“I like reporters, perhaps I will invite them for dinner to the Saudi consulate“.

Thus spoke the president of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman on Oct 24. Besides his acknowledged alcoholic dysfunction, the current president is an outspoken supporter of Russia and an avid hater of journalists.

So Czech Republic, happy birthday to you and to your citizens, who tolerate being represented by a foul-mouthed drunk on this, the centennial anniversary of the country.

But to be fair, the Czech Republic is not alone. On the other side of the pond there is another country that is trying to ignore the surrealistic nightmare of its current president as well. Both presidents are hostage to their pathologic narcissism, with its resultant degradation of values. But since both were elected via free elections, was the nation degraded already, or was it just stupidly blind to values? Isn’t getting the latest i-phone more important that having a good president?

Martin J Stránský MD

Publisher, Přítomnost and The New Presence (www.pritomnost.cz)

Great-grandson of Adolf Stránský the country’s first Minister of Commerce in 1918 and one of Czechoslovakia’s founders.