In response to this posting, another reader writes:
The story is getting major
coverage in Prague: large page 1 articles in the major dailies, and
it’s the lead story on the television news. When I met my Czech teacher
this morning for my language lesson, she (a wonderful 77 year-old
granny) expressed her heartfelt condolences to me and America generally
(of course, she has also got a granddaughter living in Panama City, FL,
so she may be paying slightly more attention to it than most people
here.) She also expressed her withering contempt for the Czech
President, who apparently has yet to express his condolences to his
American counterpart.
As part of “New Europe,” the Czechs are generally pro-American but are
certainly more ambivalent in their relationship with the US than the
Poles. Still, the fact that the Katrina stories have displaced the
usual summer political scandals from the media shows the Czechs’ innate
sensitivity and interest in the wider world around them. It could also
have to do with the fact that, three years ago at this time, Prague
endured its worst flooding in 500 years, so that very fresh and painful
memory has generated considerable sympathy for what the beleaguered Gulf
Coast residents are now going through.
Many thanks and all the best to you and OGIC as you keep up this
important work!
And thanks to you for writing….