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December 1st, 2008
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Klaus takes views on U.S. tour

Journalist details 'awkward' encounter with head of state
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John Foyston/The Oregonian
Karl Ockert of the BridgePort microbrewery in Portland, Oregon, gave the Czech president a sampling of the best local brews.
Presidential visit highlights


Detailing his skeptical views on global warming in Portland, Oregon, marked the beginning of President Václav Klaus' six-day adventure in the American West. From Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, Klaus leapfrogged between Oregon, Washington and Arizona to snag several right-wing awards and meet with conservative special-interest groups.
Along the way, the president and his entourage made several leisurely pit stops, including a Sept. 30 surprise visit to the BridgePort microbrewery in Portland. While throwing back choice pints with brewmaster Karl Ockert, Klaus reportedly reflected on the drinking habits of his global counterparts. "I think he might drink those, how do you say? Pina coladas," he said of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, according to The Oregonian, the state's daily newspaper.
He also visited the Columbia Gorge Falls, and voiced his disgust with the tourists' style of dress in a journal he later published on his Web site.
After a stopover in Seattle, Washington ? where he told the local World Affairs council not to expect anything from the upcoming Czech presidency of the European Union ? Klaus' journey terminated in Phoenix, Arizona, where enthusiasts were reportedly required to contribute $1,000 for a chance to meet him.
"It is 102 degrees Fahrenheit in Phoenix, an unbelievable 22-degree Celsius difference [from Seattle]," he wrote in his journal. "Still, I intend to survive this massive warming, even if some global warming alarmists view a 0.74 degree Celsius increase in global temperature in the past 100 years as a catastrophic event."

By Markéta Hulpachová

By James Pitkin
For the Post
When I took a job last year at a weekly paper in Portland, Oregon, I never expected my work to make waves in the Czech press. I also never expected to be called an asshole at a news conference. All it took to make both happen was a visit to Portland by President Václav Klaus.
Klaus arrived Sept. 29 on the first stop of a six-day U.S. tour that took him on to Seattle and Phoenix. A coalition of conservative groups had invited Klaus to give lectures and receive awards while he promoted his new book, Modrá, nikoli zelená planeta. Titled Blue Planet in Green Shackles in English, the book questions the science of global warming and warns that environmentalism is destroying our freedom.
That’s not a popular view in Portland, where hybrid cars and composting are as much a part of life as Škodas and dumpling-eating are in Prague. But I jumped at the chance to cover Klaus, who had loomed large over a time in my life I look back on with nostalgia. I moved to Prague in 1996 and eventually landed a job at The Prague Post, where I worked as an editor and reporter until I left the city in 2002.
I wasn’t sure what kind of turnout to expect when I arrived at the Portland Hilton for a Sept. 30 news conference with Klaus. His ideas were ones most Portlanders would dismiss as prehistoric, but he was, after all, a European head of state. I was completely unprepared to find myself one of only three reporters there, the others being from local TV and a community radio station.
We filed into a room where 20 or so of Klaus’ conservative hosts were already seated. Klaus seemed disappointed with the low turnout, but I saw it as a rare opportunity. I remembered how difficult it had been to gain access to Klaus as a reporter. In my years at the Post, he gave the paper just one interview.
I also recalled how dismissive Klaus could be toward journalists, which in my view had a chilling effect on Czech reporters, who rarely challenged him. Now that I had the chance, I was determined to ask Klaus at least one uncomfortable question.
As the old saw goes, a journalist’s job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. I first asked him whether it was an ideal time to be preaching pure market capitalism to Americans, at the very moment our financial system was collapsing due to deregulation. Klaus called it an “incredible question” and said the real cause of the crisis was over-regulation of the market — a conclusion almost no one in this country has drawn.
It was my second and last question that got under Klaus’ skin. I said it was difficult to imagine former President Václav Havel speaking before such a tiny U.S. audience. Was Klaus, I asked, concerned that his country’s standing had diminished?
“I’m not sure how many journalists are in Portland,” Klaus responded with a smile.
“More than this,” I answered.
Klaus paused before purring coolly: “I’m sure my predecessor would be in favor of cap and trade,” a carbon-credit system currently under debate in Oregon.
Afterward, I was approached by Jody Clarke, one of Klaus’ hosts from the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute. “I can’t believe you asked such an arrogant question,” she fumed. “And you are an asshole.” It’s the only time I’ve been called that to my face as a reporter, and I wanted to ask Clarke why, but she stormed out.
I posted a story on our paper’s Web site, including background about Klaus’ famous arrogance and his rivalry with Havel. “While Klaus fancies himself the sharper mind and the true savior of the country,” I wrote, “it was Havel who was constantly lauded on the international stage.” Referring to Clarke calling me an asshole, I wrote that, based on my time in Prague, “I knew I wasn’t the only one in the room.”
The story of the news conference’s dismal turnout — and the fact that a former Prague Post reporter had written critically of the president — was quickly picked up by Czech news servers and wires, bringing what a Post news editor called an “unexpected 15 minutes of fame” for her paper.
I was happy to oblige, and even happier for the chance to finally interview Klaus — even if it was an awkward first meeting.
— James Pitkin is a reporter for Willamette Week, an alternative newsweekly in Portland, Oregon.
He worked at The Prague Post from 1999 to 2002.


