Little Pirates in a room of grown-ups

The Pirates have been lashing out at ODS in all directions since PM Petr Fiala kicked their chairman, Ivan Bartoš, out of the government. Fiala is run by godfathers, Finance Min. Zbyněk Stanjura makes 90% of the cabinet's decisions, the budget is a Potemkin village - say the Pirates. They went into high-level politics as rank amateurs and got steamrolled by STAN and its underhanded use of preference voters, by Fiala's violation of the coalition agreement and by Pres. Petr Pavel's refusal to act as the guardian of that agreement. Ex-PM Petr Pithart wrote in his regular column in Právo on Sat. that the Pirates behaved like children when they got circled out by STAN and that we should fear such professional idealists. In politics, Pithart said, you have to be ready for everything, including dirty tricks, secret agreements and intrigue. So true, but the traditionalists in ODS should also remember that in the 21st century, it's often the ornery children who end up dictating what the grown-ups get to do.