Interesting times in Europe
When things seem the darkest, sometimes a light shines through.
What with the EU becoming under the thrall of Socialism, Cultural Marxism, Islamism and the sub-prime science of Anthropogenic Global Warming, people like Vaclav Klaus pop up into the limelight.
From the
New York Times:
A Fiery Czech Is Poised to Be the Face of Europe
In the 1980s, a Communist secret police agent infiltrated clandestine economics seminars hosted by Vaclav Klaus, a fiery future leader of the Czech Republic, who had come under suspicion for extolling free market virtues. Rather than reporting on Marxist heresy, the agent was most struck by Mr. Klaus�s now famous arrogance.
�His behavior and attitudes reveal that he feels like a rejected genius,� the agent noted in his report, which has since been made public. �He shows that whoever does not agree with his views is stupid and incompetent.�
Decades later, Mr. Klaus, the 67-year-old president of the Czech Republic � an iconoclast with a perfectly clipped mustache � continues to provoke strong reactions. He has blamed what he calls the misguided fight against global warming for contributing to the international financial crisis, branded Al Gore an �apostle of arrogance� for his role in that fight, and accused the European Union of acting like a Communist state.
Now the Czech Republic is about to assume the rotating presidency of the European Union and there is palpable fear that Mr. Klaus will embarrass the world�s biggest trading bloc and complicate its efforts to address the economic crisis and expand its powers. His role in the Czech Republic is largely ceremonial, but he remains a powerful force here, has devotees throughout Europe and delights in basking in the spotlight.
�Oh God, Vaclav Klaus will come next,� read a recent headline in the Austrian daily Die Presse, in an article anticipating the havoc he could wreak in a union of 495 million people already divided over its future direction.
An economist by training and a free marketeer by ideology, Mr. Klaus has criticized the course set by the union�s departing leader, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France. The ambitious Mr. Sarkozy has used France�s European Union presidency to push an agenda that includes broader and more coordinated regulation by the largest economies to tame the worst of the market�s excesses.
Heh... We need more people like him, John Bolton, Fred Dalton Thompson, and such. Zero bullshit and a clear view of what is actually happening.
Posted by DaveH at December 4, 2008 7:03 PM