-- 10 POLITICAL TOPICS OF DECEMBER - 300POLITYKA: https://300polityka.pl/news/2018/12/01/10-politycznych-tematow-grudnia/

-- TODAY: THE PRIME MINISTER'S TOWNHALL. PMM: We want a proud and ambitious Poland. A Poland that will create conditions for the fulfillment of the dreams and aspirations of all our compatriots - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2018/12/01

-- THE RIGHT-WING HAS ALLIGATORS LIKE TVN AGAINST IT - JACEK KARNOWSKI: "You watch TVN on the right-wing and you understand that having such alligators against you, you need some media shields? You'll get hit for clumsiness. You think you can also talk about what has been achieved - you will be called a propagandist."

-- KARNOWSKI ON A PART OF THE RIGHT-WING MEDIA ENVIRONMENT - PERHAPS ONLY THE STATE WHERE THE THIRD REPUBLIC RULES AND THEY ARE SUFFERING IS BEARABLE FOR THEM: "I sometimes think, more and more often lately, perhaps this camp does not deserve the chance it has been given? What do you think – does it deserve it? Does Łukasz, worrying about soup he didn't get, deserve it? Does the showman Wojciech, calling from afar for blood on the President's hands, deserve it? Either way, it is already clear that for people in a part of the right-wing media environment, only the state where the Third Republic rules, and they are suffering, is bearable. Their youth passed like that, they cannot accept any other model. Taking responsibility for a longer period, with the normal political mechanisms that come with it, clearly terrifies them." https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/423527-a-moze-prawica-nie-zasluguje-na-szanse-ktora-dostala

-- KARNOWSKI ON WHAT IS ON THE HORIZON IN CASE OF LOSING THE CHANCE - ZAPATERISM WITH MURDERISM: "Nevertheless, it is worth emphasizing: each of us will be held accountable for what we did and how we behaved during this exceptional time. Perhaps this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Perhaps another will not come for a long time. Then everyone will read their mocking columns, sum up their aesthetic experiences, and will look at the crossbreeding of societal re-education in the style of Zapaterism with murderism à la Yanukovych that is being imposed on us. Because something like that - if this chance is lost - is looming on the horizon." https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/423527-a-moze-prawica-nie-zasluguje-na-szanse-ktora-dostala

-- MOSBACHER ON HER LETTER - IN CONVERSATION WITH MARCIN MAKOWSKI: "It is unusual because the letter leaked to the media. However, contrary to my advisors' recommendations, I will say this... There is no excuse for my typos... The spelling is chaotic, I am embarrassed by it. It cannot be defended. I am ashamed of it and cannot express it more directly than now. After all, it is my responsibility." https://www.dorzeczy.pl/kraj/85535/mosbacher-o-swoim-liscie-nie-da-sie-tego-obronic.html

-- THE LIBERAL OPPOSITION IS GENERALLY INTERESTED IN LIMITED SOVEREIGNTY - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN PTT: "These are truisms that still barely reach many Polish minds. But are all those who mock PiS's weakness towards powerful America truly right? After all, if one were to adopt the logic of Radek Sikorski's recent mockery of 'Polish mulatto-ness', then he himself should today cheer for the hardness of the PiS government - both on the issue of the IPN regulations and concerning TVN. But he doesn't cheer, because substantively, interventions in both these matters are consistent with his views and interests. Besides, the liberal opposition is generally interested in Poland's limited sovereignty, even towards an alien government as repugnant to them as the Trump administration."

-- ZAREMBA ON THE SENSELESSNESS OF OPENING A MAJOR DEBATE OVER SUCH A TRIVIAL DISPUTE - FURTHER IN PTT: "And is there any point in opening such a major debate precisely over such a trivial dispute? In the case of the IPN law, it was about changes in Polish law, touching upon a truly treacherous puzzle. Here, it is difficult to guarantee the Americans that since their investors decided to invest in a television station that is exceptionally belligerent towards the government, a dispute between it and that government will never occur. This is simply impossible. Regardless of how much Americans need us. And they need us more than we need them. And they know it, even if they mistake Morawiecki's function." https://polskatimes.pl/piotr-zaremba-o-liscie-ambasador-usa-georgette-mosbacher-czy-jest-sens-otwierania-poteznej-debaty-przy-okazji-tak-blahego-sporu/ar/13704863