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Reader's comments:

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[18:24 09/10/2008] : And what is a point of this inane sophistry?

The author obviously likes Vaclav Havel(not hard thing to do)and dislikes unorthodox(in today's politically correct world)views of Vaclav Klaus.The author has right to his "impeccable superiority complex",yet,is mired in smallmindness.
Jiri Hubacek
Victoria,BC,canada
[23:36 09/10/2008] : Do not take it personally, Mr. Pitkin,the other guy is the genuine asshole.
Jan Sammer
Toronto
[00:23 10/10/2008] : You said "Klaus called it an ?incredible question? and said the real cause of the crisis was over-regulation of the market ? a conclusion almost no one in this country has drawn."

That is a PATENTLY BIASED view. There are many, many, Americans.... if not not the majority.... who believe that Government regulation by creating the Community Reinvestment Act REQUIRING banks to make loans to ill-suited borrowers, was in fact, the proximate cause of this meltdown.

Your reporting is less than objective and shows the bias of the U.S. West Coast has infected your reporting !!!

A frequent Prague visitor
Josef Pechousek
Sun City Center, FL USA
[04:47 10/10/2008] : It's seems true that Pan Pitkin is an "asshole" !
Jon Vondra
St. Louis
[18:22 10/10/2008] : Well Mr. Pitkin, you probably didn't warrant the asshole title, but do state a very bad assumption. The idea that, "the real cause of the crisis was over-regulation of the market ? a conclusion almost no one in this country has drawn," is ludicrous! You really should try reading books/newspapers as well as writing for them!
Also, Mr. Klaus is brilliant in his own right, but I'm not sure why he feels the need to compete with Mr. Havel. Havel is a legend and his wisdom and courage in the face of the Soviet Empire is unmatched by any except perhaps John Paul II.
Timothy Pruse
Detroit, USA
[22:43 10/10/2008] : My wife doesn't use language like that unless the shoe fits perfectly. Having been a member on the media herself for many years, she can spot an asshole a mile away. Mr. Pitkin you must be an asshole.
Jim Clarke
Washington, DC
[03:48 11/10/2008] : With all due respect, you deserved to be called an asshole - what were you trying to prove? Hasn't your mother taught you any manners?

You mention the contrast between the receptions of Havel and Klaus. Who welcomed Havel were always leftist intellectuals (or, as Agnew called them, effete intellectual snobs) like Susan Sonntag and such, and indeed there a plenty of them around, poor souls.
Klaus doesn't like journalists - well, who does? The majority of them are activists who do not report news, but try to shape it.

I don't know too much about Klaus, but he has the guts to publicly say that global warming is not entirely, indeed mostly, man made. What's wrong with that? Not even Gore believes that, only that nitwit Biden does.

And the US economy? It is only slowly percolating to the surface now who has been responsible for the financial crisis and who stood in the way of Bush's administration's effort to enforce regulations that were already on the books. So who were the obstructionists? Barney Frank, Christopher Dood, Charles Schumer, ...

Incidentally, what is "alternative newsweekly"?

Basically, your report is embarrassing.
George B. Bucek
State College, PA
George B. Bucek
State College
[06:04 12/10/2008] : A classic example. Outlines why both the fourth estate (or the fourth "front" as Gen. Tommy Franks called it) AND tricky dicky political players (where even relatively regular persons eventually fall victim to pandering for political gain) share equal blame for fiascos. E.g., glam wars, sham economics (and potentially, intense flooding along coastlines across the tropics in the near future)!

PS: would love to work as an editor/writer for the Prague Post!
David Pinto
san francisco
[20:19 12/10/2008] : The year is 2008. Who drives Skoda cars and eats "knedlíky" in the Czech republic? Probably about the same percentage of population that drives hybrid cars in US? :-D Klaus and this "journalist" are in the same boat. They both need to wake up! :-)
Martin Ferdus
London
[00:39 21/10/2008] : I've spent a good deal of time in CzRep, and on one occasion met with Klaus about a project I was financing at Karlov Univ. To call Klaus arrogant is like calling M. Jackson weird - it just doesn't even begin to convey the idea at hand. Klaus is not to be condemned too greatly however, since arrogance is most often associated with stupidity, and that is the fault of his parents.

Mr Pitkin is to be applauded for refusing to be intimidated - a trait he shares with his new newspaper, which I assume must be the Willamette Week - my Portland favorite
Gary Lee Betts
Athena, Oregon
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