Jester wrote a really good article so go check it out first then come back as I feel the need to reply as I have to disagree with some of the conclusions.

Firstly when someone decides to take public office they understand and know they are forever in the spotlight while they are serving in that capacity.

Using Jesters example of Bill Clinton lets not gloss over he was impeached, faced criminal charges and had to make out of court settlements for very large sums and never again held high office.

A mere apology didn’t cut it.

I have no respect for theMittani or Mittens, but I do Alex.  If I take his apology and tweets today on face value which is hard given his other persona’s I have no choice but to have respect for Alex.

He knows himself what he did was reprehensible and there is no excusing it.  Yes smart people make mistakes and they should get a second chance but in leadership positions of responsibility rarely do you get to say sorry and continue as if nothing has happened.  It’s just not accepted.

I mean lets look at CCP Zulu with Incarna, it was a mistake, did he mean it?  would he do it differently? Yes but he still did the right thing and stepped a side so EVE could repair and grow.

Honorable people with self respect, show respect to others and do honorable things.  Alex knows this and it’s why he himself is making the gestures he is.

He certainly should not continue as the CSM chair, but I would like to see him remain in the CSM, while he did get 10,000 votes we must also reflect on the fact 50,000 subscribers didn’t want him to be their representative and even more so now.

As a member of the CSM and as it’s chair when ever he is in public, in front of the media and on camera he is seen by the wider communities inside and outside of eve as representing us, the eve playerbase first and foremost.

The 5 media sites carrying this story don’t say theMattani leader of Goons, they say theMattani CSM Chairman.  That’s the damage, that’s how it’s seen rightly or wrongly.

I think if Alex wants to remain an active part of the CSM he needs to step down as leader of Goons and choose what he wants to do, does he want a role in shaping EVE as we know it and represent the playerbase or does he want to lead Goons and represent them?

I think it’s safe to say he can’t successfully do both.  I think at last years FanFest Alliance Panel we saw a tame Mittani  heavily influenced by Alex because he was taking his CSM role seriously and this year he thought he was untouchable, and had cemented his CSM position… another mistake.

What he did in the Q&A was in violation of his social contract with us the players, the EULA and more then wrong, it wasn’t light hearted and he is just lucky the subject of the ridicule is alright else I dare say he would be at this moment starring down criminal proceedings, he dodged a bullet and so did CCP.

Fact is weather you think of him as your hero or your villain, the role of the CSM and it’s Chair is bigger then one person and must be held to a standard above and beyond the normal joe average as it’s a position of power and carries a lot of weight.

This is no different from the candidate Fon Revedhort, the wheel fell off their campaign when it become quite clear they are racist in the extreme, this is a game but at our core somethings just don’t sit right when the game world and the real world merge for us.  You can overlook things that go against your grain in eve but not when it confronts you in flesh and blood.

The CSM is there to be the voice of the player base and to stop CCP doing stupid shit, and then they do to hold them accountable.  When the CSM or someone on the CSM does stupid shit that brings the player base, CCP and EVE into disrepute the player base is obliged as are the other CSM members to hold that person to account.

We as a brand, CCP as a brand, EVE as a brand has been tarnished and everyone theMittani represents has been tarnished and stained by the same brush.  We must stand up and say no, this is not acceptable and this is not what we stand for.

The only course of action as a minimum is for theMittani to stand down as CSM Chair, stand down as Goons executor and pay his penance by focusing his efforts on improving eve and championing the issue that brought him unstuck.

I also like your idea of banning Goons from next years Fanfest Alliance Panel and I would also ban them from the next Alliance Tournament to send a very clear and strong message that his behavior will not be tolerated.

Again I have more respect for the man Alex today then I did yesterday because unlike the hordes of Goons coming out to blow it off and support their man, he knows right from wrong and he knows it wasn’t acceptable and he knows what needs to happen.

To me that is the image of Alex I will take away from this, a true man can admit to his mistakes and not shy away from them.

I congratulate Alex on having the moral clarity and conviction of purpose and leadership to own up to this error of judgement and show us what the man is made of.