-- NITRAS APOLOGIZES FOR JACHIRA - SHE HARMED US ALL - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/09/23/ -- TOXIC DEFENDERS OF DEMOCRACY - TOMASZ S. MARKIEWKA IN KRYTYKA: “Fiery liberals consider their methods of political debate justified because, after all, they are fighting for democracy, and besides, they are speaking the unvarnished truth. However, it increasingly appears that they derive a suspicious pleasure from hurling insults at several million fellow citizens.” -- DEFEAT PIS AND EVERYTHING ELSE LIKE WOMEN'S RIGHTS COMES LATER - MARKIEWKA FURTHER ON THE LIBERAL STANCE: “There is a group of journalists, artists, and celebrities in Poland who want to defeat PiS at all costs. They seem to think only about this, and everything else – from women's rights to the climate crisis – is a matter for them 'later.' Unfortunately, they have a problem: they cannot target their attacks effectively at Kaczyński's party. Instead, everyone around them is hit, successive social groups fall under the critical hammer of self-proclaimed defenders of democracy, and Kaczyński only rejoices in this. First, in the war with PiS, people receiving social benefits were targeted. 'They sold out for 500 plus, they are lazy, they have a homo sovieticus mentality,' declared our democratic fighters. They were uninterested in any research on the causes of poverty, on the effectiveness of social assistance, on the sources and consequences of economic inequality. They went all out, hammering indiscriminately with every possible stereotype about the poorer segment of society. https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/toksyczni-obroncy-demokracji-markiewka/ -- FOR PIS TO IMPROVE THE FAMILY SITUATION, FOR KO TO PREVENT PIS FROM WINNING, FOR THE LEFT FOR VALUES - KRZYSZTOF PACEWICZ DESCRIBES VOTING MOTIVATIONS FROM A KANTAR SURVEY FOR GW: “The most frequently declared reason for voting for Civic Coalition is 'I don't want another party to win' (41 percent) – one can guess which other party is meant. Thus, traditionally, KO voters vote for the party they believe has a chance to remove PiS from power. Few people (14 percent) choose the answer that thanks to KO, their family's situation will improve – one could say, therefore, that personal interest is not the strongest motivation for voting for Grzegorz Schetyna's party.” -- PACEWICZ ON A CHANCE FOR THE LEFT: “People who vote for the Left today are those who strongly identify with its values – the rest of the people with left-wing views, after all, choose KO. However, this result shows that the Left has the potential to attract a significant portion of Civic Coalition voters to its side – it just needs to convince them that it has a plan to remove PiS from power.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25223148,dom-schadzek-i-interesy-z-gangsterami-jak-szef-nik-pozbyl-sie.html -- THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A BLITZKRIEG, BUT THE TROOPS GOT ENTANGLED IN THEIR OWN FEET, AND THE OPPOSITION CANNOT BOAST OF SUCCESSES EITHER - PAWEŁ WROŃSKI IN GW: “In turn, the main problem of Civic Coalition is that few people understand the essence of its basic economic proposal. Reducing the so-called tax wedge for the lowest earners means that by lowering social security contributions and taxes, salaries will be higher by at least PLN 600, and companies will find it easier to invest. However, in practice, no one associates this with money that will go into the voter's pocket. The second problem is leadership. The maneuver of changing the campaign's face from Grzegorz Schetyna to Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska surprised PiS, but it also surprised voters. 'Gazeta Wyborcza' wrote on Wednesday, discussing the poll, that 'there probably is a Kidawa effect.' However, since the word 'probably' is used, and alongside it comes the information that the new leader of the Warsaw list and candidate for prime minister is still poorly recognized, this effect likely does not exist for now.” -- THE "GOING CRAZY" CAMPAIGN PROVES A LACK OF SOCIAL LISTENING - WROŃSKI FURTHER IN GW: “On the other hand, the social campaign organized by photographer Tomasz Sikora, 'Don't Go Crazy, Go Vote,' with which the coalition politicians identified, demonstrates a lack of political listening. It could have been easily predicted that part of the public opinion would consider it an attack on mentally ill individuals. Perhaps the thesis that Poles have stopped talking to each other, and even understanding each other, is true. However, the election campaign shows that the strategists of all sides have also lost the ability to communicate with the world.