-- HATER OF AGNIESZKA POMASKIE TARGETED BY COURT RULING: https://twitter.com/pomaska/status/1173869233056468992?s=21 -- BRUDZIŃSKI MOCKS CIVIC COALITION'S CAMPAIGN TEAM, GOWIN ON ZUS (SOCIAL INSURANCE)': https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/17/ -- ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ ONLINE ABOUT THE BACKGROUND OF MISMANAGEMENT AT THE POLISH NATIONAL FOUNDATION WITH AN AMERICAN PR CONTRACT: “In just over a dozen months, the Polish National Foundation paid over 5.5 million dollars – that is, over 20 million Polish zlotys – to an American PR firm to promote our country in the USA. The Americans took the money, among other things, for creating social media profiles about Poland, which are followed by only a dozen or so people worldwide.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/jak-polska-fundacja-narodowa-wyrzuca-miliony-dolarow-w-amerykanskie-bloto/hz58bwe -- AGATA KONDZIŃSKA ON FEARS WITHIN THE LAW AND JUSTICE PARTY (PiS) OF ELECTORATE DEMOBILIZATION - writes in Gazeta Wyborcza (GW): “According to Law and Justice politicians, party research does not indicate they will achieve a constitutional majority. They fear electorate demobilization. To avoid lulling their voters with polls predicting a decisive victory, the party's politicians are raising the stakes of these elections.” -- A LAW AND JUSTICE (PiS) POLITICIAN IN KONDZIŃSKA'S ARTICLE ON THE AMATEURISM OF THE CIVIC COALITION (PO) AND WASTED VACATIONS: “PiS closely observed the Civic Coalition's maneuver with the Deputy Speaker of the Sejm, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, as their candidate for prime minister. One politician from the ruling camp commented: – For the first week, I watched with curiosity and slight concern how it would work. Now I'm calm. Civic Coalition made that move too late. Like political amateurs, they wasted vacation time. That's when they should have pushed the Deputy Speaker into the glossy magazines, letting her talk about herself, her husband, her family. Because that's when Poles most readily reach for such papers. But the Civic Coalition botched it. http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25200296,mobilizacja-na-wschodzie-byle-sondaze-nie-uspily-wyborcow.html -- LAW AND JUSTICE (PiS) IS SQUANDERING MONEY THAT ISN'T THEIRS - title in Rzeczpospolita (Rz). -- THE OFFER OF A CONSERVATIVE WELFARE STATE - title in Dziennik Gazeta Prawna (DGP): “The PiS program presents the party as conservative, attached to traditional values, and the Church, declaring their defense. It promises an increased role for the state to create its own conservative version of a welfare state. Compared to the current term, the program does not announce a revolution; many promises are a continuation of the course or specific ideas from the outgoing term.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/607854,program-pis-na-druga-kadencje-wybory.html -- LAW AND JUSTICE'S (PiS) GOVERNANCE PLAN IS NOT THE SAME DOCUMENT AS THE PROGRAM - RAFAŁ MATYJA IN A CONVERSATION WITH TOMASZ ŻÓŁCIAK IN DGP: “Moderately seriously. If we were to fictionally assume that some real governance plan lies on President Kaczyński's or Prime Minister Morawiecki's desk, it will not be the same document as the election program. So let's not be naive. The function of an election program is to satisfy the problems of industries, sectors, and interest groups that we want to win over. It also helps candidates who are looking for answers to the question of what we, as a party, truly want. However, please look at how it was with Schetyna's 'six'. Prominent PO activists don't know this 'six'. And that, I think, proves that we shouldn't take everything written in election programs too seriously. I think if you started asking PiS activists about their party's program, similar problems would arise as with Schetyna's 'six'.” -- LAW AND JUSTICE (PiS) USED ITS CAMPAIGN 'ATOMIC WEAPON' FOR THE FIRST TIME - MATYJA CONTINUES: “The fight in these elections is unequal because PiS has used its campaign 'atomic weapon' for the first time, by allocating previously unforeseen funds in the budget for the 13th pension and expanding the 500+ program. This has shaped the battlefield, not the promises made today. PiS often markets its proposals quite effectively. The opposition has somewhat caught up in its lack of skill over the past three