-- LAWMAKER FROM THE LAW AND JUSTICE PARTY ON HEALTHCARE FUNDING: STEVE JOBS HAD MONEY AND STILL DIED: “Yesterday, Anna Kwiecień, a lawmaker from the Law and Justice party, weighed in on the issue. 'Steve Jobs died of cancer. Did he not have money for treatment... he did,' she wrote. 'The opposition suggests that money alone is a guarantee of recovery – this is a great manipulation. The first condition is the early detection of a cancerous tumor, and Poles dislike preventive check-ups,' the lawmaker added.” https://www.dorzeczy.pl/kraj/132091/skad-to-pani-przyszlo-do-glowy-poslanka-pis-steve-jobs-mial-pieniadze-a-i-tak-umarl.html -- BIELAN ON HOW THE EPIDEMIC WILL AFFECT THE CAMPAIGN - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/03/09/ -- KURSKI'S GAMBIT, WILL HE RETURN TO HIS POSITION? - FAKT: “Although the CEO of the television, Jacek Kurski (54), entrusted his fate to the President, and the National Media Council decided to dismiss him, he does not intend to surrender without a fight! As Fakt has learned, there are whispers in TVP that Kurski will soon... return to his position. 'Rumors were circulating in the corridors at Woronicza as early as Friday evening that Kurski would return in the next competition for the head of public television,' a person from the TVP authorities told us. And according to our information, no one will rush to announce the competition. In PiS, nobody wants to provoke another scandal. 'We will know the name of the new TVP CEO only after the presidential election,' added one of the politicians. And that name could be... Kurski!” https://www.fakt.pl/wydarzenia/polityka/jacek-kurski-wroci-do-tvp/dnfw5j0 -- WIRTUALNE MEDIA ON MATYSZKOWICZ AS TVP CEO: “On Monday, the minutes of the National Media Council's correspondence vote on the dismissal of the current TVP CEO, Jacek Kurski, will be drawn up. Krzysztof Czabański, head of the RMM, will sign the documents and forward them to the company. Mateusz Matyszkowicz is to be the acting head of public television. He is also being considered for the CEO position, and Marzena Paczuska will take over supervision of the Television Information Agency.” https://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/mateusz-matyszkowicz-prezes-tvp-jacek-kurski-odwolany-nowy-zarzad-tvp -- ON LECH JAWORSKI AT TVP - AGNIESZKA KUBLIK AND AGATA KONDZIŃSKA IN GW: “Lech Jaworski is being spoken of as Kurski's successor. He was on the National Broadcasting Council, on the supervisory board of TVP, worked at TVP Polonia, previously was in PO, and now is in Jarosław Gowin's Porozumienie party. Jaworski would be Gowin's man in TVP leadership. Jaworski tells 'Wyborcza': 'This topic has come up in discussions, but not an official proposal.' At Woronicza, it is said that Paczuska will take over supervision of information after Kurski.” -- GW ON MORAWIECKI'S MISSION - continued by Agnieszka Kublik, Agata Kondzińska: “In PiS, calculations were already being made as to who would replace Duda. Mateusz Morawiecki was chosen. 'He didn't want to; he knew that if he lost, he would emerge weakened, and if he won, he'd be stuck under the chandelier, and he's just getting started politically,' people from his circle say. Now the Prime Minister has also become involved. He went to the Presidential Palace on a mission, persuading Duda to sign the bill on his own terms. Negotiations began.” -- KACZYŃSKI WAS ON THE VERGE OF FURY - continued by the GW authors: “If the row over money for TVP showed anything, it's the immense lack of trust between Duda and Kaczyński. Kaczyński never respected him, but now he was raging. He was on the verge of fury, like when he shouted about treacherous faces in the Sejm,' a PiS politician tells us.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,25770109,odwolanie-jacka-kurskiego-kulisy-decyzji-jaroslawa-kaczynskiego.html -- THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF PROPAGANDA HOOLIGANISM? - PIOTR TRUDNOWSKI IN KLUB JAGIELLOŃSKI: “Kurski's resignation has a chance to be the beginning of the end of propaganda hooliganism, one of the most disgusting disappointments of the 'good change.' This is a significant achievement for the president. Good for him, the party, and the future of the national right-wing, but most importantly – beneficial for Poland and, in the long term, for public media. I have often said that Kurski's presidency is a direct path to the privatization of public media after the opposition's victory – yes, it will come eventually. A reasonably conducted correction of the management of public media can avert the prospect of this scenario, which is harmful to the Polish state.” -- TRUDNOWSKI ON DUDA AND MORAWIECKI PLAYING TOGETHER AGAINST THE PARTY'S ESTABLISHMENT: “Here, a Kremlinological thread appears. It is difficult to find any other justification for Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's presence at Friday's briefing than the desire to send