Актея

A spectacular but failed attempt on your life made national news today. Interrogation of captured suspects has pinned the blame on agents of the nation of ***, with which Rex Ventorum has notoriously chilly relations. Your cabinet is divided as to how to respond.

"Assassins, huh? Well, two can play at that game!" says Argus Caetronianus, Secretary of Homeland Security. "An eye for an eye! A tooth for a tooth! An assassination for a... missed shot, I suppose. Never mind that, think of the possibilities! Not only can we strike back at the scumbags who sent this assassin after you, we can turn our attention to... 'manipulating' the positions of foreign leaders and political rivals that stand in the way of Rex Ventorum's glory." He then points two fingers at the wall and mouths 'bang bang' noises.

"Sending assassins to avenge you isn't enough!" argues Quintus Acilius, Secretary of Defense. "The fact that *** is this bold means we haven't made them fear us yet - and a nation that isn't feared isn't respected. We need to do the only thing we CAN do: bomb their cities! Raise a revolution! Salt their fields! It may cost money, but our nation's honor is priceless."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" says the muffled voice of Daniel Yeats, an anti-violence protestor who was, until now, hiding in your air vents. "By building up our military-industrial complex, WE have become the aggressor. WE are giving nations like *** good reasons to hate us! No wonder they tried to kill you - we aren't giving them enough breathing room. If we cut back our military a bit and sent them a fruit basket now and then these problems would never happen."

Following recent elections in Rex Ventorum where the Equality for Vilified Inmates League won a noticeable percentage of seats, the media have jumped on the issue of whether or not prisoners should be allowed to vote.

"You're not going to listen to that clap-trap I hope", says noted liberal commentator Stefanie du Pont. "Voting is a right that everyone should enjoy, regardless of whether or not they have committed a crime. We already punish those who break our law; restricting one's ability to vote is a punishment totally disproportionate to any crime!"
This is the position your government is preparing to adopt.