This is what happens when a country gives up its sovereignty to outside forces like in the EU. Nations should handle their own internal affairs not some unelected foreign gnomes in Brussels.
1
The world is on fire. Authoritarianism is rising.
The common people finally have a strong voice.
These seem to be competing narratives to explain some of this radical shift in behaviors among a variety of our world’s democracies. Which do you believe? Maybe they are both true, to some extent. Maybe neither are true, to some extent.
Whichever you choose, or don’t choose but find you inherently gravitate towards, try to pause and reflect on the other side’s position momentarily. You may find there is some room for both narratives to exist, if adherents to either spend the energy required to listen.
Are the courts overly powerful? Sometimes. We wouldn’t feel so threatened when control is wrested away, otherwise.
Do angry mobs make for poor judges? Typically. Some could argue almost always. Courts exist to set rational limits on the irrational — human behavior. Example after example exist to justify concern at the investment of so much power in a solitary executive.
I’m not trying to argue that both sides are bad. Nor do I seek to hamstring those who hold objectively and morally correct narratives why this move with the courts shouldn’t be accepted, that it is potentially a country-ending move.
I’m just advising we talk, at the person to person level, and more importantly.. that we try to listen.
Currently we’re being led by others into a battle where no one is the winner, because we all lose. That’s on us, the citizenry of our world’sDemocracies and Republics, to solve.
3
Too many words.
Authoritarianism is wrong. You know this.
State this clearly and fight against authoritarianism.
You are not the solution, you are the problem.
12
if judges by law are forced to retire at 65 so should politicians.
10
Sounds like North Carolina.
4
Let me provide some local context, as most comments seem to be echoing the one-sided article.
When the communist era ended in Poland in 1989 most institutions (as in other post-commie countries) were overhauled to transition into a proper democracy. Only two major ones weren't: military intelligence (that kept its direct ties with Russia for nearly two next decades) and the judiciary.
The judicial system was pretty much left as it was, and it was expected to somehow "cleanse itself" from commie apparatchik judges. It didn't.
Instead, it devolved into a corrupt, incestuous mafia-like structure with strong ties to post-commie oligarchs and post-commie governments we had.
How so?
In a modern democracy the judiciary is one of the three pillars of power independent of each other but subject to checks and balances. In the US Federal judges are appointed by politicians and state judges are appointed either by popular election or by elected politicians. In most of EU there is a mixed system (that varies by country): both politicians and judicial bodies take part in appointing new judges.
In Poland, until now, most judges were appointed (or nominated in some courts) by other judges with no outside control, no democratic checking and balancing whatsoever. As a result the judiciary has largely become a closed shop run by families and connected people. Becoming a judge is an easy career path for a child of a prominent judge.
Current overhaul changes that. Hence the popular support.
15
Now, whether this is going to be a change for good, only time will tell. But saying this is an authoritarian overreach is the kind of biased unfairness that makes people label media as fake.
Judges have immunity in most countries, but in Poland this privilege is abused in ways that make people furious in their powerlessness.
Judges who commit crimes/misdemeanours are subject to a procedure by the judicial disciplinary commission. The commission consists of judges appointed by judges who were appointed by you guessed who — judges. It is quick to exonerate their colleagues. As a result, we have judges who had been caught shoplifting (on CCTV camera), judges who injured people while drunk driving and judges who were corrupt, etc. all of them still sentencing, some of them "punished", e.g. by being moved to a smaller district. This is the system that is being reformed and the reform has an enormous deal of support by the voters.
We like it or not, the government holds democratic legitimacy having been elected by an unprecedented majority. People voted for this undoing of the "caste of extraordinary people" as one judge blatantly blurted out about the judges at a recent conference.
Again, we can only guess the outcome of the reforms, but we don't have a judicial system worth defending either.
BTW, Justice Gersdorf's first job as a judge was in SC. She was a law teacher & corp lawyer for a major TV station prior to that, never sentenced before. A daughter of a SC support judge.
10
What Shaft is saying is simply not correct. The courts and intelligence services were thoroughly vetted after the 1989 transformation. The later destruction of the intelligence services was led by Antoni Macierewicz, who now has been shown to have very strong Russian connections, and has recently been removed from the position of Defence Minister. Ironically, some of the leading PiS actors regarding the courts and prosecution were officials under the pre-1989 Communist regime.
2
........you see ( hopefully ) what Trump is doing at all court levels to ensure his policies for next ten, twenty, and more years....well, in short, that is exactly what the communists did in Poland and now needs change finally.
