Santa Klaus's departing shot

Several stories in today's Cesky rozhlas quietly bask in a recent error of judgement by the President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus. After years of his dubious and often embarrassing stewardship, his second and final term is wending its way to its natural, and in the view of many, belated end. It's been in my diary for almost four years. Fee Fi Fo Fum, how can I get up everyone's bum, he must've been pondering his departing shot ...  As an expert, he probably didn't have to overly exercise his synapses for an extended period.

An amateur might have poisoned the air with anthrax, poisoned the rivers with pesticides or mercury, or even poisoned streetside vendors' alcoholic beverages. But an arch professional chooses instead to release thousands and thousands of prisoners and halt the judicial processes of many cases.

Such is the public outrage, that across the nation they are ripping his portrait from their town halls and classrooms, while those amnestied return to a life of crime, terrifying the nation to some extent, but mainly outraging their sense of justice - literally. Shakespeare may yet have one of them assassinate him.

So, one can imagine Santa Klaus's delight to learn today that two German tourists, mugged by amnestees, in turn apprehended them. BTW Mr Klaus, don't piss Germany off - she is a better friend to the soil that you now soil, than she has been in the living memories of most of your subjects, including centenarians, which was also reported in Cesky rozhlas today: 1,103 of them.