years, but it may not be enough. All its hope rests on the fact that PiS has overplayed its hand by focusing so heavily on raising the minimum wage or on cultural issues. The stakes in this game are the mobilization of electorates. By exaggerating in one area, one can unintentionally strengthen the opponent.” https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/opinie/artykuly/607859,program-pis-wojna-ideologia-wybory.html -- A MINIMUM OF 70 PLN PER MONTH - lead story in GW: “Pension indexation. Most pensioners will not have their increases calculated based on inflation and wage growth – as they do today. The system of increases will be more generous.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,155287,25197301,pis-zapowiada-rewolucje-w-waloryzacji-emerytur-to-oznacza.html -- MAGDALENA ŚRODA WITH HER VOTER'S GUIDE RECOMMENDS AN INTERVIEW WITH MATYJA IN GAZETA KRAKOWSKA: “There are many candidates on the lists, not just the first one; one must remember that a place on the list is not necessarily correlated with social merit or documented concern for the common good. We have freedom of choice, and sometimes it's better to choose a tenth candidate we trust than a first candidate whose merits consist of being plugged into party networks. Second, it is mandatory to read the interview with Rafał Matyja ('Gazeta Krakowska', September 6, 2019). He's not a scholar from my circle, but wisdom should be sought everywhere and always.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25200394,jak-obronic-demokracje.html -- AN EXCERPT FROM THE INTERVIEW WITH RAFAŁ MATYJA FROM GAZETA KRAKOWSKA, RECOMMENDED BY ŚRODA IN HER ARTICLE: “A goldfish says to Jarosław Kaczyński: if you ask me nicely, I'll make sure that Civic Coalition disappears tomorrow. What does the PiS leader do? - I think he wouldn't take the offer. - Why? - Jarosław Kaczyński thrives in a system based on fierce rivalry between two political camps. He co-created it himself. He knows this game. If Civic Coalition disappeared, he would have to start a different game, against a new opposition. Why change a system that works perfectly? That's a risk.” -- THERE IS SUPPORT IN SOCIETY FOR THIS TYPE OF EMOTION - MATYJA FURTHER IN GAZETA KRAKOWSKA (interviewed by Wojciech Harpula): “Of course, but not everywhere is it so deep. In Poland, almost all spheres have become arenas for rivalry between two political camps. There are hardly any points where we meet and feel a sense of community. Even the most important patriotic celebrations are divided. At the same time, both parties – alternatingly – have been in power for 14 years, and one of them will govern for the next four. This shows that there is support in society for this type of emotion, and this way of doing politics pays off.” -- LAW AND JUSTICE (PiS) TREATS THE STATE AS SPOILS MORE THAN THE CIVIC COALITION (PO), BUT I DON'T THINK PO WILL EVER WITHDRAW FROM THESE SPHERES - MATYJA FURTHER: “Both parties treat the state as party spoils, but it must be said that PiS has taken it over much more deeply than PO. They've 'gone to the extreme' in offices, companies, and media. And I don't think the Civic Coalition – if it ever takes power – will withdraw from these spheres. For example, if PiS places 20 activists in some office, will PO say: no, thank you, we'll take only 10 positions, and the rest will be non-partisan specialists?” -- IN PATRIOTISM WE ARE ALREADY STRENGTHENED TO THE POINT OF PAIN, WE NEED ELITES WHO CAN GOVERN THE STATE - MATYJA FURTHER: “We don't need a political elite that will further strengthen us in our patriotism. We are already strengthened to the point of pain in that regard. We need political elites who can manage the state so that it can define and pursue its interests. The interests of the state, not of a party: one, two, or three. Today, the state is inconsistent, composed of fragments that operate according to their own logic. No one manages the whole.” https://plus.gazetakrakowska.pl/przychodzi-zlota-rybka-do-kaczynskiego-pyta-mam-zniszczyc-po-a-prezes-na-to/ar/c15-14401417 -- YOUNG MEN FEAR GENDER AND LGBT - PIOTR PACEWICZ ON THE AUGUST IPSOS POLL FOR OKO: “The greatest threat to Poland in the 21st century is the climate crisis. But not for men under forty – they fear Gender and LGBT more; women – rather a catastrophe in healthcare. In the PiS electorate, as much as 56% tremble at LGBT/Gender, and 