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25225082,wrzesniowa-kampania-nieporozumien.html -- JACEK ŻAKOWSKI ON THE PRESIDENT'S TRANSFORMATION - FOR A FEW MILLION HE IS THE ONLY STORYTELLER OF THE WORLD: “Look at the President today. See how he lightly hobbles onto the next stages of his grand tour of Poland. Look at the crowds of people sincerely listening to his stories about the world, delivered with unusual confidence, though often absurd, counterfactual, or even outlandish. Look at the people he addresses – captivated, focused, listening. For a few million followers, he has become the most important, and often perhaps the only, storyteller of the world they live in and the explainer of their own lives.” -- HE CAN SING THE MELODY THAT PLAYS IN THEIR SOULS - ŻAKOWSKI FURTHER: “Because Kaczyński, like no one else, can sing that melody that plays in their souls.” -- ON APRIL 10TH OF LAST YEAR, THE PRESIDENT'S TRANSFORMATION FROM BAD TO GOOD OCCURRED - ŻAKOWSKI FURTHER: “One can even pinpoint quite precisely when this transformation of the president from 'bad' to 'good' occurred. Exactly on April 10th of last year, during the last Smoleńsk monthly commemoration on Krakowskie Przedmieście, when a strange monument to the victims was unveiled on Zwycięstwa Square. Afterward, he became unrecognizable. Since then, nothing comparable to the infamous 'treacherous faces' from July 2017 has happened. Various things have happened in Poland over the past year and a half. From school strikes to successive scandals in the judiciary. But Jarosław Kaczyński has not once engaged in any disturbing direct confrontation. This does not mean he has stopped saying controversial, untrue, discriminatory things, or things that often defy common sense. But he has stopped unsettling, worrying, frightening, or scaring people. He has become a salesman of solely good news. He does not hide problems and challenges. On the contrary, wherever he appears, he always mentions them. But only in a way that brings immediate relief. The grand master of Smoleńsk hate vigils has now become the master of collective hope.” -- WILL THERE BE AN OFFICE FIT FOR KACZYŃSKI'S ACTUAL POWER? - ŻAKOWSKI FURTHER: “Now the question is what he will do with this new capital. Because his only goal might be to rest in state at Wawel, next to his sister-in-law and brother, after living out his longest possible life by the will of the vast majority of the nation. If he can continue on the path he has been on for the last year and a half, delegating all the dirty political work to others, while building his image as a father-savior, he could probably achieve this with a bit of luck. But if I were in the place of his political allies, who are even more popular today than the President (i.e., especially President Duda, Prime Minister Morawiecki, Minister Ziobro, and MEP Szydło), I would be wary. It is by no means out of the question that, carried by the wave of his personal success, Jarosław Kaczyński will want to bolster his popularity with the splendor of a de facto lifelong office. For example, the presidency or chancellorship, if he manages to change the constitution to create an office commensurate with his current de facto power.” https://opinie.wp.pl/zakowski-jak-pokochalismy-jaroslawa-kaczynskiego-opinia-6426461048502401a -- KACZYŃSKI IS THE MOST FLEXIBLE POLITICIAN OF THE THIRD REPUBLIC - TOMASZ SAWCZUK ON PIS'S PRAGMATISM - IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “Jarosław Kaczyński wins because he has become the most flexible politician of the Third Republic. In the 1990s, he spoke about the political philosophy of Porozumienie Centrum, pointing to 'empiricism and the pragmatism resulting from it, thus rejecting an excessive number of a priori theses.' During a recent program convention, Mateusz Morawiecki stated that PiS rejects both neoliberalism and socialism in the economy, opting for pragmatism