-- WKK on PSL Not Joining Civic Coalition, but Not Ruling Out Joint EP Run: https://300polityka.pl/live/2018/12/11/

-- 37% PiS, 34% KO, Biedroń 7%, SLD 5%, Kukiz 5%, PSL 4% in RZ Poll, Variant with Fr. Rydzyk's List: PiS and KO both 34%, Biedroń 8%, SLD 5%, Kukiz 5%, PSL 4%, Fr. Rydzyk's party 2% https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/312109905-PiS-musi-sie-sluchac-o-Rydzyka.html&cid=44&template=restricted

-- THE PRESIDENT STAYED BY HER SIDE UNTIL THE END - SE Lead Story: “She was very ill, suffering terribly, and lonely. She had no family, but that doesn't mean she was alone... I was with her for the last three months, all the time. Including the hour of her death,” says Elżbieta Witek (61), a friend of the late PiS MP Jolanta Szczypińska (+61), who died on Saturday, in an interview with SE. “President Jarosław Kaczyński (69) was also with her; he visited Jola regularly,” recalls the former government spokesperson.

https://se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/kulisy-smierci-jolanty-szczypinskiej-kaczynski-czuwal-przy-niej-do-ostatniej-chwili-aa-N5bu-TetK-s9YU.html

-- THE SUNDAY TRADING BAN PAYS OFF FOR PiS - PIOTR MIĄCZYŃSKI IN GW CITES ZPP POLL: “The first such in-depth study by Maison & Partners, commissioned by the Employers and Entrepreneurs Association, has just been published. How is the restriction of trade on Sundays assessed compared to other actions by the PiS government? Abolishing compulsory schooling for six-year-olds is positively assessed by 65% of people. The 500 plus program has 61% positive opinions. Restriction of trade on Sundays? As many as 52% of respondents assess it positively. For comparison – only 38% for the judicial reform. This calculation clearly shows that the ban simply pays off for PiS.”

http://wyborcza.pl/7,155287,24256701,solidarnosc-pracodawcy-i-rzad-graja-w-zabke-dlaczego-pis-oplaca.html

-- MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI, THE PRESIDENT'S SON - ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ: “When health falters and vital forces weaken, the PiS leader places his strategic hopes in Mateusz Morawiecki. All signs indicate that Jarosław Kaczyński has decided that Morawiecki will succeed him at the head of PiS. If this past year has shown anything, it is above all the enormous influence Morawiecki has on Kaczyński today. Without exaggeration, it can be said that no one ever – apart from his brother, of course – has had such political influence on Kaczyński. Considering that Kaczyński trusts only proven, long-time, usually elderly companions, Morawiecki is a phenomenon. Perhaps no one ever – and certainly no one in recent years – has gained the president's trust so quickly.”

-- STANKIEWICZ ON THE NEED FOR PiS VOTERS TO CREDIBILIZE MORAWIECKI: “Yes, Morawiecki is a PiS neophyte. His constant need to gain credibility, his constant adherence to the party line, prevents him from moving towards the center. The Prime Minister will remain the staunchest of the staunch as long as he feels insecure in his adopted political family.”

https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/mateusz-morawiecki-polityczny-syn-prezesa/3z9sml1

-- ROBERT BIEDROŃ ON LEADING THE EP LIST (via Interia): “We'll see. My main goal is to be Prime Minister. That's why you make political moves – to take responsibility for the country and to finally change something. That's my goal. And if so, I need to be sure that in the European Parliament elections, I will be the team leader and bring in people with similar values. It would be foolish not to run and lead this list. And that's what I'll do: I'll run for the European Parliament, and then I'll run for the Polish parliament and bring in a strong team again – just like I did in Słupsk.”

-- PiS Is Unacceptable for a Democrat - Biedroń Continues: “From the beginning, I was a proponent of 500 plus and believed it was a good solution; I saw how it changed my city. But there is certainly a lack of foundation for any agreement. I will not fuel the conflict, I will not call them 'a worse sort' or 'modern Bolsheviks', but I believe that in the form in which they operate, they are unacceptable for anyone who calls themselves a democrat.”

https://fakty.interia.pl/polska/news-robert-biedron-chce-byc-premierem,nId,2722677?fbclid=IwAR2VDWGbybxEabc9sjOQWfY3Pj_ZxY3o6tjaTrUy7pYjkfHt2FZgjcNdAPY

-- PiS in a Deep Rut - ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI in KULTURA LIBERALNA: “If Jarosław Kaczyński's speech – delivered during the weekend congress of Zjednoczona Prawica in Jachranka – was not a deeply thought-out bluff, merely simulating the party's weakness, then one thing is certain: the government is in a deep rut. PiS has reached a turning point, and in such circumstances, the president's speeches should not only explain the world and show a bright future, but also 'recharge the batteries' with political energy. Kaczyński failed on all these fronts. The audience expected a juicy steak, but the president served up overcooked, mashed potato mush. Instead of electrifying the audience, the president bored them.”

