Final Word from Monday, June 16, 2008
It's not really true that Europe didn't have a Plan B for the dreaded "what if" scenario. As soon as the Irish had said No to the Lisbon treaty, Europe went into overdrive and said that the show must go on. The Czechs - at least ODS - also had a Plan B, which they had been working on for months. As soon as Ireland had voted, ODS said that the show can't go on. Europe must halt the ratification process and find a new model, gloated Václav Klaus, and he made the international news in the process. What are normal Czechs to think? First, that ODS has a valid point about when a No vote truly means No. But, second, that ODS was suspiciously quick to throw the EU treaty under the bus. Even EU-phobes might conclude that given the current Czech model of judicial mafias, Čuneks, Němeces, Dalíks, Janoušeks, and Šloufs, a bit more superstate oversight from Brussels might not be such a bad thing.[Czech Republic Jiří Pavel Marek Roman Miroslav European Union reform]
Glossary of difficult words
dreaded - regarded with great fear or apprehension;
overdrive - a state of high or excessive activity;
to gloat - to contemplate or dwell on one's own success or another's misfortune with smugness or malignant pleasure;
to throw someone (or something) under the bus - to sacrifice someone (or something) for personal gain;
Pavel Němec - ex-justice minister;
Marek Dalík - Mirek Topolánek's right-hand man;
Roman Janoušek - Pavel Bém's right-hand man;
Miroslav Šlouf - Miloš Zeman's right-hand man.