President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic visited Chile.
During Pinera's address at their joint news conference, President Klaus took the signing pen which was provided for him. He brought it below the field of vision, then slipped it into his left-hand pocket.
A President takes a pen. That's right, and it's a YouTube sensation. . .(?)
Let us forget about the brave efforts of the Chilean people and their government in rescuing the trapped miners, surviving many months of isolation from family and friends. Forget about the efforts of the Chilean people and their government to reemerge from massive earthquakes that threatened the internal stability of the rising Pacific Rim nation.
Forget also about the Capitalist upsurge of free-market power which has lifted the Czech Republic of Velvet Revolution fame from slowly-dying socialist state to dynamic market powerhouse.
Let us rather fixate on the taking of a pen at an innocuous state gathering of two trading partners.
Of course, in the course of condemning this head of state from a meeting of two nations who do not figure prominently in the pressing foreign policy concerns of the United States, let us also neglect to mention that it is customary for visiting dignitaries to keep pens, paper, pads, and other stationery items as keepsakes from their diplomatic envoys.
Truly, in the case of Czech President Vaclav Klaus, the pen may lead indeed lead to a stint in the State Pen!