Mayor of Juneau, though he was unsuccessful once more. However, he would make it to the Last 2, where he would lose in a tight vote. However, these string of progress allowed him the political backing by former members to go for the 2002 Election. He would receive backing from Former Mayors, and coming up to 2002, he would have the backing of the Party for the House of Representatives in the 2002 Election.

2002 went just as was expected. Winning the primaries with ease, his balanced, youthful and "Liberal Conservatism" in which promised the backing of everyone. His slogan for the election was "Conservative Thinking, Liberal Acting". Many saw the slogan as implying his moderate view. However, him winning as a HOR could be a backstabber. Though his balanced and people-pleasing approach to politics would win him a seat in HOR, his actions wouldn't be at all Republican. Alaska had never been a strong-, right-wing state like Texas, yet, he would work almost as both a Republican and Democrat. Though this allowed changes to go much smoother, this would see the Republicans make him untrustworthy, and make him unpopular in the parties more radical and right-wing areas. He wouldn't support the War on Terror, attempting to vote against implications. However, 2004 would see him comfortably due to his pushing of several changes in his area of Alaska. His 2004 victory wasn't a shock, however, many believe between now and 2008, he will attempt to shift the power onto the Democrats, suggesting not only a change of heart in parties, but an ambition to become Governor, as a democrat. He would win comfortably in the Mid-Terms in 2006, portraying a similar role as a "swing-politician".

His views are often considered very moderate by Republicans, and some of his views are similar or the same to some democrats. Since his introduction to Politics, he has been an advocate for "Abortion for a Reason", in which suggests to ban any abortion in which has a weak/no justification. Despite him in his early years being Anti-Gun, suggesting an all-out ban to Assault Rifles and Automatic Rifles, like moderate republicans and all democrats, Alex changed to wanting an increase to the age of 25+, to have had specific number of hours on the said weapon, all in all, wanting more strict gun control, though not the ban of Assault Weapons and Automatics. Once more, Alex's views has changed dramatically on the War On Terror. Since the operation began after 9/11, he was a supporter of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, however, wasn't a supporter of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, believing Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction and that Hessian's reign was to come to an end. Despite his Whip in 2003 pushing him to vote yes to Invasion of Iraq, yet he was one of few who was Republican who voted against the war in Iraq in 2003. He believes in low taxes, though in recent years since 2002, has wanted an increase to corporation tax.

The idea of "Conservative Thinking, Liberal Acting" is one of the quotes situated with Alex. Critics of Mr Baker-Albescu have said that he is making the image that he is a conservative to please Alaskan Republicans and Republicans across the country, but truly believes in Liberal Conservatism, a moderate form which combines the ideas of liberalism and conservatism together. Many see that he went for the Republicans not because he as a Republican, but only because he saw it as a quicker and a better chance at getting power.

Known as "The Swinger" in the Republican Party, the next two years could be crucial for Republicans in Alaska, and Democrats, with a power-hungry. ambitious and youthful Representative, who may stop at nothing to get power. Some may even argue he is a "Career Politician".

The likability of him is mostly due to his "common-sense" in terms of his political views, in which has allowed him to be popular with moderates to both the left and the right. Though his liberal conservatism appeases both libertarians and moderate conservatives, his views are most popular with those without a straight-forward view. He is often considered an appeaser, attempting to push policies in which make the most people happy. However, with it being a resourceful state, with lots of natural-resources, he considers both himself, and other around him consider Alex, a man of the people. Alex is often considered someone who has opinions on issues, and not a basic political opinion. This is often proven with his centrist view on many policies. He has been an advocate to increase state operations in Alaska and using resources in Alaska to boost the economy frequently.

Added on, his experience in basketball became the reality, when he bought a 60% stake into the Alaska Aces in 2002. He would invest into the team, however, would leave the club in 2005, however, after only just 10 months from leaving the Alaska Aces, he would buy back the team in 2006. During his longest reign as owner of the Alaska Aces, he would implant a new Director of Basketball, and his investment would further establish Alaska's basketball team as a formidable force in the middle-pack. He still currently has a majority in the company.

Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: (Gyoric)

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

Could this possibly be revised as soon as possible?

(Image)

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([url=<Photo%20of%20Applicant%20Here>]Image[/url])

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Gyoric
Character Name: Alexander Baker-Albescu
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 38
Character Height: 6'2
Character Weight: 194 IBS
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Alaska (HOR) (2002 - Present Day)
Character Country/State of Birth: Juneau, Alaska
Character State of Residence: Juneau, Alaska
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Faceclaim: https://imgur.com/a/m28XrGH
Main Strengths: Easy-Going, Charismatic, Well-Respected in Home State and Young.
Main Weaknesses: Could sway to Democrats, Inexperienced in Politics, few connections in the political world, Unliked in the Republican Party due to very moderate views. Despite being charismatic in terms of talking, he struggles with public speaking. Has sometimes been considered a "career politician" due to his views swaying frequently. Calling his political thinking as the "Common Ground", some of his views can change if the situation changes, in which has seen attacks suggesting his credibility as a "man of the people".
Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)
Born in Juneau, Alaska In 1969, to Mary Baker-Albescu, who was born within the same City, and to his native Romanian Father, Costin Albescu, who had fled Communist-ruled Romania at the age of 17. His mother was 23 when she had Alex, and Costin was 27 and left his native country at the age of 17 in 1959 left the Capital city to go to the Land of the Free and Opportunity in Alaska. Though his mother had wanted more children, his father had refused to have another, suggesting his numerous low-paying jobs during his infancy wouldn't pay the bills for multiple children.

At the age of 12, he would gain an immediate interest in Basketball and would join the School's team. Between 12 - 14, Alex would become a promising player due to tall height at that age, and at 14 would go and play for Alaska Fairbanks' Youth Team at that age. However, his lack of skill on the ball and his lack of movement off-ball would lead to humbling cut 9 months later, with him going from one of the tallest member on the team to being fairly average height in the team. However, his love for Basketball wouldn't fade, and would continue to go for try-outs at the Youth Team until 16, which would be unsuccessful. However, by 16, Alex was a fairly bright student, focusing an academic studies of History and English Literature. This would lead to him at 18 going to the University of Alaska South-East, and would be studying Political Science. It was his time at College which would see his political views mould in.

It is believed Alexander's views were moulded by two factors, his Professor and his friends. His professor was a fairly moderate man in a political sense, belleving in mild conservatism. His views would transform over to Alex, who would, in addition to the classes, attend events held by the Democratic Party. However, his shift over to the Republican Side would occur after he would have a seat under a local council in a town near Campus. This was were he developed an idea of moderate conservatism, and his time spent at the council, in which was between 1988 - 1992. However, his political ambition would go further than local council, and would join the Republican Party in 1993. Between 1994 - 1998, he would join the council of the capital, in which was Republican-Controlled. It was in 96' in which Alexander would befriend the Mayor and would quickly have a lot of influence in the Judaea's Local Councils. He would push bills to support families, swell as using his long bands of influence to prevent certain motions going into place. It was 1998 in which would resign and would then prepare for even more ambitious areas, Governor of Alaska.

Alexander went for the Governor role twice, in 1998, when he would lose in the Primaries to another Republican Candidate. However, it was a surprise to seem him make it to the last 4 for Alaska, seemingly the youngest candidate. He would quickly prepare for 2000, where it was the mid-terms. Though he wasn't backed by much, a few former council members, his major backing was former Mayor of Juneau, though he was unsuccessful once more. However, he would make it to the Last 2, where he would lose in a tight vote. However, these string of progress allowed him the political backing by former members to go for the 2002 Election. He would receive backing from Former Mayors, and coming up to 2002, he would have the backing of the Party for the House of Representatives in the 2002 Election.

2002 went just as was expected. Winning the primaries with ease, his balanced, youthful and "Liberal Conservatism" in which promised the backing of everyone. His slogan for the election was "Conservative Thinking, Liberal Acting". Many saw the slogan as implying his moderate view. However, him winning as a HOR could be a backstabber. Though his balanced and people-pleasing approach to politics would win him a seat in HOR, his actions wouldn't be at all Republican. Alaska had never been a strong-, right-wing state like Texas, yet, he would work almost as both a Republican and Democrat. Though this allowed changes to go much smoother, this would see the Republicans make him untrustworthy, and make him unpopular in the parties more radical and right-wing areas. He wouldn't support the War on Terror, attempting to vote against implications. However, 2004 would see him comfortably due to his pushing of several changes in his area of Alaska. His 2004 victory wasn't a shock, however, many believe between now and 2008, he will attempt to shift the power onto the Democrats, suggesting not only a change of heart in parties, but an ambition to become Governor, as a democrat. He would win comfortably in the Mid-Terms in 2006, portraying a similar role as a "swing-politician".

His views are often considered very moderate by Republicans, and some of his views are similar or the same to some democrats. Since his introduction to Politics, he has been an advocate for "Abortion for a Reason", in which suggests to ban any abortion in which has a weak/no justification. Despite him in his early years being Anti-Gun, suggesting an all-out ban to Assault Rifles and Automatic Rifles, like moderate republicans and all democrats, Alex changed to wanting an increase to the age of 25+, to have had specific number of hours on the said weapon, all in all, wanting more strict gun control, though not the ban of Assault Weapons and Automatics. Once more, Alex's views has changed dramatically on the War On Terror. Since the operation began after 9/11, he was a supporter of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, however, wasn't a supporter of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, believing Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction and that Hessian's reign was to come to an end. Despite his Whip in 2003 pushing him to vote yes to Invasion of Iraq, yet he was one of few who was Republican who voted against the war in Iraq in 2003. He believes in low taxes, though in recent years since 2002, has wanted an increase to corporation tax.

The idea of "Conservative Thinking, Liberal Acting" is one of the quotes situated with Alex. Critics of Mr Baker-Albescu have said that he is making the image that he is a conservative to please Alaskan Republicans and Republicans across the country, but truly believes in Liberal Conservatism, a moderate form which combines the ideas of liberalism and conservatism together. Many see that he went for the Republicans not because he as a Republican, but only because he saw it as a quicker and a better chance at getting power.

Known as "The Swinger" in the Republican Party, the next two years could be crucial for Republicans in Alaska, and Democrats, with a power-hungry. ambitious and youthful Representative, who may stop at nothing to get power. Some may even argue he is a "Career Politician".

The likability of him is mostly due to his "common-sense" in terms of his political views, in which has allowed him to be popular with moderates to both the left and the right. Though his liberal conservatism appeases both libertarians and moderate conservatives, his views are most popular with those without a straight-forward view. He is often considered an appeaser, attempting to push policies in which make the most people happy. However, with it being a resourceful state, with lots of natural-resources, he considers both himself, and other around him consider Alex, a man of the people. Alex is often considered someone who has opinions on issues, and not a basic political opinion. This is often proven with his centrist view on many policies. He has been an advocate to increase state operations in Alaska and using resources in Alaska to boost the economy frequently.

Added on, his experience in basketball became the reality, when he bought a 60% stake into the Alaska Aces in 2002. He would invest into the team, however, would leave the club in 2005, however, after only just 10 months from leaving the Alaska Aces, he would buy back the team in 2006. During his longest reign as owner of the Alaska Aces, he would implant a new Director of Basketball, and his investment would further establish Alaska's basketball team as a formidable force in the middle-pack. He still currently has a majority in the company.

Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: (Gyoric)

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

(This has been updated to the latest)

[Madrinpoor]

UPDATED APP LIST

Ay dios mio please reply to this post (with your app in a SPOILER) if your app HASN'T been accepted, and you'd like it to be, and you've made changes if you've been told to that haven't been reviewed yet, if not and this is a first app then please also reply to this post (with your app in a SPOILER).

Thank you.

I'm gonna make a list.

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Apps to be reviewed:

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: North Listia
Character Name: Rev. Jordan Douglass
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 45
Character Height: 5’11
Character Weight: 180lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: AME Young Adult Ministry & Social Action Committee (1984-1992); AME Church Leadership (1992-1999); Senior Advisor to Congressman John Clyne (2000-2003); United States Representative of the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina (2005-)
Character Country/State of Birth: 1962
Character State of Residence: South Carolina
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Faceclaim: Ralph Warnock
Main Strengths: Douglass is a well established figure within his district and has the support of his popular predecessor. It would be extremely difficult to challenge him in the primary and the makeup in the district would mean that losing to a Republican opponent in the general is almost impossible. Douglass is also young, well educated, and has plenty of experience organizing and public speaking through the the AME Church.
Main Weaknesses:
Socially Conservative: Jordan Douglass is very conservative on some social issues. He considers himself pro-life, supports a Federal Marriage Amendment to the constitution, and wants to increase restrictions on immigration

No filter: During Sermons led by Douglass, he has been known to say many controversial statements. He has called all members in Congress who voted for the War in Iraq, “white devils in black suits,” said that any Black person voting for a Republican is an “Uncle Tom N*****,” said that Cush Jr. will “rot in Hell right next to his daddy,” and claimed that “America’s forefathers were crooks, rapists, and murderers.”

A hypocrite: While Douglass has spoke multiple times about the importance and sanctity of marriage, he does not even have a girlfriend, let a lone a wife and children. He is facing pressure from his family, friends, and constituents to get married, though Jordan feels like he is too busy to start a family now. Also, he is known to call marijuana the “devil’s lettuce,” but there are images of him smoking it during college.


Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)

Douglass grew up in the Church. Many of his earliest memories are of him and his father, a Bishop of the local Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, SC, going to Church together. Whether it be after school to do his homework, or on Sundays for service. While is father instilled within him a love of God, Jordon’s mother gifted him the appreciation of a good education. As school teacher, Douglass' mother constantly reminded him of the importance of school. She helped him with his homework, constantly checked in on his grades, and even struck up friendships with a few of Jordan’s teachers as he grew up. While Jordan would spend most of his childhood resenting the constant involvement of his mother, he began to appreciate her commitment during high school. While Jordan was on the honor roll and getting scholarships to colleges across the country, many of his old friends were getting involved in gangs in the community.

Douglass was able to get a full scholarship to Howard University and started his freshmen year of college in 1980. There, he studied political science and economics. While an active member of the church and community organizations during his youth, Douglass' time in college is what really sparked his interest in politics. He volunteered for multiple campaigns, and even became an intern for the Congressman that represented his home district.

After graduating college in 1984, Douglass moved back to Charleston and started working in his old Church. Douglass first started working in the local Young Adult Ministry (YAM) and the Social Action Commission (SAC) groups. While in the YAM and SAC, he set up the Social Justice Leadership School (SJLS). The SJLS focused on educated young Black adults in civics and getting them to participate in community organizations and politics, and organizing Black youth. In 1989, while continuing to work at his local Church, Douglass' Church submitted him as a potential licentiate for the Board of Examiners. Douglass went through the Board's admission process for 3 years before finally becoming a local elder and getting the title Reverend.

Through his work in the Church, and specifically in the SJLS, Rev. Douglass met John Clyne. Clyne was a member of the AME Church in Charleston who had left Charleston for Columbia to work for the Governor. Coming back to Charleston in 1991, Clyne planned on running for Congress after the incumbent Representative announced his retirement and the district was redrawn to make it a Black-majority district.. Rev. Douglass, through his connections and organizing at SJLS, supported Clyne and helped him easily coast to a primary and general election victory. After the 1992 election, Clyne and Douglass became close friends.

At the turn of the century, Rev. Douglass was looking to step away from his local Church. While it still held a special place in his heart, he wanted to make a difference on a larger scale. He was between a decision to join a statewide AME organization or go back to school and get his doctorate when his friend, Clyne, gave him a third choice: work for Clyne in Washington. While initially reluctant to go full politicians, Clyne was able to convince him. Clyne's health was fading fast and he doubted he would stay in office for more than 5 years; Clyne wanted Douglass to be his successor. Douglass joined Clyne's administration as a Senior Advisor in 2000. His biggest accomplishment in his own view was getting Clyne to oppose a War in Iraq.

Towards the end 2003, Clyne announced he would not seek reelection due to poor health. The next year Rev. Douglass announced his candidacy to replace Clyne as the representative for South Carolina’s sixth district. The endorsement from Rep. Clyne meant that he was able to easily defeat his one primary opponent and the make up of the district meant that the Rev. Douglass swept the general election (65-34).

As a freshmen Congressman, Rev. Douglass focused on education and police reform efforts as well as pushing for a Federal Marriage Amendment.
Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: North Listia

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: The Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune
Character Name: Stephen Black
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 35
Character Height: 6'2
Character Weight: 193 lbs.
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative from Colorado's 4th District
Character Country/State of Birth: Colorado
Character State of Residence: Colorado
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Faceclaim: Josh Halloway
Main Strengths: A charismatic personality, long family history in his district with great familiarity with the right people to know, and known as a man who gets business done.
Main Weaknesses: He holds a thin majority in his district at the best of times, and is nominally supported by his state party, but is unpopular as a populist and is seen as blocking progress that the CDP is trying to make in the state, as well as being seen by urban voters outside of his main base in Fort Collins as a Democrat in name only. Meanwhile his pro-enviromentalist agenda since he was elected to the congress has been unpopular among the more conservative bases of his home territory, leading to Stephen riding a knife's edge between populism and moderatism that many see as unsustainable.

Biography: Stephen Black is the youngest son of Carson Black, current owner and boss of the Five Horses Ranch located outside of Fort Collins, CO. Comprising a thousand and a half acres, Carson was and remains a strong figure among the Colorado Cattleman's Association and conservatives in the north east corner of the state, serving as Sheriff for Larimer County for two terms from 1986-1998. Stephen spent his early years homeschooled on the ranch, learning to ride, rope, and read books about cowboys and explorers before he learned how to do other things like math. At the age of eleven he was sent to boarding school out east at the behest of his mother, a native Virginian. Attending a variety of prestigious boarding schools in the Northern Virginia area, the teenaged Stephen often spent his free days at school visiting Washington with his friends or hiking in the Shenandoah's as part of class trips. These trips would inspire his two passions in later life, politics and environmentalism. When he returned home for summers and winters he would spend more time in the high country of the rockies then he would on the plains of the family ranch. Upon graduating high school in 1989, not feeling any particular calling in the world, Stephen returned to the east and spent a gap year hiking the Appalachian Trail, much to the dismay of his father. Upon the finishing of his hike, Stephen returned out west, where he was promptly forced to apply to and study at UC-Boulder.

Stephen spent his college years like he would spend most of his life, riding the edge between one world and another. He kept his nose to the grindstone during the day, and engaged with the university's party scene by night. It was a tough way to plow through school and one that he might not have kept himself together doing if it weren't for him meeting his future wife, Laura Miller, in the process. The pair were made for each other, both having a deep interest in both governement and conservation. Together the pair organized several on campus rallies, and both went off to Georgetown Law School upon graduating in 1995. After Law School, Stephen was hired by the Office of the Solicitor in the U.S. Interior office, but was forced to move back out west in early 1999 due to the death of his mother. He opened a private practice focusing on land law and environmental law in Fort Collins, which took off thanks to the never ending land disputes on the plains.

In 2001, Stephen dipped his toes into the political arena proper, and with the help of his father, was elected the mayor of Fort Collins that April. Stephen ran on making the city one of America's first green cities, along with extensive infrastructure repair and reform. In this regard he made much progress, upgrading his city's road and sewer network and rapidly encouraging solar energy across the city. After being elected to a second term in 2003, Stephen spent much of his next encumbancy encouraging the development of recreational areas and improving the city's education system. A system of public use parks were constructed and Stephen's strides in reading intiatives and pushing use of electronic tools such as laptops in classrooms has been seen as ahead of it's time amongst his Colorado political peers. He declined to run for a third term in 2005, instead announcing his candidacy for Colorado's 4th District in 2006. Promoted by his father's friends in the Cattleman's association, and running on a slightly conservative leaning populist democratic platform, as well as promoting the good he had done the City of Fort Collins, Stephen managed to eke out a 1.5% victory in the election over his republican challenger, a victory many believe he would have lost if he had faced an encumbent. He now serves as a member of the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources committees, where he has been advocating for the Cattle industry his district relies upon while also trying to pass green energy bills to earn the support of his blue voters in Denver's suburbs and his home city of Fort Collins
Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: The Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Hopal
Character Name: Greg Shields
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 60
Character Height: 5"10
Character Weight: 220 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: US Representative from the State of California (1983-Present) - 26th District (1983-2003), 28th District (2003-Present)
Member of the California State Assembly (1979-1983)
General Manager of Betty's Grocery (1975-1979)
Clerk at Betty's Grocery (1974-1975)
Corporal in the US Army (1967-1970)
Private First Class in the US Army (1966-1967)
Private in the US Army (1965-1966)
Character Country/State of Birth: California
Character State of Residence: California
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Faceclaim: James Baker III
Main Strengths: Plainspoken, Charismatic, and Popular: Greg has always been honest with his constituents, and has been loyal to them, and in turn they are loyal to him. He has natural charisma and charm, and can almost always be relied upon to win over a crowd.
Master Negotiator: He's a compromiser, and can usually turn out an agreement which is supported by members both sides of the aisle.
Influential: Greg has influence in DC, in all of his years on Capitol Hill he's learned the tricks of the trade, and ins and outs of Georgetown. He's gained seniority and influence and is friendly with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and can always get a person or two to support his causes.
Safe District: He's never fought a competitive general election, and will never have to. He's popular and is in a safe Democratic district, and he views himself as too old to try to run for another office.
Main Weaknesses: Not the Sharpest Tool in the Shed: He isn't as knowledgeable as his colleagues on a whole host of different issues, he's learned much during his time on Capitol Hill, but his lack of higher education still plagues him. He makes frequent factual errors.
Impatient: He really can't stand waiting for all too long.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: His PTSD from his time in the Vietnam War still haunts him.
Alcoholic: While he thinks he's gotten over this from his time after the War, he's still prone to binge drinking when he feels anxious or aggravated
Criminal Past: It isn't in the public purview, but a good investigative reporter wouldn't have to go too deep to find a connection to his murderer brother, his past drug usage, and his cooperation with his brother in theft.
Biography: Born January 27, 1947, Gregory Thompson Shields was born into a comfortable middle class family in Westside LA. His father Keith Shields was a firefighter, while his mother Patricia Thompson was a housewife. Young Greg spent most of his early childhood at home with his mom, younger brother James, and older sister Betty. His mother doted of Greg and his siblings and they were spoiled by their parents. By the time Greg reached elementary school, he was a bit of a bully, picking on other kids and messing around in class with his younger brother James. Greg consequentially did horribly academically and his grades were terrible, his 6th grade math teacher later remarked "Gregory and James Shields were the worst sibling duo that I have ever seen in all my years of teaching." Greg barely past 12th grade in 1965.

Without the academic capability to go to University, and near the height of the Vietnam, and with few options available to him, Greg enlisted in the US Army at the age of 18 in the Summer of 1965. After three months of training, Greg joined active duty in the US Army in Vietnam, and there he fought hard. But he also discovered a side of him that he didn't know he had, a natural charm and charisma that he didn't know he had. He had been a trouble maker in school and was hardly interested in building friendships, but he found that in the Army, half-way across the world, and scared out of his mind, he made friends very easily. He spent his nights in Vietnam drinking with his Army pals around a fire at Camp, drinking away their concerns and the situation around them. Greg narrowly avoided death on multiple occasions, in '66 he was just outside of the blast radius of a grenade that killed many in his battalion, and in another incident, a bullet grazed his hip, landing him in a field hospital for a week. In 1967 he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal after bravely destroying Vietcong ammunition under heavy fire during a raid on a Vietcong warehouse in 1967, which caused him minor injuries and landed him in a field hospital for another week. But not all of his friends were as lucky as he was, most of the friends that he had made during the war, died during the war. Many of them were killed before his very eyes, this and all of the close calls took a toll on his mental health, and he developed PTSD, and would be honorably discharged from the Army in 1970.

Greg returned home, a very troubled man, clearly struggling to come to terms with the death of all his friends, and with his PTSD. He would be taken in by his younger brother James, who had been his partner in crime for all of those years, and who had been discharged from the Army a year earlier after his hand was burnt. They lived in the slums of LA, where Greg turned to binge drinking to drown his grief and pain. Both him and his brother weren't suitable for proper work, and Greg didn't look for work anyway. James had come home from Vietnam in a lot of pain as well, having also lost many of his friends in the War, and he was still a troublemaker, the war hadn't changed that out of him, and his friends had also pushed him to a life of crime, which came to easily accept. James made his living as a pickpocket and thief in an under-policed and crime-ridden part of the city. James would expose Greg to this life of crime, and to various hard drugs which Greg would take along with alcohol to drown his sorrows. On various occasions Greg would accompany James to various thefts, and would even sometimes help his brother carry out these acts, they were quite lucky, in that in 3 years they were never caught.

But James' luck would run out in 1973, when he would be arrested for murder, during a robbery, where he had killed the homeowner when he had been caught. Greg only didn't go because he was too hungover. James' arrest would be the final straw Betty, the eldest of the Shields siblings, who would stage an intervention for Greg, forcing him to give up drinking and drugs, and forcing him to go to rehab, and bringing him to live with her. As his condition improved Betty made Greg work at her small Grocery Store in San Fernando, first as a clerk and cashier, but eventually as a kind of General Manager of the store, in charge of the day-to-day running of the shop. In 1975, Greg met Ellen Maurino, a secretary for a hotel in downtown LA, and the two soon began dating. They married in 1978, and would have one daughter, Diane in 1980.

Greg also took an interest in Democratic State Politics, especially with the volatile situation in Sacramento at the time. Thinking he could make a difference, and improve the situation of those who been in difficult situations like him in the past, Greg ran for the State Assembly in 1978. He ran in primary of the seat of the retiring Democratic incumbent in San Fernando Valley, narrowly winning the primary with grassroots more progressive support, over the Stanford-graduate establishment choice. He had galvanized support with his strong speeches, grassroots appeal, and targeted mail campaign. He would go on to win the general election pretty handedly. He led a relatively unremarkable tenure in the State Assembly, in the more progressive wing of the party. He supported Willie Brown in his bid for the Speakership in 1980, gaining favor within the party, and was rewarded with a prominent Committee position.

In 1982, growing old of the tumultuous and volatile situation in Sacramento, thinking he could make more of a difference in Washington, and with redistricting making the 26th Congressional District far more Democratic, Greg decided to run for the House of Representatives. He won the primary with strong support, and easily won the general election. Since 1982, all of his re-election bids have gotten more than 62% support. When he came to Washington he was appointed to the House Small Business and Veterans' Affairs Committees. Initially joining Congress as one of the more left-wing Democrats, over the years as Greg spent more time in Congress, he slowly moved more to the right. He has frequently sought bipartisan solutions, and has moved to the right of the party on many issues, though he is still hard on the left on many issues, including healthcare, marijuana legalization, gay rights, and abortion.

