If there's anything we've done pretty well for a Stateside blog, I think it's trying to keep y'all up with what's happening across the pond.

Granted, we have no deep understanding of either European tribalism or feudalism and it's damn near every day I thank God the Founding Fathers did not harness us with the hopeless weight of a parliamentarian system. Bitch about ours as some always do, it is clear cut and as representatively fair as humanly possible. And settled in short order, unless you live in Arizona or California. There are no repetitive elimination elections where wheeling and dealing can cut the popular winner out through backroom agreements between losers of the previous round.

We also haven't ceded our national sovereignty to an artificially constructed and installed higher power, some of which is also unelected, that is creeping ever closer to usurping every facet of national governance except - and I say this tentatively as they could well regulate those, too - maybe dogcatcher or something.

I think it's pretty terrific we missed all that. Exceptional, even.

We have kept abreast of a nascent populist movement on the continent that, thanks to the overweening attitude of the Brussels Brahmins and the increasingly authoritarian inclinations exhibited by governments in the European Union itself, is gaining ever more support and legitimacy. Every election for the past two years has seen gains across the board for these movements, and, in some cases, outright election night wins.

The mandates and reforms they won on enacting have been foiled by the parliamentary system and the necessity of forming a 'coalition government.' It's hard to do even as a winner when you've won fairly, but the losers refuse to play.

This hasn't slowed down the growth of the populist movement or a resurgence of 'nationalism.' 

And this unwelcome development has Brussels increasingly worried, with them and their toadies in the various EU capitals reacting by playing Governor Tarkin to the populist Princess Leia.

After the setback in Poland, it seems they impulsively want to squeeze even tighter.

For one thing, the EU's man in Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has eyebrows shooting skyward with his reaction to historian and former boxer Karol Nawrocki's surprise and unwelcome presidential victory.

Analysts are parsing Tusk's language closely, from the fact that he didn't congratulate Nawrocki on his win to statements he's made about possible conflict between the two offices of the Polish government. Tusk has asked for a confidence vote, and suddenly, no one is confident that Tusk will act accordingly if he loses it.

Is Tusk planning a coup? Fears grow in Poland after he threatens to ‘govern’ despite President Nawrocki’s veto

Backed into a corner, Tusk may be preparing to completely violate the rule of law and usher in a dictatorship in Poland, warn a number of top journalists and commentators

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s threats regarding potential vetoes by President Karol Nawrocki and his announcement to “get down to work” triggered an avalanche of comments on social media.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, of the Civic Coalition (KO) announced that he will ask the Sejm for a vote of confidence in the government.

“I want everyone to see, including our opponents, at home and abroad, that we are ready for this situation, that we understand the gravity of the moment, but that we do not intend to take a single step back,” said Tusk.

He also announced that if Karol Nawrocki vetoes his bills, he will still “rule.”

“A contingency plan, assuming difficult cohabitation, has been prepared. It is difficult to assume in advance what the attitude of the new president will be. If he shows a willingness to cooperate, it will be a positive surprise, to which we will respond with full openness. If not, there is no point in waiting. We will start working regardless of the circumstances because that is why we were elected. We will submit ready-made bills, but if necessary, we will govern and make decisions even with a president who blocks good changes. We already have experience,” said Tusk.

Tusk’s specific wording is raising fears that he may either ignore Nawrocki’s veto or simply pass laws through the backdoor using decrees and other illegal methods, according to Polish news outlet wPolityce. Given the sharp deterioration of the rule of law since Tusk took power, including seizing state media, ignoring court rulings, and imprisoning political opponents, there is ample concern that Tusk may only continue on the same path despite Nawrocki’s victory.

When Tusk came to power, he referred to his law-breaking methods as “militant democracy.” The claim was that because the previous conservative government was so bad, the new government would have to break the law in order to restore democracy.

Breaking democracy to save it - we're pretty familiar with that lately.

Tusk has watchers worried that the confidence vote he's called for is a bluff, but should he lose it, he would remain as prime minister. And continue in power with what many have described as his already less than 'democratic,' more extra-legal ways, attempting to use those methods to blunt the effect of the authority vested in the Polish president for vetoes and judicial appointments.

...He said the administration would continue with its programme even if the new President tried to block legislation by using his power of veto. 

“We will not stop for a moment fighting in the common struggle for the Poland we dreamt of at the dawn of independence; free, sovereign, safe and prosperous.

“The presidential election has changed nothing, ” Tusk declared, despite the fact that his coalition lacks the required 60 per cent parliamentary majority required to overturn any presidential veto.  

In a defiant move to reassert his authority and head off speculation of his government falling apart after its presidential election defeat, Tusk said the first test of the administration’s ability to carry on “will be a vote of confidence that I will request from parliament in the near future”.

...If a tabled motion of confidence failed, the government would be deemed to have resigned and [Current Polish President] Duda would have to nominate a candidate to form a new one. If the attempts to form a new government failed over a six-week period, parliament would have to be dissolved and early national elections held. 

According to the latest opinion polls, early elections would lead to a majority in parliament for the PiS and Confederation.

The opposition PiS has seen Tusk’s move for a vote of confidence as signalling that he would continue to attempt to avoid legislation and presidential powers. Instead, he would continue to rule by administrative decrees and parliamentary and government resolutions, over which the PiS have criticised him since his government took office in late 2023.

