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At Large
Prague Autumn
Despite their deep sense of history, betrayal by the United States is not something the Czechs expected.
PRAGUE -- A week of flawless Indian summer weather diverts this bittersweet land of liberty from events and conditions auguring a long, anxious autumn. November will mark 20 years since the Velvet Revolution ended the Communist dictatorship, but the celebration is likely to be tempered by Czechs' disillusionment with the half-hearted promises of democracy and self-government, mutual security in military alliance with the United States, and the blessings of European unity.
Though it is supposed to be a showcase of democracy, with a constitution fine-tuned by the world's most erudite legal scholars comfortably compensated by the wealthiest foreign-aid bureaucracies, strictly speaking the Czech Republic does not have an elected government. A previous electoral stalemate resulted in a caretaker government of unelected bureaucrats. Parliament voted to dissolve itself and called early elections, and a national campaign began. Then the high court ruled this process unconstitutional. Today this city -- the breast that nursed Kafka -- is plastered with publicly-financed candidates' posters for an election that will not happen.
Two days after cancellation of the national elections, Czech politicians from across the spectrum managed to sound a note of unity protesting, as one of their milder expressions put it, "betrayal" by the United States. Such is the intensity of their response to President Obama's abrupt cancellation of American ballistic missile defense systems in the Czech Republic. If there is any justification for this decision in terms of the solemn commitments for mutual security between the two nations, it has not been explained to the Czech public and political establishment, which had submitted itself to wrenching internal debates and negotiations in order to agree to the American missile defense program in the first place.
Meanwhile a sign of hope is that the President of the Czech Republic, weak in executive power but forceful in the bully pulpit, is a lonely voice against the many manifestations of what Clare Boothe Luce called "globaloney," including the European Union's bureaucratic tendencies to curb freedom.
If there is sense to be made of things this Prague Autumn, a way to begin may be reflection upon four heads of state figuring in Czech memory and imagination. Each is named Václav.
The most mythic is St. Václav. As Czechs are among the least religious people in contemporary Europe, normally the annual feast of this national patron would not be an occasion for spiritual revival or conspicuous public worship. This year will be something of a difference, as the rites will be led by Pope Benedict XVI. The pope will visit the Czech Republic later this week, September 26-28, celebrating Mass in two provincial cities but not in the capital. Here he will preside at a vespers service and deliver a lecture at Prague Castle to an invited audience of university heads and other leading academicians.
The papal visit will focus the nation's attention on the life and legacy of St. Václav, whose actual title was Duke of Bohemia but is better known in Anglophone lore as Good King Wenceslaus. Václav was murdered by his usurping brother after a reign renowned for rectitude and solicitude for the poor. The Prague Castle's lecture topic remains something of a mystery. Will the pope engage his academic audience with an extension of his famous Regensburg lecture on faith and reason? Perhaps instead he will give an exposition of themes from his recent "social encyclical" whose title is a tight summary of St. Václav's Christian witness: Caritas in Veritatem.
Another Václav, King Václav IV, figures ignominiously in Czech history. He is remembered for treacherous behavior towards Prague's martyred proto-Protestant leader, Jan Hus. He was a villain to counter-Reformation Catholics too for ordering the murder of the priest, St. John Nepomuk.
Václav IV is universally scorned by Czechs for having squandered the achievements of his father, Emperor Charles IV. Charles established centers of learning and culture and placed Prague at the core not only of Europe's geography but also of its civilization. He brought the power and prestige of the capital of the medieval Holy Roman Empire to Prague only to have his dissolute son forfeit the imperial crown. The story tells how much can be lost in just one generation of indolence.
Our next Václav needs no introduction. The first Czech president after the fall of Communism, Václav Havel, is venerated worldwide as a secular saint. A celebrated playwright and cultural figure in his country, he suffered repeated imprisonment in order to remind his country that "living in truth" is essential for gaining and retaining freedom. Thanks to his example, Prague has changed in 20 years from a gloomy Stalinist dungeon into a lively place for gustatory as well as intellectual enjoyment.
Locals and tourists alike have much to learn from the Museum of Communism here, and the educational exhibits, not allowed during the Communist period, at the lovingly restored synagogues of the old Jewish quarter. History and culture in Prague are inseparable from eating and drinking well. Good places for food are innumerable, but it is worth mentioning Café Louvre. Today at this hallowed coffeehouse, one can come to one's senses seated along the same windows where once visiting professors Einstein and Hayek, and local literati Brod and Kafka, caffeinated their prodigious brains. Most poignant about this venerable place is that the Communist dictatorship in 1948 forced its closure and gutted its interior. Only since the Velvet Revolution has the café been restored and reopened.
And whatever problems there may be in the Czech-American political relationship, one must marvel at the cultural breakthrough by the Prague franchisees of McDonald's. Here, where toddlers have their McNuggets, their parents may quaff Mencken's much-loved Pilsner Urquell : happy meals for all ages!
Both post-Communist presidents in Prague have been public intellectuals with minimal authority over government administration but significant cultural influence.
