-- SUTRYK IS THE KO CANDIDATE IN WROCŁAW, DOLNIAK AND JAKUBIAK APPEAL FOR A VETO, WILL THE PRIME MINISTER ANNOUNCE ELECTIONS TODAY? https://300polityka.pl/live/2018/08/13/

-- PIOTR ZAREMBA WRITES IN DGP THAT KUKIZ WANTS TO RUN FOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: “A certain PiS politician told the author of this text after Duda’s interview: The President is doing this at the request of Paweł Kukiz, who himself wants to run for the European Parliament. The price is supposed to be the support of the Kukiz’15 movement in the second round of the next presidential elections. But Andrzej Duda may be mistaken. Jarosław Kaczyński will say nothing now. But in 2020, he might simply not nominate him. For now, he has once again taken offense at him.”

-- DUDA PREVENTED EVEN GREATER CONCENTRATION OF LAW AND JUSTICE POWER – ZAREMBA: “The third possibility is that the leader, who is still not feeling well, did not have the focus for conference calls or for sending someone to the Presidential Palace. In this version, Law and Justice would be a boat, at least at times, without a helmsman. This could lead to costs, although it is possible that the fears associated with cultivating an opposition from the right will prove to be exaggerated. One thing is certain: Andrzej Duda prevented an even greater concentration of power in the hands of this camp. At the end, he even received support in the form of a statement from the spokesperson of the Episcopate reminding that ‘electoral law must be fair and guarantee the possibility of a good choice.’ On the occasion of the war over the courts, the bishops also tried to support the president’s moderating moves. This is good news for his political position as well.” http://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/opinie/artykuly/579279,jaroslaw-kaczynski-pis-prezydent-andrzej-duda-weto-ordynacja-wyborcza-do-pe.html

-- WITOLD JURASZ ON ONE.NET ABOUT THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF LECH KACZYŃSKI’S GEORGIAN MISSION – HE WAS SPOKEN OF WITH GREATER RESPECT IN MOSCOW THAN IN WARSAW: “It is a paradox of history that Lech Kaczyński was spoken of with greater respect in Moscow than in Warsaw. In Warsaw, the focus was on the fact that Lech Kaczyński wanted to force the pilot to land in Tbilisi, not in neighboring Azerbaijan. The president’s critics are formally right, and the pilot, responsible for the lives of the president (and four other leaders), was also right to refuse to fly to the Georgian capital, since Russia controlled the airspace over Georgia. However, President Kaczyński was also right, as he had to reach Tbilisi before President Sarkozy, who was playing for high stakes, but not for Georgia.”

-- IN POLAND, KACZYŃSKI WAS ATTACKED BY THOSE WHO BELIEVED POLAND HAD NO RIGHT TO HOLD A DIFFERENT OPINION THAN GERMANY AND FRANCE – JURASZ CONTINUES: “In Poland, President Kaczyński was attacked not by the Muscovite faction, but by those who believed that Poland could not have a different opinion from Paris or Berlin. Even when Paris believes that the independence and borders of countries about which Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain would say that they ‘lie far away and we know nothing about them’ are not of fundamental importance. The trip initiated by Lech Kaczyński and – as many do not know or want to forget – coordinated with the American administration, naturally meant open conflict with President Sarkozy, but contrary to what was said, it did not mean a breach of any ‘European consensus,’ because Paris never even tried to develop such a consensus, and France usurped rights it never had by virtue of holding the EU presidency.”

-- IT IS WORTH APOLOGIZING TO LECH KACZYŃSKI AFTER 10 YEARS: “Today, after 10 years, it is clear that President Kaczyński was not mistaken in what he did then, nor in his predictions that Ukraine would be next. In the last 10 years, Poland has become a country where hatred and contempt for political opponents have become the norm. The language used by the authorities is scandalous, and even if words unworthy of mention also occur on the other side, it is difficult today not to assign greater blame to Law and Justice for the state of public debate in Poland. Ten years ago, however, some in Poland did not recognize the greatness of President Lech Kaczyński, and others mocked him to such an extent that even the Russians treated him with greater attention. 10 years and the war in Ukraine is enough time to offer an apology. It is worth doing so at least because someone in Poland has to start doing it first.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/jurasz-10-lat-po-wojnie-w-gruzji-rola-lecha-kaczynskiego/1vz1wwf.amp

-- WORDS THAT STOPPED RUSSIA – GPC on Lech Kaczyński’s words from 10 years ago.

