-- KONWIŃSKI: PiS DID NOT INCLUDE ZERO VAT ON FOOD IN ITS OWN BUDGET PROJECT. THIS HAS BEEN RECTIFIED - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2023/12/21/ -- KACZYŃSKI IS FURIOUS. AT DUDA AND AT HIMSELF, BECAUSE HE DIDN'T BELIEVE TUSK AND SIENKIEWICZ WOULD DECIDE ON SUCH A RISKY MANEUVER - DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA IN GW: “- We believe that one day, or perhaps one hour, the president, who is not showing any activity, will change his mind, because he could intervene here very decisively and the matter would be over,” Kaczyński himself said at the TVP headquarters. “He is furious because he didn't believe that Civic Platform would decide on such a risky maneuver.” -- THE PRESIDENT HAS NOT FORGIVEN THE CHAIRMAN FOR THE HUMILIATION WITH KURSKI, AND TODAY HE TOOK A SMALL REVENGE - WIELOWIEYSKA CONTINUES IN GW: “Why is Duda reserved? Firstly, he himself remembers how PiS took over the media and kicked out the legal chairman of TVP, appointed by KRRiT, replacing him with their own man through the minister of the treasury. Secondly, he remembers how PiS wanted to seize TVN. And thirdly, he remembers the humiliation he suffered when he wanted to dismiss Jacek Kurski from his position as head of TVP. He then blackmailed PiS with a veto of a bill that would give the television a 2 billion PLN lifeline. And he thought he had achieved his goal, but Kaczyński deceived Duda and very quickly reinstated Kurski. The president has not forgiven the chairman for this humiliation and today he took a small revenge.” -- WHATEVER THE NEW GOVERNMENT DID TODAY WITH STATE MEDIA, IT WOULD STILL BE CRITICIZED - WIELOWIEYSKA CONTINUES IN GW: “Whatever the new government did today with state media, it would still be criticized. Either for acting on the verge of the law, because any legal option would raise doubts, or for incompetence. There is no good way out of this situation after everything PiS has put us through.” -- WHAT SYSTEM WILL THE NEW GOVERNMENT CREATE IN THE LONGER TERM? IT WILL BE SEVERELY HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS - WIELOWIEYSKA WRITES FURTHER IN GW: “However, the most important thing is something else: how will public media function in the future? What system will the new government create in the longer term? It will be severely held accountable for this. PiS, as usual, has tangled the legal issue so much that it is extremely difficult to extricate oneself from this mess. For eight years, the ruling party broke the constitution and regulations, disregarding everything. Institutions were seized brazenly. No rules mattered. And Maciej Wąsik and Mariusz Kamiński still adhere to such a philosophy of anarchy, not recognizing the final court ruling that sentenced them to prison.” https://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,30526440,kaczynski-jest-wsciekly-na-dude-i-na-siebie-bo-nie-wierzyl.html -- KACZYŃSKI WILL NOT "DEFEND" TVP BECAUSE HE HAS NO LEGIONS - ZUZANNA DĄBROWSKA IN RZ: “The defenders of TVP are fighting for Poland, and incidentally for their own interests. And in reality, they are building the founding myth of the new opposition. But Jarosław Kaczyński, although he may not know it, is not Marshal Józef Piłsudski, so his plan may not succeed. (...) And PiS, defending its own propaganda and trying to elicit protest energy from tired media activists, is falling into grotesque.” https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art39599081-zuzanna-dabrowska-media-publiczne-odbijane-z-rak-pis-kaczynski-nie-obroni-tvp-bo-nie-ma-legionow -- FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE 21ST CENTURY, POLAND IS EXPERIENCING A DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION. THE BEGINNING OF ANY REVOLUTION IS NOT AESTHETIC. BUT WHAT COMES NEXT IS ALWAYS KEY - JACEK ŻAKOWSKI IN GW: “The socialization and de-politicization of media can be the first step in the right direction. Tribunals, courts, prosecution, scientific, cultural, and educational institutions, and the management of state-owned companies also deserve such changes. It will not be easy, and it must look different in each case. However, we have no other way if we do not want the evil that we defeated with a last-minute effort on October 15th to return in some new guise.