Michael Barclay
Michael J. Barclay (1MouseGamer) is a Vinish politician who is 33rd and current Vice President of Vindex Nation. A member of the Liberal Party, he previously served as the 31st Vice President, the 14th Speaker of the House, and the 18th Governor of Viridis. He has also served a multitude of terms in Congress, and had a short career in policing.
Sir Michael Barclay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 33rd Vice President of Vindex Nation | |
| Assumed office 28th February 2023 | |
| President | Gargathe Oro |
| Preceded by | Albert Viktor |
| 31st Vice President of Vindex Nation | |
| In office 1st March 2022 – 15th June 2022 | |
| President | Tadakatsu Honda |
| Preceded by | Doughnut Sprinkles |
| Succeeded by | Albert Viktor |
| 14th Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 4th January 2020 – 18th January 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Adrian Jackson |
| Succeeded by | Kyla Barclay |
| 18th Governor of Viridis | |
| In office 17th November 2021 – 1st March 2022 | |
| Preceded by | A. Tyler |
| Succeeded by | JustIdaa |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
Career as Vice President under the Honda Administration
Executive Order - Instant rank ups abolished
Michael J. Barclay wrote the Executive Order that abolished instant rank ups which was signed by President Honda on the 26th March 2022. In his White House Announcement, he stated: "Why is this needed? Overtime more and more department leaders have gotten more lenient with their promotions. This has led to the devaluing of ranks and therefore people have lost their ambition to rank up through time and dedication, as they see someone else get a position instantly which would otherwise have taken them weeks, if not months, to get. I therefore expect this executive order to help boost activity within departments as players feel more incentive to play and perform to a high standard in the hope of receiving an appropriate promotion."
The Executive Order has not since been overturned, so is still in-effect to this day.
War with Lech
Throughout Michael J. Barclay's time as Vice President in the Honda Administration, he was a staunch supporter of declaring war on Lech. On the 16th April 2022 in White House Announcements he stated: "Myself and the Cabinet believe we should go to war with Lech to install a democratic government that pursues capitalism and the rule of law, as it is clear the Lech government has no respect for our law, with many of their own officials breaking it everyday", then holding a public poll on whether to go to war, which 25 of respondants voted in favour, with 5 voting against. While Michael J. Barclay continued to pursue a declaration of war on Lech, war was never achieved due to admin rejection.
Wrote the War Reemployment Act which was passed on the 21st April 2022 which legally established that any citizen in any job may temporarily leave their position to join the Department of Defense to help defend Vindex Nation during times of war or conflict, with a guarantee that once their time in the Department of Defence comes to an end that they may re-join their original position. Michael J. Barclay said in his White House announcement that "This act will fulfil a core goal of our administration, to increase activity in the Department of Defence and to give our nation a strong military defence".
Involvement in Cabinet
Michael J. Barclay was the first person who proposed war with Lech, and held a vote in Cabinet which recieved unanimous approval. As Vice President, Michael J. Barclay frequently held votes in Cabinet to see what policy the President should and should not adopt.
Executive Order - DOJ & VNDT banned from accepting hostage ransoms
As acting President while in-game, Michael J. Barclay ordered all members of the Department of Justice and Vindex Nation Department of the Treasury from accepting hostage ransoms for one hour.
Construction of the White House Diplomatic Hot Tub
The Hot Tub was constructed by Michael J. Barclay in his first term as Vice President in March 2022. It was used several times for diplomatic meetings with foreign leaders and diplomats. It was since removed by the succeeding Tyler Administration, but was rebuilt in Michael J. Barclay's second term as Vice President in the Oro Administration, and is still there to this day.
Career as Vice President under the Oro Administration
Acting President
Abolishment of Taxes
In his day as acting President on the 14th March 2023, Michael J. Barclay abolished all taxes by lowering them to 0. This was only a temporary move to see if it would work over the long term. Taxes have never been re-instated since and remain abolished. In his White House Announcement, Michael J. Barclay stated: "As my first act as the acting President of Vindex Nation, effective immediately there shall be a temporary abolishment of taxes (lowering them to 0) for this week. This is following the success of the Vindex Lotto, a lottery backed by the full faith of the Vindex Nation government, providing the Treasury with a very healthy profit in a matter of 30 minutes - profit that would take us much longer to raise through traditional taxes. We are looking into how sustainable such alternative sources of revenue are, and if so, a permanent abolishment of taxes will be on the table."
Candidacy in the June 2022 Presidential Election
Policy
Michael J. Barclay declared candidacy with his running mate, Minejak Stansworth, in the June 2022 Presidential Election. The following is a list of his policies which were listed on his Barclay-Stansworth 2022 Campaign Discord:
- Transparency and professionalism - As President, I shall bring a whole lot of transparency to the actions I take, making frequent use of the #whitehouse-announcements in the White House discord to keep the public well informed. In that, I want to be a professional President. This may be a game, but President's of the past have not treated the office with much respect, I can go as far to say that some have abused the office and I can pledge that that shall not happen during my tenure.
