-- "ONLY PiS CAN STOP TUSK." NEW SPOT ON MIGRATION: https://300polityka.pl/live/2023/09/16/tylko-pis-moze-powstrzymac-tuska-nowy-spot-pis-o-migracji/ -- ZIOBRO: I WILL SOON PRESENT TO YOU SCANDALS IN THIS SENSE, IF, FOLLOWING PO's rhetoric, THEN MULTIFOLD GREATER, BECAUSE THEY WERE MULTIFOLD GREATER, AS FAR AS THE SCALE AND NUMBER OF VISAS ISSUED FOR BRIBES DURING DONALD TUSK'S GOVERNMENT ARE CONCERNED, KACZYŃSKI: SUCH NEWS IS CIRCULATING IN WARSAW, AT SOME POINT, PERHAPS AROUND OCTOBER 1ST, REPLACING ONE WITH ANOTHER, JUST AS MRS. KIDAWĄ-BŁOŃSKA WAS ONCE REPLACED BY TRZASKOWSKI HIMSELF - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2023/09/16 -- WHAT IF THE THIRD WAY ACTUALLY ENTERS PARLIAMENT? - PIOTR PACEWICZ IN OKO.PRESS: “The Third Way's poll result (6 percent) translates into an electoral forecast of 7 percent. This is below the 8 percent threshold, but random measurement error makes it unclear whether Kosiniak-Kamysz and Hołownia won't clear the parliamentary bar with a joint leap. Moreover, the Third Way's results in Ipsos polls are usually 1-2 percentage points lower than the average of all polls. At the time of writing this text, the average of eight September polls (including ours) for the Third Way is 8.7 percent, which means an electoral forecast of 9-10 percent. Let's assume, therefore, that the Third Way achieves 8 percent poll support (and the number of undecided drops from 11 to 9 percent). It turns out that Hołownia and Kosiniak-Kamysz then gain 30 seats, which, together with Civic Coalition (158 seats) and The Left (33), gives them 221 seats. PiS and Confederation still have a majority, but a more modest one (238 seats)”. https://oko.press/wynik-sondazu-ipsos-daje-nadzieje-opozycji -- IT IS NOT WORTH VOTING FOR A GROUP THAT WE ARE CONVINCED TO JOIN SOLELY FOR TACTICAL REASONS - ARTUR TROOST IN KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA: “Hearing the strategists' pleas, one might think that whether the Third Way, for example, manages to cross the threshold depends solely on us. This is not the case, and even if it were, it's not worth voting for a group to which we are persuaded solely by tactical considerations. Following this logic, almost any choice can be justified, but instead of endlessly analyzing the profitability of individual options, one can simply trust their convictions and vote for the party closest to their ideology. Isn't that what democracy is all about?” https://krytykapolityczna.pl/kraj/pulapki-glosowania-taktycznego/ -- WHEN THE STAKES ARE ABSOLUTE, THE FIGHT MUST CONTINUE UNTIL COMPLETE VICTORY. AND THE TIME OF APOCALYPSE IS COMING - LESZEK JAŻDŻEWSKI IN GW: “For the opposition, the stake in this election is the survival of democracy. For the ruling party – for many, it's only in cynical rhetoric, but some of them truly believe it – national sovereignty. When the stakes are absolute, the fight must continue until complete victory. And the time of apocalypse is coming”. -- DEMOCRACIES POORLY TOLERATE FIGHTING FOR EVERYTHING. THE CONDITION FOR THEIR EXISTENCE IS CONTINUITY - LESZEK JAŻDŻEWSKI FURTHER IN GW: “The dominant mood in Western democracies is an apocalyptic one, warns Ivan Krastev. These are the most important elections in decades, we hear from the USA through France to Poland, Israel, and Turkey. Meanwhile, democracies poorly tolerate fighting for everything. The condition for their existence is continuity. Democracy is a kind of infinite game, as Simon Sinek notes in his bestseller ‘Infinite Game’. The rules and players change, but the game itself continues. At the moment when a final resolution is possible and one side is definitively 'defeated,' politics is replaced by violence”. -- THE INDIVIDUALISM OF POLES IS ANTI-POLITICAL. FOCUSED ON PRIVATE LIFE, FAMILY – WHICH HAS BEEN LISTED AT THE TOP OF THE VALUE HIERARCHY FOR YEARS - JAŻDŻEWSKI FURTHER: “The problem is that the individualism of Poles is anti-political. Focused on private life, family – which has been listed at the top of the value hierarchy for years. Combined with a collective national mentality – which demands unity in the face of national tragedies – it precludes conscious engagement in building an internally diverse community. Anti-political individualism says 'no' to politics, anti-pluralist politics says 'no' to individual differentiation. Politicians try to capitalize on these extremes as best they can, easily recognizable when they appeal to one or the other emotion, denouncing the greed of power and promising lower taxes, or frightening with the invasion of immigrants or foreign influences. As long as Polish identity remains schizophrenic, we will be condemned to dissonance. Great surges, like 'Solidarity' or aid to Ukraine – and the disheartening everyday reality of collective