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By Joe Carbonari
Generally speaking, it does not serve to advance your cause by bad-mouthing your adversary. Better to give him his due, then give him his warning. Clearly and simply with no specifics, with only an end in mind. In the case of Obama and Putin that means lining up world leaders, both East and West, to go on record as reminding Putin that while we must deal with him because of the way he is over-using the threat of death, or its reality, in his neighborhood we will limit the nature and extent of our dealings with him and his closest supporters. Good people, good money, and good ideas will avoid him, and them, like the plague. If however, he were to find areas of cooperation with us, and to contain his efforts to reconstruct Russia, we all would be more likely to do business with him and to treat him with respect. Most importantly, he must know that we will fight, but that he will not know the why, the when, or the where until we strike. We must show him the path, and the consequences – he must decide. His choice, unless, of course, his people were to become so disenchanted with him that they were to throw him out. Time will tell. If we treat our adversaries as if they are our friends, we will get more done. |
By Tim Baldwin
Tone of conversation is important to convey ideas. Tone involves using the right words and delivery to portray the right message. This is, at times, a hard tool to use because bias, motive or affiliation gets in the way. If the wrong tone is used, the intended audience will not listen and thus the message suffers. What good then is the message? The Apostle Paul had something to say about this too. He said, to spread the gospel, “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Cor. 9:22). Admittedly, not all will listen even when the tone is correct. But think of how fewer “converts” you will reach if you use the wrong tone. In today’s society, with instant media information, using correct tone is even harder and requires more skill. Unfortunately, some people too eagerly condemn politicians as “double speaking” because they use different tones for different audiences. But they are not the same thing, and citizens should be mindful of this. Be careful: if you care about spreading right ideas, you must use the right tone. Otherwise, I expect you will “by all means save no one.” |