Final Word from Friday, November 6, 2009
With so many disruptive events in Czech society, it's difficult to know whom to listen to anymore. Do we lend an ear to the temporary semi-puppet PM, or the teetering party chairmen who installed him? Like it or not, a few people need to be taken deadly seriously, such as Václav Klaus, Chief Justice Pavel Rychetský, Gov. Zdeněk Tůma, Energy Envoy Václav Bartuška and ČEZ CEO Martin Roman. Most other politicians and opinion leaders fall into the good-to-know category: What they say today can be determinative but might change tomorrow. The fastest-growing category is of people who have lost all credibility. It's hard to imagine anything meaningful escaping from the lips of Supreme Court Justice Pavel Kučera, Chief Prosecutor Renata Vesecká, ex-Justice Minister Pavel Němec, ex-Pilsen Vice Law Dean Milan Kindl or MP Marek Benda, to name a few. Listening to Britney Spears is a better use of time.[Czech Republic Czech National Bank president Constitutional Court]
Glossary of difficult words
disruptive - causing or tending to cause disruption or disorder;
to lend an ear to - to listen to;
semi-puppet premier - Jan Fischer (partly under the control of the political parties);
teetering - unsteady or unstable (in their positions); true, Topolánek's position is currently more unstable than Paroubek's;
determinative - serving to define, qualify or direct (the course of events, in this case);
Britney Spears - a rather shallow singer (in case you didn't know).