Good housekeeping: a guide for presidents
One is to front a score of TV shows on good housekeeping, publish a series of books and set up a successful media company. This route to stardom means, however, that you are no longer a housewife but a businesswoman. That, as Martha Stewart has found out, can expose you to all the trappings of power that come with the money.
There is, however, a safer way. Remain a housewife and let your husband's popularity catapult you to stardom. If you are thinking Hillary Clinton here, think again. The former U.S. president's wife was involved in the previous administration's abortive attempt at restructuring the health service and has a relatively distinguished legal career behind her. None of that is true of the current leader in the presidential polls in this country and, indeed, very little is known about her. Everyone is aware that Jolanta Kwaśniewska's husband does not, contrary to his claims, hold a university degree, having failed to complete his MA thesis. But what is Mrs Kwaśniewska's education? What are her political views?
If the nation's favorite for the presidency describes herself as "not a politician," then it is not so much that she is doing something right, but that everybody must be doing something terribly wrong. And, no doubt, they are. Next to Mrs Kwaśniewska in the polls are a TV news show anchor and a rabid populist with a prison record. Her husband is not eligible to stand, but for years he has consistently topped the rankings of the most trusted and liked politicians. Had not the constitution barred him from running for office for a third time in a row, he would have been the best bet to beat Mrs Kwaśniewska to the top job.
So what has Mr Kwaśniewski, unlike all the other politicians, been doing right? The answer, depressingly, is practically nothing. Appearing aloof from the day-to-day political infighting, he has built up a reputation as a politician who is, somehow, apolitical. After his election, he resigned his party membership. He must be the only left-wing politician of any stature who has not in some way been tainted by the recent spate of scandals.
True, at one point, the president looked likely to lose his status as an unbiased arbiter. About a year ago, he suggested that the prime minister might be about to resign, to which Leszek Miller's reply was to reveal that Mr Kwaśniewski had intimate knowledge of the Rywingate affair, but had failed to act on it. Shamefacedly, the president surrendered a "crumpled piece of paper," that represented Lew Rywin's version of events. In his eagerness to stay clear of the affair, the president failed to inform the authorities of this important piece of material evidence. Yet, even after it came to light, the sleaze miraculously failed to rub off on the president.
That affair provides an interesting insight into the reasons for the president's perceived inactivity. Miller went public about the president's insider knowledge of the scandal, in reaction to the president's thinly veiled call for his resignation. And his words sounded like a warning. Few pundits believed the prime minister revealed all his cards, it seemed rather that he was saying: "Don't attack me, or else..."
Or else what? He will publish the evidence of Kwaśniewski's involvement in corruption, as some thought Miller to mean? Hardly likely, even if such evidence, or such involvement, existed. Rather, what the prime minister meant was: "I can expose you for what you are - one of us politicians. Stay away, if you don't want the mud to stick to you, too."
For despite all his posturing as the unbiased arbiter, Aleksander Kwaśniewski is no doubt a politician with strong links to the ruling party. He is intimately interested in its fortunes and is known to have been unenthusiastic about Leszek Miller's leadership. But, if he wants to criticize the current left-wing establishment, he can only do so by proxy. And that is what he has increasingly been doing.
Two weeks ago, the SLD convention was marred by stinging criticisms of the way the party is run from ten of its leaders, including Marek Borowski, the speaker of the parliament. The talk was of an imminent split in the party and Borowski did not rule it out.
It took only a week before the SLD's weak coalition partner, the Labor Union (UP) went through similar turmoil. The party's leader, Deputy Prime Minister Marek Pol, is extremely unpopular due to his utter lack of personal charisma and his abysmal performance as the minister for infrastructure. The party's only politician of any stature, Tomasz Nałęcz, was catapulted to fame as the chairman of the Rywingate investigative commission and thus enjoys the reputation as one of the few righteous men on the left.
Nałęcz is finally looking to capitalize on that reputation. He has called for Pol's resignation from the cabinet and implied that the prime minister has to go as well. For his part, the president said that, since so many people are calling for the cabinet to change, he felt obliged to offer his views on the subject as well. Any such change should only happen after the June 13 European Parliament elections, he said. Leszek Miller, no doubt, should now feel grateful to the president. Unless, of course, he knows something we don't, such as who stands behind all those critics of Miller.
There is, however, a safer way. Remain a housewife and let your husband's popularity catapult you to stardom. If you are thinking Hillary Clinton here, think again. The former U.S. president's wife was involved in the previous administration's abortive attempt at restructuring the health service and has a relatively distinguished legal career behind her. None of that is true of the current leader in the presidential polls in this country and, indeed, very little is known about her. Everyone is aware that Jolanta Kwaśniewska's husband does not, contrary to his claims, hold a university degree, having failed to complete his MA thesis. But what is Mrs Kwaśniewska's education? What are her political views?
If the nation's favorite for the presidency describes herself as "not a politician," then it is not so much that she is doing something right, but that everybody must be doing something terribly wrong. And, no doubt, they are. Next to Mrs Kwaśniewska in the polls are a TV news show anchor and a rabid populist with a prison record. Her husband is not eligible to stand, but for years he has consistently topped the rankings of the most trusted and liked politicians. Had not the constitution barred him from running for office for a third time in a row, he would have been the best bet to beat Mrs Kwaśniewska to the top job.
So what has Mr Kwaśniewski, unlike all the other politicians, been doing right? The answer, depressingly, is practically nothing. Appearing aloof from the day-to-day political infighting, he has built up a reputation as a politician who is, somehow, apolitical. After his election, he resigned his party membership. He must be the only left-wing politician of any stature who has not in some way been tainted by the recent spate of scandals.
True, at one point, the president looked likely to lose his status as an unbiased arbiter. About a year ago, he suggested that the prime minister might be about to resign, to which Leszek Miller's reply was to reveal that Mr Kwaśniewski had intimate knowledge of the Rywingate affair, but had failed to act on it. Shamefacedly, the president surrendered a "crumpled piece of paper," that represented Lew Rywin's version of events. In his eagerness to stay clear of the affair, the president failed to inform the authorities of this important piece of material evidence. Yet, even after it came to light, the sleaze miraculously failed to rub off on the president.
That affair provides an interesting insight into the reasons for the president's perceived inactivity. Miller went public about the president's insider knowledge of the scandal, in reaction to the president's thinly veiled call for his resignation. And his words sounded like a warning. Few pundits believed the prime minister revealed all his cards, it seemed rather that he was saying: "Don't attack me, or else..."
Or else what? He will publish the evidence of Kwaśniewski's involvement in corruption, as some thought Miller to mean? Hardly likely, even if such evidence, or such involvement, existed. Rather, what the prime minister meant was: "I can expose you for what you are - one of us politicians. Stay away, if you don't want the mud to stick to you, too."
For despite all his posturing as the unbiased arbiter, Aleksander Kwaśniewski is no doubt a politician with strong links to the ruling party. He is intimately interested in its fortunes and is known to have been unenthusiastic about Leszek Miller's leadership. But, if he wants to criticize the current left-wing establishment, he can only do so by proxy. And that is what he has increasingly been doing.
Two weeks ago, the SLD convention was marred by stinging criticisms of the way the party is run from ten of its leaders, including Marek Borowski, the speaker of the parliament. The talk was of an imminent split in the party and Borowski did not rule it out.
It took only a week before the SLD's weak coalition partner, the Labor Union (UP) went through similar turmoil. The party's leader, Deputy Prime Minister Marek Pol, is extremely unpopular due to his utter lack of personal charisma and his abysmal performance as the minister for infrastructure. The party's only politician of any stature, Tomasz Nałęcz, was catapulted to fame as the chairman of the Rywingate investigative commission and thus enjoys the reputation as one of the few righteous men on the left.
Nałęcz is finally looking to capitalize on that reputation. He has called for Pol's resignation from the cabinet and implied that the prime minister has to go as well. For his part, the president said that, since so many people are calling for the cabinet to change, he felt obliged to offer his views on the subject as well. Any such change should only happen after the June 13 European Parliament elections, he said. Leszek Miller, no doubt, should now feel grateful to the president. Unless, of course, he knows something we don't, such as who stands behind all those critics of Miller.
