Poland Turns Away From Democracy, Thanks to the U.S.

[CaliCat 3,957]

Is everyone dizzy from winning so much yet?

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/opinion/poland-democracy-bills-donald-trump.html?rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=Multimedia

Poland Turns Away From Democracy, Thanks to the U.S.

 

In short, for the price of some applause, Mr. Trump gave Mr. Kaczynski the cover to carry out a coup. And what has the United States done since? The State Department issued a dry statement formulated not to offend the Polish authorities (“We urge all sides to ensure that any judicial reform does not violate Poland’s Constitution”).

It’s unlikely that Mr. Trump meant to condone Mr. Kaczynski’s power grab. But by not using his visit to press the Law and Justice leader to respect democracy, Mr. Trump gave his implicit imprimatur to a renewed campaign to get the bills into law. And while Mr. Duda showed political independence in vetoing two of the bills, he has otherwise been a faithful ally of Mr. Kaczynski. We’ll see if his new drafts will really run counter to Mr. Kaczynski’s, or only extend Mr. Duda’s own influence over the courts at the expense of Law and Justice.