-- PROF. ANDRZEJ RZEPLIŃSKI TURNS 70! -- JAŚKOWIAK THIS TIME ON EUTHANASIA - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/11/26/ -- I NEVER CALCULATED - JACEK JAŚKOWIAK IN AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAŁ DANIELEWSKI IN OKO: “When I started negotiations with the Church in Poznań, I didn't calculate. I didn't calculate when I walked in the Equality March, nor when I said that Grzegorz Schetyna had done a gigantic, good job. I never calculated, I will not calculate, and I don't want politics that calculates and looks primarily at polls”. -- POLISH SOCIETY IS SECULARIZING, CONSERVATISM IS A MYTH - JAŚKOWIAK CONTINUES IN OKO: “Polish society is secularizing faster than we think. The myth of conservative Poland is the same myth as the one about conservative Poznań, which we debunked in 2014 when I won against Ryszard Grobelny”. -- THEY VOTED FOR PIS BECAUSE THEY WERE STRIPPED OF THEIR DIGNITY, RIDICULED; MEDIA AND ELITES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS - JAŚKOWIAK CONTINUES: “I also think that Poles do not judge politicians through the prism of their conservative or liberal worldview. Residents of villages and small towns voted for PiS because they were stripped of their dignity. They were presented as failures, ridiculed for the music they listen to, criticized for their views on the world. Media are largely responsible for this stigmatization, but also the contemptuous attitude towards the Polish provinces expressed by some people with left-wing views who – especially on social media – sowed contempt towards people from smaller towns. I talk to people from various social groups, I meet them at boxing training, when I travel by tram or bus. I express my respect for them through actions, and I am convinced that they see it. They see that I don't make empty declarations, but put them into practice. I participate in the Equality March, but I can also discuss with people of nationalist views. I talk, for example, with boxer Artur Szpilka – we have completely different views, but similar life stories. Mine was not so brutal. Artur lost his father when he was three, was placed in an orphanage at ten, and at fourteen fought under Tesco with the homeless for expired yogurts to bring them to his sisters for breakfast. I know what Szpilka does for the weaker, how he supports orphanages. Therefore, despite his nationalist views and a completely different perspective on history, he is more credible to me in the sphere of left-wing sensitivity than you, dear editor”. -- JAŚKOWIAK ON DUDAS ARTIFICIALITY AND RIDICULOUSNESS - 42% IS A TRAGIC RESULT: “President Duda's artificiality and ridiculousness will be his big problem. The level of support from which he is starting today is tragic. It's only 42 percent, while Komorowski clearly exceeded 60 percent support at the same time”. https://oko.press/jaskowiak-potrafie-sie-bic-jestem-autentyczny/ -- VOTERS BELIEVE IN THE LEFT - RESULTS FROM A SURVEY FOR RZ, ALTHOUGH IT'S IBRIS, THE SURVEY ALSO NOTES LOSSES FOR PIS AND KO: “To the question, ‘which of the groupings in this term has the greatest chance of becoming the main opposition force,’ as many as 32.1 percent indicate the Left. KO is second, with 29.9 percent, and PSL is third – 11.3 percent. It is worth emphasizing that belief in the Left's rise to prominence is expressed not only by its electorate (93 percent) but also by voters of the Civic Coalition – 74 percent, and PiS – 55 percent”. https://www.rp.pl/Polityka/311259904-Sondaz-PiS-z-poparciem-blisko-40-proc-Wyborcy-wierza-w-Lewice.html -- THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE SOURCE OF THE RULING PARTY'S PROBLEMS - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “Given that voters have positively assessed Mateusz Morawiecki's exposé, it is not the government's plans or the prime minister's persona that are the source of the ruling party's problems, but rather the history of Marian Banaś, the candidacies of Krystyna Pawłowicz and Stanisław Piotrowicz to the Constitutional Tribunal, or the infighting within the United Right”. -- THE SCANDAL WITH BIEJAT WILL ONLY HELP THE LEFT EVEN MORE - SZUŁDRZYŃSKI CONTINUES: “PiS's current troubles translate into respondents' belief that the role of the left will grow tomorrow. This is how the results of the survey, which asked who would lead the opposition, should be interpreted. This is likely thanks to Adrian Zandberg's successful debut in the Sejm, but also to Razem's efficient communication. A