Klaus on trial

Václav Klaus will undergo a modern-day auto-da-fé when he gives his annual New Year's address tomorrow. Domestic and foreign commentators and politicians are poised to pick the speech apart and either praise (unlikely) or condemn (the PC thing to do) his stance on the EU as the CR takes over the rotating presidency. According to the Financial Times, the Czech government plans to restrict Klaus to as few EU-related public appearances as possible during the six-month presidency. Ignoring dissident Klaus (as the pro-Lisbon lobby did when he issued a well-prepared critique of the treaty in MFD on Sat.) only serves to magnify the "democratic deficit" that he is so vocal about exposing. It's not so different from "Unanimity Day" in Zamyatin's anti-utopian novel "We." A few "enemies of happiness" caused a disturbance during the vote for the great dictator, but their votes were disqualified as being no more important than the coughs of sick people listening to a magnificent heroic symphony. Beethoven's ninth, no doubt. [Czech Republic MF Dnes Yevgeny]