-- ZOFIA ROMASZEWSKA turns 80. -- AUGUST '80: The Gdańsk Inter-Factory Strike Committee presented its 21 postulates. -- 31 YEARS AGO, the OKP-SD-ZSL coalition was formed. Tadeusz Mazowiecki was nominated as a candidate for Prime Minister. -- SCHETYNA DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM THE CIVIC PLATFORM AND ENCOURAGES THE SENATE TO REJECT, HOŁOWNIA ON THE OPPOSITION BEING MANEUVERED BY THE LAW AND JUSTICE PARTY - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/08/17/ -- THE NOBLEST OF THE NOBLE - HELENA ŁUCZYWO ON HENRYK WUJC: "For me, he was the embodiment of everything best in the opposition of the 70s, in "Solidarity" both overt and underground, in the Catholic Church, in Poland. Whenever I cursed the native stupidity and baseness, and felt like giving up on our homeland, I always thought of a few of my noble friends, among them the noblest and best – Heniek." https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,26213253,helena-luczywo-najszlachetniejszy-ze-szlachetnych.html -- WISDOM WITHOUT ANGER, HE NEVER SOUGHT REVENGE - ADAM MICHNIK: "He defended the weaker and I will never forget how brutally he was beaten for it, when in Jacek Kuron's apartment he tried to protect Jacek Gajka's wife and Maciek's son from the fists of a gang sent by the secret police-party authorities to break up a lecture at the Flying University. However, he never sought revenge – he only sought the truth. His character trait was wisdom without anger." https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,26214827,henio-lubil-lubic-ludzi.html -- THE CULTURE WAR IS NOT MY WAR, BOTH SIDES ARE EQUALLY AGGRESSIVE AND INTOLERANT - WITOLD GADOMSKI IN GAZETA WYBORCZA: "In the Polish culture war, both sides – conservative and progressive – are equally aggressive, intolerant, and worst of all – irrational. I consider the culture war a disaster because it creates divisions in society that are difficult to bridge. When we argue about interests, compromise is possible. When ideas and symbols are at stake, compromise is impossible. Both sides harden their positions, imposing their own language (for progressives, Margot is an "activist," for conservatives, an "activist," and anyone who thinks otherwise is an enemy). Disputes over ideas are impossible to win, unless one resorts to the methods used by communists or Nazis. We will have to live in one country and grapple with the reality that (as Kazimierz Rudzki used to say) "surrounds us more and more." Changes in customs will continue and proceed at a pace difficult to control. My grandchildren, who have a chance to live to the 22nd century, will surely experience many surprises. https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,26214110,wojna-kulturowa-to-nie-moja-wojna.html -- SIERAKOWSKI FROM MINSK: LUKASHENKO IS OVERWHELMED - he writes in a report for Krytyka Polityczna: "A week ago, they were able to drive us out of there, where the OMON chased and beat us, where the first person died. Today they haven't shown up and wouldn't be able to do anything. The opposition did not fear confrontation, because even if a few thousand supporters of the authorities appeared in one place, including many plainclothes officers, upon leaving Lukashenko's rally, one was flooded by a sea of white-red-white flags. They occupied the entire vast Independence Avenue. In front of the KGB building, they shouted: 'Let them go!' At the end of the day, they reached Independence Square and again numerically defeated Lukashenko's supporters. The menacing dictator and his men were overwhelmed on Sunday by sheer numbers." https://krytykapolityczna.pl/swiat/sierakowski-z-minska-lukaszenko-czapkami-nakryty/ -- KACZYŃSKI DISMISSED THE OPPOSITION LIKE CHILDREN - ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA IN RZECZPOSPOLITA: "Jarosław Kaczyński dealt with the opposition like children. And the most terrifying thing is that he went in with certainty: only 33 MPs did not play his game." -- COALITION OF GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION - DĄBROWSKA CONTINUES: "From the song by the punk band Dezerter, quoted in the title, it follows that all politicians are the same and all want to cheat and exploit ordinary people. This is not a new thesis. But it's hard not to be surprised when the opposition puts it on its banners. https://www.rp.pl/Analizy/308169947-Dabrowska-Podwyzki-dla-politykow---koalicja-rzadu-i-opozycji.html -- THIS COULD BE THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR CIVIC PLATFORM - WADIM TYSZKIEWICZ IN CONVERSATION WITH LESZEK KOSTRZEWSKI IN GAZETA WYBORCZA: "PiS might lose 1-2 percentage points in support, while Civic Coalition could lose as much as 10. Let me say more: this could be the beginning of the end for KO. Voters will not forgive them for this. PiS and its media are cynically playing this out. On the Karnowski brothers' portal, immediately after the vote, the most important news is: 'Pay raises for parliamentarians voted through. FOR - almost the entire opposition.' Not a word that the bill was submitted by PiS. And a Kaczyński voter will read this and already