This is my perception of the whole situation as it currently stands:
I honestly think that Roden has been complicit in terms of the attack on Colelie. I wouldn't be surprised if, as the 'Matari unrest' continues and acts of terrorism increase, Roden will attempt to enact an emergency act that keeps him in power either by suppressing who is allowed to vote in the upcoming election or effectively placing the election on hold till the 'problem' is dealt with. Given that Blaque and his Eagles will need support from high up to continue to exist as a 'Home Security Directive' I wouldn't be surprised if he's not giving Roden aid in staying in power...a more moderate President would likely look at the Black Eagles with a much more keen eye and I don't think the organization or Blaque could survive an audit of their activities.
As a side note, despite the couple of events that have painted the Republic as being reckless and incompetent, I still get the feeling that for some reason the Federation is New Eden's red-headed step-child. Everyone takes shots at the Federation, specifically the Gallente. This leads me to speculate that the Federation is likely to cease to exist as a democratic and nominally tolerant nation. Why? I just have the feeling that with the way current events are shaping up, the following could quite likely happen:
- Roden wins the next election (or the election doesn't happen, see above as to why)
- The Republic, faced with the 'cries of help from the oppressed Matari within Federation space' launch a serious and competent attack on the Federation to liberate these oppressed people
- Depending on what happens with Caldari/Federation relations, I could easily see the Caldari taking such an attack as the opportunity to solidify and further take control of Caldari Prime itself
- The Amarr...this really depends on a couple of things really...either they will take the opportunity to launch a Reclaiming against the Republic or ignore the Republic and seek to punish the Federation given how heathen and decadent the Gallente are
I realize that conflict is important to story and game...however, the fact that it appears that anyone and everyone has free reign to piss on the Federation without fear of retaliation is bothersome to me. Yes, we were able to defend ourselves at Colelie, but the fact that it happened in the first place and that absolutely nothing has come up high in response to the invasion kind of breaks the reality of the setting, in my opinion. Even if there were backroom deals done, it isn't realistic that the Senate hasn't said a word in two-three months. I realize there may have been OOC reasons for the lack of response, but from an IC perspective, it shows the Federation has no spine and we'll just allow anyone to come into our yard and bully us around.
All of these things have actually been nagging me for some time now and making me second guess not only the ideas I have for Steffanie, the Order, but also make me wonder if I would have been better off playing a Caldari...cause apparently they seem to be the chosen ones at the moment (yes, I realize that you guys got the shaft with the whole Heth thing, but just coming in as a recent player, it does seem that the Caldari can do no wrong, the Amarr are tolerated, the Minmatar are...well, there are mixed signals I get with the Minnie, while Federation is the runt of the litter and therefore deserving of all the bad stuff). I have had fun playing Steffanie, and will continue to do so; it just gets very tiresome. Conflict can lead to great development and stuff, but at the moment it just feels a bit too much and given my personality, I'm more likely to just want to go hide somewhere and pretend I'm not playing a Gallente character.
Again, I'm not trying to belittle the hardships other groups have gone through...I understand that Amarr have had issues due to both 'religious zealots' and 'here come the slavers' and lately the Minmatar have been thrown under the bus due to the apparent lack of competence shown by their leaders. I'm just expressing my feelings at what I'm seeing and experiencing as player who started 3 months ago.
With all that said, I would like to see CONCORD grow a set of balls and actually take to task those who have abused the treaty (or just outright ignored it). As it stands, CONCORD seems to be more like the League of Nations...a lot of bark but no bite.