-- THE FUTURE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WILL BE MORE FRIENDLY TO POLAND – Ryszard Czarnecki in GPC: “The future European Parliament, regardless of the election results, will be much more friendly to Poland and significantly more open to Polish arguments. The Republic will finally cease to be a shooting target for the left, liberals, or Christian democrats.”

-- GRZEGORZ SZYMANIK ON BIEDROŃ’S NETWORK OF PROGRESSIVE CITIES IN DUŻY FORMAT GW: “It started with a letter from Robert Biedroń. Three and a half years ago, after the local government elections, he invited about a dozen new mayors and city presidents elected for their first term and running on change slogans to Słupsk. They formed the Network of Progressive Cities. And they exchange ideas. There are currently fourteen progressive leaders (from Braniewo, Gorlice, Mielno, Słupsk, Starachowice, Wadowice, Ustka, Czersk, Ostrów Wielkopolski, Świdnica, Bartoszyce, Sejny, Kalisz, Dąbrowa Górnicza). I visited five of them.”

-- BEATA KLIMEK, MAYOR OF OSTRÓW WIELKOPOLSKI, SPEAKS: “The biggest battles in the city are with the young wolves from the Civic Platform. She complains that they criticize her every idea. But when one of them, the youngest, recently called her the worst mayor of Ostrów in history, the next morning a queue formed at her door. – People came to comfort me. One man burst in, distraught. ‘I didn’t sleep all night!’ And here – she points to a patch of dug-up earth, in front of which we stood – a whole piece of the city will come to life.” http://wyborcza.pl/duzyformat/7,127290,23773205,robert-biedron-zaprasza-do-sieci-miast-progresywnych.html

-- TOMASZ SAKIEWICZ ON THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GP ENVIRONMENT ON THE RIGHT AND THAT HE WILL PERSONALLY ENSURE THE CAREERS OF SEVERAL PEOPLE – writes in GPC: “I personally have an even bigger problem with this, because I have no doubt that for many months there were politicians in the camp of the ‘good change’ who were implementing a scenario to liquidate Telewizja Republika and isolate ‘Gazeta Polska,’ especially the ‘GP’ Clubs. They did not succeed, but the losses incurred were enormous. Rude remarks like: ‘They should be happy with what they have, because we will take away their advertising,’ have led me to intend to personally oversee the careers of several people – and this in subsequent Sejm terms as well. As for the situation in Polish Radio – I know both Sobala and Krzysztof Czabański, and I am ready to help find a solution to the conflict, which is purely personal. The radio is financially stable and does not evoke as much emotion as other public media, so it is not worth heating up this dispute.” https://gpcodziennie.pl/96053-ijaktuzyc.html

-- JAKI ANNOUNCES A GARBAGE PATROL; THE CITY QUICKLY CLEANS OVERFLOWING DUMPSTERS BEFORE OPPOSITION CANDIDATES’ CONFERENCES – TVN WARSAW: “Warsaw is drowning in garbage, and what happened is just a prelude. It will be much worse,” stated Patryk Jaki. He organized a briefing by one of the gazebos on Śniardwy Street. As he noted himself, “this place was drowning in garbage this morning,” but it was cleaned up before the conference. One dumpster was filled, which – as Jaki indicated – did not fit into the garbage truck. “If I were malicious, I would say that I am not yet president, and I am already effective, because Mokotów is clean for a moment. But this is not about Mokotów being clean for a moment, but about applying systemic solutions,” he commented. Let us recall that another candidate for city president faced a similar situation a few days ago. Jacek Wojciechowicz met with journalists by empty dumpsters in Sielce and argued that “just half an hour ago there was a lot of trash here.” Like Jaki, he suggested that the emptying of the gazebos was due to the conference being called. https://tvnwarszawa.tvn24.pl/informacje,news,wywoza-smieci-z-mokotowa-brjaki-zapowiada-smieciowy-patrol,268521.html

