Another scandal in Bohemia

In the same week that George W. Bush published his "Decision Points," Czechs were asked to decide on the credibility of Bush's second ambassador to Prague, William Cabaniss. Even with the baggage that any representative of the Bush White House carries with him (Iraq, missile defense, etc.), Cabaniss easily won the first round of the media battle with Martin Barták. The second round began today, with CEO Petr Ptáček of Praga-Export telling Právo that Cabaniss and Ronald Adams of Tatra are "liars" who made their accusation against Barták for fear of being charged themselves with corruption. Cabaniss is also facing mounting suspicions that this scandal was timed to help Alexandr Vondra win his spitting match with Miroslav Kalousek. No one will come out of this smelling of roses, but Barták's departure on unpaid leave will cause most onlookers to rate this a better-than-average scandal so far.