political gain for the left will be the looming scandal over the position of head of the Social Affairs and Family Committee, currently held by Razem MP Magdalena Biejat. Jarosław Kaczyński announced that he would remove her from leadership”. -- THE ONLY THING THAT CAN COMFORT PIS TODAY ARE THE PROBLEMS OF THE CIVIC COALITION - SZUŁDRZYŃSKI CONTINUES: “A chance could be the primary elections for the KO candidate for president, which would focus public attention for several weeks. The snag is that each subsequent day of the primaries looks less and less serious. So, the only thing that can comfort PiS today are the Civic Coalition's mistakes”. https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/311259907-Szuldrzynski-Kto-zyskuje-na-klopotach-PiS.html -- MAGDALENA BIEJAT ON MAGDALENA OGÓREK IN RESPONSE TO ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI IN KL: “One can talk to Ziemiec and conduct a discussion that does not violate the basic principles of etiquette and aesthetics. And Mrs. Ogórek's program is a war in jelly, a pure setup, intended to pit people against each other. Going on that program is completely unproductive”. -- BIEJAT ON TALKING WITH OPPONENTS: “Not in the media. I have contact with them at work and I talk to them here. In the corridors, we are actively inviting PiS representatives to join our road safety team. We are trying to create spaces where we can cooperate and create a platform for dialogue. But these conversations are not held in the media, but in direct contact and daily work”. https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/11/26/biejat-rozmowa-debata-publiczna-lewica-prawica/ -- ŁUKASZ PAWŁOWSKI ON THE LIBERALS OF THE 90S - WRITES IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “Following the logic of Wielowieyska, Gadomski, or other liberals from the 90s, one can say that we have been dealing with 'breaking the social contract' or 'Bolshevik methods' in Poland practically all the time and every day. The Left's project, if it helped balance the revenues and expenditures of the Social Insurance Institution (FUS), could ultimately be considered even a better idea than current practices – because it would theoretically organize this area and make it more transparent”. -- PAWŁOWSKI QUOTES A ZANDBERG-LIKE FRAGMENT FROM TUSK: “And since they don't want to listen to Zandberg, let them listen to Donald Tusk's last speech delivered after he was elected chairman of the European People's Party: ‘In times of uncertainty, and there will probably be no other times, when everything around is changing and moving in different directions, people want to be sure that those in power will not abandon them, that they will not turn their backs on them,’ said the former Polish prime minister. ‘Left to themselves, people begin to look for someone who will offer care and lean over their problems. They crave attention. “Look at us” – they seem to say – “we are here.” They, or rather I should say – all of us – desire appreciation, dignity, and recognition of our importance. And we all feel the need to be part of a larger community.’” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/11/26/zandberg-tusk-liberalizm-lewica-wystapienie-sejm/ -- THE LEFT MAY HAVE PIS ON A FORK - DR ANTONI DUDEK IN ŁUKASZ ROGOJSZ'S TELCHET IN GAZETA.PL: “Moods in Poland in recent years have shifted significantly towards the welfare state. And the specialist in the welfare state is the Left – explains Prof. Antoni Dudek in an interview with Gazeta.pl. – If PiS starts making mistakes, if it is unable to fulfill its numerous election promises, the Left will have them on a fork. Then, a significant portion of the social electorate is likely to shift towards the Left – emphasizes the political scientist from Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University”. -- DUDEK ON THE LEFT'S ADVANTAGE OVER PLATFORM: “The Left has a huge advantage over Platform today: it is 'something' – full of ideas (whether one agrees with them is another matter), energetic, substantive. It is clear, it knows what it wants. Meanwhile, Platform gives the impression of a party completely ideologically drained, without an idea for what comes next. With such a burden, it will not be able to maintain its position as number one in opposition for long”. -- THE LEFT HAS A YOUNG FACE TODAY - DUDEK CONTINUES: “A great asset of the Left is that no one can accuse them of not having done anything in a certain area when they were in power. The Left today