-- SZEFERNAKER ON PIS REALIZING ITS CAMPAIGN PLAN FROM THE START - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/18/ -- IT IS A CAMPAIGN ABOUT SOMETHING - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “We may or may not like the proposals made by Law and Justice, we may be in favour of raising the minimum wage or believe that it is the shortest path to ruining the Polish economy, but one thing is certain: it is a campaign about something”. -- WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT TIE COLORS, WHAT MORE CAN BE EXPECTED? - SZUŁDRZYŃSKI CONTINUES: “Similarly, arguments that PiS threatens democracy appear frequently. Supporters of the opposition sometimes say that October 13th is the last chance to save the Polish version of liberal democracy, which PiS wants – as they claim – to oppose with an authoritarian Polish version of the welfare state. But this argument also does not undermine the fact that it is a decent campaign. If someone believes that the upcoming elections are the last call for democracy, they can say so loudly and encourage voting for the opposition. This only further shows that it is an important and substantive campaign. We are not talking about tie colors, but about issues absolutely fundamental to the state, society, or the political system. What more can one expect? https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus-na-wybory/190919352-Szuldrzynski-Kampania-najlepsza-z-mozliwych.html -- TOMASZ WALCZAK IN SE ON THE MOST SUBSTANTIVE CAMPAIGN IN YEARS: “Yes, yes, I am putting forward an unpopular thesis that this is one of the most substantive campaigns in recent years. We are not wasting time mocking this or that politician because they have dirty shoes or a poorly tied tie. We are discussing mainly things that constitute real life – work, wages, healthcare, social policy, or ecology. The sterile aesthetic dispute that for years defined the holy war between PiS and PO is now only a sport for the most hardened supporters. Today, politics deals primarily with economic issues, and, surprisingly, the long-forgotten class struggle is returning to it, seeking answers to the fundamental question of whether we want politics for the masses or for the millionaires”. https://se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/walczak-o-kampanii-wyborczej-znowu-sie-kloca-ale-o-wazne-sprawy-aa-Skd5-NdZd-Nmns.html -- PIS HAS FORGOTTEN ABOUT SMOLENSK - PAWEŁ WROŃSKI IN GW: “We know that voters vote for the ruling party not because of the disaster, but despite it. Someone should, however, explain why for years prominent members of this party have been brainwashing people and talking about a conspiracy by Tusk and Putin. (...) The Smolensk myth has become useless for PiS. Moreover, it might be embarrassing. Someone, at the end of this overly long spectacle, should say: 'I apologize.' http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25204369,pis-zapomnial-o-smolensku.html -- UNFORTUNATELY, KACZYŃSKI HAS NO PLANS TO BECOME PRIME MINISTER - ZBIGNIEW ZIOBRO IN SE: “Jarosław Kaczyński is the most experienced politician in our camp and the architect of our victory. He would therefore be the best Prime Minister, because he is the most competent, but we know from his interview in 'Super Express' that he unfortunately has no such plans”. -- ZIOBRO WOULD BE IN FAVOR OF THE DEATH PENALTY, BUT WE ARE IN THE EU: “If it were up to me, I would be in favor of introducing the death penalty in cases of cruel, bestial murders. But we are in the European Union and we must abide by EU law. However, in my ministry, we are working on introducing life imprisonment without parole for perpetrators of the most serious murders, specifically with children in mind. It cannot be the case anymore that – as happened during the PO era – cases of bestial murders are classified as assault resulting in death, which is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison. PO and PSL recently did not vote in the Sejm to increase penalties even for the most dangerous criminals”. https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/ziobro-w-mocnych-slowach-bije-w-tuska-i-po-wywiad-aa-5t5F-BSXG-64ir.html -- PIOTR ZAREMBA ON THE SITUATION OF CATHOLICS IN PLATFORMA - writes in RZ: “I am not claiming that there are no Catholics in Platform, but their main attribute is becoming a kind of 'asymptomatic' state. It's no longer even about signing the demand for registered partnerships, which in the future leads to same-sex marriages and adoptions by same-sex couples. It's about, for example, a complete insensitivity to the anti-clerical, and sometimes anti-religious, accents in pride parades and similar events. I have not noticed anyone in PO having a significant problem with this”. -- PERHAPS THE IRISH SCENARIO CAN BE PREVENTED - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “One can repeat condemnatory formulas about cynical community of interests, about dirty alliances, but there is something much more serious in this mutual, albeit limited, goodwill, except for a few hierarchs. The social situation in Poland has so many variables that expecting full consistency from anyone is essentially demanding a faster suicide. However, a potential march towards a future 'second Ireland' is a slower suicide. And perhaps the situation can be prevented. This scenario does not have to be a twin of what happened to the likable Irish. This is also because we do not know in which direction the debate about community versus individual egoism will go. It is possible that the conversation about Catholic values in public life will be part of it”. https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus-na-wybory/190919350-Zaremba-Skazani-na-Prawo-i-Sprawiedliwosc.html -- THE FAMILY OF A POLONIA HISTORIAN BENEFITED FROM A PFN CONTRACT - ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ: “The contract of the Polish National Foundation (PFN) with the American PR company White House Writers Group most benefited the family of Marek Chodakiewicz, a Polonia historian associated with PiS, who gained fame in Poland for his attack on homosexuals. In the WHWG's accounts, we found enormous transfers to his