Final Word from Thursday, April 2, 2026
At today's war council in Prague about the Strait of Hormuz, Vice PM Karel Havlíček and Foreign Min. Petr Macinka will apparently jostle for the role of Donald Trump's poodle, or at least of U.S. Amb. Nicholas Merrick's. If Tony Blair was "Bush's poodle" for his unwavering support for George W.'s unpopular 2003 invasion of Iraq, either Havlíček or Macinka deserves the new moniker for approving of Trump's Middle East adventure. This presents an opportunity for Petr Fiala, who is still searching for a role for himself in his lonely political afterlife. When Havlíček boasted in early March about great relations with the U.S., Fiala retorted that his government also had excellent ties with America. Yes, but that was when Joe Biden was president, and when the U.S. president didn't threaten to pull out of Nato. There's of course already a U.S. ambassador in Prague, but Merrick only represents Trump's America. Not the other America. Fiala is the perfect person to fill the gap. He can be seen as a sort of shadow U.S. ambassador. [ Czech Republic United States of American ]
Glossary of difficult words
to jostle for - to struggle or compete forcefully for;
poodle - (in this context) a person or organization that is overly willing to obey another;
moniker - name;
afterlife - life after death;
to retort - to say something in answer to a remark, typically in a sharp, angry or witty way.