Beware the Diplomat

I was thinking about diplomacy lately because I think it is often disguised as something that brings peace, but is actually used as a violent weapon. Diplomacy is, I believe, more often than not a power play and not motivated by a desire for true peace. How many times have we as men seen "issues" unresolved in church. It seems as soon as a problem crops up, the diplomat is right there to fix it. For the man this is problematic. The man is used to the line in the sand--"Here I stand." Luther drew the line in the sand. Luther was no compromiser. Yet, unfortunately, not everyone can be a Luther, and so as men we must learn how to defeat the compromiser. Not to win an argument necessarily, but to secure that the argument is carried out between two men and not one man and another man who is just pretending to be male.

I am reminded of my old Bosnian friend methods for dealing with such folks. First, I'll offer a bit of background. My friend, who still remains a good friend, grew up and lived the majority of his adult life under Tito. He then survived much of the war in the Balkans before bugging out to Italy in which he resided for a couple of years prior to coming to America. I don't know if it was his time in such a raucus place as Yugoslavia that made him so people-wise, but whatever ever did it it was magical.

Often as we worked our production jobs at the plant we would come across something on a print for a build that was just humanly impossible to build. This pretty much forced us to having to deal with the engineering dept which was housed in a sort of ivory tower that overlooked the plant floor. If they were to have watched us as we discussed the print details from their perch they may have thought we were two jovial fellows enjoying the masterpiece they'd handed down from the princely tower. My friend would tell me that we "could probably rig it like this" or "do this first and this second" to fix the problem. He was such a compromiser on the floor with me that I was often shocked at his demeanor when up in the tower with the engineers. Sure, they would offer the same suggestions that me and him would discuss on the floor, but he would have none of it. I can still here him saying in his thick Yugoslavian accent, "This is impossible! Bah!" and slamming down the print on the table before walking out. We would often chuckle when we arrived back on the floor because we knew that these guys didn't know how to handle someone who was so hard to control with diplomacy. I really learned a lot from my friend. God I love that man.

The big lesson is that you must never, ever, offer the diplomat any realm of commonality or agreement with you. This is the diplomats foothold and he will use it as a power to either guilt you into submission or simply to confuse your vision of who he is and the control he's trying to wield. So, whatever you do you must constantly pump the bellows and keep the fires hot. The diplomat, because of his feminine tendencies, will not know how to deal with manly, in your face, puffed out chest confrontation and will either concede to your prowess and say "what do you want me to do?" or be so baffled that he simply sits silently. I've seen this happen! When he asks what you want you make a demand that isn't a compromise. You demand his wife and firstborn child. This again forces him into a position where he has to fight like a man (call you an "asshole" tell you to step outside) sit quietly, or offer his wife and firstborn. Again, I've seen this happen! This may sound harsh, and it is, but it has to be because the diplomat is one hell of a shady character. He will use subtlety to manipulate much like a woman will--give you a little and then hit you with a "but I did this..." Whereas the countermeasure is in your face, demanding, and a manly power that is impossible miss. In other words, the countermeasure is the drawing of a line in the sand or the placing of a duracell on the shoulder of a seventies actor like Robert Conrad. The supposed peace-loving-diplomat-manipulator doesn't know how to deal in this realm of overt power. In fact everything he does he does to avoid this place and that is why he must be dragged there.

Anyway, I've gone on too long with this, but I think I've made my point. I cannot stand the feminine male--in myself or anyone else! I'm still eradicating the virus, but I think I'm winning.