All of that is hugely concerning, and remember - Tusk is Ursula Von der Leyen's man. He is the one who has brought Poland into the top five of the EU's highest tier. As one article put it, he brought Poland to the 'EU's head table.' And that's what his and Von der Leyen's chosen candidate, Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, ran on in the election last weekend - even closer ties with the EU. Nawrocki was the rampaging nationalist.

The EU and Tusk's party were rejected by Polish voters, granted, in a real squeaker of an election, but rejected nonetheless in one more rightward national shift.

How unpleasant will the consequences be?

It bears watching as populism and preference for returning to a national identity are breaking out all over no matter what restrictions the EU and national leaders put on freedoms to 'protect democracy, which has to be terrifying to the autocrats.

Over the weekend, a conservative Polish historian named Karol Nawrocki, backed by the Law and Justice opposition (and President Trump), narrowly won the Polish presidential election. For the European political establishment, Nawrocki’s victory was a catastrophe — a harbinger of right-wing fascism looming over the continent. 

Why? Because Nawrocki campaigned against the mass immigration policy of Brussels while promoting conservative Catholic values and Polish nationalism. During his victory speech Sunday night, Nawrocki said, “My Poland is a Poland without illegal migrants. It is a Poland where, instead of integration centers, there are deportation centers for those who want to destroy our safety.”

It turns out, this sentiment is increasingly popular not just in Poland but all across Europe. Last week in Portugal, the right-wing populist Chega party overtook the center-left Socialist Party as the country’s main opposition. Six years ago, Chega had only a single seat in the Assembly of the Republic. It now has 60. In Germany, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is one of the most popular political parties in the country, yet Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has officially classified AfD a right-wing extremist group. Why? Because AfD opposes mass immigration and promotes German national identity. In France’s national elections last year, only a desperately cobbled-together coalition of left-wing parties prevented the right-wing National Rally (RN) and its allies from winning.

These populist movements are seen as a threat to the political class of Europe because they are concerned primarily with a proper historical understanding of what the nation is and what the state is for, which is the preservation of the nation and the defense of its people and heritage. Europe’s elites hate that, because their political project is explicitly post-national. They want to destroy the nation as such and replace it with supra-national institutions governed by a global elite. 

THE MORE YOU TIGHTEN YOUR GRIP, TARKIN... 

...If Nawrocki’s victory in Poland is any indication, populists in Europe are eventually going to start winning elections. When that happens, we should be prepared for European elites to react in the worst possible way, cracking down on duly elected political leaders while invoking “democracy” to justify their tyranny. The Trump administration, for its part, should be prepared to respond to this impending conflict — and come down on the side of the European people against their corrupt elites. 

THE MORE STAR SYSTEMS WILL SLIP THROUGH YOUR FINGERS

A MEP (Member of European Parliament) is already threatening the new Polish president before he even takes office.

German MEP Moritz Körner responded to Poland electing the conservative Karol Nawrocki president by threatening the country with a renewed freeze of EU funds if the new president vetoes laws seeking to restore the rule of law.

Posting on X, the German politician said that “the vote of confidence that Poland received after the parliamentary elections has been exhausted.”

“The grace period for solving the rule of law problems in Poland has ended. The Polish government must now pass all the laws that will restore the rule of law in Poland. If the newly elected president boycotts the necessary rule of law reforms with his veto, the EU will have to freeze funds for Poland again. Ursula von der Leyen must make it clear that if Poles want to continue the boycott policy, they will receive continued sanctions. The president is therefore to blame,” wrote the MEP.

And now reports about a teensy bit of bias against the populist candidate during the campaign are coming out. I mean, imagine a public television station advocating for the government's candidate. No way.

...Despite that, the observers mission authors highlighted among other things what they called inadequate regulations on campaign financing. That allowed the publication of propaganda material for Trzaskowski  that did not have to be accounted for, partisan involvement by public officials in campaigning for him and bias in the public media controlled by the government against the opposition candidate, the OSCE said. 

Contrary to its mandate, public television station TVP, along with the US Discovery-owned broadcaster TVN and the German-Swiss owned portal  Onet, often portrayed Nawrocki in a negative manner, while the coverage of Trzaskowski was largely uncritical and supportive, the report stated. 

...It pointed to two new Facebook profiles that, from April  16 to May 14, raised around €100,000 for 136 video ads on Facebook in favour of Trzaskowski and against Nawrocki and Sławomir Mentzen, the Confederation party candidate who finished third in the ballot’s first round.

The OSCE added that both profiles were later referred to Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) for investigation.

It said, though, the handling of the case by public institutions including NASK, a Polish State research institute tasked with monitoring cyberthreats, “raised concerns” of bias in favour of the government’s candidate and against Nawrocki. 

Sounds like manipulative business as usual.

But never fear, believers and participants in European 'democracy.' 

‘Social media incompatible with democracy,’ warns French digital council

Co-President of the French National Digital Council, Gilles Babinet, has warned that social media “in their current forms are not compatible with democracy”.

Giving testimony on June 2 as part of an inquiry by French parliamentarians into the psychological effects of TikTok, Babinet argued that social media algorithm eroded democratic debate by encouraging “radical” statements.

“Social networks in their current form are incompatible with democracy. We are witnessing a severe degradation of democratic debate,” he said.

They're coming for you anyway.