Final Word from Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Americans are gaining a new president today, and many of them are brimming with expectations. Americans in Prague are losing their ambassador today, and some of them are wondering what an Obama appointee will bring. Unlike their Democratic predecessors, the last three ambassadors (Richard Graber, William Cabaniss, Craig Stapleton) were widely praised for their positive approach to business. (Two of them also had the blight of the radar, which most Americans in the CR oppose, but that wasn't seen as their fault.) Prague is a plum ambassadorial post for a political appointee, and the job could easily go to one of Barack Obama's long-time backers from Chicago. That city is also a center of Czech immigration. Perhaps the best of both worlds would be if Obama found a businessperson with ties to the Czech diaspora who is well-equipped to promote both business and Czech culture.[Czech Republic Illinois United States of America]
Glossary of difficult words
to brim with something - to be possessed by or to be full of feelings or thoughts;
blight - a thing that spoils or damages;
plum - excellent, marvelous;
the best of both worlds - the benefits of differing situations enjoyed at the same time;
diaspora - the dispersion of a people from its homeland.