In Congress, Greg was an active lawmaker, and became one of the more influential members of Congress, though one that worked behind the scenes, and didn't get much publicity. He's tried to stay with the party line, at least for his first few years in Congress, while pursuing personal projects. He was the House sponsor of the 1986 False Claims Act that authorized civil litigation by whistleblowers. In Congress he's championed copyright interests and the American film industry, sometimes being referred to as the "Representative from Hollywood". He proposed legislation under which copyright holders would be able to employ technological tools such as file blocking, redirection, spoofs, and decoys, among others, to curb piracy (Peer to Peer Piracy Prevention Act). He's also tried to protect American film industry jobs from outsourcing, and has receiving large donations from industry groups.

On foreign policy, he has sort of been all over the place with his positions, he supported NAFTA and CAFTA, and has generally been in support of free trade and has voted for many trade agreements with various countries. He reluctantly voted for both of the Iraq Wars in 1991 and 2003, being genuinely convinced by both Cush Presidents that they were necessary, and genuinely believed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He would be influential in convincing Democratic House Leader [not-Dick Gephardt] to fully support the Cush Administration in the Iraq War, and going against many other senior members within the party. But he's said that he's generally against American military intervention and war, saying he's seen the catastrophic impact it can have on people, from personal experience. He was against military involvement in Yugoslavia in the 90s. He's advocated for more supports for veterans, expanding veterans benefits, funding veterans healthcare, and is helping to author a new GI Bill for veterans of the Iraq and Afghan Wars.

While he voted against amending the constitution to require a balancing budget in the 80s, he gradually became more supportive of a balanced budget, and helped co-author the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. He was appointed to the House Budget Committee in the 90s, and when the Democrats took power in 2007 became Chair of the Committee.

Other Info: Greg has been open with his use of alcohol after the war, but not about his brother, his criminal activity, and his drug use.

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: Hopal

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Gyoric
Character Name: Alexander Baker-Albescu
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 38
Character Height: 6'2
Character Weight: 194 IBS
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Alaska (HOR) (2002 - Present Day)
Character Country/State of Birth: Juneau, Alaska
Character State of Residence: Juneau, Alaska
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Faceclaim: https://imgur.com/a/m28XrGH
Main Strengths: Easy-Going, Charismatic, Well-Respected in Home State and Young.
Main Weaknesses: Could sway to Democrats, Inexperienced in Politics, few connections in the political world, Unliked in the Republican Party due to very moderate views.
Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)
Born in Juneau, Alaska In 1969, to Mary Baker-Albescu, who was born within the same City, and to his native Romanian Father, Costin Albescu, who had fled Communist-ruled Romania at the age of 17. His mother was 23 when she had Alex, and Costin was 27 and left his native country at the age of 17 in 1959 left the Capital city to go to the Land of the Free and Opportunity in Alaska. Though his mother had wanted more children, his father had refused to have another, suggesting his numerous low-paying jobs during his infancy wouldn't pay the bills for multiple children.

At the age of 12, he would gain an immediate interest in Basketball and would join the School's team. Between 12 - 14, Alex would become a promising player due to tall height at that age, and at 14 would go and play for Alaska Fairbanks' Youth Team at that age. However, his lack of skill on the ball and his lack of movement off-ball would lead to humbling cut 9 months later, with him going from one of the tallest member on the team to being fairly average height in the team. However, his love for Basketball wouldn't fade, and would continue to go for try-outs at the Youth Team until 16, which would be unsuccessful. However, by 16, Alex was a fairly bright student, focusing an academic studies of History and English Literature. This would lead to him at 18 going to the University of Alaska South-East, and would be studying Political Science. It was his time at College which would see his political views mould in.

It is believed Alexander's views were moulded by two factors, his Professor and his friends. His professor was a fairly moderate man in a political sense, belleving in mild conservatism. His views would transform over to Alex, who would, in addition to the classes, attend events held by the Democratic Party. However, his shift over to the Republican Side would occur after he would have a seat under a local council in a town near Campus. This was were he developed an idea of moderate conservatism, and his time spent at the council, in which was between 1988 - 1992. However, his political ambition would go further than local council, and would join the Republican Party in 1993. Between 1994 - 1998, he would join the council of the capital, in which was Republican-Controlled. It was in 96' in which Alexander would befriend the Mayor and would quickly have a lot of influence in the Judaea's Local Councils. He would push bills to support families, swell as using his long bands of influence to prevent certain motions going into place. It was 1998 in which would resign and would then prepare for even more ambitious areas, Governor of Alaska.

Alexander went for the Governor role twice, in 1998, when he would lose in the Primaries to another Republican Candidate. However, it was a surprise to seem him make it to the last 4 for Alaska, seemingly the youngest candidate. He would quickly prepare for 2000, where it was the mid-terms. Though he wasn't backed by much, a few former council members, his major backing was former Mayor of Juneau, though he was unsuccessful once more. However, he would make it to the Last 2, where he would lose in a tight vote. However, these string of progress allowed him the political backing by former members to go for the 2002 Election. He would receive backing from Former Mayors, and coming up to 2002, he would have the backing of the Party for the House of Representatives in the 2002 Election.

2002 went just as was expected. Winning the primaries with ease, his balanced, youthful and "Liberal Conservatism" in which promised the backing of everyone. His slogan for the election was "Conservative Thinking, Liberal Acting". Many saw the slogan as implying his moderate view. However, him winning as a HOR could be a backstabber. Though his balanced and people-pleasing approach to politics would win him a seat in HOR, his actions wouldn't be at all Republican. Alaska had never been a strong-, right-wing state like Texas, yet, he would work almost as both a Republican and Democrat. Though this allowed changes to go much smoother, this would see the Republicans make him untrustworthy, and make him unpopular in the parties more radical and right-wing areas. He wouldn't support the War on Terror, attempting to vote against implications. However, 2004 would see him comfortably due to his pushing of several changes in his area of Alaska. His 2004 victory wasn't a shock, however, many believe between now and 2008, he will attempt to shift the power onto the Democrats, suggesting not only a change of heart in parties, but an ambition to become Governor, as a democrat. He would win comfortably in the Mid-Terms in 2006, portraying a similar role as a "swing-politician".

His views are often considered very moderate by Republicans, and some of his views are similar or the same to some democrats. Since his introduction to Politics, he has been an advocate for "Abortion for a Reason", in which suggests to ban any abortion in which has a weak/no justification. Despite him in his early years being Anti-Gun, suggesting an all-out ban to Assault Rifles and Automatic Rifles, like moderate republicans and all democrats, Alex changed to wanting an increase to the age of 25+, to have had specific number of hours on the said weapon, all in all, wanting more strict gun control, though not the ban of Assault Weapons and Automatics. Once more, Alex's views has changed dramatically on the War On Terror. Since the operation began after 9/11, he was a supporter of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, however, wasn't a supporter of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, believing Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction and that Hessian's reign was to come to an end. Despite his Whip in 2003 pushing him to vote yes to Invasion of Iraq, yet he was one of few who was Republican who voted against the war in Iraq in 2003. He believes in low taxes, though in recent years since 2002, has wanted an increase to corporation tax.

The idea of "Conservative Thinking, Liberal Acting" is one of the quotes situated with Alex. Critics of Mr Baker-Albescu have said that he is making the image that he is a conservative to please Alaskan Republicans and Republicans across the country, but truly believes in Liberal Conservatism, a moderate form which combines the ideas of liberalism and conservatism together. Many see that he went for the Republicans not because he as a Republican, but only because he saw it as a quicker and a better chance at getting power.

Known as "The Swinger" in the Republican Party, the next two years could be crucial for Republicans in Alaska, and Democrats, with a power-hungry. ambitious and youthful Representative, who may stop at nothing to get power. Some may even argue he is a "Career Politician".

Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: (Gyoric)

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Dentali
Character Name: George Malcolm Pierce Jr
Character Gender: M
Character Age: 68
Character Height: 5’8”
Character Weight: 216 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Senator from Arizona. Elected 2006
Character Country/State of Birth: Arizona
Character State of Residence: Arizona
Character Party Affiliation: Independent, Republican Caucusing
Faceclaim: Wendell Pierce
Main Strengths: unifying figure, crazy high favorable, outsider, popular politics in general, military and FP experience
Main Weaknesses: lack of political experience, too moderate for primary, lacks any political Allies or connections, alienated evangelicals and neocons
Biography: George Malcolm Pierce Jr was born to George and Linda Pierce in Tucson, Arizona in 1940. His father was a mechanic who would serve in the Army Corp of Engineers during WW2 and his mother was a teacher, the couple had 4 children. George would attend public school in a bad part of Detroit but would excel and eventually graduate class Salutatorian and scored a 168 on an IQ test. He would go to the University of Arizona in 1956 joining Alpha Phi Alpha, one of the earliest I-M African American fraternities, and graduated with a degree in Engineering.

As a member of the ROTC he would graduate in 1960 and be commissioned as an infantry 2nd Lieutenant. He earned his Parachutist Badge and was assigned as a platoon leader to the 187th Airborne Infantry. George’s first overseas assignment was with the 6th Infantry Regiment in West Germany, serving as an Aide-de-Camp to the Brigadier General of the Berlin Brigade. In 1963 he was promoted to Captain and spent 8 months attending Advanced Infantry School. In 1964 he enrolled at the University of Southern California to pursue his masters in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering graduating in ‘66.

After Graduation he volunteered for service in South Vietnam rather than teaching for faster career advancement. He served as a task force advisor to the Republic of Vietnam’s Airborne Division. During this tour he would be wounded by a Punji Stick during his first combat experience while fighting in the Central Highlands breaking a siege. For this action he was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart. 6 months later he was wounded four more times in a single action and was awarded a second Silver Star and a Purple Heart.

After 10 months of combat duty Pierce left the frontlines and became a staff advisor for civil affairs for the ARVN Airborne Division and then returned stateside as an associate professor in the Mechanics Department at West Point. In ‘68 he attended the Command and General Staff College and completed the course in June of ‘69. He would return to Vietnam in July of 69 with the rank of Lt Colonel for a second tour, this time serving as an Executive Officer to the MACV Chief of Staff in Saigon. This tour had a massive effect on him, as he saw the demoralization of the troops, leading to rampant drug use and poor discipline.

Still Pierce gained a reputation as an effective and aggressive commander amid a poor brigade performance record. He led from the front and became known for a short temper. It was also during this tour that he accidentally ordered his helicopter to land in a minefield. Poor judgment on his part led to the deaths of 3 soldiers under his command. After this tour he was awarded a third Silver Star as well as a Bronze Star and a Legion of Merit in 1970.

Upon his return he was interviewed by a newspaper and said

“I don't think there will ever be another major confrontation where the armies line up on both sides. If that happens, it's inevitably going to be nuclear weapons and the whole thing. So I think all wars of the future are going to be—and again, God forbid, I hope we don't have any. War is a profanity, it really is. It's terrifying. Nobody is more anti-war than an intelligent person who's been to war. Probably the most anti-war people I know are Army officers—but if we do have a war, I think it's going to be limited in nature like Vietnam and Korea. Limited in scope. And when they get ready to send me again, I'm going to have to stop and ask myself, "is it worth it?" That's a very dangerous place for the nation to be when your own army is going to stop and question”

His negative experiences during the second tour and the treatment of Vietnam Veterans made Pierce seriously consider leaving the military for good. Instead he served a White House Fellowship from 1972 to 1973 and then attended the National War College from 1974-75. In ‘76 he assumed command of the 1st Brigade of the 9th Infantry Division which he commanded until 1978 when he received his first star as a brigadier general.

Pierce served two years as assistant division commander of the 8th Infantry Division in Germany between 1981 and 1983 before returning to Washington as the director of personnel management for the Army where he was promoted to Major General. In ‘83 he was given command of the 24th Infantry.

He was appointed to the command group for the Invasion of Grenada and became well known for clashing to the overall operation commander for the poor communication, coordination and logistics operations. He would say privately during this time that he did not think the US should have been involved in the conflict and began to push hard for greater cooperation between the branches, and for the implementation of policies that would make joint warfare the standard. This was a doctrine that would win out, and would become the basis for the “Pierce Doctrine”

After the invasion he would become assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans at the Pentagon for until mid ‘86. Before returning to Georgia to command I Corps as a Lt General. In ‘87 he returned once more to Washington as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, but more importantly during this time he began a secondary role as the Army’s senior member of the Military Staff Committee at the UNSC where he garnered valuable foreign policy experience and diplomatic skills, which included arms reduction talks with the Soviet Union.

In January of 1989 Pierce was named Commander of CENTCOM, a dark horse candidate chosen over a more popular vice admiral and was promoted to General. This position made him responsible for US Military Operations in 19 countries and for 200,000 service Members. During this time he was very concerned with the Iran-Iraq war and led a wargame of the Soviet Union invading through the Zagros Mountains. In multiple testimonies before the Senate Armed Services Committee between 1988 and 1990 he impressed the committee with his command over the intricate relationships of the region and encouraged the US to seek a moderating influence in Iraq and stated the threat the nation posed to its neighbors, particularly under Saddam Hussein. He would direct his command to prepare for the ‘most realistic conflict scenario’ in coming years, that being the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq eventually drafting a War plan for the Defense of the Arabian Peninsula which envisioned an invasion of Saudi Arabia by Iraq through Kuwait. And in 1990’s Internal Look ‘90 he wrote a scenario clearly based on a theoretical invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. Only 1 week after the exercises concluded Iraq invaded.

