Grumpy old men and little girls

Václav Klaus's grumpy reference on Fri. to Karolína Peake as a "little girl" who could not win the respect of soldiers can easily be written off as a swipe at someone who orchestrated the sacking of his second-favorite transport minister, Pavel Dobeš. (Second-favorite, because Klaus was an even bigger fan of Vít Bárta's.) Perhaps there is nothing more to it than that. Or perhaps Klaus feels there is still time before March 7, when his term expires, to bring down the Nečas government and install one that is more to his liking. Klaus has said that so many ministerial resignations in a row do not help the image of the country, but there is still one he would apparently be happy to receive - Petr Nečas's. Ironically, one of the few imaginable ways to bring this about in the limited time left is for Klaus to offer the top cabinet spot to that very ambitious "little girl." Unlikely, but stranger things have happened in Czech politics.