Final Word from Thursday, December 3, 2009
Backed into a corner about the anti-corruption credentials of a party founded by Miroslav Kalousek, Chair Karel Schwarzenberg of TOP 09 told LN that completely eliminating corruption probably isn't possible, but that his party will try to keep it to a minimum. There's such thing as an acceptable level, he suggested in Týden, but the bounds have been overstepped in the Czech Republic. An acceptable level of corruption? Like the difference between escort services and prostitution? Soft drugs and hard drugs? Horse racing and dog fighting? If there's an acceptable level, perhaps it's time to regulate corruption just like sex, drugs and gambling. A Corruption Regulatory Office could be set up, and licenses for engaging in acceptable levels of corruption could be issued. Every company could have its own Chief Corruption Officer. Isn't it time to end this silly war on corruption by decriminalizing it?[Lidové noviny]
Glossary of difficult words
to be backed into a corner - to be in a difficult position (often resulting in doing or saying something that was not originally intended);
credentials - qualifications for a position or role;
bound - a territorial limit; boundary;
to decriminalize - to use legislation to stop treating something as illegal (often used when speaking of drugs).