disappointment”. https://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,30183629,leszek-jazdzewski-z-polakow-nie-zrobi-sie-dunczykow.html -- THE VISA AFFAIR MAY HINDER PiS'S EXPLOITATION OF THE IMMIGRATION ISSUE, WHICH, AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF APOCALYPTIC SCENES IN LAMPEDUSA, HAD ORGANIC, GROWING POTENTIAL - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN INTERIA: “So far, PiS's popularity hasn't dropped, and has even slightly increased in polls recently. But the most dramatic accusations were made just now. However, I believe that the 'visa affair' is unlikely to play a breakthrough role. Although it may hinder PiS's exploitation of the immigration issue, which, against the backdrop of apocalyptic scenes in Lampedusa, had organic, growing potential”. -- IF SO, AGNIESZKA HOLLAND'S CRUSADE AND OTHER ADVOCATES OF OPEN BORDERS STRONGLY CONTRADICT THESE WARNINGS - ZAREMBA FURTHER IN INTERIA: “Here is one of the opposition politicians (Szymon Hołownia, incidentally, but Tusk himself repeats this) presenting the admission of 'suspicious people' into Poland as a threat to Polish security. Well, but if so, then Agnieszka Holland's crusade and other advocates of open borders strongly contradict these warnings. I am not saying that Tusk believes in open borders. He recently questioned the barrier on the border with Belarus from a principled position. Now he complains that the barrier is ineffective. But, according to the principle of polarization, many Poles will probably attribute to him the utopian idea of letting everyone in as they please”. -- TUSK DENOUNCES PiS FOR BRINGING IN AN EXCESSIVE NUMBER OF ARRIVALS, BUT REVEALS NO OPINION ON SYSTEMIC CHANGES - ZAREMBA WRITES FURTHER: “Although the apocalypse in Lampedusa does not leave one indifferent, it will be easier to ignore. The topic will return, but possibly only after the elections. The European Parliament's Constitutional Committee is preparing a draft for a major reform of the Union. It is intended to take over a number of new competencies, including, though not entirely, control over immigration. The question is, what kind of government, and whose, will face this challenge. Tusk denounces PiS for bringing in an excessive number of arrivals, but reveals no opinion on systemic changes. In one case, the topic will explode now like a nuclear charge. If something else happens. Or at least we will learn something new…” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/felietony/news-imigrantami-w-kaczynskiego-skuteczne-ale-tylko-do-pewnego-st,nId,7027368 -- TRZASKOWSKI, LATER ANNOUNCING THAT HE WILL NOT MENTION KACZYŃSKI'S PARTY BY NAME EVEN ONCE, UNWITTINGLY RIDICULED TUSK'S STYLE - PIOTR ZAREMBA IN RZ: “Worse still, the KO-PO leader did not explain, in fact, for what values and vision of Poland he is striving for power. Poles are to hire his party (he used this phrase) to put an end to the PiS cataclysm. Rafał Trzaskowski, later announcing that he would not mention Kaczyński's party by name even once, unwittingly ridiculed this style. Tusk has done so as many times as possible”. -- AND YET, PLATFORMERS JUST RIDICULED THE TRIVIALITY OF SOME OF PiS'S PROPOSALS - ZAREMBA FURTHER IN RZ: “One might think that the announcement of '100 specifics for the first 100 days of government' would end the period of avoiding plans and scenarios. But that is not the case. In his speech, the KO-PO leader mixed crucial matters, such as the postulate of raising the tax-free allowance from PLN 30,000 to PLN 60,000, with trivial ones, such as lowering VAT for beauty salons to the same level as hairdressing salons. And yet, platformers have just ridiculed the triviality of some of PiS's proposals (better meals in hospitals or a voucher for domestic trips for schoolchildren)”. -- WE ARE DEALING WITH AN IMAGE OF EMPTINESS - ZAREMBA WRITES FURTHER IN RZ: “Civic Platform has a shadow cabinet, and in parliament, it has many specialists in various fields. If such a meager output results from this, one should be surprised. Perhaps only the logic of spectacle was chosen. It was decided that unnecessary chatter should be avoided. Perhaps they were afraid that too unambiguous declarations would again scare away some voters, like those who are pro-market and fled to Confederation. At the same time, we are dealing with an image of emptiness”. -- ONE COULD CONSIDER THAT PiS HAS BURNED OUT, BUT IF I WERE TO DEFEND ANYTHING, IT WOULD BE THE CERTAIN GRAVITY OF THIS LATEST PROGRAMMATIC TEXT - ZAREMBA STATES IN RZ: “One could consider that PiS has burned out. The new program lacks breakthrough goals, even if Paweł Kukiz rejoiced in Końskie about the inclusion of local referendums (the so-called referendum day) in this program and the creation of the institution of 'judges of peace,' which, by