GNN Reports: Moderator puppet? Potential tyrant? Candidate Cubo de Sangre has unresolved questions
GNN has been contacted by every member of this race, all seeking an endorsement, and it has refused to provide one. Even now, on the night of the election, we have not endorsed a candidate. However, we have expressed concerns. And tonight, they are about Cubo de Sangre.
Democracy is fragile. At no point since the end of the Cold War has this reality ever been more clear. Entering the final round of voting, race-long betting favorite Cubo de Sangre has left several questions unanswered about how and whether he will protect democratic values in the War Room. Repeatedly, he has deferred to moderator action and celebrated when moderators scoffed at the War Room's own members suggested their own changes and their own control over moderation.
This is fundamentally concerning.
We all know a moderator that we like and who carries out his or her duties with professionalism, sincerity, and grace. However, most of us also know moderators that frequently abuse or abandon their authority. For all the good that the War Room's moderators can do and have done, there is one glaring problem with their office: moderators are not elected - they are merely bureaucrats appointed by a faceless big brother. This makes our moderators fundamentally disconnected from the democratic pulse of the forum. We need to reaffirm that we, the people, make up this community and that the moderators should serve in our interest.
It has long been the position of GNN that the solution to democracy is always more democracy, not less. And we are unsure of whether Cubo de Sangre can sufficiently protect the narrow democracy still left in the War Room.
But de Sangre's deference to moderators is not the most concerning aspect of his campaign. While he has made sure to toe the line and avoid clear political stances, his temper has flared dramatically in recent weeks. This was most vividly seen when he, in response to an off-hand joke, unleashed a furious series of insults at his opponent's vice presidential candidate Fawlty. However unsightly, this was somewhat understandable given their history of vitriol and Fawlty's notoriety as a silver-tongued sillyboy. But Fawlty was not the only target, as many members of his opponent's team and their friends were sucked into the whirlwind of anger, in which Cubo repeatedly endorsed false, even vicious, claims against posters not even party to the election.
This is not to say that de Sangre is a terrible candidate. Personally, this GNN writer rather likes him. And this is certainly not to say he is not a viable candidate: current GNN polling places him at having 51.9% of the vote and gives him a roughly 69% chance of winning this election. Should he win, not all hope is lost. To be sure, he would be a much better President than the disaster that was 2017 President Palis. However, these questions of his temperament, his openness to ideas, and his subservience to unelected moderators is concerning.
GNN is a nonpartisan outlet that is funded exclusively by its readers and by its founder @Gandhi. GNN would like to formally congratulate both of the candidates and wish them both the best possible luck.
GNN Reports: Moderator puppet? Potential tyrant? Candidate Cubo de Sangre has unresolved questions
GNN has been contacted by every member of this race, all seeking an endorsement, and it has refused to provide one. Even now, on the night of the election, we have not endorsed a candidate. However, we have expressed concerns. And tonight, they are about Cubo de Sangre.
Democracy is fragile. At no point since the end of the Cold War has this reality ever been more clear. Entering the final round of voting, race-long betting favorite Cubo de Sangre has left several questions unanswered about how and whether he will protect democratic values in the War Room. Repeatedly, he has deferred to moderator action and celebrated when moderators scoffed at the War Room's own members suggested their own changes and their own control over moderation.
This is fundamentally concerning.
We all know a moderator that we like and who carries out his or her duties with professionalism, sincerity, and grace. However, most of us also know moderators that frequently abuse or abandon their authority. For all the good that the War Room's moderators can do and have done, there is one glaring problem with their office: moderators are not elected - they are merely bureaucrats appointed by a faceless big brother. This makes our moderators fundamentally disconnected from the democratic pulse of the forum. We need to reaffirm that we, the people, make up this community and that the moderators should serve in our interest.
It has long been the position of GNN that the solution to democracy is always more democracy, not less. And we are unsure of whether Cubo de Sangre can sufficiently protect the narrow democracy still left in the War Room.
But de Sangre's deference to moderators is not the most concerning aspect of his campaign. While he has made sure to toe the line and avoid clear political stances, his temper has flared dramatically in recent weeks. This was most vividly seen when he, in response to an off-hand joke, unleashed a furious series of insults at his opponent's vice presidential candidate Fawlty. However unsightly, this was somewhat understandable given their history of vitriol and Fawlty's notoriety as a silver-tongued sillyboy. But Fawlty was not the only target, as many members of his opponent's team and their friends were sucked into the whirlwind of anger, in which Cubo repeatedly endorsed false, even vicious, claims against posters not even party to the election.
This is not to say that de Sangre is a terrible candidate. Personally, this GNN writer rather likes him. And this is certainly not to say he is not a viable candidate: current GNN polling places him at having 51.9% of the vote and gives him a roughly 69% chance of winning this election. Should he win, not all hope is lost. To be sure, he would be a much better President than the disaster that was 2017 President Palis. However, these questions of his temperament, his openness to ideas, and his subservience to unelected moderators is concerning.
GNN is a nonpartisan outlet that is funded exclusively by its readers and by its founder @Gandhi. GNN would like to formally congratulate both of the candidates and wish them both the best possible luck.