26% fear Russia. Common fears of Lewica and KO voters: climate, nationalism, Polexit.” -- POLES FEAR LGBT MORE THAN POLEXIT - PACEWICZ FURTHER ON THE IPSOS POLL: “According to Polish women and men, the greatest threat to Poland in the 21st century is the climate crisis. In the IPSOS poll for OKO.press, we described nine such threats; respondents could choose two. Climate was chosen by 38% of people. The second source of concern (24%) is 'LGBT movements and Gender ideology,' i.e., fears stirred up by the combined forces of the ruling party and the Catholic Church. Next, tied (19% each): the threat of Polexit, a healthcare catastrophe, and the intensification of nationalist movements. Apart from the higher figure for climate, the remaining fears are evenly distributed, which might give the impression that we fear everything a little.” https://oko.press/mezczyzni-najbardziej-boja-sie-gejow-i-gender-kobiety-zapasci-sluzby-zdrowia-wspolny-strach-o-klimat/ -- EVERYONE IS CONVINCED THEY ARE GOOD DRIVERS AND UNDERSTAND POLITICS - ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “This is where we return to the drivers and their assessment of their own abilities. In one study conducted in Sweden and the United States, as many as 80 percent of drivers considered themselves to be better drivers than the average. In another, conducted in Canada, out of 400 respondents, 'practically all rated their driving skills very highly.' Polish driving instructors and road safety experts claim the situation is no different here. The same may be true for understanding politics. This is suggested by the results of new research by Przemysław Sadura and Sławomir Sierakowski. Based on a survey and focus groups, the authors conclude that Poles are well aware of the unreality of many promises made by politicians. At the same time, they are convinced that they are very well-informed about political life. Yet their attachment to parties is so strong and their desire for victory is so great that they are willing to turn a blind eye to unbelievable promises if only they attract new voters.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/09/17/wybory-kampania-wyborca-cynizm/ -- LAW AND JUSTICE'S (PiS) PROGRAM IS POWER AT ALL COSTS - ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA IN RZ: “The current election campaign, however, shows that, as folk proverbs say – haste makes waste, and haste is only needed when catching fleas. This is indicated by the PiS program. It is a document, in several points, tailored to maintaining power at all costs. The continuation of proceedings in the justice system, taking journalists to task, granting oneself the right to judge the behavior of minorities and pronounce punishments for disobedience – all this stems from seeking shortcuts to the longest possible hold on power.” -- THERE IS NO GOOD TIME FOR KACZYŃSKI'S ABSENCE - DĄBROWSKA FURTHER: “Jarosław Kaczyński is PiS's greatest strength and its greatest potential weakness. Even now, his closest circle fears the months after the elections, when one postponed knee surgery is to take place, followed by another. Because there is no good time for his absence. After the elections, PiS will likely face the task of forming a government. It's hard to imagine this without the leader's decisive role. This is also a burden for him. Every absolute leader should remember that empires ruled absolutely – whether global, national, or party-based – do not tend to survive their creators.” https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/309169927-Zuzanna-Dabrowska-Prezesowi-sie-bardzo-spieszy.html -- THE PRIME MINISTER'S SISTER ON MORAWIECKI SENIOR'S ILLNESS - IN SE: “For my father, our homeland is his whole life; I wish him that he can continue to be useful to Poland. And I really want him to be useful to Poland again. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for dad, I support him, I cheer him on – says Marta Morawiecka, who admits that the Marshal is feeling a little better. – Dad's health has improved a bit. I hope dad gets through this – adds Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's (51) sister.” https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/wzruszajace-wyznanie-corki-ciezko-chorego-morawieckiego-mam-nadzieje-tylko-u-nas-aa-GGDg-7MQm-zxz1.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Jacek Sutryk, Teresa Lubińska.