Random quotes of the day

Interesting quotes of the day that may reflect on Slovakia:

• Firstly, Chris Dillow on political sleaze investigations, such as the recent police inquiries regarding "cash for peerages" in Britain:

  Such investigations - or even the threat of them - encourage politicians to be legalistic prigs, studying the minutiae of laws to ensure that they stay just on the right side of them.
  But we shouldn't judge politicians by such low standards. You can train a scabby dog to obey rules. There are millions of people who obey laws, but you'd cross the road to avoid them, and wouldn't trust them to so much as clean your car.

  He hit the nail on the head for Slovakia too. The media have got into the habit of constantly looking for corruption and rule breaking, encouraged by political opponents who throw out juicy hints. There is no question of whether any politician displays virtue of whether someone is worth trusting to clean your car. And so people like Meciar are able to continue thanks to the fiction that they have not broken any law and are innocent until proven guilty.

• Secondly, A Fistful of Euros on Bosnian politicians:

  I’ve known a lot of Bosnians. They’re lovely people. But their politicians are, by and large, the scum of the earth. Nowhere, not even in Serbia -- not even in Texas -- is there such a baffling contrast between likable, easy-going ordinary people and the venal, mean-spirited asstards they choose to lead them. It’s a disturbing mystery.

  He could put Slovakia on that list too. I think I shall have to give up writing about Slovak politics unless I can find some guys in white hats soon.