-- 21 DAYS TO ELECTION SILENCE, 100 DAYS TO THE END OF THE YEAR. -- WHO ARE MORAWIECKI'S PEOPLE ON THE PIS SLATES - in the first 300POLITYKA podcast: * How does one become part of the Prime Minister's inner circle? * What does the young network behind the PiS government look like? * Does running in the elections break the expert introversion of Morawiecki's advisors? * Should laws be created that do not meet societal expectations? * Is the slogan "I'll get it done. For Silesia." inappropriate? * Can Silesia have a metro? * Can Lublin be Poland's Oxford? * Will lowering excise duty on cider and allowing its advertising lead to a third beer revolution? * How will the creation of an agricultural exchange in Poland help farmers? * Can a modern museum be established in the Lublin region showcasing Polish history from a woman's perspective? WE TALK TO PAWEŁ JABŁOŃSKI AND PIOTR PATKOWSKI - CLOSE ADVISORS TO THE PRIME MINISTER RUNNING ON THE PIS SLATES. https://soundcloud.com/lukaszmezyk/kim-sa-ludzie-morawieckiego-na-listach-pis-do-sejmu -- 22 YEARS AGO, Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność and Unia Wolności won the parliamentary elections. -- 5 YEARS AGO, PBK appointed Ewa Kopacz's government. -- KIDAWASAYS SALARIES MAY REACH UP TO PLN 5,000, THE PRIME MINISTER PRESENTS THE "FIVE FOR ENTREPRENEURS" PROGRAM, BIEDROŃ SPEAKS TRUMP-STYLE - POLITICAL SATURDAY OF THE CAMPAIGN ON 300POLITYKA: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/21/ -- NEW PKO AND EKSTRAKLASA CAMPAIGN: PKO Bank Polski and Ekstraklasa have launched an advertising campaign under the slogan "We Play Together". Spots are broadcast on national TV stations, thematic channels, and online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKHaSCoB-uQ -- WHAT JOHN PAUL II TOLD WŁADYSŁAW BARTOSZEWSKI ABOUT THE DEVIL - TEOFIL BARTOSZEWSKI IN CONVERSATION WITH PIOTR WITWICKI IN PLUS MINUS RZ: “My father once asked the Pope if he thought the devil walked among us. It was a time when many bad things were happening, for example in Yugoslavia. The Holy Father replied: – Mr. Władysław, I don't know, but Leszek Kołakowski thinks so. If God exists, then the devil also exists and sometimes appears. My father used to say that if there is a blessing for good deeds, there is also a curse for bad deeds.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/309209994-Wladyslaw-Bartoszewski-Ormianie-sprzedali-mnie-Czeczenom.html?cid -- THE MOTIF OF THE DEVIL IN JACK ŻAKOWSKI'S CONVERSATION WITH ADAM MICHNIK ON THE OCCASION OF THE RE-PUBLICATION OF THEIR BOOK - CONVERSATIONS WITH FR. JÓZEF TISCHNER: “I'll start with the greats. Leszek Kołakowski, whom I also wish to invite to our conversation, wrote in the essay 'Can the Devil Be Saved?': 'Christianity belongs to our common spiritual heritage, and to be entirely non-Christian would mean to exclude oneself from this culture. Its importance in moral education is self-evident; spiritual changes in Christianity are correlated with changes that occur outside of it, thus both must be considered together. The world needs Christianity not only in a subjective sense, but also because many important tasks cannot be undertaken without its participation, and Christianity itself must bear responsibility for the world it has helped to shape for centuries.' I cannot be a pessimist if I am or have been a reader of the Gospels. It is too powerful a message, too axiologically profound. The entire message of Christ, the 'Sermon on the Mount,' his value system..." -- POLAND WITHOUT CHRISTIANITY WOULD BE WORSE OFF - MICHNIK CONTINUES: "I believe that if Christianity had not existed in Poland, Poland would be worse off than it is. You don't have to know Catholic orthodoxy to be influenced by it. If you breathe the air of a culture where Christian values set the cultural horizon, they shape you. They were held by Józek, Turowicz, John Paul II, Mazowiecki, Ludwik Wiśniewski... I repeat: many wonderful things happen within Christianity in Poland. Catholicism has restored the taste and quality of life for many people. It has changed many for the better." -- MICHNIK ON NOT BEING ABLE TO IMAGINE POLAND WITHOUT CHRISTIAN VALUES: “I cannot imagine Poland without Christian values, which are the foundation