Final Word from Tuesday, January 29, 2008
ODS Chair Mirek Topolánek seems to have struck a deal with Václav Klaus; the Christian Democrats (KDU) are being bought off with a Kč 270bn church-restitution deal; and a few ČSSD free agents are being recruited by ODS. To reelect Klaus, that just leaves the Communists. They'll draw out the elections to boost their value, but in the end their votes for Klaus will apparently come down to a trade-off between short-term political expedience and long-term political strategy. If they stood firm against Klaus, they could destabilize ODS and increase their viability in the future as a coalition partner. But living costs are rising, and even egalitarian Communists feel the pinch, so you gotta do what you gotta do. To make it look like a political victory, the Communists will also likely get a few more photo ops and some ambassadorial posts, but they will have missed their real political opportunity.(Czech Republic opportunities Bill Clinton KSČM KDU-ČSL]
Glossary of difficult words
What Communists want - a play on the name of the film, "What Women Want";
to buy someone off - to procure the loyalty and support of someone by bribery;
free agent - a person (or sports player) who does not have any commitments (or contractual obligations) that restrict his actions;
expedience (or expediency) - action that is convenient and practical, although it might be improper or immoral;
egalitarian - believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities;
to feel the pinch - to experience hardship, esp. financial;
you gotta do what you gotta do - a line famously used by Bill Clinton to explain why he resorted to dirty tactics to win the 1996 presidential elections;
photo op - photo opportunity.