"LIVING IN POLONIA"

POLISH TEA BAGGERS

It may surprise many, because they do not communicate well with the English speaking community, but Poles have their own version of the Tea Bag Party, although they prefer to call themselves by more patriotic sounding names. Oddly, they do not exist in large numbers in Poland itself, but are found mainly in America, particularly in the Chicago area. Hence, they can win Polish election counts in this country, but do not do very well in the land of their birth.

Need proof? These ultra-conservative voters, able to vote in Polish elections because they hold Polish passports, gave Jaroslaw Kaczynski a huge winning vote in Chicago, although Bronislaw Komorowski won the presidency with a strong showing in Poland itself. Regardless of the results, most remain enamored with Kaczynski and look upon Komorowski with often disrespectful disdain. Hmmm. Sound familiar?

The movement is understandable, if not practicable. Many of these persons are products of the struggle to rid Poland of the communist overlords. As that regime was supposedly to the left, although it acted more like a far right dictatorship, anything that looks or sounds anything like leftist is anathema in their perspective. It isn’t so much a matter of what might simply be a good idea from a practical standpoint. On the contrary, everything is seen in the light of ideology.

It is an odd sort of movement, though, in that it has no real impact on Poland itself. Its adherents "sing to the choir," as the saying goes, impressing each other far more than they affect Polish public opinion. They dwell upon such rightwing publications as Gazeta Polska [Poland Gazette] and Nasza Polska [Our Poland], while those papers barely pay attention to their fellow travelers abroad. In short, they do not get much press in Poland, despite their agreement with their natural political companions.

Of course, much like the ultra-conservative Tea Baggers, the Polish rightwingers in America see conspiracies in abundance, traitors around every corner and looming socialism in every proposal. It is particularly popular currently to suggest, even to assert, that the current ruling party (in other words, the elected majority party) is bent on the destruction of Poland. Some would even say that it would put an end to its sovereignty.

Although the rightist publications previously mentioned may agree with the assertion that the majority party is "socialist," the mainstream Polish press, both in Poland and in elsewhere, describes that party as "center-right" or "center." Unless one sees a bogeyman in every corner, the continuing tendency of the majority party to support a free market, typical democratic institutions, free elections and private ownership renders that description accurate.

Of course, Poland’s ruling party, having an affinity for the center mixed with a desire for votes, does support moderate social programs. It is the same sort of situation that encourages hardcore Republicans and Tea Baggers to label those programs as socialist. Not surprisingly, one Tea Bag presidential candidate is even attacking America’s Social Security system on that basis.

The rightist leaning of some Polish-born Americans will not last forever, just as the Tea Bag Party will eventually fall off a cliff of its own design. Extreme positions often have a current appeal, but rarely have longevity. Moreover, there are few younger people, born or raised in a country that is basically centrist, in the rightwing Polish movement. Their interest tends toward American issues and they see no future in a political battle centering on the Polish situation.