Final Word from Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Miloš Zeman can be so patronizing that when the occasion arises to turn the tables, it's hard to resist. Zeman told Reflex magazine that he doesn't want anything from anyone and is therefore able to say what he thinks without using Orwellian doublethink. This, he explained didactically, is thinking one way in public and another at home. Well, actually, with all due respect, Orwell defined doublethink as "the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them; to tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them." When Zeman says he isn't after any political post, there are three possibilities. It could be straight talk; it could be doublethink (both true and untrue at the same time); or, more likely, it could be doublespeak. This isn't Orwellian; it's just plain deceitful use of words to confuse and mislead. You know, what politicians were doing long before 1984.[Czech Republic George presidential elections]