Mongol Swede

I'm going to keep this short and simple, in the spirit of this glorious holiday. It's been seven years of fantastic ups and gruesome downs for the Libertarian Socialist Federation. We've seen friends come and go. We've fought the good fight. Kept the beacon burning for our Leftist comrades in the darkest hours. And in such times we've come to appreciate each other as comrades and our resolve to hang our banner high for the working class. May Day isn't just our day, of course. We invite all to celebrate. The Elesef sure knows it's been a fun day. Here's to the last lucky seven years, and here's to another freakin' eternity of Black Flags Forever!

Would that be the kind of parade which involves black flags, masks, bullets, kettling, beat-downs and suicide by cop? Or to put it in more CN-friendly terms, complete and total obliteration of one's lands at the behest of that principled stand? Because that's the sacrifice I made, just as you did a long, long time ago when there wasn't even a CPCN to speak of, even in hushed tones. Regardless, the LSF, no matter how you diminish its role, always put itself in that very parade, at the behest of its allies, no matter where, no matter when. And that's no lie. Don't make this personal. INT attacked an ally. We responded, as we always have, by defending that ally. Maybe your time on the global stage, with the big red phones sitting on your desk, have made you cynical to that historical principle. But you need only take the time to check the history. And believe it or not, there is a place for the Left to move forward again, Cata. Rigas. But we've got a defense to prosecute.

You sure like to leave out the key details of that story. A trade partner is easily replaced. This individual also happened to be a comrade, and I about drove myself crazy trying to work out an alternative, peaceful solution that would've more than replaced any material losses incurred by INT and, later on, my own alliance. Instead I had to contend with INT's will to dominate and the naive nature of my own alliance (which was no longer pink and thus forfeited its claims to Pink politics). In fact, I'd say I was the only one with the courage to take on the challenges no matter the odds. And I'm pretty sure I didn't see you switch over to LSF when the call to take on NoR was issued by the LSF and eagerly encouraged by INT's own GenCom. But I sure did, and lost a five-year-old nation as a result. But not you. Not INT. In fact, it was non-Leftists who once again took up the call courageously, just like all those years ago when the Byzantine Empire, of all of LSF's allies, was the one who stood by us. The folks who make up Shangri-la have more claim to courage than the bulk of the Left in most recent memory. My integrity is in my scars, old top. Yours is muddled in tech deals and twisted treaty language.

What is the point of this machismo posturing? For what worse way could your alliance be destroyed, than by its ruin at the hands of its own corruption? Though we were soundly defeated in the field by the one alliance you once also claimed as a mortal enemy, our resurgence and commitment as an alliance is unscathed. Yet we both know that much of your alliance was built on a premise of being sheltered by great pillars of power that now find themselves besieged on all sides, their ruin imminent. In the end, what is true in the International is what will remain in the wake of this great crucible, and what is false will scatter like roaches.

Don't get me wrong, the path that INT has taken was well-deserving of the words hurled against it. And it certainly caused quite a lot of grief, pixel-ruin notwithstanding. But the chosen degree of involvement Die Linke has in this war is defense of our allies. The goal is not the destruction of INT or ODN, but merely an end to the aggression against NATO in a manner that satisfies NATO. Your alliance's destruction will not be because we desire revenge but because we desire Justice. Justice for our friends in NATO. As for our own Justice, that is a seperate matter not relevant to our involvement in this war, but to the matter as to why Die Linke was forged. To blaze a new path rooted in the traditions of the Left. To show the error of your covetousness of power. Although the true destruction of INT will be how its covetousness made itself a blight before the world, hitching its wagon to a train of desperation in selling its soul. Not LSF bloodlust.

There's nothing new happening here. We are honoring our treaties by defending NATO. Not just from you, but from ODN, as well. The LSF, now Die Linke, maintains its historical precedence after over six years of doing just that. INT took us for granted, and spat upon UCR as mere 'micros', whereas the LSF understands that comrade really means 'friend', and began the work of building true solidarity. UCR and the LSF are not mere treaty partners, but are now one and the same. Something that, again, INT took for granted of the Black Guards. Nothing personal here, ultimately. But the LSF fights for its true comrades, and learns to swiftly cast aside that which is false in our eyes, in our hearts.

