-- EXILE FROM PARADISE -- SEEN BY A WELL-KNOWN INTERNET CARTOONIST: https://twitter.com/SmutneHistorie/status/1307258543641440259?s=20 -- BRUDZIŃSKI SPEAKS OF RESIGNATIONS AND MOCKS YOUNG SOLIDARNA POLSKA POLITICIANS - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/09/19/ -- MARCIN DOBSKI WRITES ABOUT CZARNEK AS MINISTER OF JUSTICE: “The conflict within Zjednoczona Prawica is intensifying. The escalation of the dispute has reached the point where even the resignation of the Minister of Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro, is being considered. Who would replace him? As “Wprost” has learned, the candidate is PiS MP Przemysław Czarnek. The conflict within Zjednoczona Prawica is growing. So much so that the resignation of the leader of Solidarna Polska, Zbigniew Ziobro, is being considered. PiS MP Przemysław Czarnek is reportedly being considered to replace him – “Wprost” has learned. https://premium.wprost.pl/10365818/pis-wymieni-ministra-sprawiedliwosci-wiemy-kto-moze-zastapic-ziobre.html -- JACEK KURSKI AMONG PI'S POLITICIANS AT A DINNER IN RETORYKA - KRAKOWSKA GW: “In the evening, after mass at Wawel, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin, Ryszard Terlecki, Ryszard Czarnecki, Mariusz Błaszczak, Małgorzata Wassermann, Arkadiusz Mularczyk, and Krzysztof Szczerski, Andrzej Adamczyk, among others, arrived at the PiS office on Retoryka Street (the Krakow equivalent of Nowogrodzka). Jacek Kurski, the CEO of TVP, also appeared on Retoryka Street with the PiS politicians.” -- THEY WANT TO TRY RUNNING ON THEIR OWN, LET THEM RUN - TERLECKI IN KRAKOW: “When asked by “Wyborcza” what he thought about the coalition partner’s ultimatum today – the politicians of Solidarna Polska who said that either their leader Zbigniew Ziobro stays in government, or there will be early elections – Terlecki responded with conviction: “If they want to try running on their own, let them run.” https://krakow.wyborcza.pl/krakow/7,44425,26316490,ryszard-terlecki-o-ultimatum-solidarnej-polski-chca-probowac.html -- IF ZIOBRO IS REMOVED FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND COMPANIES, IN FUTURE NEGOTIATIONS HE CAN ONLY STRIVE FOR RECOVERIES, NOT NEW GAINS - JACEK GĄDEK ON GAZETA.PL: “The potential resignation of the Minister of Justice also falls within the arsenal of the sharpest negotiation tactics. - If a motion for Ziobro's resignation is filed, it can later be withdrawn. And if he is removed from the government, and his people from State Treasury companies, in negotiations they will try to regain what they have lost, not gain new influence. Then Ziobro, we hear from circles close to the still Minister of Justice, may demand a change of prime minister.” https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114884,26315403,kulisy-wojny-o-bezkarnosc-i-prawa-zwierzat-bilismy-brawo.html -- ZIOBRO WAS GIVEN ONLY THE WEEKEND TO THINK - IWONA SZPALA IN GW: “Since Friday, there has been a lot of chaos and rumors in the Sejm. Kaczyński's party is suggesting various versions of events that Solidarna Polska might expect. According to the worst of them, Ziobro, the Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General, will be given only the weekend to think. If he doesn't change his stance, he will be out of the government.” -- ANDZEL CIRCULATES IN THE SENATE - SZPALA AGAIN: “Our sources claim that there are fears in PiS regarding further developments. Because there is a threat that a split similar to the one in the Sejm could also occur within the Senate club. – News has reached Kaczyński that there is unrest among the senators – we hear. Since Friday morning, the PiS leader's aide, MP Waldemar Andzel, has been circulating there. He was reportedly threatening penalties for insubordination.” -- UNDER PSL PRESSURE, THE SENATE DOES NOT INTEND TO RUSH - SZPALA IN GW AGAIN: “PiS will have more time for softening up, because the Senate does not intend to rush the bill, which the PSL, opposing the fur bill, is lobbying for. Analyses and consultations are to take place, which will take time.