-- TO LOSE, KACZYŃSKI DOESN'T NEED THE OPPOSITION – PAWŁOWSKI'S CONCLUSION: “Kaczyński's team is like a football team that starts losing after a series of successes. Not because a worthy opponent has appeared in the league, but because the players have gotten too big for their boots and are 'losing' subsequent matches before even stepping onto the field. And the coach appointed by the president still cannot build authority among the players. This does not bode well for the future, and Jarosław Kaczyński's speech in Jachranka shows that, for now, even the president himself has no idea how to stop the decline of Zjednoczona Prawica. Meanwhile, it has just become clear that PiS already has someone to lose to. And perhaps it doesn't need the opposition for that.”

https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2018/12/11/pawlowski-pis-jachranka-jaroslaw-kaczynski/#

-- MARCIN FIJOŁEK ON PiS'S LUKEWARM WATER FROM THE TAP: “There’s no need to over-explain the term ‘catenaccio’ to football fans. However, for those less familiar with football, let us explain in a few words: it is a tactical system that emphasizes defensive play, focusing on fortifying one’s own goal and defending a favorable result – to avoid making mistakes when attempting to open up. The ‘catenaccio’ of Law and Justice could be described as 'PiS's lukewarm water from the tap' – it's an attempt to de-escalate conflicts (especially the dispute over the Supreme Court), consolidate ranks (including tempering political hotheads), and finally, an attempt to defend the score, meaning decent polls, good economic results, and the need to fend off attempts to equate PiS with a worn-out ruling party, essentially similar to Civic Platform. Jarosław Kaczyński, in his recent speech, correctly identified this last point as one of the most dangerous narratives for PiS (which the president termed 'social engineering') – the grouping of PiS and PO together.”

-- ONE MUST KNOW HOW TO CONDUCT DEADLY COUNTER-ATTACKS AND HAVE EXECUTORS FOR THEM - FIJOŁEK Continues: “However, assuming that a deep tactical reset and regrouping of forces will not occur, it must be remembered that, for a time, with the right executors, catenaccio can be effective. There is one condition – one must know how to conduct deadly counter-attacks and have executors for them. And one must also consider that most of the audience often grumbles about such play. Ultimately, however, effectiveness is what matters most, not style points. At least in football, politics sometimes has different rules of the game.”

https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/424943-polityczne-catenaccio-pis-czy-ta-strategia-moze-zadzialac

-- THE KWAŚNIAK AFFAIR WILL BURY PiS - EWA SIEDLECKA: “Public opinion is driven by emotions. And in the case of what PiS is doing with the former deputy head of the KNF, Wojciech Kwaśniak, there is one emotion: harm and injustice. This is regardless of whether one believes PiS's story that the KNF was sluggish in dealing with SKOK Wołomin during Kwaśniak's tenure. (...) Ziobro is in charge of anyone the prosecutor's office takes an interest in. And the prosecutor's office will take an interest in whomever Ziobro points to. Now he has pointed to former heads and officials of the KNF, including Wojciech Kwaśniak, who will certainly become a symbolic figure for 'Law and Justice' à la PiS. Even if – seeing what they have caused – PiS quiets the matter down before the elections, people will not forget about it. Just as they will not forget about another of Ziobro's achievements – the motion to the Constitutional Tribunal, which leads to Polexit. Even if the Tribunal doesn't touch it.”

https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1774892,1,sprawa-kwasniaka-pogrzebie-pis.read?src=mt

-- THE FORGETFUL MINISTER - RZ ON ROSTOWSKI - as Przemysław Wojtasik writes: “The minister did not remember whether the Polish state did anything when other European Union countries introduced regulations to prevent mobile phone fraud. He did not remember if he was warned that criminals might now move to Poland. He did not remember why the provision on the settlement of foreign entities was introduced (according to the committee members asking the questions, it allowed for fraud) and why it was abolished.”

https://www.rp.pl/Opinie/312109901-Zapominajacy-minister---komentuje-Przemyslaw-Wojtasik.html

-- THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT HEARING, ROSTOWSKI'S TESTIMONY WAS SUPPOSED TO DAMN PO, BUT IT DIDN'T WORK OUT - Piotr Mączyński in GW.

