APPLY NOW TO BE A CONSERVATIVE PARTY CONGRESSPERSON. (Deadline: May 4)

Q: Who is BritishMormon?

A: A problem user/troll, formerly known as IncognitoGuy, which is now a permabanned account. BritishMormon is a bit less abusive and terms-violating than IncognitoGuy used to be (which is why BritishMormon still has an Imgflip account). However, IG/BM has nonetheless been streambanned from the IMGFLIP_PRESIDENTS stream for abrasive behavior. In spite of having been kicked out of the I_P community repeatedly, IG/BM has maintained his interest in this stream, and continues to look for an angle back in despite having no intention of changing his ways.

Having thought awhile about this, my personal feelings on the matter are that IG/BM could potentially be unbanned from this stream -- IF he admits his past identity as IncognitoGuy, AND he apologizes for his past abusiveness, AND he ceases the gratuitous attacks on mods, AND he commits to behaving going forward. Four preconditions that, if you know anything about BritishMormon, you know he'll never be able to meet. I wish he could, since IG/BM did have some positive traits (brought a unique perspective and helped drive activity/interest to this stream), but in the end the stream owners made the difficult decision that he was too abusive to be a part of this community.

All that said, a decision like that is not my decision to make. And it's not our decision to make as a Party, either.

So, all should understand before joining Congress under the Conservative Party banner, that any potential future vote to unban IG/BM is not going anywhere without the express approval of OlympianProduct (current stream owner).

Q: What are you looking for in a congressperson?

A: Despite the Conservative Party's name, we have no political ideology requirement or litmus test whatsoever. What we're much more interested in is history of stream activity, commitment to be active on the stream going forward, and thoughtfulness and humor. Those who voted Conservative Party in the last election have a plus factor, since your vote shows that you're obviously interested in our party, but that's not necessarily a requirement since we're always looking for new members.

We have six Congress seats to fill and one of our members (CommunityMod0) is going to be promoted to VP. As I lost the Presidential race, I will fill one of those six seats myself, so we need five warm bodies basically. lol. So if you have any interest at all, then apply, odds are very high you'll get it.

There is only ONE non-negotiable requirement, which I'll explain under the Q&A relating to BritishMormon.

Q: How do I apply for a Congress seat?

A: No formal application necessary. Just shoot me a comment reply or a memechat message, or post a meme to the I_P main stream.

Q: What is Conservative Party?

A: "Conservative Party" is at this point, essentially, an inside-joke party that has evolved out of a long backstory going back not only to the Conservative Party's initial founding by a permabanned user known as IncognitoGuy but also to *that* party's predecessor, Right Unity Party, which had a good run for several election cycles here at I_P before it self-imploded as a result of IncognitoGuy's own self-sabotaging tendencies. There is so much more that could be said but it is all ancient history at this point. If you're an OG of the stream and know then you know, but if you don't then it honestly doesn't matter.

Despite the apparently conservative-tilting theme of my satirical campaign for President, Conservative Party has, at this point, no ideology whatsoever. Anyone of any political belief or background is welcome to join.

Q: What does Congress do?

A: In theory, Congress passes stream-related laws and proposals, debates politics for fun, stuff like that.

In practice, Congress has gotten pretty dang inactive lately. The latest major proposals have all seemed to center around banning certain kinds of content from being posted on I_P, which is not only arguably unconstitutional (see: free speech clause) but also simply lame and depressing. Where's the fun in telling people what they can and can't say (provided, always, that it abides by Imgflip TOS)? For instance: Why ban "erotic content" (whatever that means), particularly when the NSFW filter already exists as an option for those who don't want to see curse words or swimsuits or whatever?

Congress also may be pushed toward voting to unban BritishMormon, but as I've explained elsewhere, that's already dead in the water unless IG/BM were to make some major changes to his behavior first.

Aside from the above-mentioned silliness, I predict the next couple months will be another fairly inactive cycle for Congress. While we would like our congressmembers to be active and get this roleplay government back up and running, frankly speaking, being on Congress is not likely to be a huge time commitment if that is your worry.

Q: What is Congress?

A: Congress is the sole legislative body of the I_P government. There used to be a Senate as well, but due to stream inactivity and needless complexity, the Senate was recently abolished. Congress looks to the Head of Congress for direction and focus, but any congressperson can make a proposal and call for a vote.

Ill apply.