of our culture. I see this crisis of the Church as a kind of reaction. The communist period was terrible for these people. Not because they suffered in prisons and labor camps. Primarily because they felt they were living in humiliation, fear, and conformism. They had to come to terms with what they considered evil. Now they are collectively reacting to it." -- MICHNIK ON "HIS COLLEAGUE MACIEREWICZ": “And after how many years does my colleague Antoni Macierewicz react to all the misfortunes of his life? He now has a high platform, but he was reacting before as well." -- MICHNIK RECALLS JOHN PAUL II'S REFLECTION ON HIS OWN WORDS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY: “That is why he was open to arguments. Wojtyła too. Do you remember his homily in Radom, during which he made terrible statements about homosexuality. It was devastating. Many people criticized him for it – including me. Later, he sadly told a friend: 'That pilgrimage didn't go very well for me.' And now the church establishment is completely uncritical of itself. They only have contempt for people like you, like Józek. Even though Jędraszewski was Tischner's student. He wrote about Levinas! It's unbelievable what can happen to such a person when given power. And one more thing is important here: in the Church, about which we speak today with pain, concern, and regret, there are also many wonderful things. If what is happening in the Church is reduced to the reactions of Jędraszewski, Głódź, Michalika to pedophilia, then you have a false picture of reality.” http://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,25205662,adam-michnik-ewangelie-sa-trwalsze-od-audycji-o-rydzyka.html -- COMPLETE FLIPPANCY, NO ATTACHMENT TO A SPECIFIC VISION OF POLAND - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI ON THE OPPOSITION: “Complete flippancy, no attachment to any specific vision of Poland's future. With one exception – complete subservience to Brussels and Berlin, renunciation of sovereignty, readiness to sell everything off – this is unchangeable, these are the foundations of this thinking. But it is precisely not by chance that this is being hidden during the campaign.” -- IN CONDITIONS OF MEDIA MONOPOLY, SUCH POLITICS WAS EFFECTIVE - KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: “For years, under conditions of media monopoly, such politics was effective. But today, Poles seem to have deciphered it, which is my great joy. Similarly, they recognize the key reason why 'PiS is thrashing Platforma,' which is the comparison of the quality of the current government and that from 2007-2015. It's even trivially simple and has nothing to do with ideology: the people appointed by Jarosław Kaczyński and implementing his program turned out to be better Prime Ministers, Ministers, Managers, Directors, and Presidents. They usually make better decisions, make radically fewer mistakes (though I agree that still too many), and do not condone theft (and this doesn't mean it doesn't happen – but it is combated).” -- KARNOWSKI ON PEOPLE WHO ARE PLASTIC, SUBMISSIVE, AND CAPABLE OF UTTERING ANY STATEMENT: “All of this, so far, favors the pro-Polish camp, but it is also sad. What fate would await Poles if people who are so plastic, submissive, and capable of uttering any, absolutely any, statement took power?” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/464777-skoro-sa-tak-beznadziejni-to-dlaczego-dostajemy-lomot -- MAREK BEYLIN IN GW ON THE OPPOSITION'S INABILITY TO USE THE TRUTH: “The Coalition and The Left could learn a lesson from PiS in one matter. In the government's propaganda, opponents create a coherent system. The total opposition, the bad Poles, the enemies of Poland – these widespread labels indicate the existence of an overall system of Evil. And this falsehood influences social emotions. Therefore, while PiS skillfully uses lies, the opposition cannot use the truth. Because it presents successive scandals in Kaczyński's party as isolated incidents. Here Piebiak and 'Kasta,' there the lies of TVP, nearby the hate speech against minorities, elsewhere the reform of the education system, in proximity the censorship tendencies towards culture, further away corruption and 'Air Kuchciński,' and next