sister, wife, associate, and himself”. -- PFN SPENT AS MUCH AS THE ENTIRE ANNUAL OPERATING COSTS OF THE EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON - STANKIEWICZ CONTINUES: “Yesterday we revealed that the Polish National Foundation paid over $5.5 million – that is, over PLN 20 million – to the American PR company White House Writers Group over several months for promoting our country in the USA. The Americans took the money, among other things, for creating profiles about Poland on social media, which are followed by a dozen or a few dozen people worldwide. For comparison, the Polish Embassy in Washington receives a similar amount annually for its expenses and maintenance”. https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/opowiesci-o-wydatkach-polskiej-fundacji-narodowej-w-usa-czesc-2-czyli-rodzina-na/nk1hgwe -- STARTING A CAMPAIGN 25 DAYS BEFORE THE SILENCE IS NO PLAN TO SEIZE POWER - MARCIN FIJOŁEK: “With just over twenty-five days until the election silence, Grzegorz Schetyna, the leader of the largest opposition formation, decided to say that the campaign is 'really starting.' If one were to take these words seriously (which is difficult, by the way), it would mean that the leader of Platform wants to conduct some kind of campaign Blitzkrieg, as three weeks (and a bit) before the elections is not the best time to start a campaign. Especially since – as polls indicate – one is losing to the leading group by more than twenty percentage points”. -- SCHETYNA'S POLITICAL OFFER IS A MESS AFTER THE ELECTIONS - FIJOŁEK CONTINUES: “With such a turn of events, Grzegorz Schetyna would indeed have the opportunity to excel in what he does best – cabinet and corridor games. And that is why he stubbornly returns to the idea of some form of 'European coalition' and creating a period of chaos in Polish politics. But with such a suggestion, he also shows that the current division on the opposition's side (into three blocs) is purely conventional, tactical – at least in Schetyna's understanding. And that, in reality, the main plan and political offer of the most effective politician on the opposition side is, for now, to provoke a great parliamentary mess, a murky muddle where nothing will be clear, PiS will be forced to make party-coalition compromises, and Schetyna will try to marginalize PSL and Lewica politicians. I am not sure if this is the most attractive offer for voters that an opposition leader can put on the table 25 days before the elections. https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/464211-25-dni-do-ciszy-wyborczej-a-lider-po-bez-planu-i-intuicji -- SCHETYNA'S PHOTOS DON'T NEED MUCH EDITING TO BECOME MEMES - ŁUKASZ WARZECHA IN RZ: “Schetyna's photos don't need much editing to be suitable for memes – one of the main weapons in modern internet battles for voters, where emotions matter most. If someone tries to recall the face of the PO leader, they will likely remember it with one of two most common expressions: a slightly mocking smile, appearing at the least expected moments, even when one would expect seriousness; or a genuinely worried, thoughtful look when one might expect satisfaction and even forced joy”. -- SCHETYNA WILL SURVIVE AS A PARTY OPERATIVE, NOT AS A SERIOUS POLITICAL WARRIOR - WARZECHA CONTINUES IN RZ: “Schetyna therefore won in the sense that he defended himself against Tusk, and today he can rather not fear that anyone will challenge him in the future parliamentary club. He can share the defeat with Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, and in January he will likely be elected chairman of PO for the next term. However, he is not the leader of the entire opposition. The drift to the left has harmed his formation; ideological contortions do not particularly interest those who listen with horror about the announced radical increase in the minimum wage or the abolition of the ZUS 30-fold cap. The unlimited left in this sphere is gnawing at PO from the left flank, while the self-employed center is desperately trying to win over PSL and Kukiz for itself. Schetyna will survive, but as a party operative, not as a serious political warrior”. https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus-na-wybory/190919346-Grzegorz-Schetyna---przegral-choc-wygral.html -- POLITICAL CRITIQUE ON THE REPORT POLITICAL CYNICISM OF POLES BY SADURA AND SIERAKOWSKI: “Polish voters treat politicians cynically. They clearly see their flaws and pathological behaviors, but they accept them as long as the party they support satisfies their aspirations or interests”. -- POTENTIAL PO VOTERS CULTURALLY RESEMBLE PIS VOTERS - FURTHER IN THE CRITIQUE: “The researchers also found a clear division within the electorate of Platform, especially among its potential voters. These, 'culturally and socio-demographically, resemble the new PiS voters more than the urban electorate of Civic Platform. Although some of them express a decidedly anti-PiS stance, they are much less liberal in terms of worldview (there is more folk anti-clericalism here than understanding for the postulates of LGBT communities, etc.). They are not very civic-minded, decidedly less pro-ecological, but more sensitive to social programs and the quality of public services”. https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/raport-polityczny-cynizm-polakow-omowienie/ -- FULL REPORT: https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/polityczny-cynizm-polakow-raport-z-badan-socjologicznych/ -- DESPITE SHORTCOMINGS, ZERO PIT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IS A GOOD DIRECTION - ELIZA WÓJCIK ON THE JAGIELLONIAN CLUB PORTAL: “'PIT for Young People', another postulate of 'Kaczyński's Fifth', has come into effect, but its legislative details have not been overseen. The direction of changes in personal income tax should be appreciated. It is worth considering whether privileging certain groups based on age is socially just”. https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2019/09/17/zmiany-w-pit-wedlug-pis/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Wolfgang Schäuble, Andrzej Stanisławek, Robert Kozyra, Marcin Wrona, Anna Zalewska, Jerzy Jurecki, Renata Janik, Marcin Zydorowicz.