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,30527385,jaki-bedzie-drugi-etap-demokratycznej-rewolucji-po-usunieciu.html -- PROLONGING THE CALENDAR UNTIL THE NEW CABINET WAS SWORN IN ON DECEMBER 13TH HAS SYMBOLIC POWER. ALL FOOLISH COMPARISONS TO MARTIAL LAW, TO THE NEXT BLACK DAYS OF POLISH HISTORY, ARE BUILDING A LEGEND TODAY - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “Everything else is theater. But also an important myth. The images of security guards clashing with PiS MPs will be needed in future election campaigns, they will be useful in building the legend of an oppressive regime supposedly built by Donald Tusk. Therefore, the slight malice at the beginning – prolonging the calendar until the new cabinet was sworn in on December 13th – has such symbolic power. All foolish comparisons to martial law, to the next black days of Polish history, are building the PiS legend today. And this is what the United Right's stake is in this brawl.” -- TUSK BELIEVES IT IS WORTH RISKING CERTAIN COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE OPERATION TO GIVE HIS VOTERS THAT SWEET FEELING OF SATISFACTION, THE FEELING OF PARTICIPATING IN A HISTORICAL TRANSFORMATION - SZUŁDRZYŃSKI CONTINUES IN RZ: “He knows perfectly well that it may slightly tarnish his image as a European, global politician that he would like to be seen as, but now is the time to give a feeling of moral victory to his core electorate, but also to all those who were outraged by the immensity of the indignities that poured from TVP. Therefore, Donald Tusk believes it is worth risking certain costs associated with the operation to retake public television, to give that sweet feeling of satisfaction, the feeling of participating in a historical transformation to his voters.” https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art39601471-michal-szuldrzynski-kto-najbardziej-zyskuje-na-bitwie-o-tvp -- JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, PART OF THE APPARATUS OF THE THEN GOVERNMENT DISPLAYED SUCH SELF-CONFIDENCE - WIKTOR ŚWIETLIK IN INTERIA: “Fans on both sides are heated in mocking the others, and the entire "smiling" Polish media is advising the government on how to bypass the law. However, this matter will burden the ruling team. Rapid changes in public media cannot be carried out without serious violations. Of course, there are probably those who argue: well, I have the right, since we have the parliamentary majority, and PiS, with its unchanging message and aging electorate, will be in opposition forever. However, just a few years ago, part of the apparatus of the then government displayed such self-confidence.” -- THREATENING WITH THE OPPOSITION AND MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY OF THOSE WHO RULED BEFORE, PEOPLE GET BORED OVER TIME. PiS LEARNED THIS - ŚWIETLIK CONTINUES: “Threatening with the opposition and media accountability of those who ruled before, people get bored over time. PiS learned this, also in the recent elections. Showing the building at Plac Powstańców as Sauron's tower, which still prevents demobilization because it has not yet been conquered, could have a pretty good integrating effect from the perspective of a formation based mainly on negating its predecessors.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/felietony/news-awantura-o-tvp-ryzykowny-efekt-ambicji,nId,7220835 -- THE BREAK-IN AT TVP. THIS IS HOW OCCUPIERS BEHAVE - THIS IS HOW JARUZELSKI ACTED ON BEHALF OF THE SOVIETS, THIS IS HOW TUSK ACTS ON BEHALF OF THE GERMANS - MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: “This is how occupiers behave towards their own nation, this is how Wojciech Jaruzelski acted on behalf of the Soviets (he also had secret studies, he also shut down the signal), this is how Tusk acts on behalf of the Germans. No one in Poland has ever played this way in any matter. Before our eyes, a regime