5
Oh my. It is exactly what PiS is doing. The court system was cleaned of Communist influence after 1990, and it is completely wrong to say that almost 30 years later, the court system was still "Communist". It is PiS restoring the situation as it was during the People's Republic, with the courts subservient to the ruling Party.
1
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."
- V for Vendetta (2005)
7
"The European Union’s failure to curb Hungary’s drift toward authoritarianism has already emboldened other leaders in the region, where right-wing nationalism and populism are on the rise."
What's missing from this sentence is the obvious and the problem--the word "collective": The European Collective's failure to put "nationalism and populism" into gulags. Too late. Stalin is no longer with us.
What happens when the "collectivists" push the citizens too far, too fast.
2
This all feels so strikingly familiar. Might be an echo from our own future.
11
One can assume that after some serious smoozing with his best-bud Vladimir in Helsinki, the Fake President will make an unscheduled stop in Warsaw before jetting back to D.C. Besides praising the evolving Polish autocracy, he can also scout out sites for future Trump luxury properties. "Law and Justice", a name that Orwell would be jealous of.
11
Trump already visited Warsaw a year ago, speaking to a hand-picked crowd of PiS supporters bused in from the countryside, who naturally gave him a rapturous welcome. Now PiS has rigged the rules of civic elections to be held later this year, and has introduced a bill which will so change the electoral system for electing members to the European Parliament as to effectively exclude small parties. Such wholesale restructuring of the State without major Constitutional changes is unthinkable in established Western democracies.
9
I hope the Polish people will rise up to protect democracy as they have so many times in the past. Such a wonderful country- I would hate to see it go backwards at this critical time.
15
I agree with many comments here: those with fascist impulses will — by nature — push until the resistance is stronger than they are. Find your backbone, tepid Europe, and fight these maneuvers with every thing you have, Poles with a conscience!
7
A Model for TRUMP and the NEO - White GOP ,
This is how Hitler transformed Germany in the 30's...
They said it would never happen here, not with strong Unions and Manufacturing. Well guess what, that's all gone.
Welcome to the new 4th Kingdom (Reich).
Its all the Brown people's fault, round 'em and put them in cages, hold them hostage for money for the wall. Pull out of all treaties, then Make a pact with Russia to divide up Europe, Crimea is a good start. Then make a pact with a strong man in the Pacific Rim to keep those Asians in line.
History does repeat itself...
10
more support;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/hitlercons...
One of the first necessary steps, control the Courts
4
Excellent contribution.
Don't believe for one moment that that can't happen here!
As a Polish -American I have to say--it is a shame what Pis party is trying to accomplish today. My only hope is that Poles will vote wisely and more voters will go to the polls next time.
8
If we don't see this as a warning for what could be coming for us, we're living in denial. I'm not saying we'll go that far, but we are quite definitely on the road that takes us there if we don't stop.
17
This is what happens when the U.S. president shows no interest in supporting democracy abroad and reveals thinly-veiled hints at embracing authoritarianism here at home.
Putin is making all the right moves in his global chess match and we have a president who is either firmly in his corner or has no idea he's being played.
This is a big wake-up call for Europe but it better be the same for us as well or we're done.
21
"we have a [White House occupant] who is either firmly in his corner or has no idea he's being played."
Both.
10
For a nation of 38 million people, 72 supreme court justices seems like a lawyer employment system.The US, with over 300 million people, has gotten along quite well with 9 supreme court justices, and FDR's effort to expand the court was wisely rejected. How does a single court with 72, or even 45 justices, reach a consensus? Presumably, the Polish Supreme Court operates differently than the USSC, but it does seem to be an unwieldy body given the number of justices. Aside from size, the court should not be under political control of any party or government. Eliminate judicial independence and effective democracy dies.
5
The Supreme Court in Poland has a different mission than the one in the US, hence the different size/structure
7
I hope the NYT and other American news sources continue to cover this. Maybe then people will see the parallels that are occurring here. The courts are often the last defense of democracy.
32
I hope the NYT continues to do in depth reporting on this situation, I do not find it easy to follow but certainly is concerning.
23
Donald Trump is taking notes.
22
Our Supreme Court Incorporated is a division of Kich Industries, and exists only to further corporate control and interests.
Once evil greedy people get the levers of power, the people are no longer relevant.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a trend worldwide.
15
Mr. Walesa is realizing the relevance of our Second Amendment. When the government comes for the last of your civil rights then you realize, as Mao said, that political power grows from the barrel of a gun. Marching in the streets, petitioning the courts, and hand wringing are sometimes not enough.
