Death by blogging
Blogs are becoming a popular way to commit political suicide. First it was Robert Pelikán, whose blogs about Miroslav Kalousek's light fingers cost him his nomination to the ČTÚ board. Next came Roman Joch, who was sacked yesterday as Petr Nečas's human-rights adviser for suggesting that Václav Klaus is a whining, Kremlophilic crybaby. Cardinal Dominik Duka stated in his radio blog that the country's politicians are not living up to the ideals set forth by St. Wenceslas. In a letter to Václav Klaus, Duka said that we should honor state institutions even if we don't accept individual representatives of the state. Both Pelikán and Joch abided by this credo, even if their language was harsh. The question is whether a government servant who honors the ideals of St. Václav should be put to political death for disparaging a namesake of the saint or other state official who does not. The answer is no longer so clear.
Glossary of difficult words
light fingers - prone to steal;to whine - to complain in an unpleasant or high-pitched tone of voice;
Kremlophilic - Kremlin-loving;
crybaby - a person, esp. a child, who sheds tears frequently or readily;
St. Wenceslav/Václav - considered the founder of the Czech state;
to abide by - to accept or act in accordance with;
credo - a statement of beliefs that guide someone's actions;
to disparage - to denigrate, make light of;
namesake - a person or thing that has the same name as another.