-- AFTER CALLS TO SEND PROSECUTORS, I WILL BE LESS SURPRISED BY THE AMBASSADOR'S OVERZEALOUSNESS - ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION: "However, when politicians from the ruling party (the reliable MP Pawłowicz), not to mention media strongly associated with this government, make hasty calls to revoke any station's license or send prosecutors after journalists, I will be less surprised by the ambassador's overzealousness. And Poland's dependence on the USA will interest me less than the question: who is right here?" https://polskatimes.pl/piotr-zaremba-o-liscie-ambasador-usa-georgette-mosbacher-czy-jest-sens-otwierania-poteznej-debaty-przy-okazji-tak-blahego-sporu/ar/13704863

-- PIOTR ZAREMBA IN RZ PONDERS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PJK AND GLAPIŃSKI: "So either Jarosław Kaczyński is certain that Glapiński remains beyond suspicion (or can be kept beyond it). Or this interdependence is not that great. In any case, it yields to the political interest of the entire camp. Glapiński's affairs are, incidentally, not only a contribution to the story of his influence and significance. They are also an opportunity to recreate the relationship between the anti-system right-wing camp and capitalism. Looking at it this way, one can consider the conversation between Ch. and the post-communist oligarch Czarnecki as a good conclusion to events that happened a long time ago. Regardless of whether the NBP president had direct involvement in the unsuccessful installation of lawyer Grzegorz Kowalczyk at Getin Bank or not."

-- ZAREMBA WRITES THAT KACZYŃSKI ALWAYS LIKED GLAPIŃSKI, CONSIDERED HIM EXTREMELY SHARP BON VIVANT: "Considered - not always rightly - vindictive, the PiS leader easily forgave him his deviation. Why? He always liked Glapiński, considered him a colorful, somewhat eccentric, but also extremely sharp bon vivant. What's more, he parted ways with him relatively amicably. He didn't buy his way into other formations by attacking his former leader. Some of his colleagues couldn't be said to have done that."

-- ZAREMBA ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF GLAPIŃSKI'S APPOINTMENT TO THE NBP - ADVOCATE OF SENSIBLE POLICY: "At that time, the practice of party spoils had not yet fully won. Senator Marek Rocki of PO thanked Glapiński for recruiting from SGH, of which Rocki himself was the rector. It is therefore not surprising that after another break, Glapiński was reached for again. First, he was nominated by Lech Kaczyński to the Monetary Policy Council. There, he gained a reputation as an advocate of sensible financial policy. So sensible that when, in the spring of 2016, he received the nomination for the President of the NBP, his predecessor Marek Belka praised him across party lines."

-- SOLORZ WAS CAUGHT AS A PARTNER BUT NOT AS OUR OWN MAN - FURTHER ZAREMBA: "Did Viktor Orbán not begin to build his own oligarchy in Hungary? In Poland, the results so far are meager. To some extent, Zygmunt Solorz was caught, but as a partner, not as our own man. Hopes for one's own economic elite can be realized through managers in state-owned banks and companies. This is unreliable, however, because everything is lost after losing elections." https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/311299934-Czy-Glapinski-ma-jeszcze-wplyw-na-Kaczynskiego.html&template=restricted

-- EWA SIEDLECKA ON PIS'S TECHNOLOGICAL SEQUENCE IN THE KRS: "The KRS therefore wants its decisions to be unappealable. And not without reason: the Supreme Administrative Court, while considering the appeals of nine candidates for Supreme Court judges, suspended the execution of the KRS decisions recommending other candidates to the President until these appeals are considered. A ruling by the Tribunal, in which it would state that an appeal against a KRS decision is unconstitutional, would solve the problem and unblock the filling of the Supreme Court by PiS. We will see how PiS's technological sequence works. For now, the KRS should demand self-suspension." https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1773664,1,krs-robi-prawny-fikolek-i-zaskarza-sama-siebie.read?src=mt

-- WE WILL NOT BE VASSALIZED - JAROSŁAW KURSKI in GW: "Today is an excellent time for true journalists from many media outlets across Poland who love their profession. A time of trial and struggle for what is our mission – for truth and independence. The rest is nonsense. That is why we will not be intimidated, we will not be bribed, we will not be prostituted." http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24231142,wolne-media-przeszkadzaja-pis-ale-nie-damy-sie-zwasalizowac.html

