Final Word from Friday, March 7, 2003
Under the old regime, there were basically two kinds of Communists: Ideologues, who believed the party line, and careerists, who were just in it for the money. The careerists were probably the lesser evil. Most of them, according to former Chair Alena Hromádková of the Democratic Union, left long ago for ODS. Václav Klaus was never a Communist, but some of his critics are trying to taint him for doing a deal with them to get elected. Respekt magazine, for example, called him "Red Václav." In contrast, longtime Klaus adversary Jan Švejnar said in LN that the new president should be given the chance to prove he truly intends to represent all Czechs and do positive things. If Klaus did strike a deal with the Communists, maybe he's doing the CR a favor. Perhaps he'll help turn a few Communist ideologues into capitalist careerists. It'd be a small start.