-- Duda 45 (+3), MKB 22 (+4), SH 13, RB 9, WKK 8, Bosak 3 - wPolityce Poll: https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/482516-andrzej-duda-zyskuje-rywale-gubia-punkty-sprawdz-wyniki -- SIMULATION OF 2ND ROUND, Duda vs MKB: 52:48, Duda vs SH: The Same: https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/482448-jak-wypada-prezydent-w-ii-turze-przeciwko-trojce-rywali -- MUCHA ON Duda Having a Broader Electorate Than Just United Right - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/01/17/ -- A PRIEST REFUSED ME COMMUNION - SZYMON HOŁOWNIA AS A CANDIDATE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON FAKT'S FRONT PAGE. -- "THE JUDGE PARTY IS DOING GREAT, THESE PEOPLE REALLY MISSED THEIR CALLING" - JACEK KARNOWSKI: “The goal is victory over the parliamentary majority and the government. A significant part of our statehood is to be removed – forever – from any control. It will also be able to exercise de facto control over everything else. This will essentially be a new system, albeit informal, of course. This battle is now approaching its finale. If the judge party manages to defend its undisputed dominion over the Supreme Court – which it clearly aims for – nothing will stand in its way. It will be settled. We will be able to vote as much as we want, and it won't change anything. Certainly not regarding truly important matters. The judge party is doing great in politics. These people truly missed their calling.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/482488-kasta-zasluguje-na-duze-uznanie-to-juz-rasowa-polityka -- CRITICISM OF BIEJAT IN THE STYLE OF PRL-ERA HUNTING DOWN WUJEK AND FRASYNIUK - MICHAŁ SUTOWSKI IN KRYTYKA: “Competency-based arguments are, of course, a grim joke, albeit a significant one. Criticizing an opposition MP for conducting proceedings at inconvenient hours for MPs and excessively speeding up procedures sounds like the accusations known from the PRL era against the regularly beaten opposition for using physical violence and creating an atmosphere of hatred towards the peaceful authorities. In the 70s and 80s, few believed that Wujek and Frasyniuk were beating up ZMS [Socialist Youth Union] squads or torturing prison guards, but the propaganda effect was achieved: the authorities are not ashamed to lie blatantly and thus demonstrate their strength. Yes, you all know we're talking nonsense – and what are you going to do about it?! We lie to your face and don't apologize – deal with it, opposition bubble, you can be outraged and disgusted. The most loyal electorate will swallow anything like pelicans, and the 'centrist' one will shrug their shoulders – well, sir, that's politics.” -- FOR THE LAW AND JUSTICE PARTY (PiS), NOTHING IS WORSE THAN AN OPPOSITION THAT HAS VIEWS, NOT JUST EMPTY ANTI-PiS SENTIMENT - SUTOWSKI CONTINUES: “Secondly, the hunt for Biejat and her views indicates that for PiS, there is nothing worse than an opposition that actually has views, meaning it offers content other than empty anti-PiS sentiment. In theory, this is obvious; in practice, the Civic Platform's [PO] decision to remove the Left [SLD] from the coalition in the summer of 2019 seemed to confirm this. Among many opposition MPs and sympathetic commentators, the conviction still lingers that it’s better to be cautious with any clear agenda, for fear of scaring society. If that were truly the case, and the ideological profile of the opposition were detrimental, Magda Biejat wouldn't be appearing on TVP Info.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/magdalena-biejat-odwolana-ze-stanowiska-przewodniczacej-komentarz-michala-sutowskiego/ -- FEWER AND FEWER WESTERN INSTITUTIONS ARE SPARED ACCUSATIONS OF ANTI-POLISH SENTIMENT - ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ IN Onet: “The bad European Commission, the bad European Parliament, the bad Venice Commission. In the ruling camp's politics, fewer and fewer Western institutions are spared accusations of anti-Polish sentiment. An old proverb says that if a few people tell you you're drunk, even if you disagree with them, go to sleep it off. A few gentlemen from the ruling camp could use a longer nap.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/newsletter-onetu-andrzej-stankiewicz-parodia-i-komedia-z-ziobry/35hp6dg -- THIS TIME, PiS WILL NOT BACK DOWN - STANKIEWICZ CONTINUES: “This time, it will not back down for two reasons. Firstly, if they don't stop the judges investigating the National Council of the Judiciary's signatures, they risk the legality of the KRS being challenged and Ziobro's entire reform being overturned. Secondly, the disciplinary law contains provisions intended to enable PiS to choose Gersdorf's successor, even if the majority of Supreme Court judges boycott the elections. Things have gone too far for Ziobro to back down. He is therefore condemned to wear the mask of a patriot, condescendingly segregated by Brussels elites and Venetians.