Final Word from Tuesday, May 7, 2024
One of the issues in the criminal trial of Donald Trump is whether the U.S. president has unlimited immunity under the Constitution. The publication last month of a new book by journalists Luboš Procházka and Radim Panenka about the "conspiracy" to "sideline" Pres. Miloš Zeman while he was hospitalized in the fall of 2021 raises a similar question, but not about the Czech president. The question is whether the head of a Czech intelligence agency, in this case Michal Koudelka of BIS, can legally conspire to prevent a president from appointing an "undesirable" prime minister, in this case Andrej Babiš. The book "Spiknutí" has been dismissed out of hand by Czech Radio and others, but the substance of the book itself hasn't been challenged. Donald Trump is spending his days in court, but no one has arrested Koudelka, or for that matter Procházka and Panenka. Instead, Koudelka will be promoted tomorrow, which in its own way is an answer to the main question posed by the book. [ Czech Republic president counterintelligence general promotion PM PEtr Fiala ]
Glossary of difficult words
uncontested - used to describe a decision or result which nobody opposes or disagrees with;
to sideline - to remove from the center of activity or attention; to place in a less influential position;
to dismiss - to treat as unworthy of serious consideration;
out of hand - without taking time to think;
for that matter - used to indicate that a subject, though mentioned second, is as relevant as the first.