know who wants more money for themselves." -- HOŁOWNIA MIGHT BE RUBBING HIS HANDS - TYSZKIEWICZ CONTINUES: "PiS cynically set a trap for the opposition. And PO and the democratic opposition fell into this trap. Hołownia might be rubbing his hands. Konfederacja, which was against it, will also gain. However, the Senate might still save this." https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,26214477,wadim-tyszkiewicz-o-podwyzkach-poczatek-konca-ko-wyborcy.html -- A STRONG YES TO RAISES, LET'S MAKE THE STATE A LITTLE LESS PALTRY - PIOTR TRUDNOWSKI AT THE JAGELLONIAN CLUB: "Any moment is a bad moment for salary increases for politicians. Such a decision will always meet with a populist and factually absurd attack. Political calculation dictates looking at this decision with understanding today, when in the middle of summer and the silly season, we have the longest period without elections in many years. This is perhaps the only chance for a necessary and pro-state reform not to face a furious attack from the opposition. Crucially, through the automatic indexation mechanism built into the presented project, the change has a chance to solve the problem of politicians' salaries once and for all." -- IT'S AN IMPERCEPTIBLE AMOUNT FOR THE BUDGET - TRUDNOWSKI CONTINUES: "From the perspective of state expenditures, this is an almost imperceptible amount. Compared to the state budget planned for 2020, even before the crisis (which will ultimately be much larger), this represents 0.013% of budget expenditures. That is, THIRTEEN TEN-THOUSANDTHS OF A PERCENT of the Polish budget. And we are talking about better compensation for people responsible for the remaining 99.987% of state money!" -- THEY EARN LESS THAN THEIR SUBORDINATES - TRUDNOWSKI CONTINUES: "This leads to a situation where politicians have started earning poorly not only in comparison to competitive managerial positions in the private sector, but even in state administration. Let's return to the most understandable case of secretaries and undersecretaries of state. Deputy ministers, often responsible for budgets and decisions worth hundreds of millions, and sometimes more, were in practice earning less than the officials subordinate to them – and increasingly, this was not limited to the directorial level." -- THE POLITICAL CALENDAR IS FAVORABLE - TRUDNOWSKI CONTINUES: "One significant factor favors the implementation of the change precisely today – the political calendar. We are in the middle of summer and the silly season. For many years, we haven't had such a long period until the next elections. This means that the political costs of a necessary change, postponed for years by successive teams, will be lower than ever before. (...) At any other time – the opposition would not miss the opportunity to unleash a populist uproar about the allegedly Byzantinely extravagant plans of the rulers. Today, there is much to suggest that by taking on the role of a co-beneficiary of the raises – it is ready to spare us such a shameful, anti-state spectacle." https://klubjagiellonski.pl/2020/08/14/mocne-tak-dla-podwyzek-dla-politykow-uczynmy-panstwo-troche-mniej-dziadowskim/ -- IT'S HARD TO FIND A WORSE MOMENT, IN MANY FIRMS PEOPLE WORK HARD TO GET A 5% RAISE PER YEAR - TOMASZ SAWCZUK IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: "First of all – it's hard to find a worse moment! In many companies, people work hard to get a 5 percent raise once a year – today, many of these people are not only unsure about a raise, but also about their jobs. In medical professions, in education, or in the case of ordinary court employees, we have a serious problem with underfunding of staff. Meanwhile, the Sejm is passing hefty pay raises for politicians on the day a deep recession in Poland is announced. Zero solidarity." -- IT'S THE EARNINGS OF THE TOP 1% - SAWCZUK CONTINUES: "Finally, the amount of the set salaries is also noteworthy. According to calculations by Karol Muszyński, an analyst at the Kalecki Foundation, under the bill, MPs would be entitled to earnings around the top 1% of highest-earning Poles. One could discuss the justification for such a decision, but since the bill was rushed through the Sejm in one day, there was no time for it." https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2020/08/17/sawczuk-koronawirus-recesja-sejm-podwyzki/ -- THE WORST CRISIS FOR THE OPPOSITION - TRUST AND CREDIBILITY - ADAM SZOSTKIEWICZ IN POLITYKA: "Let its leaders and advisors at least try to convene an extraordinary crisis council, because today they are in crisis. The worst one: a crisis of trust and credibility. Their criticism of the Kaczyński government will not be convincing, even if it is justified. How can they now point out PiS's midnight legislative express trains? It's time for a deep political examination of conscience, apologies, and a plea for a second chance. Let them analyze the peaceful protests in Belarus. One conclusion emerges from them: people who feel they have had enough, who do not want to live in fear and lies, do not need a self-absorbed political class or right-wing or