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Sunday 1 August 2010

Say It To My Face.

I'm afraid that i'm going to have to get a little political with you all. Well, partially anyway.

This week, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has been in the news because of comments he has made about certain countries & their policies.
Firstly, whilst in Turkey, he compared Gaza to a "prison camp".
Then, whilst in India, he said "We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country (Pakistan) is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world."

Now, what David Cameron said may well be correct, i'm not going to dispute that. My point is about where he actually made the comments in the first place and why he made them where he did.

Why did he talk about Israel/Gaza whilst in Turkey & about Pakistan whilst in India?
It seems obvious to me & many others, that it was done purely to please the people he was talking to at the time.
I wonder whether David Cameron would have made those same remarks if he had been in Israel, or Pakistan respectively? I doubt it somehow.
And that is the main point of this post and it applies in both diplomacy and in personal life too.

If you have something important to say about somebody, whether that be a country, or an individual. At least have the decency and the courage, to say it to that persons face. Don't just say something to please the person that you are talking to. Say it to the people that it concerns & to the people who you are actually talking about.
If you do, i will have far greater respect for you.
Say it to my face, or don't say it at all.

6 comments:

  1. You talkin' about me? I don't see anybody else here, you must be talkin' about me!

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  2. Who was it who said "The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about"?
    Are you feeling left out Ken? :)

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  3. I completely agree. It seems so simple - yet some people find it so very difficult.

    I've found that sort of political double-speak even at the local level, with politicians so eager to please that they play their own constituents against one another. Just looking an individual in the eye seems to be a challenge. I've spoken with some local politicos at various gatherings and shaken their hands, while all the while their eyes are scanning the room, looking for bigger fish. What a difference it makes, however perfunctory in the final analysis, when they actually do look you in the eye.

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  4. Rich: Politicians are always very clever at saying exactly what they think the people want to hear. That's why they all have media advisers etc. They will never say anything unless it's been approved, or vetted.
    Oh, cynical me ;)

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