Final Word from Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Integrating criminals back into society is an admirable goal, but how many EU prime ministers have taken it as far as Bohuslav Sobotka by hiring a convicted felon (Karel Březina) as an assistant? How many EU prime ministers have defended their favorite convicted felon when he's been publicly accused of yet another crime (buying off a judge)? How many other EU prime ministers risk being the target of a greenmail attempt regarding a privatization he or she oversaw a decade ago? How many other EU prime ministers are in the middle of a refugee-housing summer scandal made possible by that same privatization giveaway? How many other EU prime ministers make extra cash on the side by moonlighting for a billionaire? (Okay, several, but you get the point.) How many other EU prime ministers are accused of this on live TV by one of their own ministers? How lucky are Czechs to have such a unique prime minister? [Czech Republic PPF European Union NWR OKD]
Glossary of difficult words
felon - a person who has been convicted of a felony (a serious crime);
to buy someone off - to procure the loyalty and support of someone by bribery;
greenmail - the practice of buying enough shares in a company to threaten a takeover, forcing the owners to buy them back at a higher price to retain control;
giveaway - a thing that is given free;
to moonlight - to have a second job in addition to one's regular employment.