-- ANTONI MACIEREWICZ turns 70 today.

-- THE LAW AND JUSTICE PARTY (PiS) HAS A REAL CHANCE TO TAKE THE CAPITAL FROM CIVIC PLATFORM (PO) - Rzeczpospolita reports on a poll showing 41:36 and 50 to 42 in Warsaw.

-- JAKI IS HOT ON TRZASKOWSKI'S HEELS - Tomasz Krzyżak in Rzeczpospolita.

-- "WE MUST DO OUR OWN THING EVEN WHEN THE WHOLE STADIUM BOOS" - MARCIN MASTALEREK in conversation with Agaton Koziński in PTT: "I'm a fan of Legia Warsaw, a big admirer of Kazimierz Deyna. In 1977, Deyna – even though the entire Silesian Stadium was booing him – scored a crucial goal against Portugal, directly from a corner kick. He proved his strength of character and fortitude. This was beautifully illustrated at the end of the film 'Being Kazimierz Deyna,' when the protagonist says at the end: 'One must be like Deyna in '77. One must do their own thing even when the whole stadium boos.' I live by this motto."

-- "JAKI IS RUNNING A BETTER CAMPAIGN" - Mastalerek tells Koziński: "Certainly, Patryk Jaki is running a much better campaign than Rafał Trzaskowski – and yet, just two years ago, this latter was considered by some commentators to be a potential leader of Civic Platform who should replace Grzegorz Schetyna in that role.

"Does this change the fact that Trzaskowski has a huge advantage?

"Warsaw is not just villas and office buildings – it's also Targówek, Białołęka, Praga, and Grochów. Lech Kaczyński won in 2002, almost in the first round. If Antoni Macierewicz hadn't run then, garnering little support, but enough to snatch votes that would have allowed the late Lech Kaczyński to achieve something historic – to win in the first round. This means Patryk Jaki can also win here, although it's a very difficult task. Let's be clear. I'm not comparing Patryk Jaki to the late Lech Kaczyński; that's a different league. But the example of the late President Kaczyński shows that it is possible to win in Warsaw. One can find ideas that will lead to victory. Although it will be tough."

-- "THEY ARE FIGHTING BATTLES THEY HAVE ALREADY WON" - Mastalerek continues in PTT: "Circumstances are changing above all. Now it's 2018, and it's completely different from 2015. The problem is that politicians are sometimes like the generals in the well-known proverb, who like to fight the same battles they have already won – as if they don't notice that times are changing."

-- "TUSK IS SCHETYNA'S PROBLEM, NOT DUDY'S" - Mastalerek continues: "Tusk's goal is to remove PiS from power. He knows there's no point in fighting for the presidency if PiS wins the 2019 elections; he knows how that would end. He also knows there's no point in fighting for the presidency if Schetyna is effectively running things from 2019. For this reason, Tusk is not Andrzej Duda's problem today – he is primarily Schetyna's and Lubnauer's problem."

-- "DUDA IS IRREPLACEABLE" - Mastalerek: "Irreplaceable. When it comes to party politics, the undisputed leader is Jarosław Kaczyński. However, Andrzej Duda plays on a different field, has completely different competencies, and does not operate in the party arena."

-- "SAKIEWICZ PREFERS TO VOTE FOR TUSK?" - Mastalerek: "If Tomasz Sakiewicz prefers to vote for Donald Tusk or someone similar, that's his business. I will definitely vote for President Duda. And I haven't bought Gazeta Polska since that declaration. https://plus.polskatimes.pl/opinie/a/marcin-mastalerek-trzeba-robic-swoje-nawet-gdy-caly-stadion-gwizdze,13386902

-- "BIEDROŃ IS FRESHER THAN CIVIC PLATFORM" - ŁUKASZ ROGOJSZ on Gazeta.pl: "If Biedroń finally decides to create his own project, he will compete with Civic Platform for voters. Inevitably, the dispute will escalate into a fierce battle – we hear from a politician of the largest opposition party. – Only Biedroń will have a stronger position in this fight because people are tired of Civic Platform, but not of him. This could cause nervous reactions on our part, a scenario we know from the past and which has never ended well – adds our interviewee. We cannot let him grow, because eventually he will get bigger and become a problem – fears another Civic Platform politician. However, he is aware that a frontal attack on the popular Biedroń could only harm Civic Platform. – We can attack him by saying he's breaking up the opposition and playing for PiS, but will that be enough? – he wonders. http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,23743743,solista-ulubieniec-mediow-polityczne-zagrozenie-o-co-chodzi.html

