Final Word from Monday, March 29, 2010
Of all the stereotypes that have been hurled at Jews over the years, blinking under pressure isn't one that normally comes to mind. In fact, it's hard to think of a single good Jewish joke that relies on such a stereotype for the punch line. Yet PM Jan Fischer took great offense when Mirek Topolánek suggested that there is a link between Fischer's caving in under pressure and his religion. Topolánek has now gone on the counteroffensive. All he actually wanted to say, he told Právo, is that Fischer is a bad, weak prime minister. According to Topolánek, Fischer abused the situation in the media to label him anti-Semitic and homophobic (because of a related comment about Transport Minister Gustav Slamečka). If Topolánek is a racist, it's a sort-of reverse racism: He said that Fischer doesn't fit the positive stereotypes sometimes associated with Jews. In other words, a Jew should normally make a better PM.[Czech Republic homosexual Jewish homophobia]
Glossary of difficult words
to hurl - to utter (abuse);
to blink - to back down from a confrontation;
punch line - the final phrase of a joke or a story, providing the humor or some other crucial element;
to cave in - to yield, surrender, back down;
counteroffensive - at attack made in response to one from an enemy, typically on a large scale or for a prolonged period.