Poland’s Pulse: “This year was…” · Global Voices
Jordan & Maria Seidel

Polish bloggers are having a holiday break. Stuck between family and tons of food (both are obligatory parts of Christmas celebrations here), some only posted best wishes, and many didn't even bother to do even that.
Among these who managed to update after all, a great number seems to have been struck by the “recapitulation plague.” This disease, a type of melancholy, is particularly rampant around the end of the year. Its main symptom among the blogging community members seema to be a need to summarize and somehow evaluate the past twelve months.
Almost every post started with “This year was…”
The bloggers of Salon 24 (more about this initiative at a later date) seem to compete in summarizing. Its host, Igor Janke, in his Janke Post, proclaimed 2006 to be the lost year (PL):
This was a year of disappointments in the public arena. After the last elections I, like millions of Poles, expected a great renaissance. I counted on Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Donald Tusk and their parties. Both have wasted their chances. PiS maybe wasn't doing as bad as many were predicting. They did introduce some reforms. But they also introduced (populist) Giertych into the government. They introduced minister Jasinski, who's blocking privatization. They introduced minister Fotyga, who's not doing a thing. They make deal, split and make deal again with Lepper and his pathetic band. The levels of political discord have reached previously unknown heights. Although the economy is, thankfully, doing fine, I'm disappointed. From the politicians that were supposed to make a breakthrough I'd expected much, much more.
One of his guests – Adam Pietrasiewicz in Widziane z pozycji siedzacej was forced to confess: “I'm not dissapointed in 2006″ (PL):
Mr. Igor Janke is complaining that he's disappointed again. From what he writes, he's been also disappointed before. Even by those who haven't done anything – precisely because they haven't done anything. I don't understand how can you say: “but they promised that it's going to get better…” EVERYBODY always promises that, 'cause this is democracy – you make promises in order to get elected. Then the representative does whatever is needed by the people he's dependent upon. And these are not the voters, not in the Polish system anyway. I used to live in a system where you voted for a specified candidate. It also was a corrupted system, but still better than ours. During the vote, I always put in a slip with ONE name on it, and by the end of my stay, it was usually a name of somebody I knew PERSONALLY. Who in our system can say, not that he knows his representative, but that he knows what his name is? NO ONE. Simply no one. Our voting system is bad. I concluded that much after returning to Poland, and I don't participate. I don't vote, because it makes no sense. This way I don't get disappointed, like Mr. Janke.
Fragles this time opened his site to a fellow blogger Matka Kurka, to quote his rant published previously on one of the forums:
This year was an exceptional one, we haven't had one like it in 17 years. For the first time in 17 years a motion has been made to the speaker of the parliament to proclaim Jesus Christ a king of Poland. You can order pizza or a taxi at a police station. Everything started with a campaign by a party jokingly called Law and Justice, gracefully titled “We keep our word.”
Seventeen years is a reference to the latest statement of Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Puchatek has more:
Mr. Prime Minister revealed to us that the last year was the best of the last 17, Poland grows in strength, people grow in wealth, foreign policy is a success and in general, everything is super. Puchatek would like to add that we have especially beautiful holidays this year, fresh snow covered half of the country, kids are riding sledges outside and the squirrels are singing carols from the treetops. And the marmot's wrapping, of course.
Elenoir (Moje sluszne poglady na wszystko) complains about this flood of commentaries, rankings and summaries that prompt her to add her own:
It's hard to find any particular positives in politics or economy in the passing year. Some good memories relate to sports (volleyball) and that's all. Things “in minus ” I could list 'till morning. Calling this year the best one since the beginning of the transformation seems silly. It's hard to make any predictions, but, as you know, certainties are taxes (growing), death, and I could add stability of the current coalition – since even the tape scandal did not damage it…
Jah gives his own forecasts for 2007 (PL):
Saddam has been hung, which won't bring normalcy to Iraq, not at all. It will be rough in Afghanistan as well. After the New Year, Polish soldiers will have a rough time there; the Taliban – no one denies that anymore – are getting stronger.
Finally, Galba competes with mayor Polish magazines by offering internauts his own poll for the Man of the Year. His nominees are:
The results should be known in the first days of the new year.
That’s the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time – Do widzenia i powodzenia!