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This is, to be fair, true.Until I see what she had actually done, I think the thread needs it more
To be fair, there had to be a time when we'd work with an administration that wasn't in our favor. And it's going to be something we're going to have to deal with it. Part of being a minister or a commander or any other high-ranking government portfolio is awareness that frankly not everything the government does will align with the endgoals of our private fiefdom. Such is life. I honestly think people are overreacting a little, with the whole "BUT THE PRESIDENT WENT CRAZY" and "WE WILL RUIN THE OFFICE IF WE DON'T GET THE THINGS WE WANT". Like, that isn't how civil service works people, chill.
Most of us disapprove of the idea of politicians firing all the management of senior branches of government and appointing their own cronies. Well, the flip side of that is that if the politicians DON'T do that, they have to be able to trust that the civil service will faithfully attempt to execute their lawful orders. Even if said civil servants disagree with those orders, or think they are stupid, the politicians have to be confident that they can turn their back on the bureaucracy they've been elected to lead, without said bureaucrats planting daggers in their back. This is doubly true for a 'civil service' organization with as few checks on its power as Starfleet. Even if Starfleet's own political sympathies lie against N'Gir, and even if the prevailing sentiment among Starfleet officers is that N'Gir is inept or inferior, Starfleet has to remain neutral and avoid interfering in her ability to run her government- including us.
[Unless she turns out to be a literal shapeshifting spy or something, yeah.
]I think that the lack of positive interactions to date is playing a role, yeah. It's like, she's NEVER been nice, she's NEVER shown any sign that she views us as anything other than a rival for power that she has to work with because we have a lot of muscle.
The problem is that it also exposed a Federation official to being turned into a scapegoat by the affiliate species' politicians. And what did N'Gir expect to happen if T'Rinta had been found guilty by the Qloathi- that is, if their consul had succeeded in making this a show trial to deflect responsibility for their own actions? Would we have had to strip her of her command? Throw her in a Qloathi jail?
One thing that's been noted is that the head of Starfleet generally goes to bat for captains to protect them from harshness on the part of the Council. This is very important when we deal with difficult situations far from help. And they can handle those situations as best as they can, without having to worry about getting bludgeoned by civilian authorities for doing the best they can.
If the president started stepping in and overriding that policy on a more regular basis, we would have a serious problem on our hands, and one that would give Starfleet captains a strong incentive to avoid responsibility for anything as momentous as a huge colony dome explosion.
Yes- but it's very alarming wind. Either N'Gir is a blowhard who says things she knows she can't back up (which is likely to cause trouble), or she actually thinks it reasonable to behave as though such a move is appropriate (which is likely to cause even worse trouble, if Starfleet ever turns out not to be invincible).
I honestly don't mind N'Gir enacting policies that make sense in the long-term interests of the Federation. I object when she shows willingness to break down the internal bonds that hold major Federation institutions together, or when she shows profound ignorance of matters she's staked her own political fortunes on (e.g. the Licori War).
To be fair, I think that with N'Gir and the Licori War, you may have given us the president we deserved.
After all, there was a wide consensus in the thread to fight the war, so you could hypothetically have asked yourself: what kind of Federation politician would be as willing to go to war as the 'tougher' people in the thread would? And the answer is, one who's willing to stake a lot of prestige on the idea that the military can squash the Licori quickly and easily. Combine that with N'Gir's background coming from a Federation member world that joined less than ten years ago, and most of the pieces fall into place.I suspect that doesn't work as well in real life.
Also...Leslie:
"Taking my rank insignia off for a minute, and speaking purely as good old Eddie... You're forgetting something important. President N'Gir is a cat-alien who's covered in purple fur. Well okay, not literally purple, at least not by my standards of purple. But still, you get the idea. She's a cat-alien! I have no goddamn clue if she looks tired or not! Neither do most of the Amarki, Andorians, Apiata, Betazoids, Earthlings, Indorians, Rigellians, Tellarites, and Vulcans I know."
