The Power of Hope

Welcome back!

Here it is - a month after my last post - and I'm finally back in blogging mode. That is the longest I have taken in between, but life has been incredibly busy!!!

Iranian Hope

The mounting anger in Iran and around the world over the stolen er/...disputed election there is a great example of how powerful hope is. Who would have believed that the Iranian people would dare to challenge the Supreme One, the Revolutionary Guardhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif and the Ayatollahs? It is easy for all of us to fall prey to the one-dimensional stereotype of the Iranian people, as it is with so many of these nations that live under the thumb of totalitarian governments.

Note the power of twittering, blogging and video cell phones in getting the messages out, giving hope to their fellow protesters?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w05_-ZY5ZSI


What should the Obama Administration or other countries - Canada included - do about it? Simply put, keep the pressure on and give hope to those who are risking their lives for democracy. They have to do all this without being so overt as to fall into the classic trap that all outlaw governments love....an external enemy - and having America as part of it really puts the icing on the cake.

Meanwhile it could become that first major test of President Obama's foreign policy that Joe Biden had so helpfully predicted during the campaign. He's already had the other member of the 'Axis of Evil' firing off nuclear warheads so it will be interesting to see if the Prez can handle these pests as well as he took care of that fly during the CNBC interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzgOS8dbF64

Michael Ignatieff...Over-Promising and Under-Delivering

Meanwhile in Canada, the Harper minority government weathered a potential take-down by Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff. Who won the perception battle? In my view, Prime Minister Harper won the showdown. He showed flexiblity in his negotiations with Mr. Ignatieff, without caving in.

The lesson I would take away from that if I were in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition....remember the law of expectations management: under-promise and over-deliver. When Mr. Ignatieff set out the four conditions upon which he would make his decision, he drew a line in the sand. Within hours of his Monday morning news conference he was rapidly erasing that line.

Predicting a Fall 2009 Election

So now where does this leave him? As he managed to negotiate a September 30th Opposition Day to bring down the government, he can't possibly draw another line in the sand. "Oops...okay this time I really really mean it!" Sorry that won't work. So I predict we are facing a September 30th pulling of the plug and a Fall election. The only thing stopping it is if the NDP or the Bloc get cold feet and do a complete back-flip, abandoning their principles in the process.[Of course that's totally unheard of in Canada!]

Father's Day

A belated Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there....and especially to my Dad, J.R.. Although no Dad will ever get a nod from CBC Sunday Morning...this year, in the spirit of recent years, they celebrated Father's Day by barely mentioning it, but devoting a major piece to how millions of women have gone 'missing' over the years. Hey we get that, but how about just a little bit on how important being a Dad is?

On the Road Again....


Last week it was Saskatoon and Toronto. This week it will be Mt. Laurel New Jersey! Life ....and seminars....go on! [Thankfully].

Until next time....remember the Power of Hope!
Barry