General Pierce activated his contingency plans, putting his local troops on alert and then had an immediate emergency meeting with the President. Pierce’s internal plans were made the basis for the aggressive response to the invasion. Learning from the mistakes of the vietnam war Pierce’s plan called for decisive and overwhelming force.

Pierce began to be closely followed by the media, conducting front line inspect tours of the combat zones accompanied by reporters and conducting many high profile press conferences. He worked closely with the other allied nations contributing military forces and highlighted their contributions, while working to minimize culture clashes. Pierce frequently worked 18 hour days for the planning of the operation where he would command a multinational force of over 750,000 and cultivated close relationships with the French, British and Saudi commanders.

After 139 days of planning Operation Desert Storm Commenced. Within 10 days total air superiority had been achieved and the Iraqi army had been fooled into believing the attack would focus on Kuwait directly. Instead he launched a ‘left hook’ into Iraq itself, and within 90 hours 42 out of 50 Iraqi divisions had been destroyed at the cost of 125 American and 482 coalition lives. On February 27th after a media blackout he gave a famous hour long press conference where he gave a truly comprehensive and comprehensible detailing of events.

He was greeted by the President with a large Parade down Broadway in NYC and given numerous honors becoming the only person to receive the Distinguished Service Cross from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. He continued to lead CENTCOM and in ‘93 was assigned as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the incoming (Not-Clinton) administration, becoming the youngest chairman in its history and the first commissioned through the ROTC.

He was considered a bad fit for the administration which was made up of liberal internationalists, particularly clashing with Madeleine Albright over situations like the Bosnian Crisis which he felt did not involve US interests. He also clashed with SoD Leslie Aspin who he felt was disinterested in his presentations and with whom he laid the blame for the Battle of Mogadishu.

Pierce would resign in 1994 and retire from the military and move to Arizona where his son had settled to be closer to his family. He founded the “America’s Promise” program which would help children around the country coming from poor means. He was profiled by the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and Newsday, People, as well as praised in a Random House publication on the war, “Triumph in the Desert.” His speaking fees topped $60,000 per public appearance. In 1995, he published a memoir, “It Doesn't Take a Hero”, about his life; it became a bestseller and Pierce sold the rights to his memoirs to Bantam Books for $5,000,000. That same year he would win $24,000 on celebrity jeopardy for his charity.

He was considered a potential Republican candidate for the ‘96 election but said he was an independent and decided not to run, though the truth was also linked to his wife’s misgivings. Despite this he won the Republican New Hampshire Vice-Presidential Primary on write-in votes.

In 1998 Pierce officially registered as a Republican and many believed he would run in 2000 but once again his wife’s mental health issues, which included a several month stint in a psychiatrist facility in the 80s, kept him from doing so. Instead he endorsed (Not Bush) and gave a powerful speech at the 2000 convention, he had a favorable rating of over 80% at the time.

In 2001 Pierce was unanimously confirmed as Secretary of State and became the first African American in the position. In the wake of 9/11 Pierce’s chief job was managing the coalition in the War on Terror and spearheading the HIV/AIDS relief efforts of the (Not Bush) administration.

In ‘03 he was given the job of building the case of the invasion of Iraq. Pierce favored involving the international community instead of a unilateral approach and argued in favor of military action to the UN. He later said this speech was given on four days' notice and he did not know the dubious nature of the intelligence dossier and later described it on Barbara Walters as a ‘Painful blot on my record.’

After Saddam was deposed Pierce continued to work on maintaining and building coalitions, this time to rebuild Iraq, even testifying in ‘04 that he now knew much of the information used to justify the invasion was ‘flat out wrong’ and he thought it would be unlikely any WMDs would be found and pushed to reform intelligence services and sharing. He notably called the Darfur Genocide a genocide, thus becoming the first cabinet member to use such a term to describe an ongoing conflict.

Tensions within the administration between Pierce, particularly with the Vice President, and the failing health of his wife cause Pierce to choose not to serve for a second (Not Bush) term, though many believe he would have been forced out regardless. His achievements in the state department include solving a Crisis with China and leading the international HIV/AIDS initiative, and blocking the attempts of the Vice President to tie Saddam to the 9/11 attacks.

After retirement he spent the majority of his time with his wife before her passing in early ‘05 from cancer. Continuing to see what he saw as the Not-Bush administration flailing and mismanaging the war on terror, Hurricane Katrina and curbing civil liberties at Home he once again considered entering politics. He consulted a number of individuals and experts to consider an 08 campaign for President, but his moderate positions made him unlikely to win the primary for either party and risked hurting his reputation and legacy should he begin to contort himself for the race.

Instead he announced he would run for Senate in ‘06, challenging the incumbent Republican in Arizona as an independent caucusing with republicans. Not-McCain Arizona’s other Senator made a public announcement to ‘not take sides’ leading many to interpret this as a tacit endorsement of Pierce. Pierce also collected endorsements from around the country from non-politicians and many moderates, amassed an impressive warchest and was heavily covered by the media. The Republican Senate leadership was already stretched far too thin, and elected to not send more than the bare minimum of support to the incumbent Republican. Still Pierce was a novice at campaigning as was his team, as he chose loyalists and up and comers rather than seasoned campaigning veterans to run things. He was hit hard on his moderate abortion position but for the most part was able to run a populist campaign and his personal favorables actually hurt those attacking him.

In the end he won with a plurality of the vote, 42%. He has since made several pushes to protect civil liberties and has supported a number of consensus driven pieces of legislation, joining Arizona’s other Senator as a “Maverick”. His main focus is trying to drive the GOP more towards the center. Many believe he will run for President in ‘08 but he has privately ruled it out. He has said he intends to serve two terms AT MOST.

By this time his national favorables had dropped to the mid 60s as he had finally gone into the morass of politics directly.


Other Info: Serves on Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees. Has 3 sons and 1 daughter.


I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: Dentali

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

[Gyoric]

Thank you, I appreciate it.

[Madrinpoor]

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: North Listia
Character Name: Rev. Jordan Douglass
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 34
Character Height: 5’11
Character Weight: 180lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: AME Church Leadership (1996-2002); Senior Advisor to Congressman John Clyne (2002-2004); United States Representative of the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina (2005-)
Character Country/State of Birth: 1972
Character State of Residence: South Carolina
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Faceclaim: https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/11 ... 00x400.jpg
Main Strengths: Douglass is a well established figure within his district and has the support of his popular predecessor. It would be extremely difficult to challenge him in the primary and the makeup in the district would mean that losing to a Republican opponent in the general is almost impossible. Douglass is also young, well educated, and has plenty of experience organizing and public speaking through the the AME Church.
Main Weaknesses:
Socially Conservative: Jordan Douglass is very conservative on some social issues. He considers himself pro-life, supports a Federal Marriage Amendment to the constitution, and wants to increase restrictions on immigration

No filter: During Sermons led by Douglass, he has been known to say many controversial statements. He has called all members in Congress who voted for the War in Iraq, “white devils in black suits,” said that any Black person voting for a Republican is an “Uncle Tom N*****,” said that Cush Jr. will “rot in Hell right next to his daddy,” and claimed that “America’s forefathers were crooks, rapists, and murderers.”

A hypocrite: While Douglass has spoke multiple times about the importance and sanctity of marriage, he does not even have a girlfriend, let a lone a wife and children. He is facing pressure from his family, friends, and constituents to get married, though Jordan feels like he is too busy to start a family now. Also, he is known to call marijuana the “devil’s lettuce,” but there are images of him smoking it during college.


Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)

Jordan grew up in the Church. Many of his earliest memories are of him and his father, a Bishop of the local Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, SC, going to Church together. Whether it be after school to do his homework, or on Sundays for service. While is father instilled within him a love of God, Jordon’s mother gifted him the appreciation of a good education. As school teacher, Jordan’s mother constantly reminded him of the importance of school. She helped him with his homework, constantly checked in on his grades, and even struck up friendships with a few of Jordan’s teachers as he grew up. While Jordan would spend most of his childhood resenting the constant involvement of his mother, he began to appreciate her commitment during high school. While Jordan was on the honor roll and getting scholarships to colleges across the country, many of his old friends were getting involved in gangs in the community.

Jordan was able to get a full scholarship to Howard University and started his freshmen year of college in 1990. There, he studied political science and economics. While an active member of the church and community organizations during his youth, Jordan’s time in college is what really sparked his interest in politics. He volunteered for multiple campaigns, and even became an intern for Congressman John Clyne, a prominent politician in the House of Representatives who was friends with his father.

After college, Jordan moved asked to Charleston and started working in the Church. He quickly rose to a leadership position, becoming a deacon and leading various organizations within the Church including the youth ministry, center of education, and the social justice organizations. His work in the church meant that he became a well known figure to many organizations and community activists within the community. He is known as Reverend Douglass to those who know him within and outside of the Church.

At the request of his old boss, Congressman Clyne, he took a break from his work in the church and became a senior advisor for Clyne. Clyne knew that his health was taking a serious downturn and wanted to informally appoint a successor for his position. To Clyne, Jordan seemed like the obvious choice due to his youth, involvement in the community, and social activism. Jordan worked for Clyne for two years before Clyne announced his retirement ahead of the 2004 election. Quickly after, Jordan announced his candidacy to replace Clyne as the representative for South Carolina’s sixth district. The endorsement from Rep. Clyne meant that he was able to easily defeat his one primary opponent and the make up of the district meant that the Rev. Douglass swept the general election (65-34).

As a freshmen Congressman, Rev. Douglass focused on education and police reform efforts.
Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: North Listia

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

Okay,

1. Not a bad app. This just needs some reworking and expansion in a few places.
2. He's way too young — it's very rare a 34-year-old is a congressman (unless they're AOC-like, but this guy isn't anti-establishment enough for that) especially with the background you've given him, and also rare that a 20-something year old is a deacon. Can you please expand on how he quickly rose through the ranks of the church so fast? Especially in what seems like (judging from my experience with Southern churches in general, including Black ones like AME, and from what your app seems to insinuate with his father having connections and stuff) such a close-knit community, usually in those situations the person who becomes a new leader of a church is another old, established church leader of that same church, not the son of the previous leader. In the South, church (unless it's a megachurch or St. Ebenezer Baptist) isn't a political stepping stone as much as a community center and a religious institution.
3. Can you tell me who is the faceclaim? I don't mind that you have a link I'd just like a name so I can find them easier.
4. I'd recommend adding like twenty years (or at least ten) to their life to give some of their claims more credence
5. Also, the whole senior advisor to Jim Clyne thing needs to be reworked — I don't mind that happening, if Jordan had actually been involved in Clyne's career for many more years than you had him as.
6. This isn't just for you, but applies to all apps: 'Quickly' doing something isn't a substitute for having a character be at their position for a while. I've written apps just like that. A character doesn't 'quickly' do something without a solid explanation for doing so.

Sorry if this seems nitpicky.

[Madrinpoor]

Guys.

Use POLITICIANS as char models, not singers or actors or whatever. It'll be really hard to find photos if your char model isn't a politician (preferably American), major activist, or actor who played a politician on a long running show (e.g. Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Michael J. Fox).

Posts in this RP (and all previous iterations) are very photo heavy. Every post is a solid, well-written thing that takes a bit of time but is of good quality, and should have photos in it unless it's a conversation with another player. It's a little harder, but when everybody does it the RP is awesome. Trust me.

One of my campaign posts from an older political RP thread

This shows you the kind of photos you're going to need. You can easily tell which one my char is by scrolling through, and the model is Bob Menendez, a senator from New Jersey.

[Madrinpoor]

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Kavanis
Character Name: John Franklin “Jack” Claassen
Character Gender: M
Character Age: 64
Character Height: 5.35714285714 Macedonian cubits
Character Weight: 21266.69007174 zolotniks
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District
Character Country/State of Birth: Illinois
Character State of Residence: Tennessee
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Faceclaim: Dan Tyminski
Main Strengths: Rock solid support among his conservative base. Has attracted substantial federal investment to his district through transport, infrastructure and energy initiatives. Good fund raiser thanks to connections with oil and gas industry.
Main Weaknesses: Long service means plenty of political skeletons. Had a relatively soft-on-immigration stance in the 1980s that is now politically toxic on the right. Strong support of the Global War on Terror, including the War in Iraq, has aged poorly.

Biography:

Early life, military service and education

Jack Claassen was born in Chicago in 1943, the 4th of 7 children of Perry Claassen, an aviation factory worker, and Roslyn, a clothing store clerk. He is a 6th generation Tennessean and in 1950 the family moved back to Elizabethton to run a gas station, where he would work pumping gas over summers. He attended Elizabethton High School, where he played basketball and baseball, and was a Life Scout. He was raised a Catholic in deference to his mother’s belief, though he now attends a Baptist church.

He attended Christian Brothers University on an NROTC scholarship, initially hoping to become a naval aviator, but failed selection and was instead commissioned as an infantry officer with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. He served for five years, including tours of Vietnam. After leaving as a Captain, he returned to Tennessee and enrolled in the University of Tennessee College of Law, graduating with a J.D. in 1972. He became a lawyer and entered private practice.

State government

In 1980 he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving two terms. He sat on the Finance, Ways and Means committee. In 1984 he was elected to the Tennessee Senate, representing Carter County. He served three terms in the Senate, becoming the Assistant Minority Leader. He was the author of Tennessee’s revised abortion statute that adopted a parental notification provision.

