-- BIELAN AND MILLER ON BIEDROŃ, BIEDROŃ HITS THE ROAD - 300LIVE:https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/02/04

-- PARTIES ARE SLAVES TO THEIR OWN AGGRESSIVE MARGINS - GRZEGORZ SROCZYŃSKI IN GAZETA.PL: "We've descended straight into the sewer. Parties are slaves to their own aggressive margins. This is increasingly diverging from the moods of the majority of voters."

-- THE SITUATION WHERE POLITICIANS PULL OUT THE DIRTY LAUNDRY IS STILL SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN WHEN WE'RE STUCK IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF HERBERT'S POEMS - CONTINUES SROCZYŃSKI: "After three years of moral panic on both sides of the barricade, fighting for the most important values, the battle of good versus evil, we have entered a cabaret-muddy phase. The public debate is no longer about the constitution and free courts, but about whose scandal is more effective. 'Whoever has never kissed a dog while drunk, let them cast the first stone at the dinosaur' - this meme circulating on FB accurately captures the essence of the current stage in Polish politics, and the election campaign will be exactly like this for the next year until the presidential elections. Paradoxically, this inflation of scandals and petty affairs, the gallop of successive 'lustful Steves' awaiting us in the near future, may only cause boredom among Poles and - consequently - a decline in emotions. However, the situation where politicians throw mud at each other, pull out dirty laundry, and recordings, is still slightly better than when we are stuck in the noble atmosphere of Herbert's poems, where 'one must bear witness'. http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114883,24426540,kto-nigdy-nie-calowal-sie-z-psem-niech-pierwszy-rzuci-kamieniem.html

-- LOCAL GOVERNMENT DESCENT ON THE SENATE - TOMASZ ŻÓŁCIAK IN DZIENNIK: "The search for volunteers is ongoing. The first potential candidates are already emerging. - I am considering the possibility of running for parliament - Wadim Tyszkiewicz, the long-serving mayor of Nowa Sól, admits to DGP. - The situation in the country is dynamic, and the events in Gdańsk are another impulse to make a life-changing decision. What is happening does not allow me to remain silent. Today, the Senate does not fulfill its function, it is not a safety valve, but merely a rubber stamp for legal blunders crafted in the Sejm. The condition for security is a Senate and a president from a different party than the ruling one."

-- THE THRESHOLDS FOR THE SENATE ARE VERY HIGH - JAROSŁAW FLIS IN ŻÓŁCIAK'S ARTICLE: "Mayors Trzaskowski and Jaśkowiak, as they were the ones organizing conferences on this topic, are officially PO politicians. Therefore, their appeals may be directed to Platforma to, in constituencies where there are no 'old' senators, include well-known local government officials on their lists or not to emphasize the party banner. And this may not be easy, because there is no shortage of candidates wanting to become senators in PO. In any case, the thresholds in Senate elections are high. Very few win with over 30 percent of the vote. https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/590516,wybory-parlamentarne-senat-samorzadowcy-start-koalicja-przeciw-pis.html

-- BIEDROŃ WANTS TO END COAL FASTER THAN GERMANY - 300SECONDS! 300GOSPODARKA FOR TODAY: http://300gospodarka.pl/300sekund/2019/02/04/300sekund-biedron-chce-skonczyc-z-weglem-szybciej-niz-niemcy-may-nie-przestaje-zadziwiac-co-laczy-biala-podlaska-i-las-vegas/

-- BIEDROŃ MANAGED TO STUN EVERYONE - ADRIANA ROZWADOWSKA IN GW: "During the convention at Torwar, Robert Biedroń acted partly like a charismatic tele-evangelist, and partly a bit boring. Nevertheless, he managed to stun everyone."

-- ROZWADOWSKA: BIEDROŃ RIDICULED PO'S NARRATIVE: "PO was left with essentially fanning the opinion of Biedroń as a divider of the opposition, who cannot clearly take a side in the Polish-Polish conflict. The problem is that Biedroń has just done that: announcing that Jarosław Kaczyński will be brought before the State Tribunal ridicules this narrative."

