I find it fascinating that the Polish government has laws preventing the public from expressing "negative" opinions about politicians. For example, the title of this blog, associated to the picture above, could potentially land me in jail for up to three years, if I was in Poland right now. I often wonder where such a law had its beginnings. Is it a vestigial remains of the psychological scarring that the PRL generation suffered behind the Iron Curtain, and which manifests itself in them lacking any sense of humor, while suffering inhuman insecurity of self-worth and self-respect? Take the Head Duck as a case in point. The man is small, dumpy, clearly not a prime specimen of humanity. Not only that, but he's the dumber twin, which is actually quite an achievement, considering the family is generally not too endowed in that department. On top of that, he's afraid. He doesn't know how to operate in today's reality, and knows it. He lacks the training, the knowledge, and exposure to the pace of 21st century life which would allow him to succeed. Some examples? Well, there's his statement (or was it his brother's? Same diff, actually) that Internet users are all beer-swilling porn addicts (this was in response to questions on whether voting via Internet would be a good idea). Then there's the classic state of the union address he had recently, in which, in a moment of lucidity, he decided that in order to fight the "evil" media's skewing of his presidential achievements, he will turn the tables and use the same methods. What resulted was the most laughable and disturbing display of propaganda I have seen in years. (Actually, since Bush made the aircraft carrier speech below the "Mission Accomplished" banner.) There was the use of film showing a gay marriage from New York (something that has now caused a bit of an international incident, since there was no permission given to use that image, and in fact, the image had nothing to do with Europe to begin with), there was the picture of Nazi-era central Europe, with the evil Germans in black encroaching on a poor, defenseless Poland in white. There were some other choice visuals, all of which were meant to strike fear into the hearts of innocent Poles so they would reject the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon. After all, those Europeans are godless euthanizing baby-killers in gay marriages. All of them. The holy Catholic nation of Poland must, according to the Head Duck, protect its virtue and values, and must stand stalwart against the dilution of values and ideals that Europe is peddling. I seem to recall that Poland tried to stand apart that way once or twice already in history. I believe the immediate consequence was the cessation of a Polish state altogether, but I may be remembering that incorrectly.
But, back to the issue at hand. How does someone with such limited awareness of the world today hope to convince an entire populace of his right? How can he use such media as he did in that speech, and not understand that he will be ridiculed? And then, when he IS ridiculed (Lech Walesa called him a dunce soon after), he raises a stink and instigates a legal inquiry. Well, let me be the next person to publicly say something that people are saying in private on a regular basis all over Poland: Lech Kaczynski is a hopeless idiot completely out of his depth as the President of Poland. He is deluded, lacks any clue as to how to govern, and is doing a great job of alienating Poland from the rest of Europe without any awareness of the consequences, while trying to pander to populist ideas and using fear to guide political opinion.
One thing I'm glad of. It so far looks as if the general Polish populace is starting to be sophisticated enough to see through Kaczynski's bullshit. Except for the likes of Rydzyk and his Mohair Coalition, but thankfully that contingent is getting older with every day, and they're dying in droves. I can only hope that the continued extensive travel of the rest of the population will ensure that no dwarfish clown-like idiots ever again gain so much power in Poland. Of course my even-handedness reminds me immediately that the United States elected a much bigger idiot (hear that Head Duck? You're not even the biggest idiot, you've failed at that as well) to be the "Most Powerful Man on Earth". So, I guess shit can happen anywhere, it's just a matter of not stepping in it.
