Václav Klaus takes no prisoners

"There is always an immodest ‘enforcement of a good’ by those who are anointed," noted Czech Prez Václav Klaus a couple of years back re the international progressivist impulse that threatens to derail the European democratic project. Too bad we humans aren't more like Tiny (above in deep contemplation of her "ineffable effable Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular Name") who -- in the words of Jan Morris -- "remains in [her] heart of hearts the [feral] animal [she] always was."

"Václav Klaus is an indomitable defender of liberty, Europe’s only leader in the mould of the formidable Lady Thatcher," wrote Paul Belien in The Brussels Journal in the summer of 2005. The self-proclaimed Thatcherite is in the news today thanks to Matt Drudge, who REDlines "President of Czech Republic Calls Man-Made Global Warming a 'Myth' - Questions Gore's Sanity." More about that -- music to our ears -- in a moment, but first a few choice excerpts from that Brussels Journal article quoting Klaus in a speech delivered to the Mont Pelerin Society, “View from a Post-Communist Country in a Predominantly Post-Democratic Europe”:

"There is always a limiting (or constraining) of human freedom, there is always ambitious social engineering, there is always an immodest ‘enforcement of a good’ by those who are anointed (T. Sowell) on others against their will, there is always the crowding out of standard democratic methods by alternative political procedures, and there is always the feeling of superiority of intellectuals and of their ambitions.”

As substitutes of socialism, Václav Klaus cited [among other isms] “environmentalism (with its Earth First, not Freedom First principle)."

"One rarely hears a politician outlining in such poignant and clear words the problems of our times that others dare not mention out of fear of being 'politically incorrect,'" notes Belien in words that resonate once more as we listen to what Václav Klaus had to say yesterday -- in an interview with "Hospodárské noviny," a Czech economics daily -- about the latest hysterical Chicken-Little pronouncements of the UN's IPCC climate panel, with big-time thanks to Harvard prof Luboš Motl of The Reference Frame for the English translation. A few tasty tidbits, and then go on over and treat yourself to the whole thing:

Q: IPCC has released its report and you say that the global warming is a false myth. How did you get this idea, Mr President?

A: It's not my idea. Global warming is a false myth, and every serious person and scientist says so. It is not fair to refer to the UN panel. IPCC is not a scientific institution: it's a political body, a sort of non-government organization of green flavor. It's neither a forum of neutral scientists nor a balanced group of scientists. These people are politicized scientists who arrive there with a one-sided opinion and a one-sided assignment . . . Other top-level politicians do not express their global warming doubts because a whip of political correctness strangles their voice.

Q: If you look at all these things, even if you were right.

A: I am right.

Q: Don't you believe that we're ruining our planet?

A: I will pretend that I haven't heard you. Perhaps only Mr Al Gore may be saying something along these lines: a sane person can't.

As we told our sis a moment ago via imail, "He takes no prisoners. His style -- his backbone -- reminds me of John Howard. I think I'm in love."

Update: The "Meowers of Death" of When Cats Attack -- "Terrorizing people with allergies since 2001" -- present Carnival of the Cats #151,  a purr de force.

Update II:  Pajamas Media links.

Note: If you go over to Wikipedia to check out Václav Klaus, be prepared for a definite left-leaning bias. We noticed the expression "right-wing" twice in the first few paragraphs.

Comments

[goomp]

Perhaps the rise of Islamic Facsism is what the Western World needs to concentrate its mind on reality instead of dreamy ideas with no scientific proof to verify them.

[Jille]

Great post. Today, I have a new hero, Václav Klaus.

[Gayle Miller]

Isn't he MAGNIFICENT? A leader who speaks REALITY - I love that he questions Gore's sanity - I can't disagree with him!

[Hospodarske noviny]

The Drudgereport link probably won't work permanently. This is the URL of the original source of the translation: http://motls.blogspot.com/2007/02/vclav-klaus-about-ipcc-panel.html

Or, click "Hospodarske noviny"...

[Tara]

Anyone questioning Al Gore's sanity is alright with me.

[Eric Scheie]

Too bad he can't run for president! Maybe we should pass the so-called "Schwarzenegger Amendment."

[Steve]

Odd, when I send a trackback I get this error message:

Ping 'http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/16085592' failed: As a measure to prevent automated commenting, please verify yourself via this captcha check.

Is this something new with typepad? If so, it won't scale well for automated trackbacks.