the way, is incompatible (Minister Zbigniew Ziobro was right about this) with the current justice system, and who knows if not with the letter of the constitution. If I were to defend anything, it would be the certain gravity of this latest programmatic text. PiS writes such extensive résumés on the occasion of every election”. -- AS VOTERS, WE STILL DO NOT KNOW THE POTENTIAL GOVERNING PLAN OF TUSK'S TEAM. AND WE PROBABLY WON'T KNOW BEFORE THE ELECTION - ZAREMBA'S CONCLUSION IN RZ: “All this may be true. From the ranks of Tusk's party, rumors are heard that they do not believe in the Third Way entering parliament. Hence the sudden turn towards allowing a potential pact with Confederation, which was recently reviled as clerical, anti-woman, and essentially brown. Now it is spoken of with respect. However, this is all a matter of tactics. As voters, we still do not know the potential governing plan of Tusk's team. And we probably won't know before the election”. https://www.rp.pl/plus-minus/art39109101-wyborcze-konkrety-sprzecznosci-tuska-wypalenie-pis -- BEATIFICATION OF THE ULMAS AND SOWING HATRED TOWARDS FOREIGNERS. HOW DID PiS MANAGE TO RECONCILE THIS? - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “Right-wing politicians are reaping electoral capital by cultivating hatred towards Germans for what they did during the war. Yet, the recognition of the family from Markowa was not meant to be Francis's gift to PiS for the campaign, but a retreat for the entire nation. And not just another ceremony that was supposed to improve our national self-esteem. Because after eight years of PiS rule, we probably don't need even more such events to lift our spirits”. https://www.rp.pl/plus-minus/art39108991-michal-szuldrzynski-beatyfikacja-ulmow-i-sianie-nienawisci-do-obcych-jak-pis-zdolal-to-pogodzic -- WHEN IMMIGRANTS STORMED LAMPEDUSA, COMMISSIONER JOHANSSON WAS KNITTING IN THE EP. THE EU REALITY IS CRACKLING, AND LITERALLY SO - ZBIGNIEW KUŹMIUK ON WPOLITYCE: “In just 2 days, over 120 boats arrived in Lampedusa, bringing nearly 8,000 immigrants, and information appeared online that another several dozen boats with thousands of young, strong men were sailing from Tunisia. While this debate was ongoing, and some MEPs were even talking about the failure of the EU's migration policy, the Swedish commissioner responsible for this policy, Ylva Johansson, sat calmly in her chair, listening to the debate and knitting”. -- A REFERENDUM ON THIS MATTER IN POLAND CAN CHANGE A LOT HERE, IF IT TURNS OUT TO BE BINDING FOR THE GOVERNMENT - WRITES KUŹMIUK: “Now negotiations will take place between the Council and Parliament, its final shape will emerge in late autumn, but a referendum on this matter in Poland can change a lot here if it turns out to be binding for the government (turnout exceeds 50 percent). The Law and Justice government is striving for this, hence the question in the referendum on this matter, pro-turnout actions, Civic Platform is blocking it because it has a very guilty conscience regarding this matter, both in the past and regarding future intentions”. https://wpolityce.pl/swiat/662766-szturm-na-lampeduse-a-komisarz-johansson-robi-na-drutach -- WE USED TO LEARN GOOD FROM THE GERMANS, AND TODAY THE GERMANS ARE LEARNING EVIL FROM US - JAN ROKITA IN DZIENNIK POLSKI: “It was Morawiecki who first came up with how to transform the official state budget into a fiction and manage money secretly, using specially created funds and accounts. And now the German Minister of Finance turns out to be an outstanding student of Morawiecki! Lindner managed to redirect sums to discretionary funds and accounts that the Polish Prime Minister could only dream of. Well, perhaps that's a sign of the times: we used to learn good from the Germans, and today the Germans are learning evil from us. Only that in this evil, they quickly turn out to be much better than us”. https://plus.dziennikpolski24.pl/luksus-wlasnego-zdania-jana-rokity-kto-kogo-czego-uczy/ar/c15-17891741 -- PEKAO CEO: VAT REVENUES HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED RELATIVE TO GDP COMPARED TO OTHER COUNTRIES. WE ARE THEREFORE DEALING WITH A SITUATION WHERE THERE IS ROOM FOR NEW EXPENDITURES, E.G., DEFENSE, EQUALIZING SOCIAL INEQUALITIES https://300polityka.pl/live/2023/09/14/prezes-pekao-dochody-z-vat-u-bardzo-wzrosly-w-relacji-do-pkb-w-porownaniu-do-innych-krajow-mamy-wiec-do-czynienia-z-sytuacja-kiedy-przestrzen-na-nowe-wydatki-np-obronne-wyrownujace-nierownosci-s/ -- ON SUNDAY IT WILL BE 30 YEARS SINCE THE DEMOCRATIC LEFT ALLIANCE WON THE EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS CALLED BY THE FALL OF HANNA SUCHOCKA'S GOVERNMENT. -- BIRTHDAYS: Janusz Rewiński, Samuel Pereira. SUNDAY: Jacek Sutryk, Waldemar Andzel, Teresa Lubińska, Michał Stuligrosz