House of Represntatives

With the Tennessee 1st’s long serving Congressman deciding not to stand for re-election in 1996, Claassen won a crowded and competitive primary, which given the district’s political make-up was essentially the general election. He has been re-elected every time since, and in 2006 retained a 58% majority.

He has served on the House Committee on Financial Services and is currently the ranking member of the Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee. He has previously served on the Rules Committee. He is a member of the Republican Policy Committee.

Claassen has held a generally conservative voting record, including 100% from the National Right to Life Committee, and an A rating from Gun Owners of America. His 13% rating from the League of Conservation Voters reflects a mostly poor environmental record, though he has voted for some Superfund cleanup measures in Tennessee. He has received awards from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Family Research Council, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Other Info: He is a capable scratch golfer, and has been starting right fielder for the Republicans in the Congressional Baseball Game, helping them to a heavily winning record during his tenure. A popular Beltway rumor suggests he once consumed 53 cans of beer during a flight back from a junket to Europe. He has been married four times and has 6 children and 6 grandchildren.

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: Kavanis

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

1. Can you please choose a different char model? You'll never find photos of Dan Tyminski as a politician (I looked him up). Also the char model doesn't look 64, unless he aged Rahm Emanuel-level well.
2. Can you clarify on the political skeletons part? If he had some major scandals than can be feasibly dug up then it'd be a solid weakness, but it's a bit too vague. Can you also add some more weaknesses? Having one unpopular position isn't a weakness, really, nor is his support of a once-popular war that's still going and still has some support. Strengths are good though.
3. I'd love if you could expand a little more on Vietnam — there was more information about trying to get into the army than on his actual time in it. War changes a person fundamentally. Why is he a strong supporter of baseless wars (especially Iraq) when he fought in a baseless war? What are his opinions on foreign intervention in general? Just think about these things and elaborate a bit more.
4. Can you put a normal height and weight
5. Why did he emerge on top of a crowded primary? I know he's politically pretty experienced, but so are lots of candidates.
6. He doesn't seem to have any finance background, why does he keep getting selected for Financial Committees?
7. All in all not bad, I like how you broke up the bio that's really helpful.

[Melovinta]

Guys.

Use POLITICIANS as char models, not singers or actors or whatever. It'll be really hard to find photos if your char model isn't a politician (preferably American), major activist, or actor who played a politician on a long running show (e.g. Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Michael J. Fox).

Posts in this RP (and all previous iterations) are very photo heavy. Every post is a solid, well-written thing that takes a bit of time but is of good quality, and should have photos in it unless it's a conversation with another player. It's a little harder, but when everybody does it the RP is awesome. Trust me.

One of my campaign posts from an older political RP thread

This shows you the kind of photos you're going to need. You can easily tell which one my char is by scrolling through, and the model is Bob Menendez, a senator from New Jersey.

Well, that complicates alot of things. Finding photos of Mike Horner is like finding a needle in a haystack, I can only think of two images that might be used. One that has him holding a mic and another of him in Congress, still I think if I dig far enough, I'll find a few more.

[Madrinpoor]

Guys.

Use POLITICIANS as char models, not singers or actors or whatever. It'll be really hard to find photos if your char model isn't a politician (preferably American), major activist, or actor who played a politician on a long running show (e.g. Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Michael J. Fox).

Posts in this RP (and all previous iterations) are very photo heavy. Every post is a solid, well-written thing that takes a bit of time but is of good quality, and should have photos in it unless it's a conversation with another player. It's a little harder, but when everybody does it the RP is awesome. Trust me.

One of my campaign posts from an older political RP thread

This shows you the kind of photos you're going to need. You can easily tell which one my char is by scrolling through, and the model is Bob Menendez, a senator from New Jersey.

Well, that complicates alot of things. Finding photos of Mike Horner is like finding a needle in a haystack, I can only think of two images that might be used. One that has him holding a mic and another of him in Congress, still I think if I dig far enough, I'll find a few more.

Have you posted an app yet? If so, I don't think it's on my list, sorry about that, that's my bad.

I'd recommend finding nationwide politicians, or someone like a big-time mayor or governor or at the very least, an assistant governor. Trust me, state politicians (and tribal chiefs, I learned that from experience) aren't going to get you anywhere.

If you want a milquetoast-looking White guy, I have plenty of options.

[Mareadmonte]

Ay dios mio please reply to this post (with your app in a SPOILER) if your app HASN'T been accepted, and you'd like it to be, and you've made changes if you've been told to that haven't been reviewed yet, if not and this is a first app then please also reply to this post (with your app in a SPOILER).

Thank you.

I'm gonna make a list.

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Apps to be reviewed:

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([url=<Photo%20of%20Applicant%20Here>]Image[/url])

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: North Listia
Character Name: Jordan Douglass
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 34
Character Height: 5’11
Character Weight: 180lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: AME Church Leadership (1996-2002); Senior Advisor to Congressman John Clyne (2002-2004); United States Representative of the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina (2005-)
Character Country/State of Birth: 1972
Character State of Residence: South Carolina
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Faceclaim:

(Image)

Main Strengths: Douglass is a well established figure within his district and has the support of his popular predecessor. It would be extremely difficult to challenge him in the primary and the makeup in the district would mean that losing to a Republican opponent in the general is almost impossible. Douglass is also young, well educated, and has plenty of experience organizing and public speaking through the the AME Church.
Main Weaknesses: While Douglass has a strong support in the local community, his positions has made him the enemy of some powerful national groups. Douglass’ support of school choice and opposition to powerful teacher’s unions has led him to lose support from a powerful left-leaning union. At the same time, his commitment for police reform has put him in opposition to the powerful right-leaning police unions. As of now, Douglass is also a single man with no kids, which is sometimes looked at with suspicion.
Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)

Jordan grew up in the Church. Many of his earliest memories are of him and his father, a Bishop of the local Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, SC, going to Church together. Whether it be after school to do his homework, or on Sundays for service. While is father instilled within him a love of God, Jordon’s mother gifted him the appreciation of a good education. As school teacher, Jordan’s mother constantly reminded him of the importance of school. She helped him with his homework, constantly checked in on his grades, and even struck up friendships with a few of Jordan’s teachers as he grew up. While Jordan would spend most of his childhood resenting the constant involvement of his mother, he began to appreciate her commitment during high school. While Jordan was on the honor roll and getting scholarships to colleges across the country, many of his old friends were getting involved in gangs in the community.

Jordan was able to get a full scholarship to Howard University and started his freshmen year of college in 1990. There, he studied political science and economics. While an active member of the church and community organizations during his youth, Jordan’s time in college is what really sparked his interest in politics. He volunteered for multiple campaigns, and even became an intern for Congressman John Clyne, a prominent politician in the House of Representatives who was friends with his father.

After college, Jordan moved asked to Charleston and started working in the Church. He quickly rose to a leadership position, becoming a deacon and leading various organizations within the Church including the youth ministry, center of education, and the social justice organizations. His work in the church meant that he became a well known figure to many organizations and community activists within the community. He is known as Reverend Douglass to those who know him within and outside of the Church.

At the request of his old boss, Congressman Clyne, he took a break from his work in the church and became a senior advisor for Clyne. Clyne knew that his health was taking a serious downturn and wanted to informally appoint a successor for his position. To Clyne, Jordan seemed like the obvious choice due to his youth, involvement in the community, and social activism. Jordan worked for Clyne for two years before Clyne announced his retirement ahead of the 2004 election. Quickly after, Jordan announced his candidacy to replace Clyne as the representative for South Carolina’s sixth district. The endorsement from Rep. Clyne meant that he was able to easily defeat his one primary opponent and the make up of the district meant that the Rev. Douglass swept the general election (65-34).

As a freshmen Congressman, Rev. Douglass focused on education and police reform efforts.
Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: North Listia

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Kavanis
Character Name: John Franklin “Jack” Claassen
Character Gender: M
Character Age: 64
Character Height: 5.35714285714 Macedonian cubits
Character Weight: 21266.69007174 zolotniks
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District
Character Country/State of Birth: Illinois
Character State of Residence: Tennessee
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Faceclaim: Dan Tyminski
Main Strengths: Rock solid support among his conservative base. Has attracted substantial federal investment to his district through transport, infrastructure and energy initiatives. Good fund raiser thanks to connections with oil and gas industry.
Main Weaknesses: Long service means plenty of political skeletons. Had a relatively soft-on-immigration stance in the 1980s that is now politically toxic on the right. Strong support of the Global War on Terror, including the War in Iraq, has aged poorly.

Biography:

Early life, military service and education

Jack Claassen was born in Chicago in 1943, the 4th of 7 children of Perry Claassen, an aviation factory worker, and Roslyn, a clothing store clerk. He is a 6th generation Tennessean and in 1950 the family moved back to Elizabethton to run a gas station, where he would work pumping gas over summers. He attended Elizabethton High School, where he played basketball and baseball, and was a Life Scout. He was raised a Catholic in deference to his mother’s belief, though he now attends a Baptist church.

He attended Christian Brothers University on an NROTC scholarship, initially hoping to become a naval aviator, but failed selection and was instead commissioned as an infantry officer with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. He served for five years, including tours of Vietnam. After leaving as a Captain, he returned to Tennessee and enrolled in the University of Tennessee College of Law, graduating with a J.D. in 1972. He became a lawyer and entered private practice.

State government

In 1980 he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving two terms. He sat on the Finance, Ways and Means committee. In 1984 he was elected to the Tennessee Senate, representing Carter County. He served three terms in the Senate, becoming the Assistant Minority Leader. He was the author of Tennessee’s revised abortion statute that adopted a parental notification provision.

House of Represntatives

With the Tennessee 1st’s long serving Congressman deciding not to stand for re-election in 1996, Claassen won a crowded and competitive primary, which given the district’s political make-up was essentially the general election. He has been re-elected every time since, and in 2006 retained a 58% majority.

He has served on the House Committee on Financial Services and is currently the ranking member of the Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee. He has previously served on the Rules Committee. He is a member of the Republican Policy Committee.

Claassen has held a generally conservative voting record, including 100% from the National Right to Life Committee, and an A rating from Gun Owners of America. His 13% rating from the League of Conservation Voters reflects a mostly poor environmental record, though he has voted for some Superfund cleanup measures in Tennessee. He has received awards from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Family Research Council, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Other Info: He is a capable scratch golfer, and has been starting right fielder for the Republicans in the Congressional Baseball Game, helping them to a heavily winning record during his tenure. A popular Beltway rumor suggests he once consumed 53 cans of beer during a flight back from a junket to Europe. He has been married four times and has 6 children and 6 grandchildren.

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: Kavanis

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

I made the requested changes to my character.

[Kavanis]

1. Can you please choose a different char model? You'll never find photos of Dan Tyminski as a politician (I looked him up). Also the char model doesn't look 64, unless he aged Rahm Emanuel-level well.
2. Can you clarify on the political skeletons part? If he had some major scandals than can be feasibly dug up then it'd be a solid weakness, but it's a bit too vague. Can you also add some more weaknesses? Having one unpopular position isn't a weakness, really, nor is his support of a once-popular war that's still going and still has some support. Strengths are good though.
3. I'd love if you could expand a little more on Vietnam — there was more information about trying to get into the army than on his actual time in it. War changes a person fundamentally. Why is he a strong supporter of baseless wars (especially Iraq) when he fought in a baseless war? What are his opinions on foreign intervention in general? Just think about these things and elaborate a bit more.
4. Can you put a normal height and weight
5. Why did he emerge on top of a crowded primary? I know he's politically pretty experienced, but so are lots of candidates.
6. He doesn't seem to have any finance background, why does he keep getting selected for Financial Committees?
7. All in all not bad, I like how you broke up the bio that's really helpful.

Reasonable notes.

1, 2, 3, 5. Changes made. 4, too, though not too sure of their relevance for a political RP.

6. Not particularly unusual. The current GOP ranking member on FinServ is Patrick McHenry, a former media consultant with a degree in history most notable for running the website NotHillary.com. Spencer Bacchus, who was ranking member in the RL 110th Congress, had a broadly similar background to MC’s: law degree and state government. The ranking member of the insurance committee was Deborah Pryce, also with a legal background. There are lots of lawyers serving on the committee IRL. Plus the former OB/GYN, Ron Paul. So I’m not especially minded to change my character’s background on this point as I see nothing unrealistic about it. That said I’ve added a little about the legal career to justify it.

Redraft follows:

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Kavanis
Character Name: John Francis “Jack” Claassen
Character Gender: M
Character Age: 64
Character Height: ~1.90 m
Character Weight: ~90 kg
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District
Character Country/State of Birth: Illinois
Character State of Residence: Tennessee
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Faceclaim: Tom Harkin
Main Strengths:

• Rock solid support among his conservative base.
• Has attracted substantial federal investment to his district through transport, infrastructure and energy initiatives.
• Good fund raiser thanks to connections with oil and gas industry.
• Despite some unfortunate comments (mentioned below) he’s not a (complete) bigot. His family’s gas station ended up in the ownership of a Sikh family; when the proprietor was assaulted in the wake of 9/11 and the store vandalized with anti-Muslim graffiti, he donated money to the family and has attended Sikh cultural events ever since.

Main Weaknesses:

• A long political career of wheeling and dealing has led to many skeletons in the closet, mostly financial.
  