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,26315855,zjednoczona-prawica-sie-rozchodzi.html -- I HAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT WE ARE REACHING A MOMENT WHEN A POLITICIAN IS GUIDED BY GOODNESS AND MORALITY - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN RZ: “At the same time, I have the impression that we are reaching a moment when a politician is guided by goodness and morality. I am looking for evidence in the past, and it is strong. He was not afraid to make judgments that could even ridicule a politician on the right. Tomorrow I will return to criticizing him. Today I wish him luck. If he backs down again, he will be considered a cynic squared, but something tells me that won't happen. -- KACZYŃSKI FEELS STRONG ENOUGH NOW TO BREAK CERTAIN COMPROMISES - ZAREMBA AGAIN: “However, politics is a space of constant compromise, concessions, sometimes backing down, even for a leader as strong as Kaczyński. It is possible that he did not want to conflict with the important environment of Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, who directly supports entrepreneurs living from furs (Szczepan Wójcik), and also favors hunting. And it is possible that now he feels strong enough to break these compromises.” -- QUESTIONING THE MECHANICAL VERSION OF CONSERVATISM SHOULD BE ADMIRED - ZAREMBA AGAIN IN RZ: “In the name of rejecting 'integrizm', which treats conservatism as a kind of Marxist-Leninist doctrine, where everything is a coherent, too coherent whole, such that not a comma can be changed. In times when the sides of cultural wars have entrenched themselves in their bubbles, such questioning of the mechanical version of conservatism should be admired. Mine certainly is.” -- FACED WITH THE CHOICE BETWEEN WARZECHA AND KONFEDERACJA AND ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, I HAVE NO PARTICULAR TROUBLE DECIDING - ZAREMBA AGAIN: “God commanded people to subdue the earth – conservatives repeat with pleasure, often understanding it in the simplest way: it is permission to do whatever one wants with nature and to treat animals like things. People used to be treated like things – slaves. And a decent, indeed, a loving attitude towards animals has persisted, albeit through a thin thread, through Christian centuries. Faced with the choice between Łukasz Warzecha or the politicians of Konfederacja on one side, and Saint Francis of Assisi on the other, I have no particular trouble deciding. https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/309189985-Piatka-dla-zwierzat-czyli-Kaczynski-i-bestie.html -- RELATIONS WITH ZIOBRO WILL BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO REBUILD - A PiS POLITICIAN QUOTED BY ZAREMBA IN POLSAT NEWS: “Gowin did not oppose the “impunity” bill, and on animal protection, he abstained from voting along with most of his colleagues. – That is why Kaczyński's relations with him are still to be rebuilt. It will be extremely difficult with Ziobro – an important PiS politician tells me.” -- KACZYŃSKI TREATS THE ANIMAL ISSUE EXTREMELY PERSONALLY - ZAREMBA AGAIN: “I would not underestimate the animal protection bill as a reason for escalating the war in the coalition, although many commentators describe it as a pretext. Kaczyński treats this issue extremely personally. Anyone who knows him remembers that as early as the late 1990s, he was an advocate for such legal changes and spoke about it very emotionally. When Ziobro joins the attack on this bill from the position of the 'true right', it is painful for the PiS leader.” -- FOR NOW, ZIOBRO WILL LOSE EVERYTHING - ZAREMBA AGAIN: “On the other hand, these three years, in or out of parliament, are an important existential issue for many MPs. And Ziobro himself does not have a clear scenario ahead of him for now, if parliamentary elections are to take place soon. What career should he pursue? One of many leaders of the still not very powerful Konfederacja. For now, he will lose everything, his people will lose their positions, including in state-owned companies, and positions in them were a financial support for this milieu.” -- WELL, ZIOBRO IS NO LONGER ALLOWED EVERYTHING - ZAREMBA AGAIN: “This is one of those cases where reason suggests: they are doomed to each other, they will still sit down at the table. But I am not at all sure of that; there are still emotions. They can also explain many past events, including the almost tribal hostility between Ziobro and Mateusz Morawiecki. For those who are surprised today that Kaczyński took action without considering the circumstances, I will remind them that commentators were often surprised why 'everything was allowed for Ziobro in this coalition.' Well, it's not allowed anymore. Although the Minister of Justice also had his allies within PiS itself (with former Prime Minister Beata Szydło and many PiS politicians who disliked Morawiecki). This may mean that he has not yet said his last