-- ROMAN IMIELSKI ON THE LESSON FROM THE AMBASSADOR - writes in GW: "Warsaw also believed that since Trump doesn't mince words when attacking American media, he wouldn't bother with media in Poland, even if they belong to US companies. That's not how it works, especially with a businessman president. Ambassador Mosbacher recently warned in the Sejm that attacks on free media could cause pro-Polish sentiments across the ocean to cool down. (...) Therefore, I warn: PiS's blind faith in Trump's friendship could end badly. Trump has not a shred of sentiment when something conflicts with his interests. And he can hit you right in the face like no one else." http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24231181,nauczka-od-pani-ambasador-slepa-wiara-pis-w-przyjazn-trumpa.html

-- THANK GOD FOR SCANDALS - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI in RZ: "Thank God for scandals. Paradoxically, they indicate that we live in a normal democracy where free media function. As long as scandals erupt, we will know that the mechanisms of social control are working. In authoritarian or totalitarian systems, there are no scandals – because there is no free press that can describe them, there are no mechanisms for democratic control of politicians' actions. Of course, in an ideal democracy, there should be no scandals, because everyone in it is reasonable, honest, and moral. This is certainly how democracy functions among angels. But people are not angels, and human nature after original sin is prone to evil. So as long as we live on Earth, as long as we have a democracy where flesh-and-blood people operate, scandals will erupt. And let us thank providence for them. Only when they stop appearing should we start to worry." https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/311299935-Skandale-III-RP-Sa-afery-jest-demokracja.html&template=restricted

-- GAZETA STOŁECZNA ON BIEDROŃ'S SUCCESSFUL MEETING IN WARSAW AND PIETRUCZUK'S STRUCTURE BUILDING: "For years, Grzegorz Pietruczuk was the deputy mayor under PO. Despite winning (with a slight majority), the party has now given him the main seat in the district. Pietruczuk used to be active in SLD, left for Inicjatywa Polska, and became the leader of the local association Razem dla Bielan. He says many young people are signing up to join Biedroń's movement in Warsaw. His colleagues from SLD and the Together party are also inquiring. Robert Biedroń, the recent mayor of Słupsk, is now traveling around Poland. He is organizing meetings he calls 'Brainstorms.' About 1,500 people came to the Palladium club on Złota Street – young and old. Some watched the meeting on a screen in the nearby Hybrydy." http://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,24231091,robert-biedron-tworzy-struktury-w-warszawie-mamy-juz-200-osob.html

-- WE ARE PLAYING WITH THE SAME BLOCKS - AGNIESZKA HOLLAND in conversation with Grzegorz Wysocki in GW: "In Poland, we are constantly playing with the same blocks. When, as in this series, the country is isolated and people have to settle for a bland, limited reality, they are offered grand symbols, emotions, and 'national' decorations. After the attacks, a new authority of intelligent party and church leaders emerged."

-- HOLLAND ON SYMMETRISTS AND ALARMISTS: "Good, because I try to wish people well. The dispute between symmetrists and alarmists is mainly about what we consider a serious threat. Because both sides are pro-democratic and rather anti-PiS. Only symmetrists say that actually nothing very terrible is happening. Yes, what PiS is doing is unpleasant and harmful, but the others also did ugly things, just slightly less so. And that one shouldn't constantly shout about the breaking of democracy or fascism, because that is an abuse of concepts, and what will we say then, when it really comes."

-- HOLLAND ON THE INTELLECTUAL WEAKNESS OF PLATFORMA: "I fear not. PO's biggest weakness is its intellectual weakness and the fact that it doesn't invest in it at all. Schetyna is a capable politician, but not a thinker who sees further than the next election." http://wyborcza.pl/7,101707,24231238,agnieszka-holland-o-1983-pierwszym-polskim-serialu-netflixa.html

-- BIRTHDAYS: Pawel Wujec, Artur Domosławski, Paulina Piechna-Więckiewicz, Jerzy Ziętek, Jarosław Bauc, Wojciech Szczurek, Zbigniew Dolata, SUNDAY: Henryk Majewski, Robert Golański