-- WHAT DID JAROSŁAW GOWIN ANSWER TO THE PROVOCATIVE QUESTION OF WHETHER HE WOULD BE DEPUTY MARSHAL OF THE SEJM AFTER THE ELECTIONS - DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ON KACZYŃSKI'S POLITICAL BALANCE - 300 ON AIR PODCAST: https://soundcloud.com/300polityka/gowin-kaczynski-prowadzi-polityke-imperialnej-rownowagi -- THE LEFT PRESENTS ITS GOVERNMENT CALENDAR - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/10/11/ -- ON THE OCCASION OF AN EXCELLENT MEME WITH PROF. GLINSKI, WE REMIND YOU OF THE JAGIELLONIAN CLUB'S ARTICLE ABOUT TL;DR: “Home, workplace, a seat on the tram, a queue in the shop. Time of day is irrelevant. You're holding your smartphone. You scroll. Another interesting article, a topic completely random, but at this moment – crucial for the fate of the world. Title, headline, a couple of paragraphs, scroll, scroll, sometimes a like, return. Scroll, scroll. The same. 1.5 hours pass. You haven't learned absolutely anything. The typical smartphone user at the beginning of the text is a textbook representative of the tl;dr syndrome, i.e., too long; didn't read”. https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2017/04/24/pokolenie-tldr/ -- MICHAŁ GOSTKIEWICZ FROM WP TALKED TO OLGA TOKARCZUK - I CAN'T SQUARE MY NAME WITH THE NEW TITLE: “- Today you got into a car in Potsdam as the writer Olga Tokarczuk… - …who is presenting her new book in Germany. And I got out in Bielefeld as a Nobel Prize laureate. And frankly, when I say it out loud in Polish, to you now, I still don't believe it, I can't square my name with this new title”. -- I DON'T INSIST ON EVERYONE READING ME! - TOKARCZUK CONTINUES: “- Of course! I don't mind. I wasn't even particularly offended by the fact that you can't read my books, because I know that my books are not for everyone. It depends on temperament, literary taste, and certain habits. So I don't insist that everyone read Tokarczuk. No, no, no”. https://ksiazki.wp.pl/olga-tokarczuk-w-pierwszym-wywiadzie-po-nagrodzie-nobla-dzis-bede-celebrowac-6433711903565441a?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true -- I DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE DEFORMATIONS OF THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS, BUT I'VE SEEN MANY PAPER BREAKTHROUGHS IN POLISH POLITICS - PIOTR ZAREMBA: “Above all, having followed Polish politics at least since the early 1990s, I have already seen many breakthroughs that turned out to be paper breakthroughs, or at least much less durable than they seemed at the time of their announcement. Knowing Polish half-measures, the inability to find extreme solutions, I can allow myself disbelief. I don't believe in the vision of a closed system of domination by one political force, nor in brutal revenge if this force is stopped at the polls. While I don't underestimate the deformations of the democratic process, it is happening before our eyes. Nor do I underestimate the toxic force of mutual hatred. -- TVN PROPAGATES APOCALYPSE AND THERE'S SOMETHING CABARET-LIKE ABOUT IT - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “The situation where TVN, mentioned at the beginning, propagates an apocalyptic vision of the end of democracy right after organizing a debate in its studio between those who want to take democracy away from Poles and those who don't want to allow it, has something of the cabaret about it. In such a situation, one must decide on something. Either civic alarm, or normality. The current troubles of the opposition still do not stem primarily from some administrative difficulties, or even from the rude, irritating propaganda of the government television, but from its own communication problems with Poles. In many cases, the fundamental mistakes were made not by politicians of KO or other opposition parties, but by the celebrities who so carefully looked after the opposition”. -- NO ONE FORCED THE CELEBRITIES - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “No one forced Wojciech Pszoniak to present non-voters as lunatics, Maja Ostaszewska to lament that PiS will block access to the internet (based on scraps of some discussion), or Agnieszka Holland to announce the deprivation of voting rights for men. Nor did KO politicians encourage them to do so. But such is the nature of contemporary polyphonic debate that the mistakes of these elites are attributed to politicians who benefit from their friendship. One can only wonder what the benefit is here”. -- IN A FEW YEARS YOU WON'T BELIEVE YOUR OWN WORDS SPOKEN TODAY - ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION, NOT LACKING A CERTAIN RESIGNATION: “I will use the remnants of normality and not say who, in my opinion, was better in this race. Thanks to God, I don't have such an obligation. Following social media, I see how many sensible, decent, and likeable people have adopted the