  • He bought his current home for $200,000 below market value at the same time as his committee was holding investigations into the bank who financed the mortgage; he has often traded on stock information obtained during closed hearings on companies his committee regulates; and he has met with foreign policymakers on behalf of donors from the oil and gas sector.
  • He makes use of the Congressional allowance to lease a car. While most Congressmen forego this or lease economy models, Jack leases a Lexus GS hybrid at a cost of nearly $1000 a month to taxpayers.
  • He owns a home over the border of Eastern Tennessee in Virginia and has routinely claimed a tax credit on it despite it not being his primary residence, amassing thousands of dollars in tax credits.
  • He has almost always voted in favor of pay increases, beginning with his time in the Tennessee General Assembly, where he once proposed a $10,000 a year salary increase for members.
  • Secret IC: At the ripe old age of 57 he began an affair with a 24 year old staffer in his office; he used office funds to procure an abortion for her, and subsequently when the affair ended 2 years later again paid her off using money from a private loan which he has not disclosed on his Congressional finance report.
• While he has a generally conservative voting record, he has generally been pro-immigration, a position of relative normalcy during the start of his career in the 1980s but which has aged increasingly poorly. He flip-flopped to oppose Cush’s attempts at immigration reforms, which was not enough to prevent a primary challenge from the right in 2006, in response he course-corrected with crass comments advocating “shooting on sight” illegal immigrants crossing the border.
• History of foreign policy stances that have aged poorly. In the 1980s, he was full of praise for a ragged bunch of Afghan upstarts fighting against the Soviets, called the Taliban, and recognized Saddam Hussein as an ally against Iran. By the 2000s he was all in on supporting the Global War on Terror, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. One of the most hawkish advocates of military intervention and fully embraced the accompanying culture war, too, freedom fries and all. Has been accused of Islamophobia after calling for hearings on “radical Islamic infiltration” of American society, with some of his wilder claims being a “total Islamist takeover” of East Tennessee State University’s catering facilities after they installed a falafel bar (run by a Lebanese Christian family, but that didn’t stop Claassen going on the warpath). He was the first member of Congress to meet publicly with Pamela Geller and spoke with her at a pro-Israel rally. (Just remembered she doesn’t exist in this reality. Replace with “Pamela Generic-Anti-Islamist-Hardliner”.)
• While serving in the Tennessee General Assembly, he orchestrated a vengeance campaign against The Knoxville Journal, who had reported on his allegedly smoking marijuana despite his anti-drugs voting record. His law firm represented the Journal’s landlord in evicting them from their printing office.
• Though portraying himself as a Tennessean through-and-through, he now rarely visits his home district and has been criticized as difficult to reach on constituency matters. (Though, see under Strengths, this has not stopped him directing funding to his district.)

Biography:

Early life, military service and education

Jack Claassen was born in Chicago in 1943, the 4th of 7 children of Perry Claassen, an aviation factory worker, and Roslyn, a clothing store clerk. He is a 6th generation Tennessean and in 1950 the family moved back to Elizabethton to run a gas station, where he would work pumping gas over summers. He attended Elizabethton High School, where he played basketball and baseball, and was a Life Scout. He was raised a Catholic in deference to his mother’s belief, though he now attends a Baptist church.

He attended Christian Brothers University on an NROTC scholarship, initially hoping to become a naval aviator, but ended up on the Marine track. He graduated with a degree of political science and business administration, and was commissioned as an infantry officer with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was deployed to Vietnam, leading an 81mm mortar platoon. He served at the Battle of Khe Sanh, and in Operation Dewey Canyon, followed by sea duty in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines. While on Okinawa he was introduced to karate and became an enthusiast.

Decorations included the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”, Combat Action Medal, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, Vietnam Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Purple Heart, and a Presidential Unit Citation. His Bronze Star citation credits Lt. Claassen with “repulsing a well-entrenched NVA battalion”, launching an “aggressive counter-assault” on their mortar position and leading an “enveloping attack that routed the enemy position”.

Raised in a fairly traditional Southern household and bringing certain racial attitudes with him, leading a multiracial platoon broadened his horizons (which also seems to be reflected in his diverse marriages). However, it also led to great bitterness to what he saw as domestic fifth columnists who had subverted the war effort from within. He became a convinced anticommunist hawk and has tended to see public opposition to military intervention as bordering on the treasonous ever since.

After leaving as a Captain, he returned to Tennessee and enrolled in the University of Tennessee College of Law, graduating with a J.D. in 1972. He became a lawyer and entered private practice. He specialized in tax and commercial law and engineered connections with local banks and real estate firms.

State government

In 1980 he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving two terms. He sat on the Finance, Ways and Means committee. In 1984 he was elected to the Tennessee Senate, representing Carter County. He served three terms in the Senate, becoming the Assistant Minority Leader. He was the author of Tennessee’s revised abortion statute that adopted a parental notification provision.

House of Representatives

With the Tennessee 1st’s long serving Congressman deciding not to stand for re-election in 1996, Claassen won a crowded and competitive primary, which given the district’s political make-up was essentially the general election. Claassen portrayed himself as a conservative following the example of Not Gingrich’s 1994 Republican Revolution, emphasizing his strong stances on traditional base issues such as abortion and gun rights, and he publicly endorsed Grover Notquist’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge. He was also well supported by local business interests. A subsequent probe forced him to return around $5000 in undeclared contributions from local financial institutions.

He has been re-elected every time since, and in 2006 retained a 58% majority, though in 2006 he weathered a strong challenge in the primary from an anti-immigration activist who criticized his inconsistent record. Claassen has attracted some controversy by routinely refusing to debate his primary opponents.

He has served on the House Committee on Financial Services and is currently the ranking member of the Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee. He has previously served on the Rules Committee. He is a member of the Republican Policy Committee.

Claassen has held a generally conservative voting record, including 100% from the National Right to Life Committee, and an A rating from Gun Owners of America. His 13% rating from the League of Conservation Voters reflects a mostly poor environmental record, though he has voted for some Superfund cleanup measures in Tennessee. He has received awards from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Family Research Council, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Other Info: He is a capable scratch golfer, and has been starting right fielder for the Republicans in the Congressional Baseball Game, helping them to a heavily winning record during his tenure. A popular Beltway rumor suggests he once consumed 53 cans of beer during a flight back from a junket to Europe. He has been married four times and has 6 children and 6 grandchildren.

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: Kavanis

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

[North Listia]

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([url=<Photo%20of%20Applicant%20Here>]Image[/url])

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: North Listia
Character Name: Rev. Jordan Douglass
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 34
Character Height: 5’11
Character Weight: 180lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: AME Church Leadership (1996-2002); Senior Advisor to Congressman John Clyne (2002-2004); United States Representative of the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina (2005-)
Character Country/State of Birth: 1972
Character State of Residence: South Carolina
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Faceclaim: https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/11 ... 00x400.jpg
Main Strengths: Douglass is a well established figure within his district and has the support of his popular predecessor. It would be extremely difficult to challenge him in the primary and the makeup in the district would mean that losing to a Republican opponent in the general is almost impossible. Douglass is also young, well educated, and has plenty of experience organizing and public speaking through the the AME Church.
Main Weaknesses:
Socially Conservative: Jordan Douglass is very conservative on some social issues. He considers himself pro-life, supports a Federal Marriage Amendment to the constitution, and wants to increase restrictions on immigration

No filter: During Sermons led by Douglass, he has been known to say many controversial statements. He has called all members in Congress who voted for the War in Iraq, “white devils in black suits,” said that any Black person voting for a Republican is an “Uncle Tom N*****,” said that Cush Jr. will “rot in Hell right next to his daddy,” and claimed that “America’s forefathers were crooks, rapists, and murderers.”

A hypocrite: While Douglass has spoke multiple times about the importance and sanctity of marriage, he does not even have a girlfriend, let a lone a wife and children. He is facing pressure from his family, friends, and constituents to get married, though Jordan feels like he is too busy to start a family now. Also, he is known to call marijuana the “devil’s lettuce,” but there are images of him smoking it during college.


Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)

Jordan grew up in the Church. Many of his earliest memories are of him and his father, a Bishop of the local Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, SC, going to Church together. Whether it be after school to do his homework, or on Sundays for service. While is father instilled within him a love of God, Jordon’s mother gifted him the appreciation of a good education. As school teacher, Jordan’s mother constantly reminded him of the importance of school. She helped him with his homework, constantly checked in on his grades, and even struck up friendships with a few of Jordan’s teachers as he grew up. While Jordan would spend most of his childhood resenting the constant involvement of his mother, he began to appreciate her commitment during high school. While Jordan was on the honor roll and getting scholarships to colleges across the country, many of his old friends were getting involved in gangs in the community.

Jordan was able to get a full scholarship to Howard University and started his freshmen year of college in 1990. There, he studied political science and economics. While an active member of the church and community organizations during his youth, Jordan’s time in college is what really sparked his interest in politics. He volunteered for multiple campaigns, and even became an intern for Congressman John Clyne, a prominent politician in the House of Representatives who was friends with his father.

After college, Jordan moved asked to Charleston and started working in the Church. He quickly rose to a leadership position, becoming a deacon and leading various organizations within the Church including the youth ministry, center of education, and the social justice organizations. His work in the church meant that he became a well known figure to many organizations and community activists within the community. He is known as Reverend Douglass to those who know him within and outside of the Church.

At the request of his old boss, Congressman Clyne, he took a break from his work in the church and became a senior advisor for Clyne. Clyne knew that his health was taking a serious downturn and wanted to informally appoint a successor for his position. To Clyne, Jordan seemed like the obvious choice due to his youth, involvement in the community, and social activism. Jordan worked for Clyne for two years before Clyne announced his retirement ahead of the 2004 election. Quickly after, Jordan announced his candidacy to replace Clyne as the representative for South Carolina’s sixth district. The endorsement from Rep. Clyne meant that he was able to easily defeat his one primary opponent and the make up of the district meant that the Rev. Douglass swept the general election (65-34).

As a freshmen Congressman, Rev. Douglass focused on education and police reform efforts.
Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: North Listia

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

Okay,

1. Not a bad app. This just needs some reworking and expansion in a few places.
2. He's way too young — it's very rare a 34-year-old is a congressman (unless they're AOC-like, but this guy isn't anti-establishment enough for that) especially with the background you've given him, and also rare that a 20-something year old is a deacon. Can you please expand on how he quickly rose through the ranks of the church so fast? Especially in what seems like (judging from my experience with Southern churches in general, including Black ones like AME, and from what your app seems to insinuate with his father having connections and stuff) such a close-knit community, usually in those situations the person who becomes a new leader of a church is another old, established church leader of that same church, not the son of the previous leader. In the South, church (unless it's a megachurch or St. Ebenezer Baptist) isn't a political stepping stone as much as a community center and a religious institution.
3. Can you tell me who is the faceclaim? I don't mind that you have a link I'd just like a name so I can find them easier.
4. I'd recommend adding like twenty years (or at least ten) to their life to give some of their claims more credence
5. Also, the whole senior advisor to Jim Clyne thing needs to be reworked — I don't mind that happening, if Jordan had actually been involved in Clyne's career for many more years than you had him as.
6. This isn't just for you, but applies to all apps: 'Quickly' doing something isn't a substitute for having a character be at their position for a while. I've written apps just like that. A character doesn't 'quickly' do something without a solid explanation for doing so.

Sorry if this seems nitpicky.

I will update it! Though I do want to specify that while Douglass is a deacon and apart of the Church Leadership, he is not the leader. The process for becoming a deacon is not really intense according to AME.

[North Listia]

UPDATED APP LIST

Ay dios mio please reply to this post (with your app in a SPOILER) if your app HASN'T been accepted, and you'd like it to be, and you've made changes if you've been told to that haven't been reviewed yet, if not and this is a first app then please also reply to this post (with your app in a SPOILER).

Thank you.

Here is my new and improved application. I changed the picture since I aged up the character. Hopefully it is okay:

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: North Listia
Character Name: Rev. Jordan Douglass
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 45
Character Height: 5’11
Character Weight: 180lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: AME Young Adult Ministry & Social Action Committee (1984-1992); AME Church Leadership (1992-1999); Senior Advisor to Congressman John Clyne (2000-2003); United States Representative of the 6th Congressional District of South Carolina (2005-)
Character Country/State of Birth: 1962
Character State of Residence: South Carolina
Character Party Affiliation: Democrat
Faceclaim: Ralph Warnock
Main Strengths: Douglass is a well established figure within his district and has the support of his popular predecessor. It would be extremely difficult to challenge him in the primary and the makeup in the district would mean that losing to a Republican opponent in the general is almost impossible. Douglass is also young, well educated, and has plenty of experience organizing and public speaking through the the AME Church.
Main Weaknesses:
Socially Conservative: Jordan Douglass is very conservative on some social issues. He considers himself pro-life, supports a Federal Marriage Amendment to the constitution, and wants to increase restrictions on immigration

No filter: During Sermons led by Douglass, he has been known to say many controversial statements. He has called all members in Congress who voted for the War in Iraq, “white devils in black suits,” said that any Black person voting for a Republican is an “Uncle Tom N*****,” said that Cush Jr. will “rot in Hell right next to his daddy,” and claimed that “America’s forefathers were crooks, rapists, and murderers.”

A hypocrite: While Douglass has spoke multiple times about the importance and sanctity of marriage, he does not even have a girlfriend, let a lone a wife and children. He is facing pressure from his family, friends, and constituents to get married, though Jordan feels like he is too busy to start a family now. Also, he is known to call marijuana the “devil’s lettuce,” but there are images of him smoking it during college.


