-- “LET HIM DECIDE WHERE HE IS GOING. IT’S BEEN A YEAR.” CZARZASTY APPEALS TO ZANDBERG - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2024/10/17 -- WE ARE STILL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE ROAD, BUT WHAT WE HEARD FROM PRIME MINISTER TUSK REGARDING THE ABOLITION OF THE RIGHT TO ASYLUM IS UNIMAGINABLE. EVEN PIS DID NOT COME UP WITH SUCH A TERRIBLE IDEA AS TO SUSPEND THIS RIGHT - DR HANNA MACHIŃSKA, LAWYER, FORMER DEPUTY TO ADAM BODNAR IN AN INTERVIEW WITH MAGDALENA RIGAMONTI ON ONE. -- NOT ONLY ARE THE EXPULSIONS, OR PUSHBACKS, CONTINUED, BUT THIS COURSE HAS BEEN INTENSIFIED - DR HANNA MACHIŃSKA CONTINUES WITH RIGAMONTI ON ONE: “Because it has always been a problem, on the one hand security, on the other humanity, meaning the treatment of those fleeing from tragedies. And Prime Minister Tusk has found the wrong instruments to ensure security. Not only are the expulsions, or pushbacks, continued, but this course has been intensified by introducing a law on firearms and the use of direct coercive measures against migrants. The most important scientific and analytical centers protested against this, pointing to violations of the Constitution and international law regulations.” -- THIS IS NOT IDENTICAL POLICY. LET US RECALL THE WORDS OF HATRED THAT CAME FROM THE VERY TOP OF THE PIS GOVERNMENT - DR MACHIŃSKA CONTINUES ON ONE: “This is not identical policy. Let us recall the words of hatred that were directed at migrants and all that hate propaganda that came from the very top of the PiS government. Jarosław Kaczyński tried to dehumanize migrants.” https://www.onet.pl/informacje/onetwiadomosci/byla-zastepczyni-bodnara-przeciez-nawet-pis-nie-wpadl-na-tak-straszny-pomysl/d34xwg6,79cfc278 -- THE KEY QUESTION IS: WHAT IS THIS GOVERNMENT ACTUALLY ABOUT? - LESZEK JAŻDŻEWSKI IN AN INTERVIEW WITH GRZEGORZ WYSOCKI ON GAZETA.PL: “These expectations are now being tested. The key question is: what is this government actually about? In its first term, PiS gave its voters a sense of power, agency, and a rather radical restructuring of the existing order. Now there are no conditions for this, but I am also not convinced that this coalition will be able to step up to a higher level, even after the presidential elections. Nor is there an offer for all those who, for eight years, were engaged in the fight for the rule of law and democracy. Meanwhile, it was thanks to their efforts that PiS ultimately lost power. They are the de facto fifth coalition partner of the Tusk government, even if they have no parliamentary representation. But without any influence on the direction of its policy.” -- THE MORE GIERYCH IN THE CIVIC COALITION, THE LESS CREDIBLE IT IS FOR A SIGNIFICANT PART OF ITS ELECTORATE - JAŻDŻEWSKI CONTINUES WITH WYSOCKI ON GAZETA.PL: “He is one of the most harmful figures in Polish public life. The more Giertych is in the Civic Coalition, the less credible it is for a significant part of its electorate.” -- PIS IS SO INEPT THAT EVEN SUCH A CLUMSY DICTATORSHIP DIDN’T WORK OUT FOR THEM - JAŻDŻEWSKI FURTHER STATES TO WYSOCKI ON GAZETA.PL: “PiS is not compatible with liberal democracy. Kaczyński's entire project was to destroy the liberal element, all centers independent of his personal decisions. Democracy in the PiS version ceases to protect individual rights and becomes a de facto controlled majority dictatorship. But PiS is so inept that even such a clumsy dictatorship didn't work out for them.” -- I THINK, TO SOME EXTENT, I UNDERSTAND TUSK'S WAY OF THINKING ABOUT POLITICS. PERHAPS BECAUSE I SHARE IT - JAŻDŻEWSKI CONTINUES. -- THE ACCOUNTING IS JUST BEGINNING - JAŻDŻEWSKI CLAIMS: “The accounting is just beginning. Churchill said at the end of 1942, after the Allied victory in Egypt: 'This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning.' And reconciliation? In my opinion, it is a pleasant but utopia. History shows that even after the fall of the state in 1939, disputes among Poles in emigration were fierce.” -- I KNOW THAT TWARDOCH IS AN EXPERT IN FASHION AND AUTOMOBILES. HERE HE POSES AS A POLITICS EXPERT. NOT VERY CREDIBLY - JAŻDŻEWSKI ON WYSOCKI'S QUESTION ABOUT TWARDOCH'S DIAGNOSES: “I know that Twardoch is an expert in fashion and automobiles, and his latest styling is that of a hipster who also dislikes Polish nationalism. I think it's some form