word.” https://tygodnik.polsatnews.pl/news/2020-09-18/kryzys-w-zjednoczonej-prawicy-co-sie-wlasciwie-stalo/ -- PIS WOULD LIKE ELECTIONS AT THIS MOMENT - DR RAFAŁ CHWEDORUK IN CONVERSATION WITH WPOLITYCE: “PiS would probably prefer elections at this moment – they would be the absolute favorite, and various opposition groups or former coalition partners would find it very difficult to prepare for such elections, but legally, bringing them about seems practically impossible at the moment.” -- FOR RIGHT-WING VOTERS, LOYALTY IS IMPORTANT, SO PiS HAS MORE TRUMPS THAN ITS COALITION PARTNERS - CHWEDORUK AGAIN: “In the case of Solidarna Polska, the option of acting independently has already been tried without much success – unless one considers the European Parliament election results as such, which made it easier for PiS to decide to align with their former party colleagues. However, I think the coalition partners are simply counting on the factor of time forcing Law and Justice to adopt a less assertive approach, and that, in my opinion, is what the game is about right now. Such parties, former coalition partners of PiS, if they tried to act politically independently outside of PiS, would once again find themselves in oblivion, just like Samoobrona and Liga Polskich Rodzin. The majority of voters, even those voting for candidates of this party on the United Right lists, would not understand why they are not forming a common list with United Right, and the issue of loyalty is very important for many right-wing voters, and in this sense, PiS has more significant advantages than its coalition partners for now. However, of course, time will cause an erosion of PiS's ability to influence its allies.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/518217-chwedoruk-pis-byloby-zdolne-tworzyc-rzad-mniejszosciowy -- KACZYŃSKI WILL NOT BACK DOWN, HE IS CAPABLE OF IT - ŁUKASZ LIPIŃSKI IN POLITYKA: “However, the leader knows that if he backs down now, if he doesn't dictate the agreement to the party and the coalition on his terms, he will lose control of the situation. Therefore, if he hung a gun on the wall in the first act of this drama, it was so that he could fire it at the end. The harsh words from PiS members are not a negotiating bluff, but rather a statement: 'either we agree on my terms, or I will destroy this whole structure, in which you all felt so comfortable.' Kaczyński has already shown that he is capable of this.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1971888,1,przesilenie-w-pis-kaczynski-nie-moze-sie-cofnac.read?src=mt -- KACZYŃSKI DOES NOT LIKE BEING BLACKMAILED AND CORNERED - WIESŁAW WŁADYKA IN POLITYKA: “Kaczyński himself – as has been shown many times – does not like being blackmailed and cornered. He has a penchant for almost gambling solutions, yet he can also calculate, count, and negotiate when it yields desired political results. The history of relations with Father Rydzyk, previously with Lepper and Giertych, and finally with Ziobro himself, shows a certain tactical flexibility and cynical skill of the leader, the ability to swallow bitterness and move to a seemingly reborn alliance, albeit full of falsehood and hypocrisy, yet effective for a time.” -- KACZYŃSKI WILL NOT LET GO, ZBYSZEK MAY STILL SQUEAK IN A SMALL VOICE - WŁADYKA AGAIN: “But Jarosław Kaczyński will not let go. He can pit his party forces, his security and special forces, the Prime Minister, who – it seems – is Ziobro's superior, various interest groups aligned with Nowogrodzka, against the forces of the minister and prosecutor general. So Zbyszek, as the leader affectionately called him, may still squeak in a small voice, and that will be the last sound we hear from him. The verdict has likely already been passed. When it will be executed will depend on the circumstances and conditions. After the autumn cleansing and re-disciplining of the party, after President Duda's call to arms, which has somehow disappeared, after the proper motivation and due reward for Jarosław Gowin, and possibly after prolonging reconstruction negotiations, and finally after appealing to the reason of selected members of Solidarna Polska – Kaczyński will strike. Sooner or later.