-- TRZASKOWSKI PROPOSES A NIGHT MAYOR: “I announce that we will create such a position as a night mayor, following the example of other world cities, who will be responsible for conversation, dialogue, trying to resolve any differences of opinion, and above all, monitoring the situation in the city at night: night public transport, issues concerning potentially additional cleaning that is sometimes needed, issues concerning noise,” Trzaskowski listed. https://tvnwarszawa.tvn24.pl/informacje,news,trzaskowski-proponuje-stworzenie-stanowiska-burmistrza-nocnego,268500.html

-- FAKT ON THE FACT THAT ACCOUNTING FOR THE CIVIC PLATFORM IS A FARCE: “Many remember that special day in the Sejm, exactly 27 months ago. For the entire day, the then-Prime Minister Beata Szydło (55) and her ministers presented an audit of eight years of Civic Platform rule. It turns out it was a sham. The prosecution, though taken over by the government, cannot prove anything to anyone!” https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/rozliczenie-po-to-lipa/mx51hv6

-- MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI ON THE PETTY NATURE OF LAW AND JUSTICE AND ABSENCE DURING ŚCIBOR’S FUNERAL – writes in RZ: “After all, it would be hard to believe that Law and Justice politicians would be so petty that they went to the funeral of Professor Dzielska, who supported Law and Justice, but ignored the funeral of a veteran because he was… critical of the current government. Similarly, it would be hard to believe that the President and Prime Minister love to commemorate the heroes of the fight for independence, but most often those who have long since died and had no opportunity to comment on the current situation.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/308129968-Szuldrzynski-Zagadkowa-absencja-na-Powazkach.html

-- MUD ON HEROES – PAWEŁ RESZKA describes the cases of underground soldiers accused of collaborating with the communists: “Piotr Gontarczyk, a long-time associate of Cenckiewicz, said: – I was outraged; I professionally deal with lustration. I have never seen such an unreliable and tendentious text. Professor Jan Żaryn believed there was no evidence that the professor had informed. Agnieszka Romaszewska, a publicist, and Jan Ołdakowski, director of the Museum of the Uprising, resigned from the weekly’s award chapter in protest. The professor himself firmly denied that he had collaborated with the PRL services.” http://m.newsweek.pl/polska/spoleczenstwo/weterani-powstania-warszawskiego-zmagaja-sie-z-oskarzeniami-o-wspolprace-z-prl,artykuly,431326,1.html

-- BISHOPS DO NOT WANT TO BE LAW AND JUSTICE’S PAWNS IN EVERY MATTER – DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA in wyborcza.pl:“The truth is prosaic: politicians from Kukiz simply went to the bishops and asked for help. And the bishops see their ally in small right-wing parties, so they did not remain deaf to these requests. They do not want to be hostages of Jarosław Kaczyński in every matter. That is why they supported Kukiz, the nationalists, and Marek Jurek. This is also a defense of Father Tadeusz Rydzyk’s bargaining position, who will negotiate places on the lists for the European Parliament with Jarosław Kaczyński. Because that’s why Kaczyński wanted this electoral law: to curb Toruń’s potential ambitions and marginalize small, more or less radical, right-wing parties in the European elections. I wonder if, if some electoral law favored the broadly understood right, but was unfavorable to the liberal center and the left, would the Episcopate have criticized the electoral law just as decisively?”

-- WIELOWIEYSKA ON THE FACT THAT THE ELECTORAL LAW WOULD BE RISKY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF EUROPEAN LAW: “The electoral law was something of a test balloon. Probably Law and Justice concluded that the new regulations would create further problems within the European Union. According to the Senate legislative office, the new regulations are contrary to European law. And the government already has a lot of open fronts there. So it was decided to withdraw from the idea using a veto, thanks to which Andrzej Duda is to show Poles his independence. Because voters might have doubted this after he agreed to Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro’s rule in the courts without a murmur. The president will also earn the gratitude of Kukiz voters. The balance from the perspective of the ruling camp's interests is therefore obvious: the veto has more pros than cons. The spectacle has taken place, and all the actors are very satisfied.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23780633,nikt-sie-juz-nie-dziwi-temu-ze-polski-episkopat-zajal-stanowisko.html

-- THE EPISCOPATE WITH THE PRESIDENT – Tomasz Krzyżak in RZ:“A statement of this content, moreover signed by the spokesperson, not the chairman or even the secretary-general, is intended to satisfy both sides. Although, to tell the truth, nothing would have happened if this document had not existed. Meanwhile, the impression was created that the bishops are with the president, not with Jarosław Kaczyński. They have therefore become participants in the political game – even if they did not have such intentions. And this is what they should avoid.” https://www.rp.pl/Kosciol/308129963-Krzyzak-Episkopat-gra-z-prezydentem.html