Biography: (Minimum 2-3 paragraphs)

Douglass grew up in the Church. Many of his earliest memories are of him and his father, a Bishop of the local Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, SC, going to Church together. Whether it be after school to do his homework, or on Sundays for service. While is father instilled within him a love of God, Jordon’s mother gifted him the appreciation of a good education. As school teacher, Douglass' mother constantly reminded him of the importance of school. She helped him with his homework, constantly checked in on his grades, and even struck up friendships with a few of Jordan’s teachers as he grew up. While Jordan would spend most of his childhood resenting the constant involvement of his mother, he began to appreciate her commitment during high school. While Jordan was on the honor roll and getting scholarships to colleges across the country, many of his old friends were getting involved in gangs in the community.

Douglass was able to get a full scholarship to Howard University and started his freshmen year of college in 1980. There, he studied political science and economics. While an active member of the church and community organizations during his youth, Douglass' time in college is what really sparked his interest in politics. He volunteered for multiple campaigns, and even became an intern for the Congressman that represented his home district.

After graduating college in 1984, Douglass moved back to Charleston and started working in his old Church. Douglass first started working in the local Young Adult Ministry (YAM) and the Social Action Commission (SAC) groups. While in the YAM and SAC, he set up the Social Justice Leadership School (SJLS). The SJLS focused on educated young Black adults in civics and getting them to participate in community organizations and politics, and organizing Black youth. In 1989, while continuing to work at his local Church, Douglass' Church submitted him as a potential licentiate for the Board of Examiners. Douglass went through the Board's admission process for 3 years before finally becoming a local elder and getting the title Reverend.

Through his work in the Church, and specifically in the SJLS, Rev. Douglass met John Clyne. Clyne was a member of the AME Church in Charleston who had left Charleston for Columbia to work for the Governor. Coming back to Charleston in 1991, Clyne planned on running for Congress after the incumbent Representative announced his retirement and the district was redrawn to make it a Black-majority district.. Rev. Douglass, through his connections and organizing at SJLS, supported Clyne and helped him easily coast to a primary and general election victory. After the 1992 election, Clyne and Douglass became close friends.

At the turn of the century, Rev. Douglass was looking to step away from his local Church. While it still held a special place in his heart, he wanted to make a difference on a larger scale. He was between a decision to join a statewide AME organization or go back to school and get his doctorate when his friend, Clyne, gave him a third choice: work for Clyne in Washington. While initially reluctant to go full politicians, Clyne was able to convince him. Clyne's health was fading fast and he doubted he would stay in office for more than 5 years; Clyne wanted Douglass to be his successor. Douglass joined Clyne's administration as a Senior Advisor in 2000. His biggest accomplishment in his own view was getting Clyne to oppose a War in Iraq.

Towards the end 2003, Clyne announced he would not seek reelection due to poor health. The next year Rev. Douglass announced his candidacy to replace Clyne as the representative for South Carolina’s sixth district. The endorsement from Rep. Clyne meant that he was able to easily defeat his one primary opponent and the make up of the district meant that the Rev. Douglass swept the general election (65-34).

As a freshmen Congressman, Rev. Douglass focused on education and police reform efforts as well as pushing for a Federal Marriage Amendment.
Other Info:

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: North Listia

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

[Melovinta]

Well, that complicates alot of things. Finding photos of Mike Horner is like finding a needle in a haystack, I can only think of two images that might be used. One that has him holding a mic and another of him in Congress, still I think if I dig far enough, I'll find a few more.

Have you posted an app yet? If so, I don't think it's on my list, sorry about that, that's my bad.

I'd recommend finding nationwide politicians, or someone like a big-time mayor or governor or at the very least, an assistant governor. Trust me, state politicians (and tribal chiefs, I learned that from experience) aren't going to get you anywhere.

If you want a milquetoast-looking White guy, I have plenty of options.

Yeah, my apps already been accepted so I can't exactly change my image now, it's on page 2 and was accepted on page 4 if I'm not wrong. Is there any chance I could change the charmodel?

[Cybernetic Socialist Republics]

-mid-thirties
-10/10 Met Gala Worthy faceclaims
-weakness: 'mild (...) grassroots conspiracy machine (...) young (...)
-power couple
-perfect hotshots who've sliced through life like butter
-'Margret Thatcher'
-Cardboard Characterization
-Top Gun

surely you're trying to take the piss now

1. Half legitimate claim. I shouldn't use an actor for the first face claim, the second is a politician though.

2. Attracting a hive of people who hate and criticize you is a legitimate weaknesses.

3. I mean the biggest issue here is that they serve concurrently? I think that's made up for by the fact that both have ties to industries that are about to cause the largest financial crisis in history.

4. This isn't a comprehensive look at all the highs and lows in their lives, but it doesn't look all that different from the wiki page of most politicians that weren't, for example, born in poverty.

5. I don't understand what criticism we agreed that pre-1981 politicians exist, unless we're going to come up with alternate names for every single world leader before that?

6. Subjective.

7. There are plenty of veterans in politics, ffs, between 1988 and 2008, Bob Dole was the only republican presidential nominee not to specifically have been a pilot and Dole was an army veteran. Its not even like I'm suggesting either are anything but average pilots, either.

Guys.

Use POLITICIANS as char models, not singers or actors or whatever. It'll be really hard to find photos if your char model isn't a politician (preferably American), major activist, or actor who played a politician on a long running show (e.g. Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Michael J. Fox).

Posts in this RP (and all previous iterations) are very photo heavy. Every post is a solid, well-written thing that takes a bit of time but is of good quality, and should have photos in it unless it's a conversation with another player. It's a little harder, but when everybody does it the RP is awesome. Trust me.

One of my campaign posts from an older political RP thread

This shows you the kind of photos you're going to need. You can easily tell which one my char is by scrolling through, and the model is Bob Menendez, a senator from New Jersey.

Changed first app picture.

[Dentali]

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[img]<Photo%20of%20Applicant%20Here>[/img]

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Dentali
Character Name: George Malcolm Pierce Jr
Character Gender: M
Character Age: 68
Character Height: 5’8”
Character Weight: 216 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Senator from Arizona. Elected 2006
Character Country/State of Birth: Arizona
Character State of Residence: Arizona
Character Party Affiliation: Independent, Republican Caucusing
Faceclaim: Wendell Pierce
Main Strengths: unifying figure, crazy high favorable, outsider, popular politics in general, military and FP experience
Main Weaknesses: lack of political experience, too moderate for primary, lacks any political Allies or connections, alienated evangelicals and neocons
Biography: George Malcolm Pierce Jr was born to George and Linda Pierce in Tucson, Arizona in 1940. His father was a mechanic who would serve in the Army Corp of Engineers during WW2 and his mother was a teacher, the couple had 4 children. George would attend public school in a bad part of Detroit but would excel and eventually graduate class Salutatorian and scored a 168 on an IQ test. He would go to the University of Arizona in 1956 joining Alpha Phi Alpha, one of the earliest I-M African American fraternities, and graduated with a degree in Engineering.

As a member of the ROTC he would graduate in 1960 and be commissioned as an infantry 2nd Lieutenant. He earned his Parachutist Badge and was assigned as a platoon leader to the 187th Airborne Infantry. George’s first overseas assignment was with the 6th Infantry Regiment in West Germany, serving as an Aide-de-Camp to the Brigadier General of the Berlin Brigade. In 1963 he was promoted to Captain and spent 8 months attending Advanced Infantry School. In 1964 he enrolled at the University of Southern California to pursue his masters in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering graduating in ‘66.

After Graduation he volunteered for service in South Vietnam rather than teaching for faster career advancement. He served as a task force advisor to the Republic of Vietnam’s Airborne Division. During this tour he would be wounded by a Punji Stick during his first combat experience while fighting in the Central Highlands breaking a siege. For this action he was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart. 6 months later he was wounded four more times in a single action and was awarded a second Silver Star and a Purple Heart.

After 10 months of combat duty Pierce left the frontlines and became a staff advisor for civil affairs for the ARVN Airborne Division and then returned stateside as an associate professor in the Mechanics Department at West Point. In ‘68 he attended the Command and General Staff College and completed the course in June of ‘69. He would return to Vietnam in July of 69 with the rank of Lt Colonel for a second tour, this time serving as an Executive Officer to the MACV Chief of Staff in Saigon. This tour had a massive effect on him, as he saw the demoralization of the troops, leading to rampant drug use and poor discipline.

Still Pierce gained a reputation as an effective and aggressive commander amid a poor brigade performance record. He led from the front and became known for a short temper. It was also during this tour that he accidentally ordered his helicopter to land in a minefield. Poor judgment on his part led to the deaths of 3 soldiers under his command. After this tour he was awarded a third Silver Star as well as a Bronze Star and a Legion of Merit in 1970.

Upon his return he was interviewed by a newspaper and said

“I don't think there will ever be another major confrontation where the armies line up on both sides. If that happens, it's inevitably going to be nuclear weapons and the whole thing. So I think all wars of the future are going to be—and again, God forbid, I hope we don't have any. War is a profanity, it really is. It's terrifying. Nobody is more anti-war than an intelligent person who's been to war. Probably the most anti-war people I know are Army officers—but if we do have a war, I think it's going to be limited in nature like Vietnam and Korea. Limited in scope. And when they get ready to send me again, I'm going to have to stop and ask myself, "is it worth it?" That's a very dangerous place for the nation to be when your own army is going to stop and question”

His negative experiences during the second tour and the treatment of Vietnam Veterans made Pierce seriously consider leaving the military for good. Instead he served a White House Fellowship from 1972 to 1973 and then attended the National War College from 1974-75. In ‘76 he assumed command of the 1st Brigade of the 9th Infantry Division which he commanded until 1978 when he received his first star as a brigadier general.

Pierce served two years as assistant division commander of the 8th Infantry Division in Germany between 1981 and 1983 before returning to Washington as the director of personnel management for the Army where he was promoted to Major General. In ‘83 he was given command of the 24th Infantry.

He was appointed to the command group for the Invasion of Grenada and became well known for clashing to the overall operation commander for the poor communication, coordination and logistics operations. He would say privately during this time that he did not think the US should have been involved in the conflict and began to push hard for greater cooperation between the branches, and for the implementation of policies that would make joint warfare the standard. This was a doctrine that would win out, and would become the basis for the “Pierce Doctrine”

After the invasion he would become assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans at the Pentagon for until mid ‘86. Before returning to Georgia to command I Corps as a Lt General. In ‘87 he returned once more to Washington as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, but more importantly during this time he began a secondary role as the Army’s senior member of the Military Staff Committee at the UNSC where he garnered valuable foreign policy experience and diplomatic skills, which included arms reduction talks with the Soviet Union.

In January of 1989 Pierce was named Commander of CENTCOM, a dark horse candidate chosen over a more popular vice admiral and was promoted to General. This position made him responsible for US Military Operations in 19 countries and for 200,000 service Members. During this time he was very concerned with the Iran-Iraq war and led a wargame of the Soviet Union invading through the Zagros Mountains. In multiple testimonies before the Senate Armed Services Committee between 1988 and 1990 he impressed the committee with his command over the intricate relationships of the region and encouraged the US to seek a moderating influence in Iraq and stated the threat the nation posed to its neighbors, particularly under Saddam Hussein. He would direct his command to prepare for the ‘most realistic conflict scenario’ in coming years, that being the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq eventually drafting a War plan for the Defense of the Arabian Peninsula which envisioned an invasion of Saudi Arabia by Iraq through Kuwait. And in 1990’s Internal Look ‘90 he wrote a scenario clearly based on a theoretical invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. Only 1 week after the exercises concluded Iraq invaded.

General Pierce activated his contingency plans, putting his local troops on alert and then had an immediate emergency meeting with the President. Pierce’s internal plans were made the basis for the aggressive response to the invasion. Learning from the mistakes of the vietnam war Pierce’s plan called for decisive and overwhelming force.

Pierce began to be closely followed by the media, conducting front line inspect tours of the combat zones accompanied by reporters and conducting many high profile press conferences. He worked closely with the other allied nations contributing military forces and highlighted their contributions, while working to minimize culture clashes. Pierce frequently worked 18 hour days for the planning of the operation where he would command a multinational force of over 750,000 and cultivated close relationships with the French, British and Saudi commanders.

After 139 days of planning Operation Desert Storm Commenced. Within 10 days total air superiority had been achieved and the Iraqi army had been fooled into believing the attack would focus on Kuwait directly. Instead he launched a ‘left hook’ into Iraq itself, and within 90 hours 42 out of 50 Iraqi divisions had been destroyed at the cost of 125 American and 482 coalition lives. On February 27th after a media blackout he gave a famous hour long press conference where he gave a truly comprehensive and comprehensible detailing of events.

He was greeted by the President with a large Parade down Broadway in NYC and given numerous honors becoming the only person to receive the Distinguished Service Cross from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. He continued to lead CENTCOM and in ‘93 was assigned as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the incoming (Not-Clinton) administration, becoming the youngest chairman in its history and the first commissioned through the ROTC.

He was considered a bad fit for the administration which was made up of liberal internationalists, particularly clashing with Madeleine Albright over situations like the Bosnian Crisis which he felt did not involve US interests. He also clashed with SoD Leslie Aspin who he felt was disinterested in his presentations and with whom he laid the blame for the Battle of Mogadishu.