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1971892,1,kaczynski-uderzy-albo-rybka-albo-akwarium.read?src=mt -- KACZYŃSKI TURNS THE TABLE BECAUSE THE COALITION PARTNERS WILL NOT RISK ELECTIONS - WOJCIECH WYBRANOWSKI IN WP: “At the very end of very difficult negotiations, he turns the negotiating table and waits for his partners to lower their expectations. And they will have to lower them, because none of the coalition partners will risk early elections, after which they may lose their seats in the Sejm and positions in State Treasury companies for people from their base.” -- THERE WILL BE FISHING IN SOLPOL - WYBRANOWSKI AGAIN: “So what's next for the ruling camp? Among PiS politicians, there is now talk of the possibility of reaching an agreement with Jarosław Gowin, because – 'his people are behaving rationally.' And what about Solidarna Polska? Speculation is emerging here. 'There will be fishing,' our sources say.” https://opinie.wp.pl/wybranowski-pis-zdziera-futra-z-koalicjantow-opinia-6555324241996288a -- THE PROJECT WOULD HAVE FALLEN IF THE SEJMIC LEFT HAD NOT FORCED THE LIBERALS TO SUPPORT IT - MACIEJ GDULA IN KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA: “The ban on fur farming met with strong opposition within the right-wing coalition. It would have fallen if Kaczyński's project had not been supported by the liberals. And they supported it only under pressure from the strong parliamentary left. The role of the Left was crucial here, because without it, the balance of power would have been completely different. Civic Platform would not have considered how many supporters of the ban it might lose to the Left, but would have calculated how many conservative voters it would lose if it left the space to the right and PSL as the main critics of Kaczyński. Added to this would be the temptation to lead to a vote lost by the PiS leader and show how weak he is. The presence of the Left, which – let us recall – was the only force to unanimously support the projects, made KO vote decently.” -- LIBERALS WILL NOT BECOME CONSERVATIVES JUST UNDER PRESSURE FROM A STRONG LEFT - GDULA AGAIN: “Some of you may now be shrugging your shoulders and thinking to yourselves: well, everyone wants to be the father of success, and it's no wonder that the Left is now taking credit. To skeptics, however, I will remind you that PO and PSL had a majority in the Sejm for a long time, and for some reason there are no partnership marriages, but there is, for example, the Day of the Cursed Soldiers, passed at the peak of Tusk's government in 2011. I write this especially to those who believe that a certain civilizational minimum should apply (abortion up to the twelfth week, secular state, same-sex marriage), and then are surprised that liberals elected by their votes turn out to be conservatives. Well, they will be liberals only under the pressure of a strong left. There is simply no other way to avoid swallowing bitter disappointment later.” -- CIVILIZATION OR BARBARISM - THE POSITION OF THE LEFT WILL DECIDE THIS - GDULA AGAIN: “Regardless of the development of the situation, interesting times and non-obvious directions of change await us again. Whether they will move towards civilization or rather towards barbarism will be decided by the position of the Left. If it is weak, we know exactly where we will slide.” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/kaczynski-norki-i-lewica-komentarz-macieja-gduli/ -- THERE WAS A CLOSED CIRCLE - CZERSKA, TK, SUPREME COURT - MAREK JAKUBIAK IN CONVERSATION WITH ELIZA OLCZYK IN RZ: “If Professor Andrzej Rzepliński, president of the Tribunal, issued a verdict that was published in 'Gazeta Wyborcza' two days earlier, for me it was blatant proof that something was wrong. Czerska, the Constitutional Tribunal, the Supreme Court, the government, the capital city of Warsaw – it was a closed circle. To this day, you cannot put a finger in there without the fear of losing it.” -- ZONES FREE FROM LGBT IDEOLOGY ARE A SCANDAL, BUT ZONES FREE FROM MY BEER ARE NOT? - JAKUBIAK AGAIN IN RZ: “I feel the effects of this storm to this day, because Warsaw restaurants are not ordering my beer, claiming it is not well-regarded. I would gladly talk about this with Paweł Rabiej, the deputy mayor of Warsaw, or Robert Biedroń, who said that zones free from LGBT ideology are a scandal. And all of Warsaw is closing its doors to my beer, and precisely because of LGBT circles. I ask myself, who is discriminating against whom here? I don't know of any case where someone was asked to leave a restaurant because they are homosexual, but my beer is being refused.” https://www.rp.pl/Plus-Minus/309189977-Marek-Jakubiak-Tyszka-to-zly-duch-Kukiza.html -- THEY VOTE FOR PI'S FOR VARIOUS REASONS, WHICH I UNDERSTAND - SZCZEPAN TWARDOCH IN CONVERSATION WITH GRZEGORZ WYSOCKI IN GW: “In my family too, half of them vote for PiS, and it