The current president, Václav Klaus, is a free-market economist who relishes in standing alone against the bureaucracies of the United Nations and the European Union. He is president-as-intellectual-gadfly. One day last week found him in Bavaria in a colloquium on "European identity" with Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, the Archbishop of Vienna. Today President Klaus is in Washington delivering a major address at one of his favorite venues, the libertarian Cato Institute. Next he will take his seat at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he will tilt furiously against every form of environmentalist political correctness, not excluding windmills.
Notwithstanding the significant concerns about international security and political relations, visitors to the Czech capital this autumn will find a lively intellectual culture of liberty, kindred in many ways to the American conservative-libertarian movement of the 1950s in which exiles from central Europe played such an important part. One worthy institution is Prague's Civic Institute, a think-tank and youth education program led by Roman Joch, a member of the Philadelphia Society. Another institution known to readers of this journal, The Fund for American Studies, hosts an annual summer program at Charles University, teaching politics and economics with a solid philosophical grounding to undergraduates from central and eastern Europe.
Last week CEVRO Institute, a private university specializing in economics and politics, installed a new rector, Josef Ŝima. He points with pride to the early 20th century involvement of Prague with the work of "Austrian" economists Hayek and Mises. He wants the movement known as the "Czech-Austrian" school of economic thought. Given his altogether rational exuberance, and the contrarianism of the two most recent Václavs presiding at Prague Castle, one may be sure that Czechs will emerge from this autumn with the vital integrity that issues from the love of freedom.
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Jim O'Brien| 9.21.09 @ 8:40AM
"We have tried since the birth of our nation to promote our love of peace by a display of weakness. This course has failed us utterly." - General George C. Marshall, 1945
Michael L. Hauschild| 9.21.09 @ 8:50AM
Amen.
Tim| 9.21.09 @ 2:41PM
"Maybe we just haven't been weak enough?"
Well, we're going to find out...
S.L. Toddard| 9.21.09 @ 8:56AM
Daniel Larison, at the American Conservative, says all that really needs to be said about Liberal Internationalist fury over Obama's sensible decision to not further antagonize Russia:
The Bankruptcy Of The Movement
This statement from a number of major movement figures attacking the administration’s decision on missile defense is a useful reminder of how bankrupt movement conservative thought is when it comes to matters of national security and foreign policy. Had I set out to write a parody of hysterical conservative reaction to this decision, I would not have been able to come up with anything that compares to the genuine article. The first paragraph sums up their view:
"The announcement that the Obama Administration will abandon Missile Defense in Poland and the Czech Republic represents a massive surrender of American Strategic Influence and a betrayal of two of our closest friends in the region. The move also indicates appeasement towards Russia, and a misunderstanding of the seriousness of the potential nuclear capability of Iran."
For starters, you have to enjoy all of the unnecessary capitalization. It isn’t merely missile defense, but Missile Defense that Obama has scrapped. All of the usual tropes are here: surrender, betrayal, appeasement. It doesn’t seem to bother these people that all of this is garbage. Former Polish President Kwasniewski specifically rejected describing this decision as a “betrayal,” and it is laughable that anyone would make such a charge. How can canceling a system that hasn’t even been built and which at least half of Poland doesn’t want count as a betrayal of Poland? If this move were an attempt at “appeasing” Russia, it might start to rehabilitate the reputation of appeasement. It would mean that foregoing unnecessary provocations can repair frayed international relations, and it implies that critics of the decision would prefer a world in which relations with Russia continue to deteriorate and European security is steadily undermined. Iran’s nuclear capability is neither here nor there. Without a long-range missile program to deliver the nukes that Iran is nowhere near close to having, Iran’s nuclear capability might be real and still pose no threat to European security. The signatories of this statement haven’t a shred of credibility on these issues. Unfortunately, instead of being greeted with embarrassment and disdain by conservatives, this statement represents the common view of much of the American right.
http://www.amconmag.com/lariso.....-movement/
Appleby| 9.21.09 @ 10:15AM
Why am I hearing echoes from 1968 of lemmings singing "All we are saaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyingggggggggg ..." while the rest of us are trying to point out what it took Jimmy Carter another 15 years to discover: THE RUSSIANS ARE LYING.
On the day Carter was proclaiming Peace in Our Time between Israel and Palestine, on another channel the first episode of "Battlestar Galactica" was being broadcast. I was watching both, and was deeply startled to see on the latter, at the time the Grinning Jack*** as my Daddy used to call him was proclaiming, the Liberal Weenies on Battlestar Galactica were wandering through blasted and burning ruins of their planet wailing "HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?" as the Cylons did to them just exactly what the Palestinians were planning to do on the other channel, after making the same promises we had just heard.
I was still a kid back then, but I was a classical English major and the one thing we do learn is to draw parallels.
But you just keep on yowling "Alllllwearesaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyinggggggggg..." until the bombs begin to fall...if it makes you feel better, you can even sway.
Victor | 9.21.09 @ 9:41PM
To Slo Tard:
Sacrificing Poland and the Czech Republic will benefit who exactly, eh?
Dems have a history of sacrificing Eastern Europe
from FDR to Jimmah Carter to BJ Billy to Barry O-Bah-Ma.
And now Z-Big has added his two zlote to this mess in saying that Barry should should shoot down Israeli jets if they are going to make a delivery in Iran.
Imagine that! O-Bah-Ma picking sides in Israel versus Iran and choosing the wrong side, eh?
Not wrong to him, is it?
Read his own words:
“In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. I will stand with THEM should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”
THEM, being who exactly?
PS, I wouldn't consider the amcons a font of Rational and Critical Analytical Thought.
Anyone who thinks that Raimondo and Rockwell are rational and sentient beings should have their heads examined.
Jeremiah| 9.21.09 @ 11:17AM
Slimy Liberal Toddard, why can't you just buzz off and leave us alone? Shut the f.uck up, pal. Get lost. Take a ride. Kill yourself.
Nobama| 9.21.09 @ 2:01PM
It took you long enough, but thank God you finally came over from the Dark Side.
S.L. Toddard| 9.21.09 @ 6:01PM
That's not the Jeremiah you think it is.
Juliana Geran Pilon| 9.21.09 @ 2:12PM
Having heard President Klaus this morning at the Cato Institute, I can testify that he once again demonstrated why he is the most articulate and eloquent defender of freedom in all its forms, both economic and political, a true national leader.
JP| 9.21.09 @ 2:34PM
SL,
You are right. Europe expected too much when it at least rhetorically backed the perfect Internationalist. They thought, "With Obama there will be no more "Going it alone". I mean what was Poland thinking? After all, Obama Won!! He can do as he pleases! What are agreements for other than to break! I mean, who should critique the Prez for negociating the end of the Pole/Czech missle defense agreement with Russia and Russia only?
Hey, it is a brand new world, and Europe is nothing more than a museum filled with geriatrics, rought and tumble Muslims, and effette college students.
Paul Milenkovic| 9.21.09 @ 2:41PM
What I kind of don't get is not some much the cancellation of the defensive missiles in Poland and Czech but the manner in which it was done.
Mr. Obama was supposed to be well-read, well-informed, and sensitive to the sensibilities of people "over there." It might be that the Czechs are thinking "good riddance" to missiles they did not want in the first place, but why was this done without some kind of public consultation and some kind of photo op of Czech leaders endorsing this change? I am beginning to wonder what they teach people over in those Ivy League colleges.
Tim| 9.21.09 @ 2:45PM
They teach them to give IPODs with Obama speeches on them as gifts, plus DVDs of great American films that do not play on European machines.
Jana Gordon| 9.22.09 @ 10:03AM
Very sad what President Obama did to Czechs and Poles. I am from Czech Republic, and it is a tragedy that we have been given to Russians again.
I am not sure if Obama sees negative consequences of his actions. And not only for these two countries, but down-the-road for whole Europe. You can't show Russians weakness, they will run over you.
Tim| 9.21.09 @ 4:08PM
Why is anyone surprised.
"Political Birds of a feather flock together"
Obama is a socialist/communist deep down in his heart so it makes sense that he would side with the
Russians and later I am sure he will side with Hugo Chavez.
Hey America: In 2012, if you want a president that supports freedom/capitalism/and the American way of life through our constitution than don't vote for a Communist/socialist.
Michael Tomlinson| 9.21.09 @ 7:25PM
DemocRATS betrayed freedom in the spring of 1968 so what's new with Obama's betrayal? Typical DemocRAT surrender to the Russians and advance their foreign policy agenda. This is Jimmy Carter II.
tom| 9.21.09 @ 7:56PM
AMERICA did NOT abandon or ally! THE RAT OBAMMA DID !!
Margie| 9.21.09 @ 10:21PM
"AMERICA did NOT abandon or ally! THE RAT OBAMMA DID !!"
Thank you, tom. True conservatives everywhere in the world know this. And those on the side of the enemy, whether it be Communism, Socialism or Liberalism, (and it appears under many a name and/ or organization), will be held accountable by the Righteous Judge who judges all. And I wouldn't want to be in their shoes.
Christopher Holland| 9.22.09 @ 12:15AM
Anybody who thinks the missile defence sell out of Poland and the Czechs is a good idea should read what the Russians and Iranians think of it - they love it, it is a great idea for them. If those guys like it that much then it just has to stink like a rotting fish for everybody else. Obama is a gutless, stupid loser for making that decision, he is a coward for selling out his allies and he is a stupid loser for making an unforced error that gives his country's enemies exactly what they want. Obama is a disaster waiting to happen, it is virtually inevitable with a clown like that in the driver's seat.
Cajnik| 9.22.09 @ 8:30AM
What a bunch of rubbish. Maybe you shouldn't write articles about a country you've visited twice. The Museum of Communism? "One must marvel at the cultural breakthrough by the Prague franchisees of McDonald's"? You've got to be kidding me. Those are two of the worst aspects of the city.
Your boy Klaus just came out this morning in the Washington Post stating he fears an overregulated EU more than Russia. Czechs didn't want this, and the US taxpayers didn't need to be paying the bill for an unwanted, untested system.
Good Riddance
jacky| 4.7.10 @ 8:45PM
thanks you very much for your information
Poptropica
Poptropica
MTS File Converter| 4.14.10 @ 11:25PM
it is good