- A well-advised President - Presidents of the past have ruled through tyranny, making decisions without any insight or consultation. As your President, I shall seek majority approval from cabinet in all major decisions that I make. I shall hear all sides of the debate before I make my decision, in order to ensure it benefits the many, not the few.
- Server activity - Activity has greatly diminished in recent months, and while during President Honda's term the administration was hindered by the actions of staff in preventing events which we believed would bring about high levels of activity, such as war with Lech, I shall still do everything in my power to bring about more activity. Myself and cabinet will make it our objective to brainstorm fresh ideas to increase activity, and I will always be open for public input on any ideas **you** may hav
- Transforming the Department of Justice and Vindex Police Department - Throughout my time as a Police Colonel, SWAT Commander, and DEA Agent, I thrived off of determined leadership. Such leadership has deteriorated this year due to a lack of activity in the VPDL, it is time for that to change. If elected President, I shall appoint President Tadakatsu Honda as Attorney General to bring the experienced and determined leadership that the Department of Justice so desperately needs. I understand that the DOJ is at the core of Vindex Nation, so it will be one of my priorities to get it back on track.
- Competent Foreign Affairs - The foreign nations on this server play an important role in bringing depth to gameplay, so as President I will be engaging in diplomatic relations with both Lech and Wilden, with the goal of spreading Vinish values both home and abroad. The pursue of democracy and the rule of law are vital in the leadership of a nation, and the nations who share these values will be at the top of my list for cooperation and even alliance. The appointment of Percy A. Fairweather to Secretary of State will demonstrate this commitment.
- No tolerance of Corruption - As President, I will only appoint those who I have absolute faith in to perform their duties to the best of their ability in Cabinet. If anyone in my Cabinet commits any form of corruption or abuse of power, I will have no hesitation to seek their removal from office. There will be a no tolerance of corruption policy in all of my departments, and this will be achieved through an executive order to require Department leaders to immediately fire individuals found to be corrupt or abusive. I am open to giving skilled individuals a second chance, but only after they have received sufficient punishment.
- Housing and Development - The build team are doing a fantastic job at bringing about new sections of Viridis, and as President I look forward to seeing the release of a new addersfield during my tenure. While this is in the hands of the staff building team, I will do everything I can to encourage the continued development of Viridis, but to a somewhat limited extent as to not overload the nation with too many new properties.
- Modernise the Judiciary - The judiciary is a vital part of Vindex Nation and the rule of law. Currently, it can take weeks, sometimes months, for trials to take place in game, making the current system highly inefficient and justice difficult to be served. As President, it will be my goal to implement a system whereby all stages of trials/cases can take place via discord. In game role play will always be encouraged, but understandably it’s difficult to organise a time for all parties to be online at one, which is why I believe this policy will greatly improve our justice system.
Government Credit Policy
This policy idea is still in development and therefore open to improvement. A Government Credit system would be introduced, maintained by the Executive, it would give all government employees (Members of DOJ, DHHS, DOD, etc) a rating depending on how active they are and their performance. This would be beneficial for people applying for leadership positions in their departments, as a higher credit would mean a Department leader looking more favourably upon you - thus incentivising activity and performance. The Government Credit would increase in a number of ways and Department leaders can decide how to implement it with oversight from the President (or whoever they delegate this power to if they choose to). My original ideas would be, but are completely open to change by department leaders/cabinet:
DOJ Law Enforcement Officers
- Credit increases every 10 legal arrests made.
- Credit increases depending on how active they are (this could be hard to measure, perhaps use of the v!online bot could help with this).
- Credit increases depending on how many bank/gas robberies stopped (could be measured through witness account from VPDL, video evidence, screenshots).
- Credit increases for SS depending on how many times they have protected a government officials (could be reported by witness account of SS Leader/high ranked SS).
DOD Personnel
- Amount of trainings attended (would be reported by training drill sergeant).
- Performance in trainings (better performance, more credit).
- Amount of kills during battles in war / DOD leadership decide how much credit to award based on how they witnessed a soldier performed/how well they executed their tasks.
DHHS
- Number of people revived by EMS.
- Number of people revived by Surgeon.
- Number of patients treated/medicine given.
Department leaders would log credit increases on a White House discord channel, the Executive would then review this and adjust someone's credit accordingly. Credit would be stored on the discord. Government Credit Awards Ceremonies could be held with all government department members/leaders invited and where the department with the most credit for that month are announced and ceremoniously congratulated, along with the top three people with the highest gains in credit for that month, as well as the top person with most credit gained in each department. Could be an award in each department for the player with the best performance for that month (eg, for VPD it could be an award for the most arrests, most bank/gas robberies stopped. For DOD it could be the most trainings attended, etc).
