Czech Gov't Policies for American Dummies

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by gypzy, Mar 25, 2008.

  1. gypzy

    gypzy Well-Known Member

    I have found myself interested in Czech News, especially the political stuff. Is there anywhere online that I can learn about how things in your Gov't works, in simplist terms? I read news on Radio Praha Online, but sometimes I found myself wondering the details about what is being talked about.
     
  2. kibicz

    kibicz Well-Known Member

    hmm, simplist terms you say.. well its: corruption and corruption and maybe some more corruption, add a lot of populism, bit political correctness and few more corruption any finaly huge pack of imported Brussels bureaucracy....

    I am terribly sorry for misleading post but I just got fed up while reading news about increasing of police power(but not capability) and more repression on roads...
     
  3. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    You will find basic information about politic system here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_o ... h_Republic

    You know of course, that debate on this topic could last days and days :)

    I will try describe a few points and comparison and of course, be aware I express only my personal opinion.

    CR is parliamentory democration, not presidential as USA. President isn't elected directly by people and he hasn't much power. You can say that prime minister have most power - which is usualy leader of party, which won election. He constitutes government, but he needs support of parliament and if governing party/coalition hasn't majority in paraliament, it's hard to push through new laws.

    Most significant political parties:

    ODS - on the right. Something like American Democrats (you maybe think Democrats are on the left, but you are mistaken ;) BTW - Party like American Republican have no chance at Czech voters. )

    CSSD - on the left, similar to other European social democratic parties.

    KSCM - Communists, relict of old times. Only Central Europe communist party, which didn't reform itself and have word "communism" in name (I believe). 13% in last elections

    KDU/CSL - Christian democrats - Be Christian politician in mostly atheist country is tough. So they compensate low voters base with high coalition-ability. They make coalition with anybody, which means they are in any government. There is a cartoon joke: Two extra-terrestrials - "general" and his subordinate. Subordinate tells to general: "We conquered all Earth countries, only in Czech republic we have coalition with Christian democrats."

    Zelení - Green party. Novices on Czech primary political scene, mostly because a few of them started to behave as politicians and not as hippies.

    Furthmore there is about hundred or so small political parties, you can hear about them mostly only before election, when you can see their mostly very funny electoral clips (parties cannot buy ads or commercial time before election, every party have assigned same amout of time on public TV). Some of them archieved in past to become part of governenment, like ODA or Unie svobody (both eventually disappeared ). Some serve only for amusement, like former Senior Party, which leader promised that he will eat cockchafer bug, if his party doesn't make it to parliament. He fulfill his promise partialy afterwards, when he eated clickbeetle bug on TV (cockchafer wasn't available in that time of year).
     
  4. kibicz

    kibicz Well-Known Member

    - nice euphemism eso:-D

    Sad true about Republicans(dont confuse with Sladek idiotic party)

    Comparation ODS(actualy mild-leftists) to American Democrats reminds me one "joke":

    Are you a Democrat, Republican or Southener?



    Here is a little test that will help you decide.

    The answer can be found by posing the following question:

    You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, an Islamic Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife, and charges at you. You are carrying a Glock cal 40, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do?


    ....

    Democrat's Answer:

    Well, that's not enough information to answer the question! Does the man look poor? Or oppressed? Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack? Could we run away? What does my wife think? What about the kids? Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand? What does the law say about this situation?
    Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it? Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children? Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me? Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me? If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?

    Should I call 9-1-1? Why is this street so deserted? We need to raise taxes, have a paint and weed day and make this happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior. This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for few days and try to come to a consensus.

    .....

    Republican's Answer:

    BANG!

    ..................................................................

    Southerner's Answer:

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! click.....
    (sounds of reloading).
    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! click

    Daughter: "Nice grouping, Daddy! Were those the Winchester Silver Tips or Hollow Points?
    Son: Can I shoot the next one??
    Wife: You ain't taking that to the Taxidermist!
     
  5. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    I love this. I sent it to my republican husband and southern son-in-law. :)
     
  6. Sova

    Sova Well-Known Member

    Nice one, kibicz! Thanks for the laugh! :lol:
     
  7. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

    funny :)

    one thing, though, a Southerner would field dress it before they even thought about a taxidermist :wink:

    I'm a Southerner and a Democrat - you can just imagine my inner struggles :oops:
     
  8. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    Well, sad... "Pro-life", intelligent design to school, gay-bashing...

    Thanks, but no thanks ;)
     
  9. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    Republicans aren't gay-bashers, don't believe everything you read in the media; you self-proclaimed skeptic? 8)
     
  10. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    You forget that with today's technology I can watch directly their speeches ;)

    I don't say that they all are same.

