Final Word from Tuesday, September 16, 2008
What kind of person announces his candidacy for president nearly five years before the elections? Is it perhaps someone totally bored out of his mind who craves attention? Or is Miloš Zeman like Vlastimil Tlustý in the sense that he's allowing his vanity and feeling of injustice (for being embarrassed in the presidential elections by his own party five years ago and then ignored after the 2006 elections) to get the better of him? Is Zeman's main goal to see to it that Jiří Paroubek is replaced as ČSSD chairman early next year? Or does the great prognosticator have something else up his sleeve? One possibility being thrown around is that Václav Klaus is covering up some serious illness (why else would his health be treated like a state secret?) and that Zeman wants to be the default choice if Klaus steps aside. Another possibility is that Zeman wants to wait things out in the warmth of the PM's seat. From there he'd have all the bases covered.[Czech Republic presidency ODS]
Glossary of difficult words
to be bored out of one's mind - to be extremely weary of or uninterested in one's current activity;
to crave - to feel a powerful desire for something;
vanity - excessive pride;
to get the better of - to win an advantage over;
to see to it that something occurs - to cause or arrange for something to occur;
prognosticator - someone who foretells the future (Zeman worked for a forecasting institute);
to have something up one's sleeve - to have a strategy or idea in reserve for use when it is needed;
to throw (an idea) around - to consider, exchange ideas;
default choice - the automatic choice due to lack of an alternative;
to have all the bases covered - to be prepared for all possibilities.