Final Word from Thursday, July 3, 2008
"Congratulations," wrote one of our well-informed readers in a good-natured jab at our piece about ČSSD defector Petr Wolf. "You managed to missed the target twice," he said. "First, the U.S. is indeed hypocritical enough to criticize the CR for corruption and at the same time to rely on corrupted MPs to pass the radar, when its national interests and the fight against terror are at stake." "And second," he added, "It was definitely Šlouf and Zeman who turned Wolf, but it was financed by ODS." Respekt pressed Vice PM Alexandr Vondra on the issue of whether he isn't bothered by the idea of relying on defectors suspected of corruption to pass the radar. He danced around the issue and suggested that if ČSSD weren't so autocratic, more of its MPs would vote for the radar. When Condoleezza Rice fields the same question in Prague next week, she'll need only turn to Vondra for her talking points.[Czech Republic missile defense secretary of state prime minister United States Miloš Miroslav human rights report terrorism]
Glossary of difficult words
good-natured - friendly, without malicious intent;
jab - a critical remark;
to turn someone - to cause someone to change sides or camps;
Respekt - this is a paid article on Respekt's web site, so we have provided an alternate link;
to dance around an issue - to touch on an issue without directly or fully addressing it;
talking points - ideas that may or may not be factual that are used to steer discussion in the desired direction.