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Nobody had ever heard
of a Czech Dream until it was advertised as a hypermarket
about to open in the
Letná section of Prague. The prices it was offering certainly
made it sound like a dream: TVs for less than $20, beer
for a dime. The thousand people who gathered on a Saturday
morning for the grand opening knew something was amiss
when they found themselves standing in a grassy lot. The
hypermarket was there, but upon closer inspection, it turned
out to be just a huge prop. The crowd wasn't sure what
to make of it all. Finally someone stepped forward and
reassured them that this was no joke. They had unwittingly
walked into a research project being conducted by two student
filmmakers. Their premise was to see if advertising has
the ability to make people look like fools, as in this
case. Some of the duped shoppers, cheated out of one American
dream (shop-till-you-drop), swore they would now pursue
another (sue-till-your-blue). They're especially angry
that the project was funded by a government grant at a
time when a new austerity package is winding its way through
parliament. The government also came in for heavy criticism
for the media campaign it ran in the run up to the referendum
on the European Union. It spent 200 million crowns for
a series of silly infomercials that were panned by just
about everybody. The print media, which was solidly behind
the Yes vote, was suddenly full of gloom about the outcome
and began numbering the coalition government's days. In
the end, only the pollsters got it right (for once). Turnout
was 55%, with 77% casting their votes for the Union. The
premier was ecstatic and sent out invitations to join him
for a victory celebration. The Communists, who love nothing
better than a free buffet, showed up despite telling their
members to vote No. Leading Euro-skeptics insisted they
were never invited, although the president got his. Klaus
declined to attend, however, saying he was too busy packing
for his trip to America. Many people took it as a sign
that the president was still sulking. Klaus had based his
comeback on Euro-skepticism and now, with the referendum
at hand, it was time to put up or shut up. Naturally, he
opted for both, urging the people to vote, but not one
way or the other. Once it was clear that the referendum
had passed, Klaus holed up at his weekend cottage and made
no public statement. The backlash was swift, forcing his
spokesman to lay all the blame on the staff of Czech TV.
He claimed they offered the president no decent time slot
to make a few comments about the results. But Klaus was
quick to respond when the German Bundestag welcomed the
Czech Republic into the Union while at the same time recommending
that it rescind the decrees that expelled the German minority
after World War II. It's too bad the recommendation wasn't
made before the referendum, the president said while in
the US, as if suggesting it would have strengthened the
No vote. He and his followers have gone so far as to conjure
up images of George Orwell in the European Union. Some
countries are more equal than others, stuff like that.
The chairman of his old party, Mirek Topolánek, hoped the
referendum would pass but only by a 51-49 margin. He and
the other Civic Democrats are no doubt smarting over US
ambassador Stapleton, a conservative businessman, praising
the current leftist government for fighting corruption,
which is news to almost everyone else. Klaus clashed with
Stapleton back in March over Iraq and as a result found
himself having to settle for an audience with only the
vice-president during his visit to America. His predecessor,
Havel, would have never been so snubbed (or so keen to
oppose the US on foreign policy grounds). Havel was recently
named goodwill ambassador for the Czech Republic but used
his first major speech in the post to lash out at the racketeers
and mafiosos he says are running things on the Czech political
scene. He provided no names, but former premier Miloą Zeman,
whose administration was legendary for the shady deals
it signed, came out of retirement to warn the Social Democrats
that they will lose the next election because current premier
Vladimír ©pidla, who thwarted his presidential ambitions,
is still head of the party. Showing that he's lost none
of his tact, Zeman advises that ©pidla and his deputies
be put to sleep. The premier is all for using humane methods
with troublesome politicians. He even made the dubious
claim of having invented the concept. Otherwise, he dismissed
Zeman's attack and pressed ahead with public finance reform.
The unions have threatened to walk out on all sides and
declared that 5000 people would gather on a Saturday morning
in Letna to register their protest. The turnout was dismal,
however. Barely 2000 showed up and rumor had it that most
of them were looking for a Czech dream.
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