Final Word from Thursday, November 25, 2010
As of a few minutes ago, about 9,000 people had signed a petition at Zmenpolitiku.cz against the ODS-ČSSD grand coalition in Prague. Some people wishing a "change in politics" might be surprised to see Miroslav Kalousek's smiling face right below the petition, at No. 3 in the webpage's Hall of Fame. Kalousek and a change in politics? Does not compute. True, he was the most vocal critic of the grand coalition after it was announced, labeling it a "godfather coalition of the corrupt cartel," but he did precious little to prevent it from taking shape. He did say the coalition would turn PM Petr Nečas into a tragic figure within ODS, but this was aimed more against Nečas than the coalition (which was already a done deal by then anyway). An interesting future survey question would be whether people think Kalousek secretly wanted the grand coalition in Prague and intentionally did nothing to prevent it.[Czech Republic 4K mafia gangster poll]
Glossary of difficult words
does not compute - a computer error message also meaning "does not make sense";
precious little - extremely little;
to take shape - to assume a distinct form; to develop into something definite or tangible;
done deal - a plan or project that has been finalized.