doesn't destroy our relationships, so I don't feel the embarrassment or awkwardness you're talking about. And I'm not just talking about the generation of my parents or uncles, but also my peers, Silesians like me. They vote for PiS for very different reasons, which I understand, often because of Catholicism, a tradition of voting for a party that, in their opinion, is closest to the Church. But not only that, also for economic or dignity-related reasons, but never for Polish-nationalist reasons. These motivations are indeed complex.” -- A PERSON WHO MAKES SCHOLARLY JUDGMENTS ABOUT SOCIETY DOESN'T KNOW ANYONE WHO VOTED FOR PIS? SO WHAT THE HELL IDEA CAN HE HAVE? - TWARDOCH AGAIN: “I was recently very amused by an outstanding researcher of Polish social reality – I won't mention his name – whom I consider an intelligent and honest person, but who after the last elections publicly asked if there was anyone among his acquaintances who voted for PiS. Because he would like to meet and understand him. And he wrote this, not being at all aware of the comic nature of the situation – here is a person who makes scholarly judgments about Polish society and doesn't know anyone who voted for PiS. So what the hell idea can he have about that society? It's like me now making scholarly judgments about the inhabitants of Triobrand, because I read Malinowski's 'Argonauts…'” -- ALL THIS KODZIARSKA FARCE EVOKES FEELINGS IN ME SIMILAR TO THE "GAZETA POLSKA" CLUBS, MORAL BLACKMAIL IS UNBEARABLE - TWARDOCH AGAIN: “All this Kodziarska farce evokes feelings in me roughly similar to those evoked by Radio Maryja circles or "Gazeta Polska" Clubs. The theatricality of this involvement, the dubious characters lurking around, the constant search for a new 'Solidarity,' the need for activism, the posturing of the latest righteous, provocations, moral blackmail, 'who is not with us is against us.' It's unbearable.” -- NOT REFUGEES, BUT BELOVED UKRAINIANS CAME, THANKS TO WHOM THIS COUNTRY IS BECOMING LESS BORING - TWARDOCH AGAIN: “I did not come into this world with some inner voice that always told me what was right, nor do I have my holy book at hand that would explain the world to me once and for all. And secondly, I simply decided that what is happening in connection with the witch hunt against LGBT people is deeply disgusting. And PiS is doing it absolutely cynically, just as it did with immigrants at one time, which was even more absurd, but less harmful in the sense that no refugee wanted to come to Poland anyway. I found that discussion very amusing then. The Left defended refugees, the Right attacked refugees, and meanwhile, refugees weren't flocking here anyway, because who the hell would want to come to Poland? Only our beloved Ukrainians, thanks to whom at least this country is becoming a little less boring.” -- JUST AS I WILL DEFEND LGBT PEOPLE, I WILL DEFEND PiS VOTERS AGAINST DISGUST - TWARDOCH AGAIN: “This is completely different, because these people live in Poland, and the cynical decision to make this topic a binding agent for the electorate is pregnant with consequences, it leads to an increase in suffering and real violence against people who already have a hard life. And my elementary moral impulse is that one should always be on the side of the weaker against the stronger. Similarly, I will always be ready to defend a PiS voter against the disgust and contempt of a metropolitan intellectual who is bothered by Poles with their large bellies on the beach because of the 500+ program. And for the same reason, I will always be on the side of the Polish provinces against the Warsaw or Krakow elite, because the provinces are weaker. And for the same reason, I went to that demonstration in Krakow.” -- TWARDOCH ON LGBT - I DON'T SHARE MOST ANTI-PIS OBSESSIONS, BUT HERE THE MATTER IS VERY IMPORTANT AND NOT OFF THE MARK: “No, we were there absolutely seriously. Just as I don't share most of the anti-PiS obsessions of Polish liberals and consider many of them to be off the mark, here I think the matter is very important and by no means off the mark.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75517,26314864,szczepan-twardoch-skandowanie-mnie-zenuje.html -- 27 YEARS AGO, the Democratic Left Alliance won the early parliamentary elections triggered by the fall of Hanna Suchocka's government. -- BIRTHDAYS: Mariusz Błaszczak, Bolesław Piecha, Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, Rafał Matyja, Maciek Sitarz, SUNDAY: Jarosław Zieliński, Grzegorz Kurczuk, Agata Buzek.