attitude of ardent fans. I have one request: do not believe every word, not only of 'the others', but also of your leaders. Because perhaps in a few years you yourselves will not believe your own words spoken today”. https://polskatimes.pl/piotr-zaremba-przelomowe-wybory-nie-na-tyle-zeby-o-tym-wrzeszczec-na-caly-glos/ar/c1-14493187 -- THE PLATFORM IS SINKING, THE LEFT IS CATCHING UP TO KO - ANTONI DUDEK IN CONVERSATION WITH JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: “The Platform is sinking. Civic Coalition is overestimated in polls, and the Left is underestimated. The Left is starting to catch up to KO. It probably won't completely catch up, but the gap between them is narrowing. However, let's remember that this is within the same anti-PiS electorate. These are not new voters, we are dealing with a flow within the opposition voter group. This bodes ill for Grzegorz Schetyna. He faces very big problems after Sunday. Elections for the PO leader are to be held in January. If the election result is exceptionally disappointing, someone will have to be held responsible”. -- DUDEK ON BROAD OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE LEFT: “Yes, but it will take several years, and one fundamental condition must be met. Namely, dozens of Left MPs will enter the Sejm soon. There will be many of them. And either they will start acting together, and from this crucible, into which Zandberg, Czarzasty, and Biedroń entered, a new, united left-wing camp will be forged – and then it has a chance – or they may fall apart immediately after the elections. For example, quarrels will start, because one of the elements of this contract is that Biedroń is to be a presidential candidate, which is why Wiosna retreated so much, so to speak. If, for example, this is broken and it suddenly turns out that the Razem party doesn't want Biedroń, that SLD doesn't want Biedroń as a presidential candidate, it will be the beginning of the end for this united left. However, if they support Biedroń, if Biedroń gets a good result, for example, reaches the second round, then broad opportunities will open up for the left”. -- THE COMMUNISTS ALSO FORMED A NEW ELITE - DUDEK CONTINUES: “Very characteristic. The president said nothing here about the economic elite, but said it would change. Certainly, the coming years will be a process that President Kaczyński cares about. I just want to say one thing to him: there was someone in Poland once who formed such a new elite, and they were communists. They did it for 12 years, between 1945 and 1956. They did it using methods incomparably more brutal than PiS has and will have today, yet the results were meager. The era of social engineering, which President Kaczyński is thinking about, ended in the 20th century”. https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/310109872-Prof-Antoni-Dudek-Nowa-elite-tworzyli-juz-komunisci.html -- THE CLASS STRUGGLE ON THE OPPOSITION'S SIDE WAS A MISTAKE - DR CHWEDORUK IN NEWSWEEK: “The opposition allowed itself to be drawn into a kind of class struggle. Public statements, for example, by well-known celebrities, that those who vote for PiS are poor, from the countryside, bought off by 500 plus, are political suicide in the modern world. The opposition was often unable to restrain its supporters from such statements. A politician must approach all voters with respect, from every social group. Secondly, the creation of the European Coalition, which, although it was a great risk, initially made some political sense. Its rapid disintegration was the moment when the entire rhetoric about the threat to democracy collapsed, and it was clear that PiS would win decisively. Moreover, Grzegorz Schetyna's party allowed itself to be drawn into an attempt to make the courts the main focus of opposition to PiS, which was incomprehensible to the public. And it was a bit too late for a later shift towards more pragmatic topics”. https://www.newsweek.pl/polska/polityka/wybory-parlamentarne-2019-opozycja-dala-sie-uwiklac-w-walke-klas-to-samobojstwo-dla/ebzdp5k -- WILL THE PLATFORM CHANGE ITS WAY OF CONDUCTING POLITICS? - MARCIN FIJOŁEK: “In short, Platform politicians may conclude that the formula of marches, parliamentary 'coups', shouting abroad, constantly raised slogans with kilograms of pathos and grand words, simply does not work. From such a conclusion, it is really only a step away from deciding that the way of conducting politics needs to be changed. I even think that such a decision has already been made (perhaps not yet definitively). Hence the campaign signal with the candidacy of Marshal Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, a departure (at least temporary) from the rhetoric of 'fighting for democracy' and an attempt to focus on specifics (prices in shops, inflation, healthcare, etc.). So far, the