13
Eastern Europeans, beginning with the Prussians, have never been enamored with democracy. Anymore than the peoples of the British Isles love tyranny.
"East is east and west is west and never the twain will meet."
4
Poland is in Central Europe.
9
And what was Prussia is now Germany and the "low countries", so not exactly Eastern Europe
Prussia was definitely a German-led state, but at least half of the land area that was once Prussia is now part of Poland and a few countries that most people would consider to be Eastern Europe.
Goodbye Poland. Are we next?
36
This is a sad day for Europe.
It also casts a bright light on Donald's packing of the US Supreme Court.
17
The side who wins elections gets to pack courts.
4
Hmm. Obama had won the election previous to Scalise's death. So those who win elections do not always get to pick justices, let alone pack courts. Sometimes, that ability is stolen from them by unethical means. Which is what is happening in Poland.
2
Wrong. Obama won elections yet was blocked from appointed a justice.
Weak post.
Does everyone realize the US is secretly arming Poland for the first line of defence against Russian expansionism? The Poles are very pro US and absolutely hate the Russians.
8
Prove it!
2
Yes, the polish people hate Russia... but the tyrants in power don’t.
9
The current Polish president has accused the Russians of killing his twin brother. I think it is fair to say he hates them.
Americans, where is OUR Lech Walesa?
29
John McCain, Jeff Flake and many others.
2
Shouted down by progressives who think he won’t pass a purity test?
3
You wouldn't want Walesa in America - he was a UB (Urzad Bezpieczenstwa=Polish version of KGB) INFORMER, reporting on his Solidarity colleagues, and being well paid for every bit on every person he sent to communist prison. His UB file has numerous "receipts' with his unquestionable signature, confirming the subsequent payments. He even made fun of it in recent years, that anytime his wife (who has separated from him ) wanted a new washing machine, a refrigerator, etc, he would go to the UB with another report on someone and be paid in cash immediately. Which he promptly used to buy whatever she wanted - telling her and the children he won LOTTO again ! He also is an alcoholic, having serious memory/ cognitive problems. One of his sons died of alcoholism just last year. Another has serious legal problems for drunk driving and killing people. Considering that he was never educated even at the secondary level, it's easy to understand why was he hand-picked by the KGB to be a fake 'leader', diluting the national quest for freedom by signing the fake freedom agreements known as the 'round table'. The total lack of information among the commenters here is frightening.
1
It would seem that Poland is wandering into a new dark age where law and stable national institutions wither away into conflicting factions struggling for power based upon tribal loyalties. Neo-feudalism might be an appropriate label. It’s what Putin is doing to Russia. No more Enlightenment ideas applied to state government and social life.
6
What a weird opinion about Poland - dark ages? Poland is emerging as the spiritual leader of Europe, taking the role to protect Europe from self-destruction.
1
Beware America this is your future under Trump.
32
This is a real tragedy and a frightening one. We are faced with something similar. The politicization of our judiciary is well underway. The only thing between democracy and Trumpism is the fact that we still have good judges in the circuit courts. That will change as Trump gets more and more of his nominees appointed. McConnell saw to it that the Scalia seat was stolen and that a right wing ideologue was appointed to fill it, Grassley and the GOP have done away with the blue slip process. Once the courts go, and they're going, we can kiss our democratic way of life goodbye.
51
Against this background, Trump disrupts what we used to call the "Western Alliance" and lavishes praise on Putin, who has tried to undermine our democracy with impunity from our president.
Who finances the Trump organization's developments? Who buys blocks of condos in his developments?
28
Unquestionably treasonous associations.
10
An evil shadow has fallen across my ancestral homeland, as it has in this country, the land of my birth. As a child and a young man, I had despaired at the thought that Poland would remain a vassal of the Soviet Union - another grotesque chapter writ large in a millennium-long history of oppression from without. What irony, then, that after half a generation of self-governance in general conformity with democratic norms, a cabal of its own power brokers has undertaken the castration of an indispensable pillar of that democracy.
Godspeed, Mr. Walesa. May you once again bring the demagogues to their knees before the people.
74
Wałęsa is purely a symbolic figure. The leadership of Poland's opposition is sorting itself out, and the two strongest leaders, unfortunately devoid of any charisma whatsoever, are Grzegorz Schetyna and Włodzimierz Czarzasty. History has bestowed on these two men the responsibility of leading Poland back to democracy. Former Presidents Wałęsa, Kwaśniewski and Komorowski will help them all they can.
2
Poland, and Hungary for that matter, are a fine examples of why it was such a lousy idea for Bill Clinton to push NATO expansion. Neither country has a modern history of democracy, and Hungary in particular has been a hotbed of nativist reaction since the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Clinton never asked Congress or the American people whether they had any interest in defending with their lives the renegade crypto-fascist regimes in Warsaw and Budapest. Bush W. didn't either, and now the shedding of American blood is obligatory on behalf of authoritarian-lite states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - states on Russia's border whose foreign policies we have no control over. And of course there's Obama who committed us to the defense of Montenegro and Croatia. Imagine that: Nobel Prize winner Obama sets us up for World War III for the sake of some future Montenegran crackpot who looks just like the crackpot who ran the place in 1914 who helped start WW I.
I just don't get how a President alone, with only his signature, can obligate the country to make out-and-out war on behalf of a grab-bag of nations run by a bunch of tin-horn dictators that scarcely any American has ever heard of. No congressional approval and no public discussion of the merits, but still we're obligated to shed American blood and treasure on behalf of an ignorant madman like Jaroslaw Kaczyński and his fascist buddies in "Law and Justice."
11
He can't. It's in the Constitution which apparently is not read or used by Congress or the president. The Constitution is very clear on the matter that only Congress has the power to declare war. Only Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations. Congress has to approve of any treat for the agreement to go into effect. How and why we have strayed so far from the path...
5
Gary. You missed the Ukrainian denuclearization treaty. Bill Clinton got Ukrainians to give up 1200 nuclear warheads in exchange for American/NATO guarantees of defending their borders if necessary.
When Russia annexed Crimea and occupied Eastern Ukraine Obama,Merkel and Brussels bureaucrats sat on their hands.. playing with a "reset button". Poland noted that and acted accordingly.
7
So why don't you simply propose that all of these countries be annexed by Russia as the New Soviet Union and be done with it? Stupid is as stupid does.
While you're at it, why doesn't America withdraw from all international treaties and obligations? After all, Trump has made us "great" again. Right?
3
The article does not state what the disagreement is all about, other than "Red Spiders".
4
It takes only one man with grudge, the leader of the "law and justice party", kaczynski, to undermine democracy in Poland.
The EU should act strongly before it will be too late.
24
Exactly opposite - EU is the undemocratic institution.
The new breed of fascists in Europe now wear regular street clothes. Suits and ties, skirts and tops.
Makes them harder to spot than when they donned the brown shirts.
But, it's the same game of power play and pushing the limits of civil society, rule of law and traditional norms to see if they can get away with breaking it little by little.
Till it's no longer recognizeable.
Then, it's too late.
Traditional norms…
Like a president adhering to some semblance of acceptable truth when he speaks.
No, the unemployment rate was not approaching 45% as he said when he was a candidate (because the government calculations were way off he said) and now it's EXACTLY the low figure that same government says because it favors him.
Like the Senate leader refusing to give a legally elected president his right and constitutional duty to appoint a supreme court justice.
Based on a lie.
We don't allow a president in an election year to place a judge on the court "on his way out the door" said McConnell.
How easy the historical record makes it.
Justice Kennedy himself proves the opposite:
*On November 30, 1987, President Ronald Reagan (a Republican) nominated Justice Anthony Kennedy to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Lewis Powell. A Democratic-controlled Senate confirmed Kennedy…on February 3, 1988 (Reagan's last year in office), by a vote of ninety-seven to zero.*
See? Truth is easy!
Give fascists an inch and they'll take the whole country.
Never!!!
89
Eloquently stated. It's here, and it's NOW.
When this happened in Nazi Germany, the Germans thought it could not happen here. We know how that ended and how many lives it cost. NEVER HERE!
10
Another case of right-wing extremists doing Russia and Vladimir Putin a favor undermining European unity. Donald Trump soon will be praising the effort to consolidate power in the hands of those inclined toward Putin’s methods. Mr. Trump has indicated he will do the same, as soon as the Supreme Court can be brought into the Trump camp.
26
This is an attack on democratic rule. The "Law and Justice Party" is not living up to its name. A strong and independent judiciary is fundamental to protecting the rights of individuals against other government institutions. The government of Poland needs to protect its judiciary, not purge it of judges who stand up for real justice.
EU leadership must intervene here, imposing economic and trade sanctions to protect this principle. Where is the EU?
