Sobotka's retreat

If Miloš Zeman is Napoleon the Pig from George Orwell's Animal Farm, as we wrote on July 24, who is Bohuslav Sobotka? He comes closest to Snowball, the young pig whose plans for a bright future for the farm after the liberation from the debauched Nečas-like Farmer Jones are urinated upon by the power-hungry Napoleon. Like Snowball, who teaches the other animals to read and write, Sobotka is eagerly giving his party lessons in democracy and self-determination. Yet every time he makes a valid point about the dangers of acquiescing to authoritarian rule, he is drowned out by the sheep who have gathered around Zeman. Squealer the Pig, aka Michal Hašek, explains to the other animals that if they don't accept the estate's new leadership, bad old Farmer Jones will return. Sobotka, never one to last long in a direct confrontation, finally retreats across the fence as Zeman's killer dogs start nipping at his heels.