Your heart's in the right place, old friend. But too damn bad you had to go and prove what a coward you really are. Too afraid to do the heavy lifting of rebuilding a ruined alliance. Too easily given over to put the principles you try to skewer me with now well after desperately seeking corrupting power to save the very Left you forsook, thinking only of pixels rather than earning the solidarity that defies all calculations. God's got nothing to do with this, but it's plain to see you've made a covenant with the very ideas you bloodied your former nations in war against. You may spit and curse our name thinking yourselves our comrades that Die Linke is "aiding the imperialists against", but it's clear now that The International is in its death throes, thrashing out at anything it can sink its claws into in its desperate bid to cling to its share of the spoils it covets. This isn't about being holier, friend. This is the dichotomy of permanent revolution versus Leftism-in-one-alliance running its course. You chose to follow the road we traveled together back to the same old ways, begun in the days of Babylon.

This is about the Left, which you resolutely turned your back on a long time ago, clinging to your beloved new comrades in pawn-shuffling power blocs that would have had you abusing our honorbound oath to you to reduce the oldest Left alliance to yet another mere pawn. INT made its choice, and defiled our traditions, trading integrity for coin. And while we may share a common cause with Equilibrium, in the end, we are doing what we've always done, by honoring our treaty with NATO. And now, after months of discussion and years of building camaraderie, we have joined our banner with UCR's, to build the kind of unity that the high-and-mighty International refused to consider unless it was only under its own sole dominion.

Glad to see you recognize the union of our membership, and the mutual responsibilities our two member-alliances are committed to. See, this is something we could scarcely get out of our false comrades of INT, yet your esteemed membership was not above calling upon the Black Guards to cover the flank, a request we eagerly acquiesced to without hesitation, in your own Babylonian adventures. Keep your eyes on Die Linke. You might just learn something.

Fellow denizens of the Federation, embarking upon our war of defense in the name of NATO against the imperialist bloc of C&G, and most notably, their lapdogs of the International, I ask you to consider a broader scope of this bloody conflict, one that has played out before in the history of the Left. An ideological struggle that defines our identity more clearly than any words uttered cheaply from the safety of our virtual bunkers of Digiterra, of Bob. Consider how, in our long history as a Federation, we have established the firmness of our character, the resolve of our conviction, and the strengthof our integrity. Consider how this has culminated in establishing in our identity the truth behind our pledges of solidarity. Never broken, always true to our comrades and allies, even in the face of utter oblivion. Along with our esteemed comrades in the Union of Communist Republics who, though they have taken more to the application of the iron fist in their own way, have proven their honor as faithful allies and true comrades, we have built an ideology, rooted first and foremost in its uncompromising commitment to Solidarity, and practiced over several years without breaking faith. It is strong and it is proven, despite the material setbacks we have endured, we find that the world has a way of vindicating those who live with the ways we have cultivated ourselves as a community. We see, in contrast, the ways of the International. The ways of Empire. Pixel-hugging, treaty breaking, solidarity from afar, quietly,passively, if even at all. And indeed, you'd be hard-pressed to find any such examples in their recent history. I can scarcely see one in the last year, for certain. The ways of Babylon are rampant in their lands. And after all of their scheming and plotting, what do they have to show for it? Their fate is enjoined with others like them, failing to learn from history, wallowing in Babylonian filth and corruption like a pig in slop. Yet even a pig is aware of her surroundings, and can sense the inevitable approach of its demise. The International, in forsaking Solidarity and embracing Order, has brought down a fierce hammer upon its withered brow. Its ruin is nigh. Its fate, sealed. The world has decided, that the forces that empowered these decadent Gomorrahnean wretches who desperately clung to the shaky and unstable powers of Order have to be balanced out of the equation. To restore peace, through Solidarity. Through Justice. Through Equilibrium. The LSF and the UCR, joined together, will realize this in defining the Left as a sphere of integrity, courage, and honor. For this is the true essence of Solidarity. May Die Linke never falter, with Solidarity our watchword.

You're a little jumpy. I guess the fallout has taken its toll. No, I wouldn't call it much of a dislike. I can't say that I really hate anybody in this entire world. I just don't have fond feelings for you or INT, much as it pains me to say it. Some folks like Rigas, Q, Gelibolu and others that call INT home I still respect quite a bit. But INT made its choices, and here they are, with no Black Guards to cover the flank. A simple truth.

One of the proud Comrades who took up your alliance's banner on a cold January morning a few years back. So I'd wager it's safe to say I have a fair bit of experience watching the backs of your comrades when you came along and made sure the backs of mine were left wide open. Your Kronstadt is preceded by my Andalucia and Catalonia. Hope all that treaty scheming was worth it.

Babylon reaps what it sows. No Black Guards to caballero upon to shield your pixels this time.