Final Word from Wednesday, November 25, 2015
States of emergency, martial law and other forms of government suppression are coming to Europe. The Czechs are slower than some to return to the kind of police state that they lived under for decades, but Milan Chovanec is leading the charge by trying to criminalize fake gallows meant for the very politicians who themselves violate the law or Constitution. The bigger extremists, as we suggested last week, are often the politicians who created the world's problems and now use their own past failures to justify a clampdown. The journalists, analysts and intellectuals who cheer them on need to be recognized for their contribution to bringing authoritarianism back to Europe. Pres. Miloš Zeman could start awarding the Order of the Police State. Some would be proud to receive it; others, such as the commentators of Bakala's "Humanitární noviny," would be delighted to be able to deny their obvious complicity by boycotting the ceremony. [Czech Republic interior minister Hospodářské noviny HN Zdeněk]
Glossary of difficult words
order - a group of people upon whom a government or sovereign has formally conferred honor for unusual service or merit, entitling them to wear a special insignia;
to lead the charge - to be at the forefront; to head the field;
clampdown - a severe or concerted attempt to suppress something;
to cheer someone on - to encourage, motivate or inspire someone;
complicity - the state of being involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing.