Stan gry (The Game's State) has repeatedly (!) listened to a fascinating "masterclass" in power, which Donald Tusk delivered during his meeting in the hall in Pabianice, complemented by what the Prime Minister conveyed when announcing resignations and promotions, and during the first Council of Ministers with the newly appointed officials and those whose heads the Prime Minister couldn't sever, even though we know he wanted to. -- BIG PICTURE -- THE PRIME MINISTER: -- HE IS ALWAYS THE SUN KING: "What would I do if I had full power...", "You can see for yourselves who I have to work with", "They know that if they hit me, eliminate me, they'll go for their own." -- HE IS NOT THINKING ABOUT LEAVING, TENACIOUSLY CLINGING TO THE BELIEF (WHICH IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE) THAT HE WILL REBUILD: "I hope we have 2 years without elections." -- HE BELIEVES IT'S FIFTY-FIFTY AND NOTHING IS LOST: "Each of us, myself included, must learn to navigate a reality where we are sometimes 51% and sometimes 49%", "It's a daily duel for every smallest vote." -- IT'S NOT ME, IT'S OTHERS, HE ERASES THE MEMORY OF KNOWN FIGURES, ACTORS IN MINOR ROLES: "You won't tell anyone, I'm joking a bit because there's a camera, but don't say too much about this. Sometimes, when our politicians open their mouths, I think: 'Why did I ask them to go to the media?'" -- SHIPS BURNED - TUSK COACHES VOTERS AND HIS PEOPLE: "Ships burned, we left them on the beach and like Cortes once did, we are only moving forward. Because we are aware that alongside great threats, there is also a great opportunity before us. The fact that we are changing part of the cabinet, at a time when Poland is becoming the 20th largest economy in the world, when our GDP has exceeded a trillion, when Poland is truly becoming a regional power, building the strongest army in this part of the world. No one has the right and will not dare to underestimate Poland. This is a year of great hope, and for God's sake, we cannot waste it. We have not had such a chance in our history. We will resist where necessary. You will be surprised yet by what people standing here with me are capable of." -- HE COACHES NOT ONLY WITH CORTES BUT ALSO WITH THE TOUR DE FRANCE: "You probably don't have much time, neither do I, but in the evenings I like to watch the stages of the Tour de France. There are no outstanding results for Polish cyclists today. There are two leaders, and they are fighting for victory: a Dane and a Slovenian. They crash on almost every stage, are in crashes, are bruised, but they don't think about quitting for even a second. Some are bruised after months of hard work, some still feel the pain from falls, but you have to get on your bike and win." -- HE ALSO COACHES WITH TENNIS AND ROLAND GARROS: "In politics, it's like on the Roland Garros court: victory belongs to the most persistent" (on X, 23.07). -- HE ALWAYS ADHERES TO THE PRINCIPLE OF STRENGTH AND DETERMINATION, TAKING POWER RATHER THAN NEGOTIATING SUCCESSION, OF ACCOMPLISHED FACTS: "Believe me, experts have never won any elections anywhere. In politics, what really counts is strength, a clear vision, determination." -- HE SEEMINGLY LAMENTS, BUT IN REALITY, HE FLIRTS, SEEING IN THE NEW REALITY A CHANCE TO SHIRK HIS OWN FAULTS: "Everything disappears after an hour, and a new, usually quite nasty, spectacle appears" or again: "How long did the news about the assassination attempt on Trump last: two days, three? Once, an assassination attempt on a president was a topic for a year, two, a decade. And now it doesn't make any impression on anyone." -- HE EXPANDS ON HERACLITUS' PANTA RHEI AND KWAŚNIEWSKI'S "TIME FLIES FASTER THAN WE THINK" FROM KYIV: "Every hour brings some surprise, surprising words, and surprising visits to various places." -- HE ALWAYS CONSIDERS HIMSELF THE ONLY ADULT IN THE ROOM: "Sometimes I have the impression that I am watching a rather ghastly race in the opposition benches, in the ranks of the opposition, but unfortunately also sometimes around or within the ruling coalition, a race of idiots or traitors", "I have a deep need to talk 100% seriously for a moment, because some actors on this stage give the impression that they are not living seriously." AND ALSO: "(...) to pull themselves together and understand that politics is a serious game, for external and internal reasons. And that in politics there can be no place, or at least as little as possible, for these races of traitors, fools, or people without imagination. Because the stakes are too serious in our hands." -- EMOTIONS ARE ABSOLUTELY KEY TO EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW - HE ADMITS, AND FROM THIS ONE CAN INFER THAT HE STILL BELIEVES IN WHAT COLUMNISTS CALL "PULLING THE CAGE BAR" OR "ADDING WOOD TO THE FIRE": "Emotions are absolutely key to everything right now. You can't just say to yourselves: they are better at emotions. And we will always be pragmatic, rational, programmatic. Well, I know, how long did the brief news about the assassination attempt on Trump last: two days, three? Once, an assassination attempt on a president was a topic for a year, two, a decade. And now it makes no impression on anyone, and there is a need for constant maintenance of emotions, evoking emotions, and a special art is to evoke emotions not in a nasty way. We have both good and bad emotions within us, and from my point of view, the greatest challenge is to be able to evoke emotions, but the good ones." -- HE IS JEALOUS OF KACZYŃSKI'S VOTERS - WHEN I LOOK AT THEIR VOTERS, I SEE SOLDIERS, I SEE AN ARMY: "I truly consider myself a specialist in this and I believe in it as a political creed: Don't think first and foremost about changing people who think differently from you. Be strong yourselves. Politics is unfortunately a field of clashes and confrontations. It is not within your power to change the views of others, it is within your power to stand up and say: I will defend my view. And this is their main advantage. I have no complexes, they don't have better politicians, they don't have better experts, they don't have any geniuses on the internet. They are determined. You want to, shout at me, I am responsible for everything, but when I look at their voters, I see an army, I see an army, whether they believe in stupid things or wise things, that's their business, but I see guys who don't whine, they go forward. On our side, I see a very beautiful, pluralistic, critical, very intelligent group of people, but it's harder to convince you than it is for Kaczyński to issue an order. So let's try at least to put on armor and take up shield and sword. I sometimes sorely miss this faith that we all know what it's about." -- HE BELIEVES THAT THE RADICAL COALITION VOTERS ARE ACTUALLY SUFFERING ON A "PLUSH CROSS" AND HE HIMSELF RISKS THE MOST AND IS CALLED MILLION - BECAUSE FOR MILLIONS. I LOVE AND SUFFER TORTURE: "I suffer more than you. I will truly pay a higher price for what might happen if we lose. I am aware of that." -- HE CONSTANTLY BELIEVES THAT OTHERS ARE "WHINING": "In a democracy, the act of voting itself is not a great sacrifice. It is truly that nice moment, that nice day. If you want that vote to truly have weight, you are rightly demanding that it be counted honestly, but that vote will truly have weight if, beforehand, we have worked together to convince others. Every vote weighs the same, but if ours are fewer, they weigh a little less. I do not allow the thought that this army of good-willed people will hoist a white flag in 2027." -- HE BELIEVES IN POLARIZATION AND TRULY BELIEVES THAT WITHOUT HIM, PIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM POWER: "We must rebuild faith in what we are doing. Why was the mobilization possible after years of defeats? And I reject one of the obvious arguments, that I helped, i.e., I believe it mattered, but let's leave that aside. It was more important that all those who believed that change was needed for fundamental values, that is what unites us, and there is nothing more important. We hear that the political conflict in Poland must end, that polarization is unnecessary. These are beautiful words, but in the end, what lies behind these words: capitulation before the evil that united us. When I see evil happening, nothing will stop me, what are we even talking about? If in the Left, in the PSL, in Szymon Hołownia's party, this kind of thinking prevails, that it no longer matters, that you can have dinner with both this and that, everything is the same, values are similar." *** -- THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN UNDERSTANDING TUSK'S CURRENT SYSTEM OF POWER ARE HIS WORDS DEFINING HIS LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY - "ONCE TO THE WOLVES, ALL IN": "Believe me, experts have never won any elections anywhere. Really. In politics, what really counts is strength, a clear vision, determination. I have seen truly seemingly talented politicians, surrounded by outstanding communication experts, but if something was missing, like courage, determination, assertiveness, that kind of 'once to the wolves, all in,' then no expertise, no IT specialist, no digital genius will help." -- THE PRIME MINISTER - PROBABLY CORRECTLY - DOES NOT FULLY BELIEVE IN THE MYTH OF ALGORITHMS THAT FASCINATES OTHER POLITICIANS AND IGNITES THEIR IMAGINATION: "Please believe me, I spend a really lot of time, after my normal working hours at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, to understand the phenomenon of these algorithms. Today, algorithms on the internet have a very important, perhaps not decisive, but significant impact on election results. But somewhere at the end, even the most sophisticated techniques, including digital ones: AI, not just the internet, at the end of the day, what truly matters is what it's all about. We have a trend today, I know why we won on October 15th, and it's not because we had brilliantly mastered algorithms on the internet." -- THE PRIME MINISTER BELIEVES IN SOCIAL BARRICADES, COLLECTIVE EMOTION, NOT ALGORITHMS: "Really not because of that. And there was a reason why we didn't manage to win for 10 years. And why there was no general mobilization for 10 years, and why there was on October 15th. And we all passed the exam then, in communication and good organization. Thanks to your help, we organized two of the largest political demonstrations in the entire history of Poland. So I see no reason why we should talk about our work, you know, with some complexes." -- TUSK BELIEVES THE RIGHT-WING'S ALGORITHM FOR VICTORY IS STIRRING FEAR OF STRANGERS: "Clear communication stands before us. There, the algorithms of victory are born on their own: down with foreigners, down with colorful people, down with Ukrainians. Imbued with radical conservatism, xenophobia, and also fear, and such a demonstration, you know: only us now, ours, nationalist egoism. It's a simple message because the fears are simple. I don't want to lecture anyone, but it's so simple for our opponents: to build a narrative on fears and anxieties." *** -- TUSK WANTS TO SHARPEN THE COURSE OF COMBAT DEMOCRACY; SIEMONIAK WAS TOO SOFT: WE IN POLAND WERE THE FIRST TO UNEQUIVOCALLY SAY: GOODNESS, AND THEREFORE DEMOCRACY, IS NOT NEEDED IF THEY ARE WEAK: "In the USA, both Democrats and Republicans have the most distinguished experts. In Great Britain, when the fate of Brexit was being decided, both sides had similar firms, resources, and authorities. We in Poland were the first to unequivocally say: goodness, and therefore democracy, is not needed if they are weak, if they cannot defend the border, defend against external and internal aggressors. Democracy is weak if the police cannot enforce the law against militias at the border, and this will definitively end. I won't go into details, but you know well that the reconstruction of my government was aimed, among other things, at tightening the reins and telling everyone under me: enough pampering and jokes, whoever raises a hand against the Polish state, whoever insults the Polish state, whoever reaches for power that does not belong to him, will be punished, detained, and this was the main reason why this reconstruction happened." *** -- OTHER MATTERS, BUT ALSO INTERESTING: -- EITHER HOŁOWNIA WILL COOPERATE, OR TUSK WILL DISBAND HIS CLUB AND SECURE A MAJORITY: "I will grit my teeth, I hope you understand me. I need a more or less stable governing coalition." -- TUSK OPENLY ADMITS THAT BODNAR WAS REMOVED BECAUSE HE LACKED THE IMAGE OF A TOUGH GUY: "Minister Bodnar had almost all the advantages, and everyone respected him greatly. But he lacked one thing: the image of a tough guy, someone who takes charge. He didn't have it, but he did a lot of work." -- TUSK DOES NOT FULLY TRUST KOSINIAK: "We agreed with Kosiniak that I would respect the autonomy of the PSL's actions in rural areas. With moderate results, I would put it that way." -- THE ONLY POLITICIAN TUSK SPEAKS OF WITH MODERATE, YET CERTAIN RESPECT IS... MENTZEN: "I don't know Mr. Mentzen well, I've had the opportunity to talk to him once in my life, so I don't know how much he believes in what he says, and how much, despite his young age, he is cynical and only says what part of the young electorate wants to hear. He strikes me as an intelligent, sharp man. It's not my cup of tea, I have a different type of state, public responsibility than he does, but I assume he is intelligent enough to know that most of his postulates are purely propaganda or completely unserious. Well, I also remember Mentzen's famous '5'. He's a bit ashamed of it now, but nothing disappears from the internet." *** DAILY STAN GRY: -- BUT IF SUCH HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS WERE RAISED, THEN NOW ONE MUST FACE THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF ONE'S SUPPORTERS - DOMINIKA WIELOWIEYSKA ON HER YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu191AYN1_s -- PEŁCZYŃSKA-NAŁĘCZ: THE PUBLIC DEBATE ABOUT THE ELECTIONS WAS CONDUCTED BY OUR COALITION PARTNER IN A MAXIMALLY IRRESPONSIBLE MANNER - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2025/07/28 -- GOVERNMENT RECONSTRUCTION WITHOUT EFFECT. PRIME MINISTER DONALD TUSK LOSES CONTROL OVER VOTER EMOTIONS REGARDING FALSIFIED ELECTIONS - MICHAŁ PŁOCIŃSKI IN RZ: "These are certainly not the questions that please the Prime Minister after a long (too long?) announced reconstruction. It should have turned out differently – as Bubbles used to say in 'Trailer Park Boys.' Perhaps it's even worth reaching for another pop culture classic, from 'Kiler' – and the whole elaborate plan... Except that Tusk can only blame himself, because he is falling victim to a conspiracy theory that he himself has condoned the proliferation of. What's more, he has even amplified it with ambiguous posts on the X platform." -- HOŁOWNIA ON BODNAR'S PATH? - CONTINUED PŁOCIŃSKI: "He may want to stand between the camps fighting to the death, but in the eyes of both, he is siding with PiS. And those whose support he dreams of, while trying to distance himself from Donald Tusk, even if they secretly applaud him, will ultimately vote for Konfederacja or Razem anyway. Because you can't be any 'third way' while co-creating a government with one of the camps. Hołownia is therefore rather on the best path to repeat the fate of Adam Bodnar, with whom the logic of polarization did not deal kindly. https://www.rp.pl/komentarze/art42761611-michal-plocinski-zamach-stanu-i-sfalszowane-wybory-czyli-rekonstrukcja-rzadu-przegrywa-ze-spiskami -- IN THE TWENTY MONTHS SINCE THEN, EVERYTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO DISGUST CITIZENS WITH FAITH IN OPEN COOPERATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT - MICHAŁ BONI IN KULTURA LIBERALNA: "In the twenty months since then, everything has been done to disgust citizens and the third sector with faith in open cooperation with the government. Therefore, the resignation of women from the government – responsible for equality, seniors, or civic organizations – only deepens the problem. It only shows that it was a marketing ploy by the prime minister." -- THE RESULT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN 2027 DOES NOT DEPEND ON A SHIFT TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT – ONLY ON WHETHER DEMOCRATIC FORCES DO NOT SLIDE INTO STUPIDITY - CONTINUED MICHAŁ BONI IN KL: "The result of the parliamentary elections in 2027 does not depend on a shift to the left or right – only on whether democratic forces do not slide into stupidity. And that is precisely the belief that in politics only narratives matter. One cannot ignore their importance, but solving problems also matters. https://kulturaliberalna.pl/2025/07/25/misja-tusk-2-0-7-wnioskow-z-rekonstrukcji-rzadu/ -- TUSK WANTS TO GO HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH PIS. "THERE WILL BE A BLOODLETTING" - DOMINIKA DŁUGOSZ IN NEWSWEEK: "Either this will be the last chapter of the October 15 coalition, or the first of a completely new history. Everything depends on whether Tusk's renewed government is truly a 'war cabinet.' – Well, we're finally going to fight – politicians of Civic Coalition do not hide their joy. As if in 24 hours the mood in the party has radically changed: from 'we will all perish' to 'we will still show what we are capable of.' – These recent whinings and depression stemmed precisely from the fact that the boss said there would be a showdown, and we were waiting for God knows what. Or rather, like a herd of sheep, we were waiting for slaughter – says one of the high-ranking PO politicians. – Now everything is clear – she adds with hope." https://www.onet.pl/informacje/newsweek/donald-tusk-chce-isc-na-zwarcie-z-pis-bedzie-jatka-kulisy/06vzkgb,452ad802 -- TUSK STILL