instead.” -- KACZYŃSKI'S PARTY GRABS EVERYTHING THAT PROVIDES SUPPORT, PERHAPS IN THE NEXT TERM IT WILL REGULATE PARTNERSHIP UNIONS - SAWCZUK FURTHER IN KL: “Kaczyński's party grabs everything in its program that can gain it support. During the local government elections, PiS took ideas from urban movements in handfuls. The party's current election program includes postulates such as a campaign for equal pay for women and men, fixing child psychiatry, or fighting tax havens. I would not be surprised if in the next term PiS legally regulates the issue of partnership unions – the party could enact very limited regulations in this regard to claim that the matter 'has been resolved' and to make life difficult for the opposition, especially if public support for partnership unions grows.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/09/23/krotki-kurs-kaczyzm-2019/ -- MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI ON HOW PIS IS RECTIFYING ITS MISTAKE REGARDING ENTREPRENEURS: “The information presented by PiS on Saturday is intended to dispel doubts. Those earning more will lose nothing, while those earning less will gain. They must have realized that the lack of precision caused panic even among business owners who sympathize with the ruling party. Therefore, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki took on the role of defender of small business and presented detailed calculations. Although PiS made a political mistake in this matter, in the end, they tried to turn it to their advantage, presenting the prime minister as the one bringing good news. Will voters 'buy' this? It's not impossible, as, judging by the polls, many believe in the narrative about PiS's saving role for the country and its economy, based on a false premise.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/309229966-Szuldrzynski-PiS-zbawia-premier-tez.html -- PIS'S GIFTS SPOIL THE TAX AND INSURANCE SYSTEM - JOANNA SOLSKA: “By distributing gifts left and right, PiS fails to see how it is spoiling the entire tax and social insurance system. It has only one goal – to win the upcoming elections. And afterward, it will certainly return to the previously announced entrepreneur test, from which it has now withdrawn for the elections. In order to catch this group of sole proprietors. Business owners, including the smallest ones, whom it now promises to support, are decidedly not favored by the authorities. The zero PIT rate for young people, up to 26 years old, did not apply to them either.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/rynek/1925662,1,pis-nie-lubi-przedsiebiorcow-coraz-wiecej-im-zabiera.read?src=mt -- PLATFORMA IS LOSING, LEWICA IS GAINING - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “There is not enough time for these losses to be offset by gains from other camps. The Kidawa-Błońska effect is therefore, as shown by the surveys, clearly the opposite of what was planned: Platforma is losing because mobilization among its voters is decreasing, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość and Lewica are gaining, against Schetyna's formation, which is programmatically somewhat coherent and not jerking the steering wheel.” -- MOBILIZATION OF THE RULING CAMP'S VOTERS IS THE BIGGEST RISK FOR PIS - KARNOWSKI FURTHER: “All of this, of course, absolutely does not mean that the election result has already been decided. You win at the ballot box, not in the polls. The demobilization of the ruling camp's voters is currently the biggest risk factor for PiS. PiS strategists seem to have recognized this, hence the campaign focused on activating and energizing supporters, on pointing out the possible (very bitter for Poles) consequences in social and economic policy in the event of a change of government in Poland.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/464894-efekt-kidawy-jest-ale-odwrotny-od-zamierzonego -- EWA SIEDLECKA WRITES THAT THE CASE OF ABP. JĘDRASZEWSKI REMINDS HER OF "THE HANDMAID'S TALE": “One can also wonder whether depriving women who are single mothers of their jobs is an act of mercy. And whether it is consistent with the Church's call for adoption instead of using in vitro fertilization. All of this together eerily resembles 'The Handmaid's Tale,' the book by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood and the HBO series based on it, about a world where women have been dehumanized, reduced to procreation and servitude.