-- FOR LEFT-WING VOTERS: BIEDROŃ OR NON-EXISTENCE - ROZWADOWSKA: "For now, however, the die has been cast so skillfully that although much about Biedroń may not be liked - his program, his carnival style, his nautical and evangelical references - one thing is clear: there are nine months until the elections. A second Biedroń will not appear. For left-wing voters, discouraged and orphaned by other parties, the choice is clear: Biedroń or non-existence. http://wyborcza.pl/7,155290,24426129,biedron-albo-nie-byc.html

-- FREEDOM A LA RADICAL LEFT - PIOTR ZAREMBA ON FB: "He is truly drawn to one thing: the cultural revolution and fighting the Church. Only he does it with a smile. I understand that he will win over the people of the provinces by closing mines and creating a nature ombudsman? I doubt it. Silesians are promised the valorization of their 'language' and the actual destruction of their region. Is that funny or sad? Perhaps a few people will be attracted by the impression: we are new and nice. However, assurances that we are not participating in the Polish-Polish war are accompanied by a promise of harsh repression - with the State Tribunal at the forefront, for the PiS people. Yes, Biedroń has energy, and some people from the left are behind him, mostly from SLD, this is not an entirely nameless group. But a political revolution executed by them is complete fiction. Decoupling the state from party politics is announced without a single concrete detail. The State Tribunal is a concrete, one of the few. And the joy of the hall when he announced the abolition of the conscience clause. That's freedom a la radical left!" https://facebook.com/100011509202636/posts/721200474940253/

-- BIEDROŃ WILL CAUSE THE OPPOSITION A LOT OF TROUBLE - MARCIN MAKOWSKI IN WP: "Everything is great, Biedroń will surely cause the opposition a lot of trouble, because he will take away part of the discouraged electorate, mobilize a group, and put them in a corner in the race for worldview promises (partner unions, you fool). I don't rule out that Wiosna will win a lot in the parliamentary elections, being a potential coalition partner for KO and ensuring that the opposition together with SLD and PSL in a broad bloc takes power. I understand all this, I appreciate the professionalism of execution and so on. But for God's sake, don't ask me to believe in another politician who wants to sing us everything." https://opinie.wp.pl/makowski-socjalista-liberal-populista-biedron-na-konwencji-wiosny-wszystko-wszystkim-obiecal-opinia-6345562086029441a

-- MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI ON BIEDROŃ'S ENTRY FORCING PO TO SWING LEFT, WHICH IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR MODERATE RIGHT-WINGERS: "But in terms of party politics, it brings a huge positive to the currently ruling camp: Biedroń's entry onto the stage in such a radically ideological version means that Platforma must make a similar turn. It prevents Grzegorz Schetyna from casting any conservative anchor. It forces PO to bid on leftist radicalism. Because Biedroń wants to take Platforma's most valuable asset - large and medium-sized cities. If the United Right manages to maintain its current calm, moderate, pro-reform course, I think it can calmly think about winning. Against the backdrop of Biedroń's fight with Schetyna, it will be the natural choice for most Poles."

-- KARNOWSKI BELIEVES BIEDROŃ DECIDES THE ELECTIONS: "One can argue that Robert Biedroń's convention may have decided the outcome of the 2019 Sejm elections. Of course, much can happen, but as of today, it looks like a breakthrough factor. Schetyna's dream of repeating Tusk's maneuver, who hid his true goals under the slogans of a centrist party with various wings, has no chance of being fulfilled under these conditions. https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/432301-konwencja-biedronia-byc-moze-rozstrzygnela-wybory-do-sejmu

-- AGATA SZCZĘŚNIAK IN OKO O TYM, ŻE BIEDROŃ NIE MA POCZUCIA OBCIACHU: "Biedroń is shameless. With the kind of shamelessness Aleksander Kwaśniewski had when dancing disco polo. Showing a pensioner's grocery bill (she has 10 zlotys left, how will she pay her bills?) - that's embarrassing and populist. Things like that can be done by Kaczyński or Trump. Biedroń lacks the sense of embarrassment that prevents liberal politicians from such gestures. It's another matter that the center of the political class often considers it populist to speak directly about all the problems of excluded groups."

