-- KIDAW-BŁOŃSKA EXITS THE STAGE TO THE SOUNDS OF KORA AND MAANAM, KOSINIAK ENDS WITH A PASSIONATE KISS WITH HIS WIFE - LIVE COVERAGE OF THE CONVENTIONS OF THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT OPPOSITION CANDIDATES: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/02/29/ -- PIOTR ZAREMBA ON CLASHING OVER CORONAVIRUS - writes in Polsat News magazine: “Polish politics and the presidential election campaign have entered a new phase. That of mutual coronavirus clashing. It's characteristic: the opposition, quite rightly, accused the government of a lack of information and sufficient preparations to face a potential epidemic. When the Sejm was convened at the request of President Duda, voices immediately arose that it was unnecessary, as it would only gain the current head of state additional election points. Of course, the president's appeal for such a session to take place, even for legislative changes to be considered to facilitate fighting the threat, was also a game. PiS tried to shed the odium of their past passivity, and at the same time, genuinely increase their candidate's chances. To top it off, a grotesque spectacle took place.” -- THE GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED TO FINANCE PUBLIC MEDIA -- ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “Incidentally, it's worth noting how much the current government has failed over the past four years with the issue of financing public media. One could have tried other formulas. Strip TVP of its company status, change it into a cultural institution and ensure permanent budget funding for its mission-oriented programming, while maintaining everything else (including propaganda masquerading as information) from the commercial activities of a subsidiary.” -- THE GOVERNMENT WILL FIND A WAY FOR A DRIP FEED FOR KURSKI -- ZAREMBA CONTINUES: “If I had to bet, I'd venture to say that the current government will find a way to maintain at least part of the drip feed for Kurski within this budget year. Even if they turn it down a bit, through the mechanism of Andrzej Duda's veto and PiS politicians seeking half-measures, I will still fear that it will happen primarily at the expense of the mission. Jacek Kurski will not abandon political propaganda, nor his courting of the electorate with spectacles, big concerts, and shows like 'Sanatorium of Love'. Nevertheless, tougher times may come later. If Andrzej Duda wins the presidential election, everything will remain as it was. However, if he loses, TVP will be exposed to the greatest risk.” -- THANKS TO PROPAGANDA OR DESPITE IT? -- ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION: “This brings us back to the immortal question: did the right win through propaganda from Woronicza, or despite it? However, this is an academic question, as it cannot be investigated.” https://www.polsatnews.pl/wiadomosc/2020-02-29/zaremba-o-ostatniej-szansie-kurskiego/ -- WE HAVE THE PLATFORMER AND PIS STYLE OF HAND-WASHING -- PIOTR ZAREMBA IN PTT: “And at the same time, a confirmation of the thesis that politics, in this version, devours everything in Poland. We have the PiS and Platformer style of hand-washing. Every issue is good for a spat, especially between the main political forces. And since the logic of polls still supports Andrzej Duda's dominance on the scene, the campaign is preparing us even more for a plebiscite: PiS versus the rest. So, the rest is orchestrating a permanent hunt for blunders against the government and the parliamentary majority.” -- HOWEVER, THOSE WHO CONSTANTLY REPEATED: "THERE IS NO MONEY" ARE LECTURING THE RULING PARTY: “PiS's 'fault' lies solely in having scraped higher revenues from the budget and preferring to invest them in primitive handouts rather than building healthcare infrastructure. After all, the sick, even with their families, are not an effective lobby. But when people who have eternally repeated: 'There is no money' are lecturing the government, the situation becomes amusing. The voting record of MP Kidawa-Błońska against various proposals to increase oncology spending is a true testament. Because in Poland, such proposals have always been submitted by the opposition, and the ruling majority usually cut them down in the name of their own broader budgetary strategies.” -- EVERYTHING IS POLITICS IN POLAND -- ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION: “The rumor is nonsensical. Even if some cases of illness appear, two billion is not needed for countermeasures. While oncology would absorb any sum. Everything is politics in Poland. And in Poland, no solution appears rational.” https://polskatimes.pl/piotr-zaremba-wirus-a-sprawa-polska-studium-groteski/ar/c15-14821962 -- JAN ROKITA ON THE ECONOMIST SPEAKING LIKE SZYDŁO IN THE EP: “What is truly interesting and noteworthy in 'The Economist' article is the fact that everything in it is reversed in relation to those numerous and well-known tirades. According to Robinson, the Polish immigration 'cock-up' is not that Poland so terribly and fundamentally immorally rejects immigrants, but that it wants them so much that it lets them in without reason or restraint, unaware of the troubles it is thus bringing upon itself and the rest of the Union. The 'Economist' writer essentially speaks about Polish immigration policy in the language of Prime Minister Szydło's famous speech four years ago, delivered in the European Parliament, in which she tried to explain to MEPs, who were aggressive and scornful towards her, that Poland not only doesn't close its doors to immigration but, on the contrary, keeps them wide open. Back then, the Polish Prime Minister was not taken seriously, and