a signal to the authorities that the Prime Minister and the President, for perhaps the first time, have seriously played together against the party's hardliners – and perhaps for the first time noticeably to the public opinion, they have achieved success. A significant success, as it was against Jarosław Kaczyński's initial opinion. Therefore, those who see Kurski's resignation as a prelude to an approaching war 'for the future of the right-wing' may be right.” -- HE SHOWED INDEPENDENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS - continued by Trudnowski: “Nevertheless, Andrzej Duda made a good decision without any certainty that it would bring him campaign benefits – thus acting for the common good, not his own interest. This is one of the first times in his career – before this, perhaps the only analogous case was bringing about Antoni Macierewicz's dismissal – that he has so clearly emphasized his political agency. At least for now, he has not been outplayed by more experienced players.” -- DUDA AS A SAFETY VALVE WILL BENEFIT THE AUTHORITIES THEMSELVES - TRUDNOWSKI'S CONCLUSION: “Let's remember that the incumbent president still has the greatest chance of winning the May elections. Regardless of whom we intend to vote for in May – let's keep our fingers crossed that the past week will be a prelude to him gaining lasting political agency and maturity to be independent of the mother party. Paradoxically, such an external and independent 'safety valve' will be most useful to the party itself.” https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2020/03/07/duda-zdymisjonowal-kurskiego-sukces-ogromny-choc-kampanijne-korzysci-watpliwe/ -- MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ ON MORAWIECKI'S ROLE: “But Morawiecki stepped in here. According to our information, he undertook mediation between the President and the PiS leader and joined the efforts to reach a compromise. Ultimately – as we know – Duda signed the bill before midnight on Friday, Kurski lost the vote in the National Media Council and will be dismissed, and the government promised the President nearly PLN 3 billion for the Medical Fund, intended for, among other things, cancer prevention and treatment of rare diseases.” -- THE OPPOSITION NOTICED THEY CAN STRIKE THE AUTHORITIES - continued by Szuldrzyński: “Andrzej Duda's signature does not end this story. First of all, the opposition can rejoice in a small victory. If not for the Senate amendment, appeals for a veto, and significant pressure, Duda would not have committed PLN 3 billion to oncology. The opposition has noticed that they can deliver blows that can leave the ruling camp unable to control the order within their ranks for many weeks. And Duda may have another problem – a part of the hard electorate will not easily reconcile with the announced dismissal of Kurski, who has done a lot of dirty work for PiS over the last four years.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/200309403-Michal-Szuldrzynski-Powazne-pekniecie-w-obozie-wladzy.html -- ONET ON MORAWIECKI'S PRESSURE - ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ AND ANDRZEJ GAJCY: “Many PiS politicians, who also had issues with the TVP CEO, took advantage of Duda's ultimatum. According to Onet's information, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who had been sidelined by Kurski in TVP programs for months, actively persuaded the President towards the 'signature + dismissal' option. (...) However, as late as Friday morning, everything pointed to a presidential veto, as Kaczyński did not want to sacrifice Kurski and assumed Duda would yield. As Onet unofficially learned, the political decision to initiate the procedure to dismiss the TVP CEO was made by the PiS leadership only on Friday afternoon.” -- ONET ON DUDA'S PLAY FOR KURSKI'S ULTIMATE DISMISSAL: “The President's circle feared that the political arrangements regarding Kurski's dismissal could be broken after signing the PLN 2 billion bill. Hence, according to our source, the idea for a late-night briefing with the participation of Prime Minister Morawiecki, the head of the National Media Council Krzysztof Czabański, and the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council Witold Kołodziejski, to curb any attempts to reverse this situation. Kurski's return after a conference with such participants is simply out of the question.