About Havel

One of the first things readers of HN will notice today is Václav Havel's signature with his trademarked red heart. That's how Havel, the guest editor-in-chief for today's edition, signed his meandering front-page preface. The next thing readers will notice is that there's almost no news on the front page. Instead, it's all about Havel. Even the story about Russia's latest anti-democratic steps is mainly about Havel's Weltanschauung. Much of the rest of the paper is the same. It's an interesting approach - a guest editor who publishes a sort-of autobiographical, flower-power edition - and it will undoubtedly raise the kind of discussion HN was hoping for. HN now wants Václav Klaus to take a turn as guest editor. Why not, he dressed up as a homeless person for MFD? But if Klaus wants to score a major political and media coup, he'll put out an issue of HN that makes no mention whatsoever of himself.