attempt has been unsuccessful, as neither the leaders, nor the candidates, nor, most importantly, the PO-KO voters are convinced of the change in strategy, but there may be more such harbingers of change”. -- WILL PIS ALSO CHOOSE A DIFFERENT COURSE OF ACTION? - FIJOŁEK: “Of course, a lot will then depend not only on the reshuffles in the opposition ranks, but also on PiS's own stance, which, after confirming its electoral mandate, may choose at least several courses of action. However, this is probably a topic (both personal and substantive) for consideration just after the elections”. https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/467673-wybory-13-x-moga-zakonczyc-pewien-etap-w-polskiej-polityce -- PROF. FLIS ON AN OPTIMISTIC SCENARIO FOR THE OPPOSITION - WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE - he tells gazecie.pl: “Civic Coalition and the Left would have to get significantly more than the current average in polls to collectively have more seats than PiS. Let's imagine a situation where KO and the Left achieve an unexpectedly good result and together have about 46%, PiS has 44%, and PSL and Konfederacja are outside the Sejm, but with results very close to 5%. Then PiS loses power. But this is an extremely optimistic scenario for the opposition. In reality, the entire balance of power in the new Sejm depends today on the peasant party. It is up to them whether PiS will have any chance of losing its independent majority”. -- FLIS ON POLLS PREDICTING LIKE CHIMPANZEES: “It might try. But if we took today's average of polls, and then ten chimpanzees 'bet' on the final result, adding or subtracting bananas, one of them would be closest to reality at the end. However, this would not mean that it is smarter than other chimpanzees”. -- DID TVP LULL PIS VOTERS TO SLEEP? - FLIS CONTINUES: “PiS itself fell into the trap of the narrative about its governance. After all, TVP – like other pro-government media – has been in euphoria for four years. It constantly says how hopelessly weak the opposition is, how it means nothing, how PiS has 'plowed it under'. Since the opposition has been taking a beating every day for four years, why should a PiS supporter feel motivated to vote? On the other hand, we have opposition media that portray PiS as an unstoppable enemy army that is once again going to conquer Poland. Anti-government media thus also add a sense of strength and complacency to PiS voters. They think to themselves: since they fear us so much and admit themselves that it's all over, we can skip voting”. http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25292412,prof-flis-zagrozeniem-dla-pis-u-jest-to-ze-koalicja-obywatelska.html -- ROMAN GRACZYK ON CELEBRITIES: “Well, it's the opposite. If someone wishes the opposition well, they should pray (ha, how to do that, being in such company?, but that's not my problem) that Olga Tokarczuk doesn't suddenly come out with words of support for anti-PiS today or tomorrow. It will harm the opposition in itself. And if, in her post-Nobel euphoria, the Nobel laureate gets carried away by the depth of thought and feeling that Mr. Jerzy Stuhr and Mr. Wojciech Pszoniak have presented in recent weeks, it will harm her immensely. Please remember, I warned you”. https://fakty.interia.pl/raporty/raport-wybory-parlamentarne-2019/autorskie/news-nobel-i-polityka,nId,3270885 -- BOGUSŁAW CHRABOTA APPEALS TO RESTORE THE MECHANISM OF COHABITATION - as he writes in the first issue of RZ: “Only constitutional checks and balances protect against the temptation of excessive majority domination, which we have witnessed many times in recent years and which is invariably risky for Poland's future. Yes, in these elections, the real stake is the restoration of the cohabitation mechanism, which can only be guaranteed by some form of opposition success. But even if we don't achieve it, there will be no end to Polish history, only a new, fascinating chapter of it”. https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze-wyborcze/310109892-Chrabota-Twoj-glos-w-tych-wyborach--jest-glosem-za-wolnoscia.html -- WILL KACZYŃSKI NOT ALIENATE MODERATES? - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “There can be two interpretations of this hardening of rhetoric. The first is that PiS fears that the hard core electorate does not feel sufficiently mobilized. The Smolensk fuel has stopped working – besides, a lot of publications recently showed the embarrassment regarding the wreck and the investigation – so for the hard core electorate to go and vote, it is necessary to return to radical rhetoric. The second interpretation is that the PiS leader's vigilance has been lowered by good poll results, and he has returned to his natural language. The consequence may be one – the return to radical rhetoric may paradoxically demobilize some voters. By