Final Word from Tuesday, July 27, 2010
It's flirting with disaster for the "new" face of ČSSD to be ... Michal Hašek. He'll be challenging Bohuslav Sobotka for the top party post and seems to have the upper hand so far. As governor of Southern Moravia, he hasn't been vetted by the national public as much as Sobotka, but the two share similar traits. They're both young, unexciting and tools of businessmen. Hašek has come under attack for teaming up with Jaromír Soukup, whom Jiří Paroubek called a "political bigamist" for taking the side of both ČSSD and VV in the recent elections, and with ex-ČSSD campaign manager Jaroslav Tvrdík. Sobotka rarely misses a chance to accuse Hašek of guilt by association. Hašek denies working with Tvrdík but otherwise hasn't hit back at Sobotka in this respect, and he might not need to. Vít Bárta of VV laid into Sobotka on ČT24 last night for his ties to lobbyist Radek Pokorný. Bárta said Pokorný operates in the grey zone that is responsible for much of the bad in politics today. Sounds like something Soukup might tell him to say.[Czech Republic Czech Television Pokorný Wagner a spol. Médea]
Glossary of difficult words
to flirt with - to deliberately expose oneself (to danger or difficulty);
to have the upper hand - to have an advantage over someone or something;
to vet - to make careful and critical examination of something;
trait - a distinguishing quality or characteristic;
guilt by association - guilt ascribed to someone not because of any evidence but because of his or her association with an offender;
to lay into someone - to attack violently with words or blows.