Election Results
First Round
- aTyler: 36 votes
- 1MouseGamer: 28 votes
- zezzes: 8 votes
- us5minecraft: 6 votes
- MartinDaBeast: 1 vote
- MISTERHASAN: 0 votes
Second Round (Count 1)
- 1MouseGamer: 54 votes
- aTyler: 48 votes
Second Round (Count 2)
- aTyler: 54.7%
- 1MouseGamer: 45.3%
Second Round (Count 3)
- aTyler: 50.6%
- 1MouseGamer 49.4%
In the final round, several fradulant votes were found, resulting in two further recounts which removed fraudulant votes on both sides. It ended up in being too close to call and there being a high amount of fraud, for the first time in Vinish history a third round of the Presidential Election was held. But this time, the round was held on the Vindex respublica website. This allowed eliminated all forms of fraud.
Before a third round had been announced, Michael J. Barclay proposed the formation of Vindex's first coalition government in light of how close the third count of the second round was. He proposed the following to Tyler:
"I propose the formation of a coalition government, with myself serving as President the first month and a half, and you serving as President the following month and a half. We would enter negotiations now over the details of a legally binding agreement we would both have to stick to. We can agree to a mixed cabinet as we already share many of the same cabinet members. Part of the agreement could be something I was already going to introduce, but under this coalition government it would be legally binding. All major decisions would have to go through for cabinet approval OR with approval from both you and I, and then if we disagree it’s held to cabinet vote. In the agreement would also be banning us from bribing cabinet in these votes, to keep things fair. This is not because I don’t think I can’t win the runoff if one is held, I actually think a government like this could be something Vindex needs considering how divided the electorate is, it’d allow for something we have both been advocating - decisions based on the consultation of the people. How better to do that than a coalition government which everyone voted for."
The proposition did not have time to solidify as Emperor Silversmith held a runoff third round election anyway:
Third Round / Runoff
- aTyler: 46 votes
- 1MouseGamer: 30 votes
Career as a member of the House of Representatives and Senate (2019-2022)
Legislation
The following is a list of all laws either fully or partially written by Michael J. Barclay and that have been ratified by the President. Laws prior to 2020 have not been listed.
2020
- Vindex Intelligence Agency Act 2020 - 22nd December 2020
- Wanted List Regulations Act - 18th December 2020
- Zip-Tie Self Defense Act - 27th November 2020
- Zip-Tie Act - 24th November 2020
- Defendant Plea and Appeal Act - 28th September 2020
- Protection Against Unreasonable Firings Act - August 2020
- Blackmail Act - 19th August 2020
- Terrorist-Voting Prevention Act - 12th August 2020
- Bioweapons Increased Required Crime Free Act - 3rd August 2020
- Enhanced Property Trespassing Act - 11th July 2020
- Ticketing Refusion Act - 29th July 2020
- K9 Unit Protection Act - 13th January 2020
2022
- Wanted List Regulations Act - 5th January 2022.
- Zip-Tie Act - 5th January 2022.
- The 2022 Murder, Attempted Murder, Self Defence, Assault and Battery Act (AKA MAMSDAB) - 8th January 2022.
- The Witness Integrity Act 2022 - 2nd February 2022.
- War Reemployment Act - 21st April 2022.
- Blackmail Act - 26th April 2022.
- Disturbing the Peace Act - 1st May 2022.
- The Barclay Act - 9th June 2022.
- The Abolition of Property Tax Act - 26th July 2022.
Other Congressional Involvement
Michael J. Barclay was instrumental in the resignation of LaughingCoder64 as Vice President by recording evidence that would have been brought to Congress and have resulted in his impeachment and removal.[citation needed]
Michael J. Barclay was also influential in the resignation of Akain_ as President, similarly being instrumental in the gathering of evidence that would have made it into the Articles of Impeachment.[citation needed]
Career as the Governor of Viridis
Executive Orders
The following is a list of Executive Orders made by Michael J. Barclay as Governor.
- Executive Order - Lockdown Protocol - 24th November 2021
- Executive Order - Dissolution of the Security Board - 25th November 2021
- Executive Order - State Treasury - 23rd January 2022
- Executive Order - Michael J. Barclay Help-To-Rent Scheme - 26th January 2022
Career as Speaker of the House
In-Game Activity
As Speaker of the House, Michael J. Barclay brought in-game sessions back to Congress, the first time they had been held in approximately over a year. He also redesigned the interior of the Congress property, designing the new chamber that is still in place to this day.
Notable Achievements
Honours
Michael J. Barclay holds the Knighthood of The Supreme Order of Christ awarded to him by Pope Leo XIV (AKA Gabriel Barclay).
Michael J. Barclay was awarded Player of the Month by Vindex Craft staff in 2018.