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/wenecka-maska-ziobry-komentarz/jmyer0w -- THE CLAIM OF A "GERMAN TROUSER LEG" ACCUSES ALL GOVERNMENTS OF LACK OF SOVEREIGNTY - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “Could Morawiecki – to use Jaki's language – still be clinging to the German trouser leg? But – thirdly – Jaki's argument also shows a deep contempt for the Polish state. The claim that everyone until now 'clung to the German trouser leg' is an accusation of lack of sovereignty against all governments since 1989. This would mean that Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński and President Lech Kaczyński also clung to that leg.” -- PiS IS SHOWING THAT WESTERN STANDARDS ARE ALIEN TO IT AND IS TRYING TO EXPORT THEM FROM POLAND, ALONG WITH THE EU - SZUŁDRZYŃSKI CONTINUES: “The most foolish argument, however, was made by MP Jaki, who claimed that the rule of law proceedings were punishment for not accepting refugees. At the same time, he attacked Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová, who is from the Czech Republic. The catch is that the Czech Republic – along with Poland and Hungary – is a country that rejected the EU's mandatory relocation policy. So how is it that Prague is not on the blacklist, but Warsaw is? Perhaps it's not about Poland's opposition to accepting refugees after all? Perhaps it's not about Poland no longer clinging to the German trouser leg or wanting to decommunize the judiciary after all. But rather that the changes proposed by PiS do not fit within Western standards of independent judiciary. That's all there is to it. And in defending its reform, PiS shows that Western standards are alien to it. And it is trying to export them – along with the EU – from Poland.” https://www.rp.pl/Analizy/200119493-Szuldrzynski-Jak-europosel-Jaki-Unie-z-Polski-chce-wyrzucic.html -- "ONE GREAT EMBARRASSMENT" - MONIKA OLEJNIK IN GW: “Beata Szydło shouted that Radosław Sikorski did not deserve his mandate when he reminded her that a young man is being interrogated for many months who had the misfortune of driving his car at the wrong time and the wrong place and encountering Mrs. Szydło's convoy. This 'Mother of Poland', instead of saying then: 'Let's let it go, it was a minor fender-bender,' did nothing. Sikorski's speech hurt her deeply. Ryszard Czarnecki was called a liar by a Spanish MEP. It was one great embarrassment.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25606165,rzady-pis-wstyd-na-cala-europe.html -- "DUDA IS MAKING A MISTAKE BY NOT GOING TO ISRAEL" - DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA IN GW: “But since these mistakes have already been made and it was known that the chances of giving a speech were slim, the matter should not have been put on the line. One should have gone to Jerusalem with a simple message: the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and honoring these victims are paramount, in any case more important than current politics. Certainly more important than Putin's diplomatic wars. And Poland is capable of rising above its dignity-based interests. Such an important anniversary, such an important element of our shared historical memory, cannot be entangled in short-term political games. Even if Israeli and Russian politicians are doing it, let us not.” -- "PiS HAS SOURCED POLAND WITH EUROPE" - WIELOWIEYSKA CONTINUES: “However, the unambiguous assessment of Putin's statements does not absolve PiS of responsibility for all its past mistakes. It was the Polish government that soured Poland's relations with the most important players in Europe, and that is why we do not have truly strong support in the propaganda war with the Russian authorities now. Our too-zealous subservience and groveling towards US President Donald Trump also did not help in our relations with European partners.” -- WIELOWIEYSKA ON DUDA'S GESTURE TOWARDS CONFEDERATION VOTERS: “President Duda made the decision to boycott in the name of his electoral interests: he wants to win over Confederation voters, presenting himself as a politician who stood up to Israel. But President Duda's short-term electoral interest in this case is contrary to Poland's long-term interest.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25605847,75-rocznica-wyzwolenia-auschwitz-duda-robi-blad-nie-jadac.html -- "LIBERATION OR LOOTING?" - PIOTR GLIŃSKI ON OPINIONS IN RZ: “Russia stubbornly holds onto the treasures of Polish national culture – works of art and archival materials looted during or immediately after the war by the Soviet Union. Their return to Poland is one of the conditions for good neighborly relations. (...) The Russian authorities believe that the Soviet Union liberated Poland, not occupied it. Does the fact of looting Polish cultural assets and the refusal to return found treasures of Polish culture not stand in stark contradiction to this thesis? Especially today – on the anniversary of the Red Army's entry into the abandoned ruins of Warsaw by the Germans – it is worth considering whether one can responsibly speak of the liberation of Poland while Russia still refuses to release the treasures of its national culture from captivity.” https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/1420286.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Rafał Trzaskowski, Jan F. Libicki , Otylia Trzaskalska-Stroińska.