    I read somewhere interesting thing - that if Republican party was in Europe, then it would be not one, but three different parties. I'm sure then I would probably vote for one of these parties and for sure I wouldn't vote for other of them. :)
     
  11. kibicz

    kibicz Well-Known Member

    Glenn, I have no idea(even after using vocab..) what "would field dress" means.. could you write it again in diferend words or (for study purpose;) in Czech? thanks.
     
  12. Petr_B

    Petr_B Well-Known Member

    According to what I've found out using Google (e.g. here): "field dress" usually means "vyvrhnout" (odstranit vnitřnosti u střelené zvěře) in Czech. The other possibility is "A field dressing or battle dressing is a kind of bandage intended to be carried by soldiers for immediate use in case of (typically gunshot) wounds" (courtesy of Wikipedia) but I believe it's the first meaning which would apply here as a part of the joke. Well, Glen will tell us which one is correct.
    I admit I even didn't know who taxidermist is (just from looking at the word, I thought it's related either to "tax" or "taxi", I shouldn't have missed the hint provided by "dermist" as in "dermatology" :oops: ).
     
  13. gypzy

    gypzy Well-Known Member

    Thank you eso, for the info.
     
  14. Sova

    Sova Well-Known Member

    ... and the Democratic party would be 10.
     
  15. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    :twisted:

    The number of parties is only partially given by the ideology, the most important is the electoral system. Given the US system, it’s quite natural the US political scene settled into two blocks.

    It is not true there is no place for the GOP-like policy in the Czech Republic. Civic Democratic Party (ODS) was projected as a catch-all-rightwingers party. In American measures, it covers all the Rupublicans excluding the most bigot ones, the center and right faction of the Democratic Party and the libertarians. But right now, the party’s centre of mass is somewhere in the democratic waters and the party’s true rightist are dissatisfied. For the first time since the fall of communism, there could be even some space for a new, but small, party on the right from ODS.
     
  16. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    And you've heard actual gay-bashing in their speeches? Just because one desires that legal marriages remain between a man and a woman doesn't make them a gay-basher. It's not gay-bashing to ask that sexual orientation be withheld from the school curriculum of 5 year olds such as the book "I have 2 mommies".

    You don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God or that serving God will get one to heaven when one dies. Some of your writings give the message that the efforts of Christians are futile. Yet, that doesn't make you a Christian-basher. Do you agree that one can proclaim their own beliefs against a behavior and that doesn't make them a "basher" of those who partake in such a behavior?

    I know several Republicans and none of them are gay-bashers. I even know gay republicans. So to make such a blanket statement about Republicans is making an incorrect statement. Although I don’t recall any Republican politicians making “gay-bashing” statements, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that perhaps one or two have. Yet, still, one can not assume that the entire party holds to such an ideal based on the statements of one or two people. That would be like saying that Democrats hate white people based only on the proclamations of Obama’s church [of which he was a member for 20 years, membership mean to confess a belief and an adherence to their “Black Value System” and the “12 precepts and covenantal statements” http://smelltheliberal.blogspot.com/2008/03/obamination.html and he paid $22,500 to the church in the year 2006 alone.]

    Is that evidence that Obama is a racist? For sure it is. Can one look at him and claim the entire Democratic Party is racist against white people? I would say no.
     
  17. Ark1tec

    Ark1tec Well-Known Member

    Oh dear Believing that a community that has gone through slavery together can actually be racist is pathetic. The black community in Amerikkka has supported one another and you twist that round into racism. You sheep.
    When will people realise Usa is a bigger threat to everyone than the Soviets ever were.
     
  18. kibicz

    kibicz Well-Known Member

    What?
    Positive discrimination IS racism.
    USA is treat bigger than SSSR? Definitely NOT in my part of the world..
     
  19. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    Don't tell it for example to Lithuanians, Soviets killed or sent to gulag about 120.000-300.000 of them.

    Better question is, what was worse - Nazi Germany or Soviet Union?
     
  20. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Dzurisova wrote....Is that evidence that Obama is a racist? For sure it is. Can one look at him and claim the entire Democratic Party is racist against white people? I would say no.

    Don't think I agree with you there, Dzurisovo.
    What that says is he was in over his head, trying to make a connection with the black Chicago community.
    I don't see him as racist at all. Never heard a word from him that would hint that.

    He was part of an angry church, (surely not one I would go to for inspiration), but I don't believe he himself is racist.

    Maybe we should define racism here, for clarity.
    I think that it means hating another race, and thinking that race is somehow inferior.
    Being angry, and feeling injustice, does not necessarily mean racist towards someone.
     

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