HAS THE INSTINCT OF A POLITICAL KILLER - JACEK NIZINKIEWICZ IN RZ: "Tusk has shown that he hasn't lost his edge, he still has the instinct of a political killer, he can surprise in the world of information leaks and speculation, and he also has the will to fight and determination. This is important because these will be the most difficult two years of Tusk's life, which will determine not only his future and biography, but also, to put it loftily, the future of Poland. Whether after the upcoming parliamentary elections in Warsaw there will be Budapest – depends precisely on the current decisions of the head of government. And they are serious." https://www.rp.pl/opinie-polityczno-spoleczne/art42742561-jacek-nizinkiewicz-rekonstrukcja-polowicznym-sukcesem-ale-szymon-holownia-uprawia-dywersje -- IN THIS BOOK, I FORESAW MANY THINGS ACCURATELY. FOR EXAMPLE, THAT "KACZOR" WOULD BECOME UNELECTABLE - MICHAŁ KAMIŃSKI QUOTED BY PIOTR GŁUCHOWSKI IN GW: "– It's easy to criticize the book's title due to PiS's later successes, but as you know, the publisher invented the title. It was supposed to be sexy, and it was. More seriously: in this book, I foresaw many things accurately. For example, that 'Kaczor' would become unelectable. I don't claim credit for making him realize it, but the fact is that after 2012, he no longer put his face on any elections. He put forward Andrzej Duda, Beata Szydło, Mateusz Morawiecki, now Nawrocki..." -- AS EARLY AS NOVEMBER I KNEW AND WAS THE FIRST TO SAY THAT NAWROCKI WOULD WIN... - MISIEK GŁUCHOWSKI TELLS GŁUCHOWSKI IN GW: "– We would be in a different situation today – both Kaczyński and the governing coalition – if, instead of the liberal Rafał Trzaskowski, Platforma had put forward Radek Sikorski in the presidential elections, which I urged the coalition members to do for a long time. They didn't listen. As early as November, I knew and was the first to say that Nawrocki would win..." -- I HAVE NOT FORMALLY CONVERTED TO ORTHODOXY, BUT CURRENTLY IT SPEAKS TO ME THE MOST. I STILL FIND METAPHYSICS THERE - KAMIŃSKI STILL IN GŁUCHOWSKI'S TEXT: "– I have not formally converted to Orthodoxy, but currently it speaks to me the most. I still find metaphysics there. Because my criticism of the Catholic Church has nothing to do with faith, it's more about people. When Bishop Wiesław Mering said at Jasna Góra that we are ruled by Germans, and yet 'a German will not be a brother to a Pole,' I felt offended. Who was Pope Benedict XVI? What did Tuwim write? 'Teach us that under Your sun there is no Greek or Jew.' We are all children of God. The absolutization of the nation is contrary to Christianity, and I say this as a former nationalist." -- I HELD A ONE-PERSON ANTI-PIS MAJORITY IN THE SENATE BETWEEN 2019 AND 2023. PIS THEN HAD THE SEJM, THE PRESIDENT, THE GOVERNMENT, STATE-OWNED COMPANIES – THEY COULD HAVE GIVEN ME ANYTHING – KAMIŃSKI TELLS GŁUCHOWSKI: "– Yes, we surrendered – the politician tells me. – And now I read that I am returning to PiS. I laugh at that. I held a one-person anti-PiS majority in the Senate between 2019 and 2023. PiS then had the Sejm, the president, the government, state-owned companies – they could have given me anything." -- THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO MEETING AT ADAM'S IF THE STUPID PLATFORM HAD NOT STARTED TO QUESTION THE ELECTION RESULTS - MISIEK STILL SAYS IN GŁUCHOWSKI'S TEXT IN GW: "I did not return to PiS at that time, and I will not return now. There would have been no meeting at Adam's if the stupid Platform had not started to question the election results. Although I know that if PiS had lost, they would have questioned it too. I know them." https://wyborcza.pl/duzyformat/7,127290,32127469,michal-mis-kaminski-zone-mi-szantazowali-zrobilem-odwrotnie.html -- HAŁADYJ, EARLIER ALSO DEPUTY MINISTER UNDER JADWIGA EMICLEWICZ, WILL BE THE HEAD OF NIK - REPORTS WITOLD GADOWSKI IN GW: "The ruling coalition has decided that the new president of the Supreme Audit Office will be 47-year-old Mariusz Haładyj, the current president of the General Counsel's Office – 'Gazeta Wyborcza' has learned unofficially. According to our information, Szymon Hołownia proposed Haładyj's candidacy to Donald Tusk, who approved it." https://wyborcza.biz/biznes/7,177151,32132457,we-wrzesniu-nowy-prezes-nik-jest-nowy-dwupartyjny-faworyt.html -- BIRTHDAYS: Janusz Niemcewicz, Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski, Piotr Maślak.