-- "MARCIN FIJOŁEK ON THE SUCCESS OF THE WARSAW RISING MUSEUM AND A MODEL FOR OTHER FIELDS: "If there is one area where conservatives, the broadly understood right-wing in Poland, can point to a great success – meaning significant, lasting, and unerasable changes at the political level, but above all at the social and mental level – then the memory of the Warsaw Rising is precisely such an example. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to try to transplant these good models that built and continue to build the Warsaw Rising Museum to other spheres of 'good change'? Even if this transplant doesn't take root everywhere, the very attempts would lead to a much healthier public life. These are naive dreams, but if not on August 1st, when should we write about them?" https://wpolityce.pl/m/spoleczenstwo/406284-zmiany-w-pamieci-o-44-to-najtrwalszy-sukces-ostatnich-lat

-- THE JAGIELLONIAN CLUB, RAZEM PARTY, KUKIZ, PSL, AND PRAWICA RP APPEAL TO THE PRESIDENT FOR A VETO: "Four formations: Kukiz'15, PSL, Razem Party, and Prawica RP, at the initiative of the Jagiellonian Club, have issued an appeal to President Andrzej Duda. The authors of the appeal indicate that the new electoral system for the European Parliament will cement the political scene and negatively affect Polish citizens' participation in elections. P. Kukiz (K'15), W. Kosiniak-Kamysz (PSL), J. Zimmermann (Razem), K. Kawęcki (Prawica RP), and K. Mazur (KJ) are calling for a veto of the Election Code."

-- "AN UNPRECEDENTED APPEAL": "– The civic and political groups we represent have much in common. However, what unites us is the conviction that creating a prohibitive real electoral threshold, limiting the ability of Poles to effectively choose between two lists, and cementing the political scene is detrimental to Polish democracy. We express our hope that Mr. President will consider our arguments and decide not to sign the amendment to the Election Code – write in a joint appeal to President Andrzej Duda, Paweł Kukiz, Chairman of the Kukiz'15 Parliamentary Club, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, President of the Polish People's Party, Julia Zimmermann, Member of the National Board of the Razem Party, Krzysztof Kawęcki, President of Prawica Rzeczypospolitej, and Krzysztof Mazur, President of the Jagiellonian Club. https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2018/08/03/klub-jagiellonski-kukiz15-psl-partia-razem-i-prawica-rp-wspolnie-apeluja-do-prezydenta-rp/

-- PAWEŁ BRAVO ON THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE OPPOSITION AND A STRONG POSITION FOR CIVIC PLATFORM - on the pages of Tygodnik Powszechny: "One way or another, to get into the European Parliament, one will have to run on one of two tickets. This gives the Civic Platform leadership immense power in negotiations on the 'non-PiS' side, especially as they will be conducted in the perspective of the autumn parliamentary elections. It will therefore be a good test of negotiation culture and the ability to cooperate. 'Only together will we remove PiS from power' – this has been the mantra of the last three years. PiS has thrown the ball to the opposition – it's time for them to show if they can play it. https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/wybory-do-pe-pilka-po-stronie-opozycji-154358

-- "MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI ON THE BLOODY CARNAGE OF THE CAMPAIGN - he writes in Rzeczpospolita: "The closer we get to the local government elections, the harsher the campaign will become. The bloody carnage we witnessed this week will seem like milk and honey in comparison to what follows."

-- SZUŁDRZYŃSKI ON THE GARBAGE IN SOCIAL MEDIA DICTATING THE DEBATE: "Because one has to break through all the pictures of kittens, puppies, holiday selfies, more or less funny videos, in short – all the garbage, excuse me, the content that fills social media, with their message. For Facebook's algorithms, which determine how visible individual posts are on the platform, to place our material high up, one has to do something that evokes the strongest emotions, that gets the most likes. https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/180809853-Kotki-pieski-selfie-i-wyborcza-jatka.html&template=restricted

-- "BETTER LATE THAN NEVER" - EWA SIEDLECKA on the Supreme Court - she writes in Polityka: "Suspending the operation of provisions suspected of being unconstitutional is one of them. Fortunately for the constitution, the state, and the common good, the Supreme Court has resorted to it. The PiS government is unable to thwart proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union. Unless it withdraws Poland from the Union. https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1758840,1,sad-najwyzszy-zawiesza-przepisy-o-wycince-sedziow.read

-- ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ ON CANDIDATES FOR THE SUPREME COURT: "Antoni Macierewicz's favorite prosecutor with a conviction on his record, a lawyer removed from the Constitutional Tribunal under pressure from Lech Kaczyński, a former member of TVP's authorities appointed by Samoobrona, the founder of the Ordo Iuris institute fighting for an abortion ban, and many lawyers associated with PiS – these are the names we found on the list of candidates for the Supreme Court."

