Scuffling on the deck of the Titanic
This commentary will incense all the "truth and loveniks" who are shocked (but also secretly pleased) that Miloš Zeman embraced Vladimir Putin and other Eastern "dictators" during his visit to Sochi. These defenders of human rights and Western values often fail to understand that Russia is part of the West (much as Eastern Orthodoxy is part of Christianity) and that the rising dictatorial tendencies in the post-Soviet area are merely of a different sort from the rising dictatorial tendencies in Western Europe and North America. While we squabble with Russia over human-rights violations and the future of Ukraine and laugh at the yellow water running out of Sochi faucets, China continues to steal our technology and to plot ways to collect the debt we owe it. We're in the same boat as Russia, whether we choose to admit it or not. That boat is the Titanic, and we're merely bickering with Russia over seats on the top deck.
Glossary of difficult words
to scuffle - to engage in a short, confused fight or struggle at close quarters;to incense - to make very angry;
truth and lovenik - (derived in the same way as peacenik) our translation of "Pravdoláskař," which is often used to refer to prominent followers of Václav Havel;
squabble - a noisy quarrel about something petty or trivial;
to bicker - to argue about petty and trivial matters.