pampering the hard core at the finish line, will PiS not alienate moderate voters? This was the case a year ago, just before the local elections, and also eight years ago, when at the end of a good campaign, Kaczyński suddenly began to weave theories about Angela Merkel's agent connections. Whether it will be the same this time, we will find out on Sunday evening”. https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/310109897-Szuldrzynski-PiS-wraca-do-rewolucji.html -- SHIFTING THE SIN OF BIAS SOLELY TO TVP IS AN EASY WAY OUT - RAFAŁ WOŚ IN TYGODNIK: “It is true that opinion-forming media have found themselves in a deep credibility crisis after four years of PiS rule. However, blaming it all solely on Jacek Kurski's TVP is simply an easy way out. However, it is irritating that so many people stop there. And they don't see that such a statement is just the beginning of a larger problem. One could stop there if public media were some black sheep among the rest – honest private media that care about pluralism and fight against the bias of their own message (which can happen to anyone). But that's not the case! When I look at how strongly 'Gazeta Wyborcza', for example, has committed itself to the anti-PiS side, I see more of a mirror image of TVP or, let's say, 'Sieci' or 'Gazeta Polska'. Of course, not everything here is symmetrical. But in principle, pro- and anti-PiS media share a militancy in fighting the enemy and extreme Manichaeism in assessing their attitudes and motivations. A PiS supporter described in 'Gazeta Wyborcza' will in most cases be caricaturally evil and deceitful. Just like an opposition member in the TVP narrative. This is jarring”. -- IT'S LIKE SAYING THAT ROAD SIGNS APPLY ONLY TO CITY BUSES - WOŚ CONTINUES: “My main argument is that the capitalist ownership structure should not change our expectations of opinion-forming media. When organizing road traffic, we don't say that signs only apply to city buses. And private cars can drive as they please. Or that consumer rights should be respected only by state-owned Post Office or PZU. And stock market players from the same industries can whistle at them. By the same token, we should complain just as strongly about the bias of public and private media. Precisely because they function in the logic of the common good. Regardless of whether they are a State Treasury company or an entity with a dispersed stock ownership”. -- EDITORIAL OFFICES LIKE TRENCHES OF THE HOLY TRINITY - WOŚ'S CONCLUSION: “Unfortunately, in practice, this openness will be very difficult. Over the last four years, the editorial offices of many media outlets have ceased to resemble editorial offices and have turned into trenches of the Holy Trinity. Suspicious elements contesting these war moods within their own ranks have either been removed or brutally brought into line. In other words: thermometers were smashed, expecting that if they stopped showing fever, the temperature would disappear on its own. Difficult does not mean impossible, however. It can always be better. Also in the media. 'Better' means less partisan, and more just. Which I wish for myself and for you”. https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/okopy-swietej-trojcy-160680 -- COURTS SHOULDN'T AFFORD TO NEGLECT THEIR SOCIAL LEGITIMACY - PROF. EWA ŁĘTOWSKA IN OKO: “Membership in the EU gives judges a lot, but it also demands a lot from them. Also, the constitution, which declares that courts are independent and judges are impartial, does not in itself make constitutional words flesh. The function of courts – their position as the 'last resort' makes it difficult for them to gain social acceptance. Especially since instead of cooperation between the three branches of power, we have political exploitation of the principle of 'delegating problems'. However, the independence of courts and the impartiality of judges are simply profitable for citizens. Director Wojciech Smarzowski explains this well in a film prepared for 'Wolne Sądy': it is profitable to have an unbiased mediator in case of a school dispute, where a fight between two students who dislike each other turns into a bigger issue. When the school principal is the mother of one of the participants in the fight – it is quite obvious who will become the scapegoat. It is not profitable for citizens, on the other hand, to engage in political reconquest of the third branch of power. Just as it is not profitable for the courts to neglect their own social and EU legitimacy. The last few years have clearly shown this”. https://oko.press/prof-letowska-sady-sa-chlopcem-do-bicia-wladza-polityczna-dokonuje-ich-rekonkwisty/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Zenon Grocholewski, Barbara Fedyszak-Radziejowska, Sławomir Siwek, Stanisław Bisztyga, Jerzy Halbersztadt, Agnieszka Walczak, Krzysztof Lipiec.