-- SZCZĘŚNIAK ON THE EAST EUROPEAN ROOTS OF THE NAME WIOSNA: "No 'coalition' or 'alliance', nothing from the noble repertoire (neither 'justice' nor 'modernity'). Just a common, familiar Spring. 'A very nice Eastern European name' - noted historian Katarzyna Chimiak. 'In St. Petersburg, there is an opposition youth movement called "Spring", in Belarus, a human rights defense organization called "Spring", Borys Nemtsov, shortly before his death, organized the "Anti-Crisis Spring March". There was also, unfortunately, "Russian Spring" in Donbas. Eastern Europe somehow dislikes winter because it knows it too well.' There was also the Prague Spring and the Arab Spring. Robert Biedroń himself referred to the 1848 Spring of Nations on TVN24. All these are names of broad, mass political movements, not individual parties. A name that does not determine the program content and also builds the image of a 'party-non-party'. https://oko.press/konwencja-biedronia-oni-nas-wszystkich-zawiedli-polityka-jest-czyms-innym/

-- NEUTRALIZES PiS'S ADVANTAGES AND EMBARRASSES PO - MICHAŁ SUTOWSKI IN KRYTYKA: "Fourthly, a two-front confrontation is looming. Biedroń, admittedly, attacked PiS more strongly, to which the thousands gathered reacted with unfeigned enthusiasm, but all this in a symmetrical sauce. Biedroń's program is intended to neutralize PiS's advantages (social benefits!), attack its weaknesses (freedom, equality, fight against corruption, rule of law...) and embarrass Platforma, which fights Biedroń with moral blackmail and ersatz progressive politics, while PiS wants to defeat him with a 'pan-European-democratic' narrative and the faces of Third Republic icons.

-- POLAND WILL BECOME AN EAST EUROPEAN FINLAND - CONTINUES SUTOWSKI: "If Robert Biedroń comes to power and permanently implements half of all these ideas, Poland will become a Central European Finland. If he helps defeat PiS by flanking them in elections from the left and encircling them in parliament, Kurski and Lis should send him a good bottle of apology. But if he only takes a few percent of the votes from PO and ensures us another four years of Kaczyński in power, then everyone who was at Torwar on Sunday can commit suicide. That's roughly how the scenarios for the coming year look. http://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/konwencja-wiosna-robert-biedron-komentarz-sutowski/

-- BIEDROŃ DID NOT GO TO HOLECKA - MARCIN ANTOSIEWICZ IN NEWSWEEK: "On Sunday, he was invited to 'Gość Wiadomości', a publicistic program of the main news service of TVP. The interview was to be conducted by Danuta Holecka. As 'Newsweek' has learned, Biedroń's staff did not accept the invitation. - They probably didn't want to give us the first interview after the convention - we hear from TVP. This is a signal that Biedroń will treat public media as instrumentally as they treat him."

-- A NETFLIX-STYLE FILM IS BEING MADE ABOUT THE BIRTH OF WIOSNA - CONTINUES ANTOSIEWICZ: "A film crew that has been making a report about the birth of the new formation for months was moving around among the audience and behind the scenes. Macron's staff did the same. The film 'Emmanuel Macron. The Road to the Top' was shown by TF1 on the Monday after the election. It turned out to be a hit that Netflix bought. https://www.newsweek.pl/polska/biedron-zdobedzie-wiosne-o-nadzieje-plany-i-szanse-zapytalismy-jego-sympatykow/b1z9lcc

