Commend Antarctic Oasis

Commend Antarctic Oasis is the second commendation issued to a region by the WA Security Council, and the sixth commendation overall. With Commend 10000 Islands having been repealed months earlier, the resolution also deemed Antarctic Oasis ("AO") the only commended region in NationStates (something the Regional Delegate loved to brag about), until 10000 Islands was re-commended six months later in September 2010. However, AO's commendation was not without controversy -- par for the course for the SC, really -- as region members generally disliked the "ugly" commendation symbol appearing over their World Factbook Entry, and the region's reputation in the SC had taken a beating during the fourth rule imbroglio. With broad support from region members and SC denizens alike, Commend Antarctic Oasis was repealed on October 11, 2010. Both the original resolution and the repeal were submitted by Mousebumples.

History

While it's well known that AO members are particularly proud of themselves, and like to convince themselves they are awesome when really everyone hates them, no one actually thought they'd commit the Security Council to debate their supposed "awesomeness." Yet that is precisely what Senator Sulla of The Palentine did one drunken Tuesday morning, when Manuelo Fernanda dared him to "do something crazy to provoke the gnomes," and Sulla obliged by introducing a commendation for the region with the most unexplained gnome deaths per capita.^[1] Sulla's document, heavily influenced by Kennyite social commentators, was especially brazen: not only did it brag shamelessly about gratuitous gnome slaughter, it gloated about many other offenses AO members have typically gotten away with, like soliciting bribes for votes, disrupting floor debates with pie fights and other brands of drunken and obscene behavior, sexually harassing the Thessadorian Ambassador, and insulting the Ardchoilleans by suggesting they are descendant from artichokes. Probably the funniest part of Sulla's prank was that WA members professed to love it, and announced they would support it if it got to vote -- thereby exposing the WA's innate uselessness, in that it would actually vote to commend such childish frat-boy slackers, and this not long after refusing to condemn its bitter enemies.

All it took was one lengthy weekend bender, and AO diplomats easily forgot about their silly project to commend themselves, or even that they had jobs at the WA in the first place, and the SC soon sank back into its usual rut, with AO despising them, and SCers being too caught up in passing pointless condemnations of raiders to care. But AO's self-congratulatory nonsense would resurface during one particularly obnoxious floor debate, when Mousebumples' Lizzy Hall was forced to beg Senator Sulla for some relief. Sulla duly informed her that the relief she sought was located in his pants, but Lizzy just laughed it off and reached into his desk drawer to find a spare liquor bottle, instead producing the crumpled up old pages containing Sulla's old commendation draft. Lizzy was oddly intrigued by Sulla's chicken scratchings, and asked him if she could use them. Sulla was, naturally, too drunk to read whatever it was she was showing him, but told her she could have whatever she wanted for a quick blow. Lizzy just giggled at this and casually walked away, leaving Sulla somewhat disappointed, since he hadn't been joking.

Mousebumples reintroduced the draft on the SC floor with a few minor revisions, and as before, received a warm response -- even from hopeless schizophrenics who'd apparently forgotten that they hated the region in question.^[2] The proposal was promptly submitted and quickly made quorum. Of course, Lizzy didn't realize the draft was all a joke, but AO diplomats were otherwise occupied with pantsing and wedgying SC ambassadors to notice what was going on. (Besides, with a body like Lizzy's, who cares if she lacks a sense of humor?!) The rapid momentum behind the resolution was such that AO barely had any time to mount a serious campaign against it -- Jack Riley did lodge a official complaint,^[3] but who the fuck cares what Riley thinks? -- and passage was virtually assured anyway after Lizzy bribed everyone with food,^[4] so no big whoop. Besides, for the Security Council to actually give an award to people who mocked and belittled them at every available opportunity was just too hilarious to pass up, so AO resolved to keep its badge for the time being. The founder occasionally groused about the symbol's unsightliness, but newer region members tended to like being the only commended region in NS, so meh.

Repeal "Commend Antarctic Oasis"

An eventual repeal of the Commendation was the goal of several members of AO, notably the founder, who experimented with at least two drafts of his own. One, formulated not long after initial passage, took the author to task for implicitly chiding AO members for "less honorable contributions," which included the activities previously cited in Sulla's draft, like loophole-hunting, making war on the gnomes, etc. The Kennyites presumed this was an effort to curry favor with the gnomes, something Antarctians would simply not abide. The draft was soon abandoned.

During the fourth rule controversy, when AO members were outspoken in their support for the Secretariat and the new rule, opponents (some of whom suspected AO of being behind the new rule) began to ponder spiteful repeals of AO's Commendation. However, these gained little traction, as it was no secret that AO members weren't fond of their Commend badge anyway.

As the controversy began to die down, Omigodtheykilledkenny wrote a new repeal, this one taking aim at AO and its membership in a forceful manner, denouncing them for defying the International Criminal Court, blowing up the Security Council, and generally making complete asses of themselves. Coincidentally this was around the time that the Mousebumples delegates themselves warmed to the prospect of repeal, and produced their own draft, which after multiple revisions eventually incorporated most of the Kennyites' suggestions to directly attack AOers for their excessive lifestyles, defiant attitudes and impossible personalities. Once 10000 Islands was commended again, and AO was no longer NS's sole commended region, consensus had formed within Antarctic Oasis that their Commendation had outlived its purpose, and a repeal attempt was inevitable. Besides, most Antarctians were pretty much done with the Security Council at that point, so it was a long time coming.

Mousebumples submitted Repeal "Commend Antarctic Oasis" without any public drafting effort, and it sailed to quorum. Surprisingly many SC regulars supported the repeal also, despite the fact that it directly served AO interests; they apparently wanted a clean break from Antarctic Oasis just as much as Antarctic Oasis wanted a clean break from them. Even AO's staunch allies in Texas, who normally take Commend and Condemn votes very seriously, voted for the repeal, in accordance with AO wishes. No serious public opposition to the bill was noted. However, an angry pie fight broke out during the floor debate, between delegations that actually agreed that the repeal should pass. Ultimately it passed by a wider margin than did the original resolution, becoming the second successful repeal of a WA Commendation, and the only SC resolution to be repealed by its own author. Shortly after her success, Lizzy Hall offered an official explanation for repealing her own resolution.

Also, this shit is hilarious, if you haven't already seen it.

Additional materials

• Commend Antarctic Oasis - Floor debate
• Commend Antarctic Oasis - Palentine's original draft
• Repeal SC#19 - Commend Antarctic Oasis - Floor debate on the repeal
• Repeal Commend Antarctic Oasis - another repeal discussion of note