-- STANKIEWICZ ON A SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS FOR PiS: "This is a significant success for PiS because legal organizations urged their members to boycott PiS's judicial reform. What succeeded in the National Council of the Judiciary elections – where only 18 judges registered for 15 seats – did not work in the case of the Supreme Court. There's no reason to be surprised: a permanent position in the country's most important court means prestige and money. https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/sad-najwyzszy-biografie-kandydatow/qvpvm6j

-- TOMASZ PIETRYGA ON THE CHALLENGE FOR THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE JUDICIARY, SO THAT "STASZEK DOESN'T PROVE HIMSELF IN BUSINESS" - he writes in Rzeczpospolita: "The National Council of the Judiciary will now face a challenge. Will it rise to it and the Supreme Court will be substantively strengthened, or will it be impoverished by mediocrities, for whom it would have been inaccessible in non-revolutionary times, and the old slogan of an SLD minister will return to circulation: 'Staszek wanted to prove himself in business'? If the latter option prevails, the controversial reform will eventually turn against the reformers. Because no one, not even the right-wing voters, wants judgments in their cases to be issued by judges who are incompetent or have problems with ethics and ethos. https://www.rp.pl/Sedziowie-i-sady/308029886-Staszek-znowu-bedzie-chcial-sie-sprawdzic---komentuje-Tomasz-Pietryga.html

-- MICHAŁ SUTOWSKI ON A PRAGMATIC SOCIAL CLASS PACT - he writes in Krytyka Polityczna: "It won't be easy, and even contorted, if PiS changes the electoral system to a quasi-majority one. However, the first necessary step for us to have any chance at all is for the parents and children of the Third Polish Republic to put their generational experiences in parentheses. The second is to link the fight against PiS with a political vision for Poland's future, rather than postponing it indefinitely. The third is to seek out those segments of the working class that can be appealed to without abandoning progressive and liberal values. Without all of this, PiS – capable of building the most paradoxical and absurd alliances – will fry us all in one pot. http://krytykapolityczna.pl/felietony/michal-sutowski/pragmatyczny-pakt/

-- MONIKA OLEJNIK ON NATIONALISTS: "What do nationalists have in common with the anniversary of the Warsaw Rising, with the blood shed by insurgents and civilians? That everyone wants to latch on and wear an insurgent armband. http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23748258,powstancze-manewry-kazdy-chce-sie-podlaczyc-olejnik.html

-- MINISTER AND POLICE TOGETHER WITH NATIONALISTS - Wojciech Karpieszuk on Gazeta Wyborcza's second channel: "Nationalists in black outfits with green armbands bearing the falanga symbol made a frightening impression. They distributed flyers to passers-by with the slogan 'The future belongs to us.' The associations are obvious. The dozens of burning flares were also a violation of the law and a threat. The police did not react. This would also be grounds for dissolving the assembly. However, the minister and the police preferred to mock the problem just to please the nationalists. http://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,23748248,minister-i-policja-razem-z-narodowcami-komentarz-wojciecha.html

-- JAKUB MAJMUREK WRITES THAT PiS SUPPORTS NEO-FASCISTS: "It consists of four basic elements. First, the downplaying of extreme nationalist slogans and symbols appearing at demonstrations like yesterday's. Second, emphasizing the patriotic character of far-right gatherings. Whenever the media report on accompanying excesses, we hear from the likes of Brudziński that 'families loving Poland with their children' marched in the 'Independence March,' and on August 1st, patriots, wanting to 'pay homage to the insurgents.' http://m.newsweek.pl/opinie/w-rocznice-powstania-warszawskiego-pis-znow-wspiera-neofaszystow,artykuly,430907,1.html#tw=nw

-- BIANKA MIKOŁAJEWSKA ON BRUDZIŃSKI'S WORDS: "According to Minister Joachim Brudziński, the police surveillance of youth activists who met with Zbigniew Hołdys to discuss the state of Polish democracy, revealed by OKO.press, was justified. To convince viewers of TVN24 of this, the minister resorted to extremely contorted manipulations and outright lies. https://oko.press/brudzinski-broni-policyjnej-inwigilacji-mlodziezy-posuwajac-sie-do-manipulacji-i-klamstw/

-- "IT'S PURE 1984" - writes Galopujący Major on Gazeta.pl: "This means that any of us can now be monitored – in August 2018 – 'without any procedure,' that our conversations, even intimate ones, with loved ones can be recorded, that we can be filmed and have an operational file opened, because six months later – in January 2019 – Klementyna Suchanow will write something on Facebook again. According to Brudziński's logic, youth meeting with Hołdys today can be surveilled because in six months someone might write something on a wall. It's pure Orwell's '1984.' Those famous ACTA are nothing compared to this. Brudziński probably doesn't know it, but he is repeating exactly the security service rhetoric used to justify surveillance in the communist era: citizens must be protected from the subversives of 'Solidarity.' These subversives sometimes said ugly things about the PZPR and sometimes, to our horror, met with various Hołdyses on different floors. http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,161770,23745691,galopujacy-major-wywiad-z-brudzinskim-to-rok-1984-zamiast.html

-- BIRTHDAYS: Antoni Macierewicz, Jan Dziedziczak, Grzegorz Rydlewski, Guy Billauer.