her performance was almost unanimously deemed exceptionally unsuccessful.” -- THIS DOES NOT ALIGN WITH THE PATHOS-LADEN VISION OF PIS – A SUBJECTIVE STATE – JAN ROKITA'S CONCLUSION: “Morawiecki believes that Poland needs immigrants, but 'the uneducated masses' should not be told about it, because they will get angry. This is not only short-sighted policy, as the British observer emphasizes. But most importantly, it is a policy prone to countless mistakes that will have to be paid for in the future. Since there can be no discussion with today's authorities about how to sensibly manage the wave of immigration we need, it will be governed by the whims of some officials issuing or refusing permits. Or even worse – simply by chance. This has nothing to do with the 'subjective state' vision propagated with pathos by PiS, which has finally begun to consciously shape its own destiny.” https://www.polsatnews.pl/wiadomosc/2020-02-29/rokita-polski-imigracyjny-cock-up/ -- THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE ENCOURAGES HATERS -- IGOR TULEYA IN CONVERSATION WITH GW (Anita Karwowska, Waldemar Paś): “And it is often the prosecutor's office that encourages haters. I was attacked for posing a preliminary question, as a result of which the allegedly injured parties would wait longer for verdicts. This is an obvious lie. But the fake news spread, and people react to me with aggression.” https://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,25742035,igor-tuleya-prokuratura-osmiela-hejterow-ludzie-coraz.html -- KATARZYNA WĘŻYK ON KIDAW-BŁOŃSKA TRAPPED IN THE HILLARY CLINTON SCENARIO -- writes in GW: “Kidawa-Błońska, like Clinton four years ago, effectively divided voters into 'us' and 'them'. On our side are the smart, enlightened, newspaper-reading, internet-using, working people with aspirations, setting a good example for their children; on their side – the digitally illiterate, simple people needing a good woman to explain the world to them, who, incidentally, feed off the labor of others and teach the same to their offspring. The candidate's statement has already been used by TVP. The host of the program 'Jedziemy dalej' and his three guests sarcastically suggested that, according to her, everyone who uses the 500+ program raises subsequent generations of lazy individuals who don't read newspapers. When the other side, despite five years in power, vigorously tries to portray you as a representative of elites who despise ordinary people, confirming this narrative doesn't seem like the best idea. Even if your own side applauds. Clinton's side also applauded.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25740284,malgorzata-kidawa-blonska-i-koszyk-zalosnikow.html -- HANNA GRONKIEWICZ-WALTZ ON PIOTR WITWICKI'S QUESTION IN RZ WHETHER KIDAW-BŁOŃSKA'S GENDER COULD HARM HER: “I don't think so. In elections, you need to beat your opponent, not get 100 percent. Kidawa-Błońska has many advantages, primarily she unites, not divides. She doesn't shout at anyone or insult them. She is firm but polite. Personal culture is often mistaken for weakness; that's a mistake.” -- MINIMUM WAGE LEADS TO A SITUATION WHERE CASHIERS EARN AS MUCH AS JUNIOR DOCTORS -- HGW CONTINUES: “Just consider that pensions are not high, and after lowering the retirement age, they will be even lower. The minimum wage, with a lack of adequate healthcare funding, leads to a situation where cashiers in supermarkets earn the same or more than junior doctors. -- HGW REPEATS ACCUSATION AGAINST JAN ŚPIEWAK -- PIS'S HENCHMAN: “Mr. Śpiewak is known for talking a lot and loudly. And not always truthfully. For now, this has led to his conviction. And now he's asking PiS for a pardon. My thesis that he was and is a PiS henchman is confirmed.” -- STATE OF PLAY DEDICATED TO THE WORDS ABOUT ŚPIEWAK AS A HENCHMAN...: 9 YEARS AGO, Jolanta Brzeska, a social activist involved in defending evicted tenants, died in Warsaw under unexplained circumstances. -- HGW ON THE RPP SHOULD RAISE INTEREST RATES: “…I'll tell you straight away that rates should be raised. If they exceed the inflation target and don't care about it, don't react, it means it's a political action. The consequence of this will be inflation.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/302289998-Hanna-Gronkiewicz-Waltz-PiS-dzieli-wspolnote-narodowa.html -- KRYSTYNA JANDA ON MR. ZENIEREK AND ALSO ON TVP KULTURA -- in conversation with Dorota Wysocka-Schnepf: “But you know, it's a bit difficult for me to say, because for four years I have never turned on a public television channel. Except for Kultura, where there are still things I'd like to watch. Never in these four years, even when I was flipping through channels, unfortunately, I didn't stop for a moment, so I've never heard Mr. Zenek sing. Never. I don't know who he is.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,82983,25740634,krystyna-janda-ostatnio-pojawilo-sie-troszke-nadziei.html -- MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI BELIEVES IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO SERIOUSLY DISCUSS, FOR EXAMPLE, THE CURSED SOLDIERS NOW: “But I still dream of being able to talk about the Cursed Soldiers normally. About what is beautiful in this tradition, and what is dangerous, to talk about different models of patriotism associated with it with a bit more distinction in reasoning than a division into fascists and traitors. Perhaps some other time. Certainly not on March 1, 2020.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/302289993-Michal-Szuldrzynski-Zolnierze-Wykleci-ofiary-politycznego-sporu.html -- BIRTHDAYS: SUNDAY: Wojciech Grzędziński, Krzysztof Rybiński, Maria Oleksy.