Grand coalition + 1

Václav Havel used a recent TV appearance to criticize the meaningless expressions used in politics. "At this time..." and "I'm able to imagine..." are two of those in vogue with politicians who don't want to commit to anything. Václav Klaus prefers statements of apparent profundity over such simple ambiguity. Instead of saying he "can't imagine a grand coalition at this time," he says, "If I wanted by chance to say my preference is a grand coalition, I'd certainly do it, but it isn't so." Some media outlets fell for this and ran headlines saying, "Klaus rejected a grand coalition." A careful reading, though, shows he didn't reject anything. At most, what he said is that a grand coalition isn't his top choice. It'd be so Havelian (colorful and to the point) if Klaus just came right out and said he prefers that ODS, ČSSD and KDU toss the Greens like bad spinach and agree on a grand coalition plus one. [Czech Republic KDU-ČSL Czech Television Václav Moravec broad coalition ODS-ČSSD-KDU]