of compensation from his time writing for right-wing magazines. Here he poses as a politics expert. Not very credibly.” https://weekend.gazeta.pl/weekend/7,177333,31389367,leszek-jazdzewski-pis-jest-tak-nieudolny-ze-nie-wyszla-im.html -- IN REALITY, DUDA HELPED THE PRIME MINISTER PORTRAY HIMSELF AS A SPOKESPERSON FOR THE MASSES CONCERNED ABOUT SECURITY - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “With his speech in the Sejm on Wednesday, President Andrzej Duda did Prime Minister Donald Tusk a great favor. Not only did he fail to understand the game the prime minister has recently been playing, but by attacking him for the plan to tighten migration policy, he further strengthened the prime minister's message. And he gave him an opportunity to, once again, but this time from the Sejm rostrum, present himself as a ruthless defender of Polish borders and the security of Poles.” -- THIS TIME, HOWEVER, THE PRESIDENT COMPLETELY MISSED THE MARK - SZUŁDRZYŃSKI CONTINUES IN RZ: “In this way, an interesting reversal of roles occurs, because Duda is attacking Tusk for this populist turn, even though he himself presented himself as a spokesperson for the masses opposed to the elites. This time, however, the president completely missed the mark.” https://www.rp.pl/opinie-polityczno-spoleczne/art41302701-michal-szuldrzynski-prezydent-i-premier-zamienili-sie-rolami-na-czym-polega-kopernikanski-przewrot-tuska -- THE PRIME MINISTER USED POLITICAL JUDO TECHNIQUES - ADAM SZOSTKIEWICZ ON THE TYGODNIK POLITYKA PORTAL: “The confrontation between President Duda and Tusk in the Sejm showed that the prime minister knows political judo. He can use a ruthless attack to expose the attacker. Above the exchange of blows hung the stench of the upcoming presidential campaign: it will be a brutal free-for-all, taking no prisoners.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/2274837,1,duda-kontra-tusk-w-sejmie-premier-uzyl-technik-politycznego-dzudo-zabolalo -- AN ADDRESS OR A DEFENSE STATEMENT? - AGNIESZKA KUBLIK IN GW: “Whoever wins, Duda will leave. Forever. On Wednesday, we heard why this will be the best news for Poland in recent years. We will finally be free of a lawyer who made his presidency a festival of repeated law-breaking, including the constitution itself. This was not an address by the head of state summarizing the past year. It was a defense statement by a man who knows he has to leave. And needs applause at all costs.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,31389236,wystapienie-dudy-w-sejmie-oredzie-czy-mowa-obroncza.html -- THE ADDRESS MOST SURPRISED PIS MPS - KAMILA BARANOWSKA IN INTERIA: “President Andrzej Duda's address, delivered in the Sejm on the anniversary of the parliamentary elections, most surprised PiS MPs. They did not expect it to be so sharp. Jarosław Kaczyński gave the president a standing ovation three times, and at the end of the head of state's speech, together with the other PiS MPs, he chanted 'Andrzej Duda'. Given the very cool relationship between the two politicians (the PiS leader himself recently said in an interview that he last spoke to the president 4.5 years ago), this was behavior that was noted by everyone in the hall.” https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/kraj/news-pis-zaskoczone-oredziem-prezydenta-prezes-bil-brawo-na-stoja,nId,7837146 -- AS I KNOW DONALD, HE STUCK A SMALL PIN IN WŁADEK IN THE CORRIDORS AFTER THOSE WORDS - LAUGHS ONE OF THE KO MINISTERS IN AN INTERVIEW WITH ONET - KAMIL DZIUBKA ON ONET: “During the sharp, anti-government address, President Andrzej Duda spared the PSL. He praised the party's ministers directly three times, including Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. In the government camp, it is said that this is an attempt to drive a wedge between the coalition partners, and even to win them over to PiS's side if the October 15 coalition candidate loses the presidential election.” https://www.onet.pl/informacje/onetwiadomosci/konsternacja-w-koalicji-po-wystapieniu-dudy-jak-go-znam-to-zareagowal-w-kuluarach/nl9ncqf,79cfc278 -- FAKT ON THE CONVICTION IN PO THAT THE PIS CANDIDATE WILL BE NAWROCKI - as written by Aleksander Wojak. -- WOJAK ALSO WRITES IN FAKT ABOUT THE RECOMMENDED CAUTION IN PO: “A source from Platforma tells 'Fakt' that his concerns related to the elections are not directly related to potential right-wing opponents. The elections themselves are a reason for increased caution in the party. 