42
The EU can do very little, since there are other member states, such as Hungary, which will veto any serious action against Poland. Poland already is about to lose significant funding from the EU, but that is to some extent expected as Poland becomes wealthier and as Brexit takes effect. As in the case of the US, Poland's economy is doing very well, so the probability of PiS winning subsequent elections is high.
EU has no right to interfere with judiciary reforms in member states. EU has no interest in any rule of law - this bashing Poland is politically motivated, it is ideological battle.
This is now also happening in America:
"they are creating a system where the courts will be subservient to politicians, who then will be able to change the constitution through judicial rulings."
I believe Putin is behind all of it.
77
It is also happening in states like North Carolina that have Republican-controlled legislatures. 6 constitutional amendments on the ballot in November, a blatant attempt to usurp power; all must be voted DOWN!
Vote out these enemies of democracy in November!
37
The people who suffered under Soviet rule were given freedom, but not taught how to be free.
29
there are plenty of people in the USA who haven't suffered Soviet rules but yet support the authoritarian rulers here. That's how the USA got DT
9
Watch carefully - Trump would love to do this and then declare Martial Law to claim his absolute power. If you need a more graphic explanation, watch "The Handmaid's Tale" or read books about Germany before WW II!
VERY SCARY and sneaky while constant, daily distractions and lies create apathy. Congress is his enabler (and he is slowly co-opting the entire judicial system) but once power is secured even they will be marginalized as "obstructionist" and "anti-American".
This upcoming election is so important because authoritarianism is progressing very quickly and the SCOTUS is becoming biased too far toward Trumpism.
61
Worrisome article, but the reporter did not give a single substantive issue to illustrate what the differences between the judges and the elected government might be.
13
There are no substantive issues. The government is merely focused on naked abuse of power, much like in this country.
9
The judges in this Constitutional Tribunal were nominated for 6 years before the present government was elected. It has served as a check on this government's more egregious efforts to remake Poland to fit its vision.
4
Some of the issues are personal: Ziobro, the Justice Minister and Chief Prosecutor, has a running feud with some doctors whom he blames for his father's death, and he can now manipulate the courts to rule against these doctors, who until now have been winning their court cases. Most significantly, the Supreme Court rules on the validity of elections. The Constitutional Tribunal and Elections Commission have been taken over by PiS some time ago. And then there's the simple patronage issue, so that PiS can appoint its own supporters to lucrative and secure jobs. I can go on ...
1
Poor Poland, it doesn't know, or doesn't wan't to know, the harm to it's democracy (if any), by removing it's judicial independence. It is an abuse of the Executive that will remove all freedom to choose quality instead of scraps, all for dubious security; and from a healthy dose of new blood (immigration). Poland's decline is deplorable, as civics is AWOL.
14
This could most certainly happen here in the good 'ole US of A, if it hasn't already begun
46
The great Western European powers are Doing nothing and seem to have completely forgotten their democratic values since all they care about is the cheap labor they get from Poland.
9
That’s not democracy.
19
The US should do the same.
When SC justices, well into their 80s, start dozing during hearings and have their law clerks do most of the work, then it’s time.
Maybe an age limit of 75.
7
Assuming "Fox & Friends" tells him of this, I can almost hear trump (knowing nothing of FDR's failed effort to 'pack' the U.S. of A.'s SCOTUS): "I wanna do that."
………………
In any case (and 'on top' of the nasty letters … drafted by putin??? … trump had sent to NATO countries about defense spending), I imagine that that trump and his buddy in Russia are downright jolly, consequent of the tumult in Poland and other E.U. countries -- and, most particularly, in consequence of Merkel's concession to Germany's fascistic 'tribes' just to 'save' her government in seriously corrupted 'form'.
16
I don’t find what is happening with the US Supreme Court any less terrifying than events in Poland. Justice Kennedy was essentially induced to leave under odd circumstances and there is no doubt pressure on some others to do the same. Meanwhile, appointments are being made by a president who is clearly a Russian puppet and is being aided by a Congressional leadership that behaves as if it, too, may be influenced by Russian inducements.
So while I feel for Poland’s people and their relatively young democracy, we have much more to worry about on this July 4th about the survival of our own 242-year-old democratic government. We seem to be losing our freedoms at a record pace that is only destined to accelerate unless we do something soon to stop it.
It’s going to be hard to watch this year’s fireworks and feel optimistic about the future of our nation.
109
Right, because a long-serving SC justice clearly can't make his own decisions?
People have been projecting all this unfounded reasonableness on Kennedy, simply because he sided with liberals on abortion and gay marriage. It may come as a surprise, but those aren't the only issues that affect the general public.
