Final Word from Monday, October 10, 2011
Karel Janeček of the Endowment Fund against Corruption toldPatria that Václav Klaus has had an extremely negativeimpact on the welfare of the country by sanctioning corruptionin the 1990s, making light of it and covering up theft tothis day. We went so far last year as to call Klaus the "corruptionfacilitator in chief," but we see a new trend emerging.Harsh critics of Klaus, like Janeček (on TV Prima), Jiří Pehe ofCESTA (on ČT24) and Jan Macháček (of Respekt), risk becoming"corruption apologists." They are willing to take at facevalue the claims of people like Andrej Babiš, Tomáš Chrenek,Zdeněk Bakala and Petr Kellner that they want to do somethingabout corruption in the country. Before believing thesebusinessmen, shouldn't anyone truly concerned about thewelfare of the country first demand that they at least halt alltheir ongoing questionable deals? If such moral authorities asJaneček, Pehe and Macháček don't demand this, they risk lookingvery much like the very Klaus they so harshly criticize.
Glossary of difficult words
apologist - a person who offers an argument in defense of something controversial;
to sanction - to give official permission or approval for an action;
facilitator - someone who makes an action easy or easier;
face value - the superficial appearance or implication of something.