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1925574,1,abp-jedraszewski-zwalnia-niezamezne-sprawa-przypomina-opowiesc-podrecznej.read?src=mt -- A MOMENT OF TRUTH, BRUTAL FOR TRZASKOWSKI - LACK OF ENERGY, CONCENTRATION - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “It would be a kind of paradox if Rafał Trzaskowski's nationwide political ambitions – a man with such a high opinion of himself – were to crumble due to the foulness from Czajka. And one must say that today it looks like this will happen. Not even because of the disaster itself, but because of the reaction to the event. After all, it is precisely in a truly crisis situation that one sees who has what qualifications for leadership. In Trzaskowski's case, the moment of truth proved to be a brutal test. We received stammering information, half-truths, omissions, a lack of energy, a lack of concentration, and finally, a lack of vision. Someone who fails such tests cannot think about the highest offices in the state. And Trzaskowski was certainly thinking about them.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/464937-czy-warszawa-jest-w-stanie-sama-to-ogarnac-bardzo-watpliwe -- WILL MARIAN BANAŚ RESIGN? - JEDYNKA GW - WOJCIECH CZUCHNOSKI ON BANAS'S AMBIGUOUS RELATIONSHIPS: “The hotel in Banaś's tenement house is run by the K. family, known to the prosecutor's office and police as panderers and members of an organized crime group. And the hotel, specializing in 'hourly rooms,' is part of the sex trade. That's not all. The ties of the NIK president with gangsters are tighter than just renting out a tenement house to them. In 2016, Banaś entered into a preliminary real estate sale agreement with the K. family. Thanks to this, he could avoid declaring it in his asset statement for 2017. However, the agreement did not come to fruition, and Banaś remained the owner of the building. He rented it to the K. family.” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25223148,dom-schadzek-i-interesy-z-gangsterami-jak-szef-nik-pozbyl-sie.html -- UKRAINIAN SPECIAL SERVICES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PODKARPACIE SEX SCANDAL - JEDYNKA RZ - IZABELA KACPRZAK AND GRAŻYNA ZAWADKA: “With the consent of the President of the District Court in Tarnów, we reviewed the public part of the criminal case files against brothers R. It is there that a trace of the tapes appears. In November 2011, the lawyer of Jewgienij and Aleksiej R. filed a notification with the Polish prosecutor's office about 'espionage against Poland.' The brothers claim in it that since 2007, the SBU – the Security Service of Ukraine – had been seeking information about the clientele of the escort agencies they ran in Poland. According to their accounts, Ukrainian services were interested in 'politicians and businessmen' and sought materials in the form of 'CD-ROMs and pendrives.' https://www.rp.pl/Przestepczosc/309229961-Seksafera-na-Podkarpaciu-z-ukrainskimi-sluzbami-w-tle.html -- MAREK KOZUBAL ON THE DECLINE OF THE POLISH ARMY IN THE WORLD RANKINGS - writes in RZ: “PiS has not fulfilled many other promises. There is no trace of the announced Armament Agency, the National Defense Fund, shooting ranges in every district, and plans to build the Battle of Warsaw Museum or return to pre-war military ranks look vague. The only successful project, although not announced in the program, is the Territorial Defense Forces, and perhaps the Cyber Defense Forces, whose concept has been accepted by Błaszczak, will follow their path. A serious dispute is looming on the horizon between PiS and the opposition regarding the purchase of expensive F-35 aircraft. Perhaps after the coalition wins the elections, they will share the fate of the French Caracal helicopters, which PiS crossed off the purchase list. In the Global Firepower ranking, the Polish army dropped from 19th position in 2015 to 24th this year.” https://www.rp.pl/Wojsko/309229949-Marek-Kozubal-Bezpieczenstwo-i-obronnosc--niespelnione-obietnice-PiS.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Halina Bortnowska, Michał Jach, Katarzyna Piekarska, Mirosława Nykiel, Jakub Górnicki, Michał Sznajder.