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/jacek-kurski-odchodzi-z-tvp-kulisy-wyrzucenia-prezesa/8e4dt7y -- IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THE GOAL WAS TO HEAL THE MEDIA - JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN ONET: “Neither the money nor Kurski's dismissal will change the national media. It is difficult to imagine their rehabilitation if the news services of state radio and television stations remain one-sided, commented only by journalists from the government's support front, with reports prepared to fit a narrative, and the same editorial teams responsible for them. (...) There are more cases of pathology in national media, and the media will not become public again solely due to the change of the TVP CEO. And it doesn't seem like Andrzej Duda was concerned with healing the media.” https://www.rp.pl/Analizy/303089964-Jacek-Nizinkiewicz-Nowego-otwarcia-w-TVP-nie-bedzie.html -- POLITICAL BONUSES OR A WAR IN THE RULING CAMP - Grzegorz Osiecki, Tomasz Żółciak in DGP: “Therefore, no one should be surprised if, in the coming days, Andrzej Duda's campaign team will push the narrative about the head of state asserting his independence. Moreover, Friday's decision is meant to show that, unlike other candidates in the presidential election, the President is effective. Of course, the issue of Andrzej Duda successfully detaching himself from PiS can be dismissed as wishful thinking. This is, after all, his electoral base. However, it must be admitted that the President has gained something in the war with his own camp. Not long ago, the presidential demand for Jacek Kurski's removal as TVP CEO in exchange for signing the bill could have been classified as political fiction. And yet, something different happened. Now, Andrzej Duda's campaign team faces a difficult period of mitigating potential image damage and convincing that he made the best possible decision. Jacek Kurski's removal is to be a symbolic alibi that the money is going more towards a mission than crude propaganda.” -- NOW THE VIRUS IS A TEST OF THE AUTHORITIES' EFFECTIVENESS - CONCLUSION BY THE DGP AUTHORS: “However, the entire matter may quickly move off the campaign agenda due to the threat of coronavirus. It is becoming a test of the authorities' effectiveness.” https://serwisy.gazetaprawna.pl/media/artykuly/1458262,media-publiczne-2-mld-zl-kurski-tvp.html -- DUDA GAINED NOTHING - TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: “Perhaps the president imagined that by dismissing Jacek Kurski, he would gain the favor of non-PiS, moderate voters. Objectively speaking, Duda is fracturing PiS. Publicist Piotr Semka was right when he stated that as a result of his actions, Duda has undermined trust within the ruling camp and gained nothing – the opposition can still criticize the signing of the bill and the propaganda that PiS engages in with public television money.” -- KURSKI WAS MERELY A GRATEFUL EMBODIMENT OF THE SYSTEM - continued by Sawczuk: “This will be the case because the problem is not with just one Jacek Kurski. The President agreed to co-create a degenerated system of governance organized by Jarosław Kaczyński, of which Kurski was simply a grateful embodiment. Kurski himself will likely have a soft landing after all this.” https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2020/03/09/sawczuk-w-poniedzialek-andrzej-duda-dal-pis-owi-miliony-zlotych-na-partyjna-reklame/ -- IT'S A FARCE AND A FACADE - SZYMON HOŁOWNIA ON DUDA'S DECISION - in an interview with Jacek Nizinkiewicz in RZ: “None. It's a farce, a facade. A simulation of independence for both the president and the TVP CEO in the current arrangement. Kurski will now be 'acting' for an indefinite period, and his successor will be personally chosen by ordinary MP Kaczyński, summoning the chairman of the National Media Council to his office once again.” -- HOŁOWNIA ON THE RETIREMENT AGE - WE NEED CONTRIBUTORS: “There is no majority that will decide to raise the retirement age. We need to encourage Poles to work and contribute for as long as possible and develop a system of real incentives. Not just to explain to people that the shorter the working life, the lower the pension, but that it is genuinely profitable. We desperately need contributors.” -- HOŁOWNIA ON COOPERATION WITH THE PIȘ MAJORITY AND ON CLIMATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT VETOES: “Of course, I can imagine cooperation with PiS in areas consistent with my program priorities. I will sign any bill that solves real problems, not creates new ones. The PO candidate can promise cross-party cooperation today, as can the PSL candidate, but it is known that their criterion will first be consistency with party interests, and the Presidential Palace will become a foothold for the fight they are all after, to seize power in 2023. I say it directly: I will immediately talk to the Minister of Health and ask how I can help him to truly fix the horror we are facing today. But I also lay down a 'green veto' for any regulation that moves us further away from climate neutrality by 2050. I lay down a 'local government veto' for all laws that further strip local governments of their autonomy, meaning money and competencies. I intend to hold this office based on pragmatic principles and I will not have a problem with PiS announcing something as their success if it truly serves Poles.” https://www.rp.pl/Wybory-prezydenckie-2020/303089960-Holownia-Wyobrazam-sobie-wspolprace-z-PiS.html -- THE FACTS ARE ON THE SIDE OF THE RIGHT-WING - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “This is not about painting a picture of a land of happiness, because that would be untrue. However, an objective assessment requires appreciating this achievement. As well as the way President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki addressed the issue of oncology. Social life is a multi-dimensional structure, fluid, flexible. Rulers must be able to read social needs and respond to them. And how they do it, whether through PR tricks or a serious approach, should be the key criterion for our assessment. Today, the facts, i.e., the truth, are on the side of the right-wing. Because if we accept PR tricks as a solution to problems, we get dishes like Prime Minister Tusk's 'fight against legal highs,' and people still die, even when it could be avoided. It is good that it was different this time.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/490186-to-nie-szach-mat-to-powazne-podjecie-waznego-tematu -- WOULD GLINSKI ALLOW TEJCHMA TO MAKE A MAN OF MARBLE? - WITOLD GADOMSKI IN GW: “Among PZPR activists, there was a division, not always real, between hardliners and 'liberals.' The 'liberal' Józef Tejchma, Minister of Culture in the 1970s, fiercely fought for Andrzej Wajda to be able to make and publicly show the film 'Man of Marble,' which was an uncompromising critique of the PRL and the ruling party – not just the Stalinist era. I cannot imagine Piotr Gliński risking his position and defending a film or play openly critical of PiS's policies. Jarosław Gowin, who ineptly poses as a liberal within the PiS camp, is only capable of the courage to 'not express joy' during votes on laws devastating Polish judiciary. If Wajda were alive and making a film about a typical PiS politician, I wonder what title he would give it. 'Man of…?'” -- THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SUCH PROFESSIONALIZATION OF POLITICS - continued by Gadomski: “Parties in the early years of the Third Republic often consisted of individualists. Everyone had their own opinion, and the selection was random. Today, parties pride themselves on their professionalization. Lawmakers speak with the daily talking points, listen to their leaders, and form a monolith. Thank you very much for such professionalization!” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,25766686,czlowiek-z-czyli-gdyby-wajda-robil-film-o-politykach-pis.html -- CONVINCE PEOPLE, NOT TEST THEM ON VEGANISM, TODAY THE LEFT IS CONDUCTING ENTRANCE EXAMS TO BECOME THEIR VOTER - MICHAŁ SYSKA IN CONVERSATION WITH ŁUKASZ ROGOJSZA IN GAZETA.PL: “Today, within the Left, the attitude of manifesting one's own views dominates, or perhaps not so much views as cultural identities. Meanwhile, the conviction should dominate that the role of a politician is not only to manifest their views but to persuade others to them. To put it figuratively: it's about ensuring that Left politicians do not test voters on veganism, cycling, and sorting waste. Today, one can sometimes get the impression that Left politicians would like to conduct entrance exams to be a left-wing voter. Madness. They must learn appropriate communication with Poles – using language that persuades, not repels.” -- THE LEFT LACKS EMPATHY FOR OTHER MORAL SENSITIVITIES - THE SLOGAN 'ABORTION IS OK' IS PROOF OF DILLETANTISM: “The issue of terminating a pregnancy. In the left-wing environment a few years ago, there was a discussion about whether the slogan 'Abortion is OK' was appropriate. And the majority of this environment saw nothing wrong with it, defended this slogan. And this is precisely a prime example of the dilemma of left-wing or progressive circles – how to talk about issues that are assessed differently from a moral perspective, in order to win people over to one's program, rather than alienate them with identity manifestations. This is not even a matter of pragmatism or cynicism. The Polish Left lacks greater empathy for other moral sensitivities.” -- THE LEFT IS CLOSING ITS OWN DOORS TO THE WORKING CLASS - continued by Syska: “This is a problem for the Left today, not only in Poland but also in Europe and the United States. It is a problem for the Left, where the loudest and most significant voice is that of the well-educated middle class, which imposes the image and language on the Left. This language is very often incomprehensible or even evokes a reaction of aversion or even aggression in people with lower economic status or poorer education. The Left is closing its own doors to working-class voters.” https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,25760069,polskiej-lewicy-brakuje-wiekszej-empatii-wobec-innych-wrazliwosci.html -- 3 YEARS AGO - 27:1 - Donald Tusk was re-elected as President of the European Council. -- BIRTHDAYS: Jacek Hugo-Bader, Maks Kraczkowski, Jarosław Krajewski, Daniela Chrapkiewicz.