-- A THREAT TO PLATFORMA - ŁUKASZ ROGOJSZ IN GAZETA.PL: "This is a serious threat to Platforma, which recently took a turn to the left, seeing that's where the voters' voices and the chance for electoral victory lie. Because competing with United Right on conservatism is a recipe for defeat. Biedroń and his party are throwing a huge spanner in the works for the PO leader and may spoil his otherwise correct plan for 2019. In the face of Platforma's polling slump, which has been ongoing since early December, it's hard to be surprised that Platforma members were at the forefront of attacks on Biedroń's formation today (another matter is that Biedroń fully deserved it, doing the same a week ago when the Civic Coalition convention was held). Finally, the former mayor of Słupsk is throwing down the gauntlet to Schetyna in the race for the title of opposition leader. A title to which - after defeating Ryszard Petru and pacifying Katarzyna Lubnauer - Schetyna had already become accustomed:"

-- BIEDROŃ'S SOCIALISM IS AN INVITATION FOR MODERATE PIŚ VOTERS - CONTINUES ROGOJSZ: "For more moderate PiS voters and for the typical social electorate, this may be a temptation to turn away from the 'good change'. Especially since Biedroń offers them what Kaczyński offers, and even more, without forcing them to accept the demolition of the institutional foundations of the state. http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,24426851,wiosna-roberta-biedronia-polityczna-zlota-rybka-ktorej-boja.html#s=BoxOpLink

-- BIEDROŃ'S CRITICS MUST CHANGE THEIR TUNE - TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: "Various doubts can be raised about Biedroń's party program. For example, how does Biedroń intend to ensure Poland's stable energy supply during periods when RES installations operate below maximum capacity, if he intends to phase out all coal-fired power plants and does not announce the construction of a nuclear power plant? Moreover, Biedroń's Spring program omits some important areas of governance, such as defense and foreign policy. Biedroń also did not mention these issues in his speech during the convention at Torwar. However, one thing is certain: Biedroń's critics, who accused his party of having no name or program, must change their tune. https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/02/03/wiosna-biedronia-co-jest-w-programie-nowej-partii/

-- KAMIL DZIUBKA ON BIEDROŃ'S RISK OF REPEATING THE WARSAW SITUATION: "There is no doubt that the entry of the Wiosna party changes the rules of the game somewhat. The question is what emotions are in those who form the so-called anti-PiS electorate at the beginning of the election year. Are they capable of taking a leap of faith and voting for something new, which, however, carries a big question mark, or do they prefer to cast their vote for something that may not be very 'sexy', but is something familiar and, after all, predictable (I'm thinking primarily of PO). If the emotion of ousting PiS from power prevails, Biedroń's movement has little chance of achieving even a double-digit result. This was shown in the Warsaw mayoral elections, where Rafał Trzaskowski secured a crushing majority over Patryk Jaki already in the first round, which resulted in candidates from, for example, SLD or urban movements being virtually eliminated. Voters preferred not to take risks and immediately cast their vote for a candidate whom they believed could defeat PiS. https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/biedron-potrzebuje-cudu-a-przeciez-w-cuda-nie-wierzy/t9jl0hs

-- ROBERT BIEDROŃ LAUNCHED HIS WIOSNA PARTY - title in Fakt.

-- ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA ON THE AUDIENCE'S ENTHUSIASM AT TORWAR - writes in RZ: "It was a one-man theater with many extras. An actor who, by Polish standards, is outstanding, who can learn his role by heart, and turn minor stumbles into a virtue of naturalness. Everything had its place and a perfectly chosen moment, even the leader-speaker taking off his jacket. Biedroń played all the roles himself; there was no master of ceremonies, no boring speeches, and no blank stares from the leader's entourage. The audience interacted with the speaker and was full of unfeigned enthusiasm and emotion. https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/302039968-Dabrowska-Trzecia-droga-Biedronia-prowadzi-w-lewo.html&cid=44&template=restricted

-- POLITICS HAS BECOME A WOMAN - NATALIA WALOCH in GW.