-- PIOTR SKWIECIŃSKI ON THE POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF SECULARIZATION: “Paradoxically, this good sense of social trends is currently detrimental to the opposition, because secularization processes are not sufficiently advanced to gain political traction from them. Moreover, the departure of Poles from religion (this is our specificity) does not result in an increase in aggressively anti-religious attitudes, but rather in a transition to indifference (which, incidentally, is consistent with the fundamental characteristic of our national character, which is lukewarmness). However, this does not change the fact that these processes are, to quote a classic, an obvious truth. Law and Justice also senses them, and this is one of the reasons why it tries not to be associated with views that could be classified as ultra-right. It does this inconsistently, against its own nature (see the parliamentary club’s behavior on abortion matters, far from the vision of a disciplined cohort), because it contradicts the nature of this party, shaped during a period of ideological and cultural radicalization and identity escalation. Nevertheless, it tries.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/407641-skwiecinski-dla-sieci-gasnaca-iskra

-- JACEK ŻAKOWSKI ON MACIEREWICZ – writes in GW: “However, the reaction to these dense clues allows us to form an opinion about the state of the country and its institutions, because nothing is known about the actions of the relevant institutions (prosecution, secret services, Sejm), which should explain what role Antoni Macierewicz actually played and in whose interest he acted for decades, destroying patriotic political elites, heroic traditions, secret services, the general staff, special forces, plans to acquire modern weapons, etc.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,23780460,wrozba-dla-prezesa-polski-zakowski.html

-- LESZEK MILLER RECOUNTS AN ANECDOTE IN WPROST ABOUT SHARING AN APARTMENT WITH BIEDROŃ: “We had a common electoral district. He once met me in the Sejm and said he had rented an apartment in Gdynia. I asked him: ‘Mr. Robert, how many times a week will you be there? Isn’t that too expensive?’ And he replied: ‘Perhaps we should live together and share the costs?’ – Miller recounts with a smile. He adds that he replied to Biedroń jokingly that the SLD electorate would not understand that. – We were in different parties. Of course, that’s all it was about – he adds.” https://www.wprost.pl/kraj/10145682/miller-dla-wprost-biedron-proponowal-mi-zebysmy-razem-zamieszkali.html

-- KAZIMIERZ KUTZ: WILL WE BE OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN UNION BY CHRISTMAS? – writes in GW: “The Polish-Polish war has reached its apogee: Law and Justice has given us its Stalingrad. Will there be a Field Marshal Paulus in the PiS camp who will declare surrender? Can the Union capitulate to Jarosław Kaczyński? And will Kaczyński transfer power to Macierewicz? Will we be outside the European Union by Christmas?”

-- THE PRESIDENT SHOULD DISSOLVE THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE FIREFIGHTERS DID NOT SPRAY WATER ON OWSIAK – Kutz continues: “Meanwhile, at Owsiak’s annual event in Kostrzyn nad Odrą, which attracted half a million people, Polish state firefighters refused people water for refreshment in the apocalyptic heat. It is written in the Holy Scripture that water is not denied to people when they thirst for it. This is a sin for which one does not receive absolution. Water cannot be only for those in PiS. For such a transgression, the president of a democratic country dissolves the government and calls new elections. But Owsiak called German firefighters for help, and they arrived with their German water and brought relief and joy to the Polish revellers. Their sprayers towered over the heads of the crowd, and in the hellish dust, our countrymen entered into ecstasy. Then they wallowed in the dirty water like pigs in the yard. They were happy in German water from Berlin! Did anyone ever predict such an event? Thanks to the Germans, a puddle reappeared in the same place as it once did, and joy returned.” http://katowice.wyborcza.pl/katowice/7,35055,23768354,kazimierz-kutz-woda-nie-moze-byc-tylko-dla-tych-z-pis-u.html

-- JANUSZ KURTYKA WOULD BE TURNING 58 TODAY.

-- BIRTHDAYS: Sławoj Leszek Głódź, Magda Sakowska, Bronisław Korfanty, Gosia Baczyńska, Michał Oblizajek.