Final Word from Thursday, April 26, 2012
The criminal elite who stole their wealth and used it to take a
place atop society have a disadvantage when it comes to the
press and the public: They suffer from the presumption of guilt.
When the press accuses them unjustly of something, no one
makes a big deal out of it, because we all assume they're guilty
of something else anyway. When MFD wrote yesterday that the
wife of little ODS godfather Pavel Dlouhý received suspicious
payments from a fishery, no one (including MFD) worried much
about the facts. Jan Macháček of Respekt even said the couple
should be arrested on the spot. But then today MFD provided
additional information suggesting that Dlouhý was not so dumb
after all as to direct illegal payments into his own wife's bank
account. Everything was aboveboard, he said, and technically it
probably was. But we all know he's guilty of something else
anyway. And he knows we know it, so he won't file a libel case,
because that would merely call more unwanted attention to his
completely legal financial transactions.[Czech Republic kmotříček kmotr MF Dnes Jana Dlouhá]
Glossary of difficult words
to make a big deal out of something - to treat as something important; to cause a commotion over something;
on the spot - without any delay; immediately;
aboveboard - legitimate, honest and open.