-- PIS LOSES A BIT, KO GAINS IN POLLSTER POLL FOR SE: PiS 41.10 (-2) KO 27.51 (+2), Lewica 14.51, PSL 8.53, Konfederacja 8.09 https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/pis-lapie-zadyszke-najnowszy-sondaz-dla-se-spada-poparcie-dla-partii-rzadzacej-aa-vuM8-hd7g-5gMA.html -- BOSAK IS KONFEDERACJA'S CANDIDATE - GW Report: "The 'Korwinites' did not manage to agree after all, and in the penultimate vote, the last of them - Artur Dziambor - was eliminated. There were seven votes in total, and each time the candidate with the fewest votes was eliminated. Grzegorz Braun and Krzysztof Bosak reached the final, with the former unexpectedly having a slight lead. Before the final vote, Dziambor asked for a break and the opportunity to consult with his electors. Decisions were likely made there to support Braun or Bosak before the final. It turned out that more of Dziambor's electors' votes went to Bosak, who won the primaries with 51.9% support." https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25610969,konfederacja-wybrala-kandydata-na-prezydenta-bosak-czy-ktos.html -- PLATFORM ORGANIZED A DEBATE BUT WITHOUT MEDIA AND BROADCAST... - JACEK PRUSINOWSKI ON TWITTER: "The debate of candidates for the leader of PO will start at 12. There will be no media present, and as the organizers told me, it will not be recorded. Around 2 PM, a press conference is planned. This is not a joke." -- WE WRITE FOR THE PEOPLE, NOT FOR THE MINISTER - a full-page declaration from GW. -- THE ENTIRE STATE APPARATUS IS ATTACKING ONE MAN - TOMASZ GRODZKI IN CONVERSATION WITH DONATA SUBBOTKO IN GW: "A political witch hunt. The Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA) is supposed to find evidence itself, if any exists, and if not, I recall that in Roman and Polish law, the prosecutor seeks not only evidence of guilt but also evidence of innocence. I don't have the tools to investigate this, the CBA has those tools. If they don't use them, but instead issue an announcement, then we are living in an absurd atmosphere. If the entire state apparatus is attacking one man... -- GRODZKI ON SUBBOTKO'S QUESTION ABOUT THE PROPOSAL FROM PIS: "Well, you know, health doesn't work that way, everything goes wrong, we don't really have a plan... What you wrote in that program booklet, many people liked it. What would you say if, apolitically... No one would force you to do anything, you wouldn't have to join PiS... You would help us fix it, probably we could arrange a bit more money..." That kind of talk. I replied that it's out of the question. There were no further attempts." -- GRODZKI ON WHETHER HE LIVES IN KARCZEWSKI'S VILLA: "Why would I need it, if I leave at 7:30 AM and return around 11 PM? I received two rooms from former Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz, very nicely furnished, with a shower cabin, not a bathtub, which was the biggest problem with the previous room. I don't need more, and I'm practically never there anyway. It's a constant surgical lifestyle." -- GRODZKI ON THE DEATH OF A PERSON: "I never understood, for example, the joy of hunting, I hated killing carp – I only did it once in my life – because it is death, whereas surgery is associated with giving hope. It's the power to restore life. I really like the movie "All That Jazz" by Bob Fosse. A musical about the process of dying – it fascinated me as a doctor. Showing the phases from breakdown, denial, struggle, resentment towards the whole world, to acceptance of death. Death is not pretty. There is nothing romantic about it. I have observed it many times. It is horrible. Not like in the movies, where you say 'goodbye' and close your eyes." https://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,25606823,scigany-tomasz-grodzki-przewidzialem-ze-najlatwiej-lekarza.html -- YES, THESE ARE THE SEEDS OF CENSORSHIP - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN PTT: "Here is Dariusz Rosiak, a brilliant journalist, losing both his programs on Radio Trójka: 'Raport o stanie świata' (Report on the State of the World) and 'Muzyczna historia świata' (Musical History of the World). His contract will not be extended. Rosiak did not touch upon domestic political topics. But he was not one of 'ours,' not conservative. People like him are finding it increasingly difficult in public media. Recently, even in the radio station, which was previously less affected by purges. To those on the opposition side who are now mourning Rosiak, I will point out. He hosted his shows on public radio for four years, while you have been saying from the beginning that public media are an apocalypse and the lowest point. Such a paradox. But at the same time, I will mourn with them. Because there is a problem. Public media should not be the property of one faction, especially one with increasingly greater pretensions to meticulously control how people should think. Yes, these are the seeds of censorship." -- THE FEROCITY OF SOME FUELS THE DETERMINATION OF OTHERS, THIS EVIL IS GROWING - ZAREMBA CONTINUES: "In the liberal bubble (Jan Komasa's favorite term, whose film 'Corpus Christi' briefly transcended ideological divides), they will torture themselves with visions of Lupa's terrible injustices. In the PiS bubble, they might say: 'Nothing happened' when someone mentions Rosiak and his programs, which were truly good. Something bad is happening to us. This evil is growing, not diminishing, and the ferocity of some fuels the determination of others." https://polskatimes.pl/piotr-zaremba-ta-wojna-w-sferze-kultury-prowadzi-nas-donikad/ar/c1-14720776 -- MARCIN FIJOŁEK ON KIDAWA'S STRANGE TRANSFORMATION: "Worse for herself, that in place of the sympathetic, warm, instinctively likable Marshal, for whom she was known even among PiS politicians, we received something bizarre. Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska was clearly influenced by the aforementioned training: she repeated learned formulas, practiced awkward gestures, but – to borrow from ski jumping jargon – she completely missed the mark, appearing as someone crammed into an ill-fitting actor's corset, or a wound-up robot. Add to this the stories that we should treat EU institutions in Poland like families with problems, a 'helpline,' where older, wiser, and more experienced people should set out procedures for us to solve problems..." -- PLATFORM'S WEAKNESS IS A CHANCE FOR OTHERS: "There are no visible changes for the better on the horizon, and this opens up great opportunities for other opposition candidates. If Robert Biedroń, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, or even Szymon Hołownia. If they can precisely construct the agenda of the topics they raise, sprinkle it with fieldwork, and focus on everyday matters rather than ideological ones, who knows if in a month or two we won't be wondering if someone from the aforementioned trio won't join Andrzej Duda in a potential second round. Unless the Marshal has put the worst behind her and things will only get better: with her credibility, naturalness, and preparation, and the completed training starts to pay off. However, these are rather illusory hopes and foundations of faith on the eve of the election campaign." https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/482592-szkolenia-nie-dzialaja-czy-sztab-po-otworzy-furtki-innym -- WE GO HUNTING AND SHOOT BLINDLY - BORYS BUDKA IN CONVERSATION WITH PIOTR WITWICKI ANNOUNCES THE BUILDING OF A RESEARCH BASE FOR THE PLATFORM: "There was a lack of professionalism. You have to meet people, but you also have to know what they expect. Sometimes I had the impression that we were going hunting and shooting blindly. You can't conduct effective politics like that. Good research helps to avoid mistakes that result from bad intuition. On the other hand, we are dealing with research that is funded by Polish taxpayers. The government's extensive research center must be balanced by a center of new ideas, which I will build as the leader of the Platform. There must be a place in PO for the clash of views and the development of new ideas. It must be something new. A think tank combined with a research base." -- FRAGMENT OF WITWICKI'S CONVERSATION WITH BUDKA ABOUT BOOMERS: "Hasn't the Platform become a 'boomer' party? Whose? It refers to people born before 1980 who often say 'it used to be better' and accuse young people of laziness. The left often uses the phrase 'OK boomer' to end a discussion with such people without going into details. I haven't heard that phrase. But you know that the Platform has a problem with young people, and without them, you won't win elections. You have to reach them. The message is simple: to receive more from the state, its potential must be greater. You can't be the second Norway if you don't have natural resources." -- EVERYONE TODAY TALKS ABOUT THE WEAKER PEOPLE AND FORGETS ABOUT THOSE WHO THROUGH HARD WORK ENABLE THE EXISTENCE OF SOCIAL PROGRAMS: "And I would say: libertarian. I believe we should return to our roots. We must be closer to citizens, and this can only happen through our local government officials. I have the support of many mayors, city presidents, and marshals who say that we must finally start using their experience. They are closer to people and often win in the first round. I have many friends in local government across Poland who have long since moved beyond the usual PO electorate. The second element is the potential of our entrepreneurs. Everyone today talks about the weaker people and forgets about those who, through hard work, enable the existence of social programs." https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/1420232-Platforma-wroci-do-korzeni.html -- WE LACK MODERATION AND INDEPENDENT THINKING - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ ON CONSERVATISM: "He doesn't want to listen to professors; he prefers to carefully consider the reflections of the new star on the Polish right-wing intellectual firmament, Sławomir Świerzyński (leader of the band Bayer Full). He must hate Owsiak and vent his hatred every year at the beginning of January. The hero of the Polish conservative is pimply twenty-something Huns who have never lived in the PRL, hunting communists, UB agents, and Bolshevik judges everywhere. It's interesting what they would say if they read in the diaries of the Primate of the Millennium why he participated in