Pierce would resign in 1994 and retire from the military and move to Arizona where his son had settled to be closer to his family. He founded the “America’s Promise” program which would help children around the country coming from poor means. He was profiled by the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and Newsday, People, as well as praised in a Random House publication on the war, “Triumph in the Desert.” His speaking fees topped $60,000 per public appearance. In 1995, he published a memoir, “It Doesn't Take a Hero”, about his life; it became a bestseller and Pierce sold the rights to his memoirs to Bantam Books for $5,000,000. That same year he would win $24,000 on celebrity jeopardy for his charity.

He was considered a potential Republican candidate for the ‘96 election but said he was an independent and decided not to run, though the truth was also linked to his wife’s misgivings. Despite this he won the Republican New Hampshire Vice-Presidential Primary on write-in votes.

In 1998 Pierce officially registered as a Republican and many believed he would run in 2000 but once again his wife’s mental health issues, which included a several month stint in a psychiatrist facility in the 80s, kept him from doing so. Instead he endorsed (Not Bush) and gave a powerful speech at the 2000 convention, he had a favorable rating of over 80% at the time.

In 2001 Pierce was unanimously confirmed as Secretary of State and became the first African American in the position. In the wake of 9/11 Pierce’s chief job was managing the coalition in the War on Terror and spearheading the HIV/AIDS relief efforts of the (Not Bush) administration.

In ‘03 he was given the job of building the case of the invasion of Iraq. Pierce favored involving the international community instead of a unilateral approach and argued in favor of military action to the UN. He later said this speech was given on four days' notice and he did not know the dubious nature of the intelligence dossier and later described it on Barbara Walters as a ‘Painful blot on my record.’

After Saddam was deposed Pierce continued to work on maintaining and building coalitions, this time to rebuild Iraq, even testifying in ‘04 that he now knew much of the information used to justify the invasion was ‘flat out wrong’ and he thought it would be unlikely any WMDs would be found and pushed to reform intelligence services and sharing. He notably called the Darfur Genocide a genocide, thus becoming the first cabinet member to use such a term to describe an ongoing conflict.

Tensions within the administration between Pierce, particularly with the Vice President, and the failing health of his wife cause Pierce to choose not to serve for a second (Not Bush) term, though many believe he would have been forced out regardless. His achievements in the state department include solving a Crisis with China and leading the international HIV/AIDS initiative, and blocking the attempts of the Vice President to tie Saddam to the 9/11 attacks.

After retirement he spent the majority of his time with his wife before her passing in early ‘05 from cancer. Continuing to see what he saw as the Not-Bush administration flailing and mismanaging the war on terror, Hurricane Katrina and curbing civil liberties at Home he once again considered entering politics. He consulted a number of individuals and experts to consider an 08 campaign for President, but his moderate positions made him unlikely to win the primary for either party and risked hurting his reputation and legacy should he begin to contort himself for the race.

Instead he announced he would run for Senate in ‘06, challenging the incumbent Republican in Arizona as an independent caucusing with republicans. Not-McCain Arizona’s other Senator made a public announcement to ‘not take sides’ leading many to interpret this as a tacit endorsement of Pierce. Pierce also collected endorsements from around the country from non-politicians and many moderates, amassed an impressive warchest and was heavily covered by the media. The Republican Senate leadership was already stretched far too thin, and elected to not send more than the bare minimum of support to the incumbent Republican. Still Pierce was a novice at campaigning as was his team, as he chose loyalists and up and comers rather than seasoned campaigning veterans to run things. He was hit hard on his moderate abortion position but for the most part was able to run a populist campaign and his personal favorables actually hurt those attacking him.

In the end he won with a plurality of the vote, 42%. He has since made several pushes to protect civil liberties and has supported a number of consensus driven pieces of legislation, joining Arizona’s other Senator as a “Maverick”. His main focus is trying to drive the GOP more towards the center. Many believe he will run for President in ‘08 but he has privately ruled it out. He has said he intends to serve two terms AT MOST.

By this time his national favorables had dropped to the mid 60s as he had finally gone into the morass of politics directly.


Other Info: Serves on Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees. Has 3 sons and 1 daughter.


I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: Dentali

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

[Madrinpoor]

1. Can you please choose a different char model? You'll never find photos of Dan Tyminski as a politician (I looked him up). Also the char model doesn't look 64, unless he aged Rahm Emanuel-level well.
2. Can you clarify on the political skeletons part? If he had some major scandals than can be feasibly dug up then it'd be a solid weakness, but it's a bit too vague. Can you also add some more weaknesses? Having one unpopular position isn't a weakness, really, nor is his support of a once-popular war that's still going and still has some support. Strengths are good though.
3. I'd love if you could expand a little more on Vietnam — there was more information about trying to get into the army than on his actual time in it. War changes a person fundamentally. Why is he a strong supporter of baseless wars (especially Iraq) when he fought in a baseless war? What are his opinions on foreign intervention in general? Just think about these things and elaborate a bit more.
4. Can you put a normal height and weight
5. Why did he emerge on top of a crowded primary? I know he's politically pretty experienced, but so are lots of candidates.
6. He doesn't seem to have any finance background, why does he keep getting selected for Financial Committees?
7. All in all not bad, I like how you broke up the bio that's really helpful.

Reasonable notes.

1, 2, 3, 5. Changes made. 4, too, though not too sure of their relevance for a political RP.

6. Not particularly unusual. The current GOP ranking member on FinServ is Patrick McHenry, a former media consultant with a degree in history most notable for running the website NotHillary.com. Spencer Bacchus, who was ranking member in the RL 110th Congress, had a broadly similar background to MC’s: law degree and state government. The ranking member of the insurance committee was Deborah Pryce, also with a legal background. There are lots of lawyers serving on the committee IRL. Plus the former OB/GYN, Ron Paul. So I’m not especially minded to change my character’s background on this point as I see nothing unrealistic about it. That said I’ve added a little about the legal career to justify it.

Redraft follows:

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Character Application and Information Sheet

NS Nation Name: Kavanis
Character Name: John Francis “Jack” Claassen
Character Gender: M
Character Age: 64
Character Height: ~1.90 m
Character Weight: ~90 kg
Character Position/Role/Job: Representative for Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District
Character Country/State of Birth: Illinois
Character State of Residence: Tennessee
Character Party Affiliation: Republican
Faceclaim: Tom Harkin
Main Strengths:

• Rock solid support among his conservative base.
• Has attracted substantial federal investment to his district through transport, infrastructure and energy initiatives.
• Good fund raiser thanks to connections with oil and gas industry.
• Despite some unfortunate comments (mentioned below) he’s not a (complete) bigot. His family’s gas station ended up in the ownership of a Sikh family; when the proprietor was assaulted in the wake of 9/11 and the store vandalized with anti-Muslim graffiti, he donated money to the family and has attended Sikh cultural events ever since.

Main Weaknesses:

• A long political career of wheeling and dealing has led to many skeletons in the closet, mostly financial.
  
  • He bought his current home for $200,000 below market value at the same time as his committee was holding investigations into the bank who financed the mortgage; he has often traded on stock information obtained during closed hearings on companies his committee regulates; and he has met with foreign policymakers on behalf of donors from the oil and gas sector.
  • He makes use of the Congressional allowance to lease a car. While most Congressmen forego this or lease economy models, Jack leases a Lexus GS hybrid at a cost of nearly $1000 a month to taxpayers.
  • He owns a home over the border of Eastern Tennessee in Virginia and has routinely claimed a tax credit on it despite it not being his primary residence, amassing thousands of dollars in tax credits.
  • He has almost always voted in favor of pay increases, beginning with his time in the Tennessee General Assembly, where he once proposed a $10,000 a year salary increase for members.
  • Secret IC: At the ripe old age of 57 he began an affair with a 24 year old staffer in his office; he used office funds to procure an abortion for her, and subsequently when the affair ended 2 years later again paid her off using money from a private loan which he has not disclosed on his Congressional finance report.
• While he has a generally conservative voting record, he has generally been pro-immigration, a position of relative normalcy during the start of his career in the 1980s but which has aged increasingly poorly. He flip-flopped to oppose Cush’s attempts at immigration reforms, which was not enough to prevent a primary challenge from the right in 2006, in response he course-corrected with crass comments advocating “shooting on sight” illegal immigrants crossing the border.
• History of foreign policy stances that have aged poorly. In the 1980s, he was full of praise for a ragged bunch of Afghan upstarts fighting against the Soviets, called the Taliban, and recognized Saddam Hussein as an ally against Iran. By the 2000s he was all in on supporting the Global War on Terror, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. One of the most hawkish advocates of military intervention and fully embraced the accompanying culture war, too, freedom fries and all. Has been accused of Islamophobia after calling for hearings on “radical Islamic infiltration” of American society, with some of his wilder claims being a “total Islamist takeover” of East Tennessee State University’s catering facilities after they installed a falafel bar (run by a Lebanese Christian family, but that didn’t stop Claassen going on the warpath). He was the first member of Congress to meet publicly with Pamela Geller and spoke with her at a pro-Israel rally. (Just remembered she doesn’t exist in this reality. Replace with “Pamela Generic-Anti-Islamist-Hardliner”.)
• While serving in the Tennessee General Assembly, he orchestrated a vengeance campaign against The Knoxville Journal, who had reported on his allegedly smoking marijuana despite his anti-drugs voting record. His law firm represented the Journal’s landlord in evicting them from their printing office.
• Though portraying himself as a Tennessean through-and-through, he now rarely visits his home district and has been criticized as difficult to reach on constituency matters. (Though, see under Strengths, this has not stopped him directing funding to his district.)

Biography:

Early life, military service and education

Jack Claassen was born in Chicago in 1943, the 4th of 7 children of Perry Claassen, an aviation factory worker, and Roslyn, a clothing store clerk. He is a 6th generation Tennessean and in 1950 the family moved back to Elizabethton to run a gas station, where he would work pumping gas over summers. He attended Elizabethton High School, where he played basketball and baseball, and was a Life Scout. He was raised a Catholic in deference to his mother’s belief, though he now attends a Baptist church.

He attended Christian Brothers University on an NROTC scholarship, initially hoping to become a naval aviator, but ended up on the Marine track. He graduated with a degree of political science and business administration, and was commissioned as an infantry officer with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was deployed to Vietnam, leading an 81mm mortar platoon. He served at the Battle of Khe Sanh, and in Operation Dewey Canyon, followed by sea duty in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines. While on Okinawa he was introduced to karate and became an enthusiast.

Decorations included the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”, Combat Action Medal, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, Vietnam Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Purple Heart, and a Presidential Unit Citation. His Bronze Star citation credits Lt. Claassen with “repulsing a well-entrenched NVA battalion”, launching an “aggressive counter-assault” on their mortar position and leading an “enveloping attack that routed the enemy position”.

Raised in a fairly traditional Southern household and bringing certain racial attitudes with him, leading a multiracial platoon broadened his horizons (which also seems to be reflected in his diverse marriages). However, it also led to great bitterness to what he saw as domestic fifth columnists who had subverted the war effort from within. He became a convinced anticommunist hawk and has tended to see public opposition to military intervention as bordering on the treasonous ever since.

After leaving as a Captain, he returned to Tennessee and enrolled in the University of Tennessee College of Law, graduating with a J.D. in 1972. He became a lawyer and entered private practice. He specialized in tax and commercial law and engineered connections with local banks and real estate firms.

State government

In 1980 he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving two terms. He sat on the Finance, Ways and Means committee. In 1984 he was elected to the Tennessee Senate, representing Carter County. He served three terms in the Senate, becoming the Assistant Minority Leader. He was the author of Tennessee’s revised abortion statute that adopted a parental notification provision.

House of Representatives

With the Tennessee 1st’s long serving Congressman deciding not to stand for re-election in 1996, Claassen won a crowded and competitive primary, which given the district’s political make-up was essentially the general election. Claassen portrayed himself as a conservative following the example of Not Gingrich’s 1994 Republican Revolution, emphasizing his strong stances on traditional base issues such as abortion and gun rights, and he publicly endorsed Grover Notquist’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge. He was also well supported by local business interests. A subsequent probe forced him to return around $5000 in undeclared contributions from local financial institutions.

He has been re-elected every time since, and in 2006 retained a 58% majority, though in 2006 he weathered a strong challenge in the primary from an anti-immigration activist who criticized his inconsistent record. Claassen has attracted some controversy by routinely refusing to debate his primary opponents.

He has served on the House Committee on Financial Services and is currently the ranking member of the Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee. He has previously served on the Rules Committee. He is a member of the Republican Policy Committee.

Claassen has held a generally conservative voting record, including 100% from the National Right to Life Committee, and an A rating from Gun Owners of America. His 13% rating from the League of Conservation Voters reflects a mostly poor environmental record, though he has voted for some Superfund cleanup measures in Tennessee. He has received awards from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Family Research Council, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Other Info: He is a capable scratch golfer, and has been starting right fielder for the Republicans in the Congressional Baseball Game, helping them to a heavily winning record during his tenure. A popular Beltway rumor suggests he once consumed 53 cans of beer during a flight back from a junket to Europe. He has been married four times and has 6 children and 6 grandchildren.

I have read and accepted the rules of the roleplay: Kavanis

Do Not Remove: DRAFT123123

Thanks for taking my notes!

Idk why 4 is there either, doesn't seem very political, I didn't design the app. But it just bugs me when things aren't uniform.

Not changing point 6 is reasonable, I just wanted to know your explanation behind it.

Otherwise, this is wonderful, ACCEPTED123123

TG Meretica to get added to the char list!