Final Word from Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The next Prague mayor, whoever it may be, will apparently share one major attribute with PM Petr Nečas: He or she won't be the person who is truly in charge. Just as Nečas is hostage on the one side to the Five Families, electrostate and military-industrial complex, as represented by Miroslav Kalousek, and on the other side by spooks and private security contractors, as represented by Vít Bárta, the next Prague mayor will be window dressing for what it is going on at Prague city hall. Voters might like to think that somehow things will improve at "Mafia Square" after the elections, but if national Czech politics are any indication, things will instead get much worse there. So voters can choose whether to be led nominally after the elections by Zdeněk Tůma (TOP 09), Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS), Markéta Reedová (VV) or Jiří Dienstbier Jr. (ČSSD), but they'll really be deciding between the likes of Miroslav Kalousek/Zdeněk Bakala, the extended Pavel Bém gang, Vít Bárta and Miroslav Jansta. Choose your poison, as the saying goes.[Czech Republic Věci veřejné municipal]
Glossary of difficult words
attribute - a quality or feature;
spook - a spy;
window dressing - a skillful but superficial or actually misleading presentation of something, designed to create a favorable impression;
Mafia Square - Mafiánské nam. - a nickname for Prague city hall, which is located on Mariánské nám.;
nominally - in name only;
the likes of - people like;
choose/pick your poison - usually used when offering someone an alcoholic drink; choose the way you prefer to harm yourself.