In reponse to the article on page 6 of the Rhydin Post, the Governor's Office released the following statement:
I wish to express my dismay at the malicious and inaccurate article which recently appeared in the Rhydin Post regarding Baron Xanth Van Bokkelen's intended hostile takeover of the Rhydin Public Library. As soon as I became aware of the Baron's intentions, I publically made my opposition known " I was not, as the article infers, at all opposed to the Baron's use of the Library as a place of research or to accrue information. My objection was based on the Baron's intentions as expressed in a letter written to the public and utterly ignored by the Post's article.
In that letter, Baron Van Bokkelen wrote, ?"my first official decree is to claim the main building of the Rhydin City Public Library as my own personal domicile. Public services by this facility are immediately suspended. Trespassing or interference of any kind will be punished by MORTAL DEATH."
The Baron, while holding a position of power in his district, does not have the right to simply suspend access to the Rhydin Public Library. His threats of "mortal death? against anyone who might enter the Library are unacceptable and deplorable. In the same letter, he also called his district, and those who live within it, "fetid" and stated that he would have no qualms about "purging" the district and its populace "in a sadistic orgy of fire and blood". "Provoke me," he wrote, "and you will suffer my wrath."
Those threats against the public and the city itself are the reason why I was willing to post members of the Watch at the Library " my intent was to protect the populace and not in any way to bar Baron Van Bokkelen from accessing the Library.
The article in the Post suggests that my intent to post guardsman are the beginnings of "political absolutism' and possibly dictatorial advances on my behalf. Nothing could be further from the truth. I completely recognize and applaud Xanth Van Bokkelen on his achievements in the dueling sports as well as academia - those accomplishments, however, do not entitle him to intimidate others and threaten violence should the populace not bend to his whims and wishes. While the Baron's rights as a citizen of this city do indeed allow for him to receive and utilize a library card, they do not allow him to usurp public buildings, services, or works. They do not allow him to bar public access to a public building. They do not allow him to threaten a large portion of the city's residents without any sort of response from the Watch or myself. For us to ignore his threats would be irresponsible and inconsistent with the message of public safety and security that I've proclaimed throughout my time as Governor.
The Baron was not, as the article states, 'driven out of a public building"; quite the contrary, per the Baron's own written words, he altered his plans of his own volition "in order to keep the peace" which is quite a different stance than his earlier statements of violence and destruction. I applaud the Baron's decision and while I again intimate that he can use the Rhydin Public Library, he must do so according to the same rules and regulations that all citizens must adhere to " Xanth Van Bokkelen's status as Baron does not absolve him from following those conventions. Baron Von Bokkelen is, as are all Rhydin's citizens and visitors, free to enter the library, perform research, and utilize the systems and tools within the library to further their own knowledge and education. If knowledge is power as the author of the Post article writes, then the Rhydin Public Library is a place and institution of profound power. Such an establishment should be accessible by everyone and not solely possessed by or only available to a single individual, especially one threatening death to anyone else who might venture inside.
Matthew Algiers Simon
((For the story/thread in its entirety, go here))
I wish to express my dismay at the malicious and inaccurate article which recently appeared in the Rhydin Post regarding Baron Xanth Van Bokkelen's intended hostile takeover of the Rhydin Public Library. As soon as I became aware of the Baron's intentions, I publically made my opposition known " I was not, as the article infers, at all opposed to the Baron's use of the Library as a place of research or to accrue information. My objection was based on the Baron's intentions as expressed in a letter written to the public and utterly ignored by the Post's article.
In that letter, Baron Van Bokkelen wrote, ?"my first official decree is to claim the main building of the Rhydin City Public Library as my own personal domicile. Public services by this facility are immediately suspended. Trespassing or interference of any kind will be punished by MORTAL DEATH."
The Baron, while holding a position of power in his district, does not have the right to simply suspend access to the Rhydin Public Library. His threats of "mortal death? against anyone who might enter the Library are unacceptable and deplorable. In the same letter, he also called his district, and those who live within it, "fetid" and stated that he would have no qualms about "purging" the district and its populace "in a sadistic orgy of fire and blood". "Provoke me," he wrote, "and you will suffer my wrath."
Those threats against the public and the city itself are the reason why I was willing to post members of the Watch at the Library " my intent was to protect the populace and not in any way to bar Baron Van Bokkelen from accessing the Library.
The article in the Post suggests that my intent to post guardsman are the beginnings of "political absolutism' and possibly dictatorial advances on my behalf. Nothing could be further from the truth. I completely recognize and applaud Xanth Van Bokkelen on his achievements in the dueling sports as well as academia - those accomplishments, however, do not entitle him to intimidate others and threaten violence should the populace not bend to his whims and wishes. While the Baron's rights as a citizen of this city do indeed allow for him to receive and utilize a library card, they do not allow him to usurp public buildings, services, or works. They do not allow him to bar public access to a public building. They do not allow him to threaten a large portion of the city's residents without any sort of response from the Watch or myself. For us to ignore his threats would be irresponsible and inconsistent with the message of public safety and security that I've proclaimed throughout my time as Governor.
The Baron was not, as the article states, 'driven out of a public building"; quite the contrary, per the Baron's own written words, he altered his plans of his own volition "in order to keep the peace" which is quite a different stance than his earlier statements of violence and destruction. I applaud the Baron's decision and while I again intimate that he can use the Rhydin Public Library, he must do so according to the same rules and regulations that all citizens must adhere to " Xanth Van Bokkelen's status as Baron does not absolve him from following those conventions. Baron Von Bokkelen is, as are all Rhydin's citizens and visitors, free to enter the library, perform research, and utilize the systems and tools within the library to further their own knowledge and education. If knowledge is power as the author of the Post article writes, then the Rhydin Public Library is a place and institution of profound power. Such an establishment should be accessible by everyone and not solely possessed by or only available to a single individual, especially one threatening death to anyone else who might venture inside.
Matthew Algiers Simon
((For the story/thread in its entirety, go here))