unlike any we have known since the fall of communism has been born. From behind a smiling heart emerged the thugs of the new government with an SB officer shutting down the signal of an independent television.” -- A BLACK DAY FOR POLISH FREEDOM, A TERRIBLE SHAME AND HUMILIATION THAT WE HAVE SUCH AN EASTERN GOVERNMENT - KARNOWSKI CONTINUES: “A black day for Polish freedom, a terrible shame and humiliation that we have such an eastern government. This is how Lukashenka and Putin started – they were also annoyed by independent media and institutions. The long-term consequences will be dire: fundamental principles observed by everyone since 1989 have been broken. The law has been broken. Force has been used. Since they took TVP this way, everyone is threatened, no law is absolute, no one's freedom is total, no one's property is guaranteed. But such conduct also means depriving this government of legitimacy. A government that uses lawlessness becomes lawless itself. And in the background, the adoption of the migration pact, with mandatory migrant quotas for each country, and the acceptance of treaties that strip us of our sovereignty. They will rob us, and we won't even know about it.” https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/675314-tak-zachowuja-sie-okupanci-od-jaruzelskiego-do-tuska -- KACZYŃSKI UNDERSTANDS "MEDIA PLURALISM" AS MEANING THAT IF ONE OF THE PRIVATE NEWS TELEVISION STATIONS DOES NOT FAVOR HIS PARTY, THEN FOR THE SAKE OF BALANCE, PUBLIC TELEVISION, FUNDED BY THE MONEY OF ALL TAXPAYERS, SHOULD FAVOR HIS PARTY - PIOTR BENIUSZYS IN GW: “Hence the hysterical attempt to defend PiS's TVP. Anyone unfamiliar with Kaczyński's pyramidal hypocrisy must be astonished that he is now resorting to arguments of freedom of speech and media pluralism. Just a few years after using the resources of a large state corporation to take over the local press, almost nationalized and seized TVN, his people at KRRiT persecuted opposition television and radio stations with fines, tried to silence critical journalists with lawsuits (this practice is called 'SLAPP'), threatened TVN 24 and TOK FM with non-renewal of licenses, and limited journalists' ability to monitor the government or move around the Sejm.” -- THIS WILL BE THE POLITICIAN'S SWAN SONG, THIS TIME IRREVOCABLY - BENIUSZYS CONTINUES IN GW: “The prospect of losing his propaganda mouthpiece is therefore seen by him as a threat of turning his camp into ruins, especially during the season of work by investigation commissions and the prosecution to hold his people accountable for numerous abuses of the law. The loss of TVP will mean that these facts will reach all Polish homes, and part of the electorate – even the core one – will turn away from PiS. This will be the politician's swan song, this time irrevocably.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,30527131,pis-bedzie-walczyc-do-ostatniego-paska-tvp.html -- A SOLUTION WAS CHOSEN THAT THE POLITICIANS OF THE NEW MAJORITY CONSIDERED OBVIOUSLY INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE LAW AND THE CONSTITUTION WHEN THEY WERE IN OPPOSITION - PATRYK SŁOWIK IN WP: “I belong to those who believe that one should always choose a solution that is consistent with the law, and in the worst case scenario – a genuinely controversial solution where the incompatibility is not obvious. Here, a solution was chosen that the politicians of the new majority considered obviously incompatible with the law and the Constitution when they were in opposition.” https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/nielegalnie-niezgodnie-widowiskowo-i-skutecznie-opinia-6975865583102464a -- 28 YEARS AGO, then-Prime Minister Józef Oleksy was accused by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Andrzej Milczanowski – during a speech in the Sejm – of ties to Russian intelligence. -- 23 YEARS AGO, MPs Halina Nowina Konopka and Witold Tomczak removed from an installation by Italian sculptor Maurizio Cattelan a fragment symbolizing a meteorite crushing the figure of Pope John Paul II at Zachęta. -- BIRTHDAYS: Jakub Szulc.