-- ONLY THE REDUCTION OF THE CHURCH'S FINANCES CAN FORCE IT TO GREATER HUMILITY - CEZARY GAWRYŚ IN WIĘŹ: "And here we probably get to the heart of the problem. Could the pessimists be right who claim that only by reducing the Church's finances can it be forced to greater humility in its perception of reality, to faithfulness to its true spiritual calling, and to seeking new forms of pastoral work?" http://wiez.com.pl/2019/02/03/ofensywa-polityczna-biedronia-moze-wyjsc-kosciolowi-tylko-na-dobre/

-- NOTHING JUSTIFIES THE ATTACK ON MAGDALENA OGÓREK - JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ in RZ: "All politicians and media above the divides bear an exceptional responsibility for toning down the mood and avoiding confrontational, hate-filled language. Political assassinations of Marek Rosiak and Paweł Adamowicz should never find imitators. And unfortunately, it often starts with strong words..." https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/302039946-Nizinkiewicz-Nic-nie-tlumaczy-ataku-na-Ogorek.html&template=restricted

-- THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THEY'RE AIMING FOR - NATALIA WALOCH in GW: "Every incident will lead to a response, and subsequent reactions will be stronger and stronger. I'm afraid to think what this could lead us to. That's why, while fully understanding the anger of the people who were outside TVP, I believe the best thing we can do is not to be provoked by the lies and meanness emanating from public television. That's exactly what they're aiming for. http://www.wysokieobcasy.pl/wysokie-obcasy/7,163229,24425693,rozumiem-dlaczego-elzbieta-podlesna-nie-zaluje-blokady-samochodu.html

-- LUDWIK DORN ON A POWERFUL BLOW TO KACZYŃSKI - says in an interview with GW: "This matter will have long-term consequences. Firstly, while it is not a fatal blow to PiS, it is an incredibly powerful blow to a key person in PiS - leader Jarosław Kaczyński. I don't want to play Zagłoba's psychology, but the leader was recorded by his family, and for a family-oriented person, for whom family relationships are relationships of the highest trust, it must be an incredible shock. Like in the first act of 'Hamlet'. When Hamlet learned from his father's ghost that his uncle, now his mother's husband, had murdered him, he says: 'My world has fallen out of its frame.'

-- THIS RAISES BIERECKI AND FRATRIA - CONTINUES DORN in GW: "In addition, it turned out that there are unresolved restitution claims to the plot. And this means either a complete freeze or an incredible limitation of Srebrna's development prospects, which has consequences for PiS. Because it extraordinarily raises the position of Senator Grzegorz Bierecki, who firmly holds the financial arrangement based on SKOKs, which capitalizes and controls the propaganda holding of the Karnowski brothers, i.e., primarily the Fratria company. Because the strength and influence of a movement are built not by the party itself, but by ventures that serve the party politically, related to media, publishing houses, organizing non-party conferences, awarding prizes. http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24426194,koniec-snow-o-potedze-srebrnej-wywiad-z-ludwikiem-dornem.html

-- JACEK ŻAKOWSKI - REMEMBER THE DISGUST YOU FEEL TODAY LOOKING AT THESE PEOPLE: "The effect can be twofold. In the optimistic scenario, collective disgust will prevail, and we will be careful not to be like Gliński, Ziobro, Kaczyński, Morawiecki & co. But this memory also carries the risk that we will start thinking: 'let's not be suckers,' 'they can do it, so why should we be better?'. If such thoughts ever cross your mind, please - remember the disgust you feel today looking at these people. This should help you not to fall. http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,24426155,by-nie-pojsc-droga-pis-u-pamietajcie-swoje-obrzydzenie.html

-- BIRTHDAYS: Joachim Brudziński, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Arkadiusz Mularczyk, Stefan Niesiołowski, Jarosław Jóźwiak, Andrzej Brzuszkiewicz, Łukasz Naczas.