-- NEITHER POLAŃSKI NOR THE MEN OF HIS GENERATION RECOGNIZED THAT THE WORLD HAS CHANGED - DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA IN GW: “After reading the interview, I have the impression that neither the director nor the men of his generation understand what has happened. They failed to recognize that the world has changed. To be clear: Gazeta Wyborcza was right to publish the conversation with Polański because it upholds the fundamental principle that every accused person has the right to defense. Whether that defense is convincing is another matter. I have the impression that the director failed here.” -- WIELOWIEYSKA FURTHER ON GW'S CONVERSATION WITH POLAŃSKI: “One must not use rhetorical devices that subliminally shift the blame for what happened onto all three. No, Roman Polański is guilty, who raped a child after drugging him. Period. Yet, he does this because well-wishers have fed him such a version. In this case, the saying proves true: 'Save us, Lord, from friends, for I can handle enemies myself.'” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25535129,wladza-slawa-i-seks-spor-o-polanskiego-to-starcie-pokoleniowe.html -- JERZY KWIECIŃSKI IS RUNNING FOR PGNIG PRESIDENT: https://www.rmf24.pl/ekonomia/news-kwiecinski-wystartowal-w-konkursie-na-prezesa-pgnig-ma-wielk,nId,4223895 -- TOMASZ SEKIELSKI SPEAKS STRONGLY ABOUT BUDKA AND TUSK: “Mr. Borys Budka is to become the new, charismatic leader of the Civic Platform, yet as head of the parliamentary group, he cannot discipline all MPs – Tomasz Sekielski said in a Facebook recording. The journalist criticized the opposition, as well as Donald Tusk for not attending the rally in defense of judges. – He talks about what a fighter he is; that he hasn't said his last word yet. And what's more, perhaps in five years he will run in the presidential elections. And in general, he says what needs to be done in Polish politics and what shouldn't – he said. – Mr. Chairman – he addressed Tusk – you could have run in the presidential elections. Fought. Tried. Showed how you don't give up.” http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25539192,sekielski-krytykuje-tuska-tak-sie-angazuje-w-walke-ze-nie.html -- PIS HAS OPENED A NEW FIELD OF CONFLICT WITH THE COMMISSION - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “Here PiS, having a clean slate with the new European Commission, has opened a new field of conflict with Brussels. And no amount of incantations that no one has the right to interfere in our internal affairs, or Andrzej Duda's embarrassing explanation that the outside world is misinformed about the situation in Poland, will help. With a law, PiS wants to prohibit judges from enforcing the ECJ's ruling. It has thus handed its critics the argument that it has taken a step towards leaving the European Union. In this way, with one law, PiS has caused the scarecrow of Polexit to return to political debate.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/191229858-Michal-Szuldrzynski-Wraca-straszak-polexitu.html -- THE PRESIDENT DOES NOT NEED THE CENTER, BUT THE VOTERS OF KONFEDERACJA - PAWEŁ WROŃSKI IN GW: “However, he no longer needs the conventional 'center' now; he doesn't need the pretense of being the president of all Poles. He already has the solid PiS electorate, which reached 8 million voters in the last election. Duda, on the other hand, is counting on the support of Konfederacja voters, who have always disliked the interference of EU institutions in Polish affairs. The calculation seems simple: an attack on judges will provoke foreign criticism, and this will lend credibility to Duda among anti-European voters. And of course, it will mobilize them to go to the polls in May.” -- PAD IS COUNTING ON THE FIRST ROUND BECAUSE THE OPPOSITION'S ELECTORATE PREFERS TO DISCUSS HOW BAD THE OPPOSITION'S CANDIDATES ARE - WROŃSKI'S CONCLUSION: “Andrzej Duda is counting on a first-round victory. This seems easier. Because for now, the opposition's electorate is not thinking about what kind of president Duda is. They prefer to discuss how bad the opposition's own candidates are. https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25538675,andrzej-duda-odpuszcza-centrum-liczy-na-wyborcow-konfederacji.html -- ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ ON MATTERS THAT PAD SKIPPED IN HIS INTERVIEW WITH RACHOŃ: “However, it should be reminded to the president that it was he himself who appointed Iwulski as president of the Chamber of Labour in 2016. What's more – during the war for control over the Supreme Court in 2018, Duda even appointed him acting First President of the Supreme Court! Apparently, he made a mistake because he didn't check his background. But if the president makes such a cardinal mistake – and twice at that – how can we assume that he is infallible this time regarding the courts?” -- REGARDING NIK, PAD SHOWS NO PARTICULAR ZEAL - STANKIEWICZ FURTHER: “One could list several Supreme Court judges chosen by PiS with Duda, who have controversial achievements in their biographies – for example, Adam Tomczyński, a judge of the flagship Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. During his tenure in the commercial division of the Warsaw District Court, he was the closest associate of another judge – Dariusz Czajka. Czajka became known for readily declaring bankruptcies of companies that owned attractive land in the capital. Czajka was proven to have engaged in cronyism. Before the Supreme Court ruled on his case, he resigned. Shortly after him, Tomczyński also resigned. The case of Marian Banaś is an even more telling example of the state of PiS personnel. But in the matter of removing the head of NIK, the president shows no particular zeal.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/andrzej-duda-o-sadownictwie-przypominamy-co-robil-w-sprawie-sadow-komentarz/48qd0l0? -- IF DEMOCRACY IS FALLING, WHY ARE THE OPPOSITION MPS NOT VOTING? - TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “Because if democracy is falling, why are opposition MPs late for votes they can win? This is a question from the series: 'If democracy is falling, why did Ryszard Petru go on vacation to Portugal?', and also: 'How many times will democracy fall?' During the Sejm's Christmas Eve meeting, politicians from the ruling and opposition sides wished each other well, as if nothing had happened.” -- CAN ONE GRAB POWER LIKE PIS AND NOT BUILD AUTHORITARIANISM - SAWCZUK FURTHER: “Here's the question: can one constantly seize power and not build authoritarianism along the way? Even if the ruling camp, taken as a whole, has no intention of introducing authoritarian rule in Poland, the sum of actions it takes brings Poland closer to establishing such a government. Some actors on the right do not know this, some want to strengthen central power overall and do not consider the problem from such an inconvenient perspective, and some accept pathologies in exchange for benefits. The intentions may vary, but the effect remains the same.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2019/12/23/ustawa-kagancowa-pis-niszczy-sadownictwo/ -- A JUDGE HAS AN OBLIGATION TO ACT IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION - PROF. EWA ŁĘTOWSKA IN AN INTERVIEW WITH NACZELNA FAKTU, KATARZYNA KOZŁOWSKA: “Ladies and gentlemen: Minister Andrzej Dera said some time ago that Article 178 of the Constitution means a ban on a judge's public activity. Nonsense. A judge has no right to engage in political activity (e.g., belong to a party), but has an obligation to act in defense of the Constitution, because he swore an oath to it.” -- THERE MUST BE A JUDGE ABOVE THE SHERIFF - ŁĘTOWSKA FURTHER: “Rather, perhaps from responsibility. For the oath taken to the Constitution, which speaks of three balancing powers. And from the conviction that the therapy we have been subjected to may force judges into silence, but it will certainly not make the courts better, more efficient, or less formal. It will, however, make prosecutors the main actors in the judiciary. And that should not be the case. There should be a judge above the sheriff. And one who is not afraid to check the sheriff's decisions.” https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/prof-ewa-letowska-o-nowych-ustawach-sadowych/95nywes -- GRODZKI ON BEING DISFIGURED, ŚPIEWAK FILED A PARDON REQUEST - 300LIVE https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/12/23/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Jan Parys, Szczepan Twardoch, Kuba Graś.