Final Word from Thursday, January 16, 2014
If we apply the laws of thermodynamics to the hot air escaping from the Castle and its permanent or temporary remote outposts (Lány, Jáchymov, etc.), we might conclude that Miloš Zeman's heated comments about the incompetence of the budding coalition government are his way of compensating for the tepid resistance of Bohuslav Sobotka. If Miroslav Kalousek or Andrej Babiš were the candidate for PM, Zeman's efforts to inflate his own authority would be met by a more substantial countervailing force, and there would be greater thermodynamic equilibrium. Zeman attacks weakness, and with Sobotka, he always knows that any show of resistance is an unnatural state. If handled correctly, the resistance can be penetrated over time. It's theoretically the Constitution that prevents Zeman from doing this sooner, but what is written in it is less important than the way the people perceive it at a given moment. For now, they see it the way Sobotka does, not because Sobotka emits strength, but because the hot air from the Castle has such a bad odor. [Czech Republic president prime minister TOP 09 ANO]
Glossary of difficult words
hot air - empty talk that is intended to impress;
remote outpost - a settlement, station or temporary headquarters away from the main location;
budding - taking shape; developing;
tepid - only slightly warm; lukewarm;
countervailing - offsetting the effect of something by countering it with something of equal force;
odor - a distinctive smell, esp. an unpleasant one.