'These are my feelings, but I have the impression that Prime Minister Tusk shares them,' a PO politician says in an interview with 'Fakt'.” https://www.fakt.pl/polityka/niepokoj-w-po-wzmozona-ostreznosc-w-szeregach-partii-bedzie-ciekawie/b7vwynh -- WHEN I WAS DEALING WITH THE MUSEUM OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN 2018, I DETERMINED THAT HE WOULD ONE DAY BE A PIS CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT - ESTERA FLIEGER ON NAWROCKI - IN THE RZ PODCAST: “In her opinion, he is an extremely ambitious politician. – When I was dealing with the Museum of the Second World War in 2018, I determined that he would one day be a PiS candidate for president. I saw then, when writing about the museum, a man with huge ambitions – she recounts.” https://www.rp.pl/polityka/art41303591-podcast-rzecz-w-tym-lekcewazenie-nawrockiego-przez-trzaskowskiego-byloby-bledem -- A YEAR AFTER THE ELECTIONS, THE COALITION IS BOGGED DOWN IN NEGOTIATIONS - IWONA SZPALA IN GW: “A year after winning the elections, the ruling parties are still stuck in negotiations with their own coalition partners. - And until the presidential elections, we will likely not have normal politics – we hear in Platforma.” -- WE ARE BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY A GROUP OF CONSERVATIVES - A PO POLITICIAN TELLS SZPALA: “– This is an embarrassing issue for PO – says a politician close to Tusk. - Voters hold the government accountable for its effectiveness, and the main party in the government will be treated most harshly. We haven't even managed to get a bill out of the Sejm, to put it on President Duda's desk. And that was the plan during the election campaign. It's hard to explain to people that in matters of abortion, we are being held hostage by a group of conservatives.” https://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,31379585,rok-po-wyborach-koalicja-grzeznie-w-negocjacjach-szachuje.html -- THE THIRD WAY IS CRUMBLING AT THE SEAMS, AND ONLY ONE THING STILL HOLDS THE TWO PARTIES TOGETHER - DOMINIKA DŁUGOSZ IN NEWSWEEK: “– They add nothing to us Poles. They have no structures, no experience, no money. But they have a conviction of their own greatness, but that's not quite enough – say PSL politicians, and their colleagues from Poland 2050 do not remain indebted, arguing that it is thanks to them that the PSL is back in the Sejm, because in last year's elections and in this year's local elections, the Third Way received over 14 percent. – If it weren't for us, the PSL would once again have a sleepless post-election night, wondering if they got in or not – conclude Hołownia's politicians.” https://www.onet.pl/informacje/newsweek/trzecia-droga-trzeszczy-w-szwach-tylko-jedno-trzyma-ja-razem/0l8ww47,452ad802 -- BOSAK MAKES AN IMPRESSION ALSO ON ELECTORATES WITH DIFFERENT VIEWS - FRAGMENT FROM SADURA AND SIERAKOWSKI'S REPORT IN GW: “The data from the focus groups turned out to be consistent with the key findings of the poll. We have politicians who also make an impression on electorates with different views. An example of such a politician is Krzysztof Bosak, attractive to PiS, PSL, Poland 2050, and even sometimes KO and Lewica voters. (...) PSL voters do not like Tusk; Trzaskowski is merely his assistant to them. Kaczyński has 'ended,' and Morawiecki is his henchman. Bosak is perceived positively (balanced, supported by young people, commands respect). This is not an exception, but a rule – Bosak is also mentioned by participants in interviews who vote for PiS, Poland 2050, and even KO.” https://wyborcza.pl/magazyn/7,124059,31384124,atrakcyjny-dla-wyborcow-pis-psl-polski-2050-a-nawet-ko-i.html -- IWONA PRZYCHOCKA UNSUCCESSFULLY TRIED TO OBTAIN HER DOCTORATE (HABILITACJA) IN POLAND. NOW SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION AT POLISH UNIVERSITIES. - THOSE WHO SUGGEST SUCH COLLABORATORS TO THE MINISTER DO HIM A DISSERVICE - SAYS AN EXPERT - AGATA KULCZYCKA IN GW: https://rzeszow.wyborcza.pl/rzeszow/7,34962,31356613,bulgarskie-habilitacje-pelnomocniczka-ministra-nauki-z-habilitacja.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Adam Michnik (78), Antoni Dudek, Justyna Suchecka, Rafał Woś, Andrzej Mikosz.