the 1952 elections and voted for Bolesław Bierut. In fact, every idea that our Polish fake-conservatism takes up in the current political struggle is sullied and compromised. Therefore, it is worth not only shedding a tear for Roger Scruton but also reaching for his books. And not just to be moved, but above all, to think. Because what we lack most today is not only moderation but also independent thinking." https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/1420251-Konserwa-vs-Lze-konserwa.html -- BALCEROWICZ DOES NOT DEIGN TO DIALOGUE - JERZY HAUSNER IN CONVERSATION WITH MICHAŁ SUTOWSKI IN KRYTYKA: "There were a few apologists for Balcerowicz who attacked me for it, claiming I was exaggerating when writing about the populist threat. But Balcerowicz himself didn't bother, because he doesn't deign to dialogue. Today, I have somewhat softened my views and believe that the shock approach, especially to disinflation – that is, putting out a fire – was justified. However, I have not backed away from the conviction that the slogan 'the third way leads to the third world' was harmful, because no alternatives were discussed at a strategic or operational level, essentially until Grzegorz Kołodko. Who, moreover, made opposition to Balcerowicz his identity." -- THIS IS NOT POLICY THAT LEADS US OUT OF THE MIDDLE-INCOME TRAP, BUT DISTRIBUTION OF FRUITS - HAUSNER CONTINUES: "We can afford it. But I will ask: is this government actually pursuing a policy that leads us out of the middle-income trap? In my opinion, no. It is rather a policy of distributing the fruits of growth, which, of course, reduces inequality and lifts many people out of poverty, but will end in economic collapse. And it is often the same people who are now happy with social transfers who will pay for these few fat years. If we were to finance an increase in the quality of work from the budget surplus, build competitiveness on human capital – I would be the first to applaud. If we managed to increase investment outlays, domestic savings, as postulated in the SOR – that would be great. But that didn't happen." https://krytykapolityczna.pl/gospodarka/michal-sutowski-jerzy-hausner-nowy-model-gospodarczy-wywiad/ -- ZIOBRO SPEAKS THE LANGUAGE OF THE LEFT - ADAM SZOSTKIEWICZ: "Was Poland ever a colony of Venice? It's funny that Ziobro, who poses as a right-wing hardliner, uses the language of the left to attack the conclusions from the recent visit of a Venice Commission delegation to Poland." -- TWO BEATAS HAD A GOSSIP SESSION, BUT THE PRESIDENT ALSO DELIVERED A SPEECH AT A SIMILAR LEVEL - SZOSTKIEWICZ CONTINUES: "To hell with them. What do we care that two Beatas had a gossip session in the European Parliament, no one expects anything else from them, but it's noteworthy that President Duda also gave a speech in Zwoleń at a similar level: foreigners won't tell us what our law should be." https://szostkiewicz.blog.polityka.pl/2020/01/17/czy-polska-byla-kolonia-wenecji/?nocheck=1 -- THE WITCHER'S SUCCESS IS POLAND'S SUCCESS - Mateusz Perowicz in Klub Jagielloński: "It is therefore worth making an effort so that the universally popular The Witcher is associated with Poland by every fan. This is an opportunity for almost free promotion. The creators of Geralt should at least be awarded for their merits to the country. The White Wolf should receive the Order of Polonia Restituta! This award is given for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, art, economy, national defense, social activity, state service, and developing good relations with other countries. 'The Witcher' meets several of these conditions. The award should be presented simultaneously to all creators of this success: Andrzej Sapkowski, Michał Kiciński, and Marcin Iwiński (CD Projekt), as well as Tomasz Bagiński (Platige Image)." https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2020/01/17/sukces-wiedzmina-moze-byc-sukcesem-polski/ -- EWA SIEDLECKA BIDS FAREWELL TO KRZYSZTOF LESKI: "An admirer of cats, whom he considered equal to people, just simpler to handle. A man of work and ideas, not of play. He did not lead a rich social life; he communicated on the level of specifics, tasks, ideas, not 'small talk.' This made it easier for him to withdraw from the tangible world to its representations: facts, opinions, images on a computer screen. And just as before, when he was an active journalist: he analyzed, commented, documented. He had loyal readers and conversation partners on his blog, on Twitter, on Facebook. In such contacts, it is easier to hide depression. He withdrew from the physical world, and the world left him alone. Perhaps too much. Or perhaps it was inevitable? If it weren't for his stay in the hospital, and then his tragic death, probably no one would have considered his immersion in the virtual world as particularly disturbing. After all, a generation has grown up today that lives more in computers than in reality." https://siedlecka.blog.polityka.pl/2020/01/16/pozegnanie/ -- BIRTHDAYS: Ernest Skalski, Helena Łuczywo, Jan Lityński, Wiesław Dębski, Bartek Chaciński, Arkadiusz Marchewka, SUNDAY: Leszek Balcerowicz, Magdalena Gawin, Łukasz Konarski, Elżbieta Kisil.