left-wing populism, but leaders who always and everywhere defend citizens' rights. The answer to authoritarianism is democratic and liberal citizenship." https://szostkiewicz.blog.polityka.pl/2020/08/16/jakiej-opozycji-teraz-potrzeba/ -- OUR ANCESTORS BROKE BOLSHEVIK RADIO CODES, AND WE CANNOT BREAK THE DOMINANCE OF POST-COMMUNIST MEDIA AND THOSE ESTABLISHED BY THE GERMANS FOR POLES - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: "Let us feel ashamed that our ancestors broke Bolshevik radio codes, and we cannot break the dominance of post-communist media and those established by the Germans for Poles? Let us acknowledge that they threw everything in and went to the front, while we are often only capable of speaking the truth online, often anonymously. Many are calling for the grandest monuments to this triumph. Perhaps they should be erected, although worthy museums are being built. But what good are monuments if Poland, in some time, will be rainbow and red, not white and red and Christian? Let's stop whining, let's fight for a Poland worthy of this legacy – especially since we have the strongest chances and tools in decades! This is the most important message of the triumph of August 15, 1920." https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/513488-przestanmy-sie-mazgaic-walczmy-o-polske-godna-tego-triumfu -- CONSEQUENCE OF THE LOSS OF SOVEREIGNTY OF THE POLISH STATE, THEY DID TO THE MEDIA WHAT WAS DONE TO LAND IN THE PRUSSIAN PARTITION - JACEK KARNOWSKI: "The cause of these phenomena is obvious – it is the consequence of the loss of informational sovereignty of the Polish state. In the mid-1990s, it was colonized in this area, first at the regional media level, and then at the national level. The same thing was done to our media as was done to Poles' land in the Prussian partition. There is no formal H-k-a today, but there are actions that replicate the work of that commission for combating Polonism in the then German borderlands. -- THEY STRIKE AT OTHER AREAS WITH THE SAME LIE - KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: "Now they have attacked historical truth that is obvious to everyone. But they strike at other areas with the same lie, manipulation, and perfidy – for example, in politics or in describing the actions of those media that remain loyal to the Polish raison d'état." -- A TERRIBLE PRICE FOR THE LOSS OF INFORMATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY - KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: "In recent decades, Poland has repeatedly paid a terrible price for the loss of informational sovereignty. Bad governments for many years, robbing us of billions, emigration of an entire generation, nightmarish upbringing of youth – these are just some of them. And probably not the last." https://wpolityce.pl/media/513638-niemieckie-paszkwile-to-konsekwencja-utraty-suwerennosci -- WILL THERE BE A SPECIAL LAW REGARDING THE OMBUDSMAN? - PATRYK SŁOWIK IN DZIEŃ NA ŚWIECIE: "– There is no agreement on whether to look for a candidate acceptable to the Senate, where the opposition has a majority, or to change the law on the Ombudsman – says one politician from the United Right camp. Jarosław Kaczyński is reportedly closer to the latter concept. However, there are no shortage of politicians in the ruling camp who claim that it would be worth betting on a non-controversial name. And appointing an acting Ombudsman, based on a hastily amended law, would immediately place the new ombudsman in the hands of Law and Justice for a full five years. He would be perceived as a political viceroy." https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/7800239,nowy-rzecznik-praw-obywatelskich-adam-bodnar-nastepca-pis-specustawa.html -- WOJCIECH HERMELIŃSKI IN JURISPRUDENCE CONSIDERATIONS ON THE FACT THAT THE RAINBOW ON MONUMENTS IS NOT INSULTING: "Criminal law doctrine holds that in the case of insult, it refers to various behaviors whose common feature is that they express contempt for the dignity of another person. The means of expression used by the perpetrator are irrelevant. One can insult with words (including vulgar ones), drawings (e.g., caricatures), symbols (film, photography), websites, or even a gesture that expresses disrespect for another person. Religious feelings can be offended by the perpetrator's behavior, which, in the perception of a particular person or members of a religious community, is perceived as contemptuous, humiliating, or abusive towards the object of religious worship. One can doubt the intention to insult a figure of Christ (and even more so "civilian" monuments) by hanging a rainbow flag on it, especially considering the content of the letter/manifesto left there and disseminated on the internet ("This is our manifestation of difference – this rainbow. As long as the flag offends someone and is "inappropriate," we solemnly promise to provoke")." https://www.rp.pl/Opinie/308179999-Wojciech-Hermelinski-Teczowa-flaga-na-figurze-rownie-zla-jak-biale-roze.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Zofia Romaszewska, Małgorzata Potocka, Ewa Spychalska, Jacek Wilk.