Final Word from Wednesday, May 30, 2012
One of the first things a sly lawyer or tax adviser asks a
businessman who wants a new tax structure is whether he trusts
his wife. If there's trust in the marital relationship, it opens up
more doors for "diverting" money away from the tax authorities.
Alas, ex-Industry Minister Martin Kocourek didn't trust his wife
and decided to cheat on her, financially speaking. When she
learned of his nest egg in New Mexico, she got all huffy and
turned to the police. Now he risks going to prison for this little
dalliance. In comparison, Kocourek's political party, ODS, is the
epitome of calm. Its leadership said yesterday that the charges
against him are a personal matter, not political, so he can stay in
ODS. Of course we all know the real source of the money was
Kocourek's political activity. If ODS is so calm, it must mean that
Kocourek was truer to it - and gave it its fair share - than he was
to his own wife. What a chauvinist![Czech Republic diversion financial transaction)
Glossary of difficult words
sly - having or showing a cunning or deceitful manner; tricky, scheming;
to divert - to cause someone or something to change course or turn from one direction to the other (this is the word - in Czech - that Kocourek used to explain his financial transaction);
nest egg - a sum of money saved for the future;
to get huffy - to respond to something in an irritable or annoyed way;
dalliance - a casual romantic or sexual relationship; brief or casual involvement with something;
epitome - a perfect example of something;
to be true to someone - to be loyal or faithful;
chauvinist - (in this context) a sexist man.