Klaus about Mlynář
Just when some people were starting to feel sorry for the fallen Klaus, he comes out with some of the most foolish statements imaginable. On Nova TV last week, Klaus implied that Vladimír Mlynář was not fit for office because his father, the late Zdeněk Mlynář, was a member of the KSC politburo.
Not satisfied with that foolishness, Klaus later in the week ineptly clarified his words by saying: "ODS nemá například bývalého komunistického poslance jako regionálního lídra a nemá jako lídra ani syna bývalého člena politbyra KSČ," in a clear reference to the young Mlynář. That certainly gets my vote for idiocy of the week if not month.
Never mind that the young Mlynář grew up without his father, ignore the fact that the elder Mlynář was a reformer relative to many around him in 1968 and forget that the father and son's political opinions vary enormously. The issue is much more basic than that. Can you imagine being judged by what your relatives did in the past? Think about it for a few seconds.
Individuals should be judged as individuals, not as groups and not as members of this or that family. That is so obvious, it almost seems ridiculous to mention it, but clearly some people like Klaus are still out there with ideas of collective guilt and guilt by association.
Of course, these foolish statements by Klaus probably have more to do with the fact thatMlynář will go head to head with Klaus in Prague in the upcoming elections and that these two are theoretically seeking the same "right-orientated" voters. Klaus is desperate to have a good showing in Prague, to counter his North Moravian defeat to Zeman in 1996. This is nothing more than a sad attempt to smear Vladimír Mlynář in the Prague campaign.
Sadly, however, it shows something more. Klaus is insulting the intelligence of the voter in the Czech Republic. Klaus obviously thinks people are pretty stupid if he believes such a weak family link will change voters' opinions.
I cannot imagine that anyone saw this as anything else other than a pathetic attempt to bring the sins of the father upon the son. People will see right through this weak smear, and, insulted, they will further turn away from Klaus.
If it wasn't clear enough before hand, it certainly is now: Klaus has lost his touch. He used to be more politically skilled. He used to be a better communicator who did not often sink to this kind of cheap stunt. The strain of losing power has obviously injured his judgement.