has a young face and the energy of Sejm debutants, and therefore is not entangled in past decisions and scandals. It has a clean slate and can leverage that”. http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25448189,zandberg-biejat-i-cala-reszta-to-lewicy-a-nie-platformy.html -- MARCIN FIJOŁEK ON "CLEANING THE FIELD": “The process of PiS cleaning the field – internal, coalition, parliamentary, governmental (scope of competencies, names of deputy ministers, etc.) – and establishing new-old rules of the game is necessarily prolonged, which may not translate into poll results (besides, PiS currently only cares about Mr. President's figures), but it weakens the party's entrenchment in the role of a stable and confident governing force. No, this does not have a significant impact on today's political reality, but several butterfly wing-flaps have occurred. The sooner some version of normalization of what is happening in the Sejm (which I previously called cleaning the field) occurs, the less effort PiS will need to expend over time to emerge from this minor defense. This is all the more so because there is a difference here, for example, with the aforementioned process of forming a government quite smoothly with the message of a cult of normalcy”. https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/474559-polityka-wrocila-na-wiejska-a-pis-wciaz-czysci-przedpole -- THE RIGHT IS NOT RESTING ON ITS LAURELS AND IS NOT SLEEPING - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI ON THE BASIS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH PMM IN SIEĆCI: “Fortunately, the right is not sleeping, not resting on its laurels, but is thinking, acting, and changing – according to Prime Minister Morawiecki's interview for "Sieci". Of course, there is no guarantee that all of this will succeed. Economic slowdowns around, pressure from radicals, a still powerful media attack – everything here can turn out to be dangerous. But if anyone thought that Jarosław Kaczyński's camp intended to passively wait for the supposedly inevitable end of their rule, they were mistaken”. https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/474532-po-wywiadzie-z-premieremprawica-nie-spi-ale-mysli-i-dziala -- THE ERA OF STAND-UP COMEDY FROM FAKT IS ENDING - JACEK KARNOWSKI ON TVP BASED ON EUROVISION: “The trend for grimaces and gestures, for uncreative rehashes of introductions from "Wyborcza" and stand-up comedy from "Fakty" is clearly ending. The money spent was not in vain. And it was not in vain because the current TVP management turned out to be better market analysts than the competition, betting on those elements that give contemporary television, attacked by the internet and Netflix, at least some breath: live sports and big entertainment. Of course, public media cannot be just popular entertainment and sports. They still need to find a formula for attractive promotion of both patriotism and traditional values. There have been some successes, but we feel that it's not quite there yet, that there are no golden shots. But the fact that TVP has not fallen overboard, that it has broken attempts at ostracism, that it can win in the commercial arena, is more than valuable. For the simple reason that without this viewership anchor, even the most righteous message will fall into a vacuum”. https://wpolityce.pl/m/spoleczenstwo/474650-od-opola-do-gliwic-czyli-przelamanie-nie-tylko-w-sejmie -- ADAM LESZCZYŃSKI IN OKO IN A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH: “Finland commemorated the centenary of its independence in 1918 by building a super-modern library. Poland also commemorated important historical events with large public utility buildings. After the assassination of the first President of the Republic of Poland, Gabriel Narutowicz, by a right-wing fanatic in 1922, his memory was immortalized not only by naming a new square in Warsaw after him, but also by erecting a huge student dormitory for the Technical University nearby (Narutowicz was a professor of hydro-engineering). Its original name – the House of Engineers named after Gabriel Narutowicz – is still visible today from the side of Mochnackiego Street”. https://oko.press/pis-chce-zbudowac-luk-triumfalny-na-wisle-moze-lepiej-cos-pozytecznego-oko-press-pyta-czytelnikow/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Jerzy Zdrada, Andrzej Rzepliński, Andrzej Halicki, Jerzy Smoliński, Adam Leszczynski, Przemysław Iwańczyk, Grzegorz Lipiec, Lucjan Olszówka, Tomasz Sygut.