He has ruled very conservatively on labor, the environment, voting rights, money in elections, etc. throughout his tenure. It's simply not accurate to consider him a moderate because of two particular issues.
5
And let us not forget Merrick Garland
3
Please do not promote absurd conspiracy theories.
Much as the right’s hatred of Pres. Obama allowed them to credulously ask if Sandy Hook was fake, the absurdity of the Kennedy conspiracy is a disservice to thinking people.
Kennedy is conservative. He cares more about a conservative legacy for the country than anything else (Plus gay marriages will still recite his Oberfell ruling as though it were a plasm so what else does he need?).
If you truly believe the Deutsche Bank conspiracy then you know nothing about how high finance works (hint: the bank holds all the power, these loans are callable at anytime so Deutsche could bankrupt Trump at will) or how obscenely the .1% are enmeshed with each other across party lines.
It's ironic that PIS accuses people of other parties of being communists. They're trying to turn Poland away from the EU which is what Russia wants right now. Russia went from being an oligarchy of authoritarian communist country to being an oligarchy of authoritarian capitalism. Simply put they're nationalist fascists whose state media supports Putin. And now Poland, instead of being a Soviet bloc state has become a puppet of the new Russia. Just like Russia has their state run media so does Poland with TVP. Jacek Kurski, a former politician with the PIS party, runs the network. So in the space of 30 years Poland has gone from communist puppet state to democratic state and now, with Russian interference, is becoming another puppet state, in the form of fascism and so called nationalism. It's a shame that the Polish people it seems will never get out from under Russia's thumb.
33
Ironic that as soon as Poland gains freedom from its Soviet oppressors and entry into the EU, its Right Wing Extremist Government turns on its people and subjugates them to internal oppression.
There is no doubt in my mind that these extremist right wing forces in Europe and the United States represent the greatest threat to Liberal Democracy since the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s.
65
As soon as? Poland essentially became free of Soviet interference in its domestic affairs in 1989, 29 years ago. It joined the EU in 2004, 14 years ago. Poland up to now has experienced the longest uninterrupted period of democratic self-governance in its long history.
What's happening now may be rooted in the fact that Poland had virtually no experience with democracy prior to 1989. Democratic government in the interwar period, following the re-establishment of an independent state in 1920, was snuffed out by a military coup d'etat in May 1926.
5
All brought to you by the outsized resentment of Vladimir Putin, simmering since his days as a KGB officer in East Germany when the wall came down and Moscow wouldn't respond to his calls for help in putting down the insurrection. Everything happening today in both Europe and the US has been secretly plotted, financed, and carried out by him in his attempts to break up NATO and exact revenge on the US.
And here, the NRA received 30 million dollars in financing from Putin sources, the ill-conceived Calexit campaign was the brainchild of a Russian resident with a Russian girlfriend, neither of whom even lived in California, and Jill Stein was wined and dined in Moscow by Putin and paid to spoil Clinton's victory (thanks again, stupid purity progressives). What better way to destroy America? Arm it heavily and agitate its factions.
And now word from the Washington Post that GOP senators are spending July 4 not in the US but in Moscow, stating "we don't have to be adversaries." Umm, yeah we do while this one-man geo-political wrecking ball is alive and in power (I'm so sorry I laughed at you, Mitt Romney, because you were right!)
5
"Internal oppression"? never heard such a nonsense. Democracy in Poland is blooming, freedom of speech is far ahead of other European countries, including Germany and France.
I'm American and have lived in Poland for over 35 years. I've asked around and nobody can answer how is this different than the President of the US appointing judges which basically makes them politicians in robes, beholden to the Party that appointed them. Witness the recent rulings by the US Supreme Court.
Specifically, this exists in the US as well:
"But critics, both in Poland and abroad, contend they are creating a system where the courts will be subservient to politicians, who then will be able to change the constitution through judicial rulings."
"In a step-by-step process, the Law and Justice party has established control over the Constitutional Tribunal; taken over the selection of judges; and expanded the powers of the justice minister, threatening prosecutorial independence."
"That critics see a reversion to Soviet-style jurisprudence is not without irony." Does that mean the US has one too? The Russians did it!
"..they needed control over the tribunal so they could pass laws that she said were clearly unconstitutional, like most of the changes they have made in the courts." This would be Congress in the US.
"The Law and Justice party used a variety of means to stack the court in its favor.... "
"Then the party took over the National Council of the Judiciary, which is responsible for appointing judges." That would be the US (s)election.
“They are not putting people in jail, yet,” she said." They are in the US.
1