door the Srebrna affair.” http://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,25207264,pis-sprawnie-wykorzystuje-klamstwa-opozycja-nie-umie.html -- ABOUT KIDAWAS FROM THE UPPER MIDDLE CLASS AND SZYDŁO FROM THE PEOPLE - SOCIOLOGIST MAGDALENA GRABOWSKA IN CONVERSATION WITH KATARZYNA PRZYBORSKA IN KRYTYKA: “Szydło puts on wellington boots, walks around a farm, and looks authentic. Whereas Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska from PO is an exemplary career woman from the upper middle class, a beneficiary of the transformation. A significant part of the middle class in Poland identifies with her, including women. At the same time, neither her program nor her legacy will reach women struggling with poverty, or women for whom liberal feminism is not attractive. Nor is there any mention of experiences such as gender-based violence, sexual violence, or abortion. It is strange that these processes have seemingly gone completely unnoticed by Platforma.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/fenomen-wyborczy-beata-szydlo-feminizm/ -- ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ ON THE NATIONAL WELFARE STATE - writes in Onet: “PiS is building a national welfare state with Jarosław Kaczyński playing a leading role, as the founder and sole ideologue of this system. Under PiS rule, the state organizes life from birth to old age. This is what many Poles want, hence the party's excellent ratings. The Church is also very important for Kaczyński's governments, perhaps even more important than religion itself. The state built by PiS is meant to provide a sense of security and show care for citizens – hence the rebuilding of police stations or the announcement of the resumption of bus routes.” -- PIS IS BUILDING A NEW POLE - STANKIEWICZ CONTINUES: “The care expressed through cash is accompanied by the promotion of specific types of behavior – work is not the most important thing, time with family is more important. The Church is also very important, perhaps even more important than religion itself. And centrally controlled building of pride in Polish history, especially the 20th century, which has been stripped of nuances in PiS's narrative, is exclusively snow-white. This is how PiS wants to build a completely new social consciousness. And a new Pole.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/podsumowanie-rzadow-pis-obywatel-i-panstwo/86f5yhp -- KONKRET24 ON HOW PIS POLITICIANS USE PUBLIC MONEY IN THE CAMPAIGN: “Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro announced that PLN 4 million from the Justice Fund will go to the district hospital in Kielce. Minister Ziobro is running for the Sejm in the Kielce constituency. PLN 1.2 million for a new X-ray machine will be given to the city hospital in Toruń. The decision was conveyed to the facility's authorities by Deputy Minister of Education Iwona Michałek, a MP from Toruń, who is also running for the Sejm in this constituency in this election.” https://konkret24.tvn24.pl/polityka,112/kampania-wyborcza-na-tle-publicznych-pieniedzy,970519.html -- ON EMPATHY GAPS - KALINA BŁAŻEJOWSKA IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY: “One of the actors invited to the campaign, Wojciech Pszoniak, made an even bigger fool of himself and played the worst role of his career: a man in convulsions and spasms, rolling his eyes and sticking out his tongue. Many liberal politicians, journalists, and voters considered the campaign a wonderful idea, but there were also those who saw in it an element of stigmatization of people with mental disorders. Critical statements were issued, among others, by the Ombudsman, the Patient Rights Ombudsman, and the Polish Psychiatric Association; the president expressed his outrage. -- LET THE CRAZY PERSON, FAGGOT, AND NEGRO DISAPPEAR FROM PUBLIC LANGUAGE - BŁAŻEJOWSKA CONTINUES: “The 'Don't Go Crazy' campaign will probably not increase voter turnout, but it might increase social sensitivity. It would be great if, thanks to the discussion surrounding the unfortunate slogan, the word 'świr' (crazy person), like the words 'pedał' (faggot) or 'murzyn' (negro), began to disappear from public debate. It would be even better if the issue of the mental healthcare crisis – the decreasing number of doctors and the growing number of patients – were seriously and long-term addressed in this debate. And if the media, politicians, and voters were as interested in this topic as they are in an amateur campaign with an exceptionally stupid slogan.” https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/nie-swiruj-czyli-ubytki-w-empatii-160429 -- ON BARBARISM TOWARDS THE WEAKEST - JOLANTA BANACH, RUNNING FOR THE LEFT, IN CONVERSATION WITH ADRIANA ROZWADOWSKA in GW: “When it comes to services for the elderly and incapacitated, Poland can safely be classified as a barbarous country. One waits four to seven years for a place in a low-quality social welfare home; there is a lack of round-the-clock and daytime care. I know of a case of a person with multiple sclerosis who did not eat for two days because they could not move their hands, and their weekend care was withdrawn. PiS does not even try to solve these problems. The 13th pension will not solve them either.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,155287,25206008,jolanta-banach-pis-da-sie-pokonac-przetrwanie-lewicy-to-dzisiaj.html -- ANDRZEJ SZAHAJ IN RZ ON THE DECLINE OF INTIMACY AND THE BEGINNING OF AN ERA OF SHAMELESSNESS: “We voluntarily renounce intimacy and independence, turning ourselves into willing slaves of the pseudo-recognition offered by social media with its system of likes and attention-grabbing. Shame loses its value as a cultural tool for regulating our mutual relations. If everything is for sale, nothing should be shameful.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/309209978-Szahaj-Zmierzch-intymnosci-poczatek-epoki-bezwstydu.html -- PIOTR ZAREMBA DEFLECTS THE ISSUE OF RIGHT-WING HISTORICAL POLICY AND FILMS SHOWN IN GDYNIA THAT CONNECT: “At first glance, this year's Gdynia Film Festival seems like the most colorful garden of curiosities, where everyone will find something for themselves. We have films about Polish history: Dariusz Gajewski's 'Legions' and Michał Rosa's 'Piłsudski.' Both fill gaps regarding important national themes, and along with the earlier 'Kurier' by Władysław Pasikowski, dedicated to an important episode of World War II, they create an impressive triptych. If someone complains about them as fulfilling the requirements of right-wing historical policy, it is worth answering that they are widely praised and have a chance to become something that connects rather than divides.” -- AT TIMES IT GRIPS YOUR THROAT - ZAREMBA ON THE FILM "KOMA": “This film truly grips your throat at times. It is mentioned as a candidate for the festival winner, and has already been nominated for an Oscar. This, incidentally, is a wonderful moral for another reason. Sometimes the film community can get it right. The film ends with a cruel finale, yet it leaves a shred of hope. Even by discreetly indicating that good, sown perhaps by chance, somehow bears fruit within the local community. If every Polish filmmaker knew how to portray reality like this.” https://tygodnik.tvp.pl/44478640/jaka-polske-pokazuje-polskie-kino-czasem-srodowisko-filmowe-potrafi-sie-nie-mylic -- AND THIS IS HOW PIOTR GLIŃSKI SPOKE TO 300POLITYKA ABOUT AGNIESZKA HOLLAND'S FILM: “Some tried to mock it, but until Pawlikowski's film, which suddenly, from a completely different angle, popularized Polish folklore in an unprecedented way. No one made a more 'PiS-like' film than Pawlikowski (laughter). Apparently, Agnieszka Holland's latest film is also the most 'PiS-like' of all recent film productions. I haven't seen it yet, unfortunately. About the mechanisms of Soviet propaganda, the Holodomor in Ukraine.” https://300polityka.pl/news/2019/08/11/kiedys-nie-bylo-w-polsce-demokracji-a-teraz-jest-zywa-demokracja-300polityka-u-piotra-glinskiego/ -- HOW THE RIGHT TRAINED HEJT AGAINST MARSZAŁEK - LESZEK MOCZULSKI IN GW: “Satrap, boor, traitor, repulsive old man. How the right trained hejt against Marszałek.” http://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,25206976,satrapa-cham-zdrajca-oblesny-staruch-jak-prawica-trenowala.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Jan Olbrycht, Waldemar Buda, Tadeusz Jarmuziewicz, SUNDAY: Bożena Walter, Izabella Sierakowska, Ryszard Schnepf, Jacek Ozdoba.