-- THE CHURCH BREAKS ITS SILENCE - GW Lead Story: “The Archdiocese of Gdańsk, citing the 'Wyborcza' article, has announced an 'attempt to examine all possible aspects of the case' of Prelate Jankowski. However, experts have doubts: for the victims, entering church grounds can be traumatic, and an independent commission from the curia is needed.”

http://trojmiasto.wyborcza.pl/trojmiasto/7,35612,24263743,co-dalej-ze-sprawa-ks-jankowskiego-kosciol-przerywa-mileczenie.html

-- DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA ON THE CASE OF FR. JANKOWSKI - A COMMISSION BUT WITHOUT ABP. GŁODŹ: “Archbishop Sławoj Leszek Głódź, head of the Archdiocese of Gdańsk, has been criticized in the past for his leniency towards pedophiles. For example, the media wrote about Father Mirosław, who was finally convicted of molesting a teenage parishioner but remained a member of the elite Chapter of the Collegiate Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Starogard Gdański. Therefore, the archbishop should be removed from any influence on the future commission. It would even be better if this commission operated outside Archbishop Głódź's archdiocese.

-- WIELOWIEYSKA ON ERECTING MONUMENTS TO PEDOPHILES: “The public deserves an explanation of this matter, because Father Jankowski's monument already stands in Gdańsk. Erecting monuments to pedophiles would be – to use a phrase often repeated in the Church – sowing scandal. And this is not a problem of just one archdiocese.”

http://wyborcza.pl/7,160131,24263612,sprawa-ks-jankowskiego-komisja-potrzebna-ale-bez-abp-glodzia.html

-- MAGDALENA ŚRODA ON MONUMENTS - writes in GW: “And what to do when years after a monument is erected, we learn about the criminal life of the hero? If we tear it down, the trace of both the person and his transgressions will disappear. The monument to Father Jankowski has many meanings: it is an expression of his merits, both historical and political, although these were rather the merits of the institution to which he belonged and which directed his fate. It is therefore also an expression of the Church's power and pride. Father Jankowski was a rich man, but also magnanimous. Famous, but small. He was an important figure in Gdańsk and in Poland, and at the same time a criminal. The full truth about him must be revealed and immortalized. 'Prelate Jankowski, confessor of ‘Solidarity’, social activist, sexual offender.' This, in a sense, is also a truth about us. About our blindness, indifference, and tacit approval of evil.”

http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24263020,wojna-o-symbole-i-pomniki-czy-czeka-nas-depisizacja.html

-- DE-SB-IZED FOR HELPING THE CHURCH - Leszek Kostrzewski in GW: “The PiS government has reduced the pensions of three former SB agents who transferred secret information about the security services to the opposition and the Church. The punished individuals appealed to the IPN. The IPN admitted that it has documents proving the cooperation of these officers with the opposition, but will not help.”

http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24263421,zdezubekizowani-za-pomoc-kosciolowi-ipn-im-nie-pomoze.html

-- LEAKY KNF CONTROL - Izabela Kacprzak and Grażyna Zawadka on the RZ front page: “Only in the NBP's actions were no irregularities found. NIK had the most reservations about the KNF. The main accusations include a lack of effective supervision in cases of improperly implemented recovery programs by cooperative banks and regarding banks that misrepresented data in so-called self-assessment forms. It also turned out that candidates for trustees and receivers from the KNF's list did not have the minimum qualifications in terms of professional experience and education necessary to hold these positions. They are political scientists, historians, administrative staff, food industry organization engineers, without banking experience – points out NIK.”

https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/312109900-Dziurawa-kontrola-KNF.html

-- GERMANY STILL DOESN'T KNOW WHAT IT WANTS, BUT LET'S LOOK AT ITALY OR FRANCE - SŁAWOMIR SIERAKOWSKI WAS AT THE CDU CONGRESS: “It's hard to say if the Congress met the majority's expectations and shifted the CDU even slightly to the right. On this matter, the Christian Democrats don't know what they want until the end. On the one hand, they forced Angela Merkel to step down, and on the other, 57% of them still want Merkel as Chancellor of Germany. On the one hand, they want change, but they chose a candidate of continuity. They talked constantly about Europe and that governing it without Germany is impossible, but on the other hand, they refrained from any declarations about the direction Europe should take. Macron's name, who proposed a joint reform of the EU to Germany, was barely mentioned, as if the French president were their guilty conscience. (...) Germany, with the CDU, not only doesn't know what it wants today regarding Nord Stream II, but also regarding its own party, its own country, and Europe. Anyone who feels disappointed for this reason should look at what's happening in France, Italy, or Great Britain.”

http://krytykapolityczna.pl/swiat/ue/sierakowski-niemcy-wciaz-nie-wiedza-czego-chca/

-- BIRTHDAYS: Dominika Maria Wielowieyska-Ganew, Sławomir Nowak, Paweł Olszewski, Janusz Dzięcioł, Aleksander Siemaszko, Eleonora Zielińska.