No, not here. At least, not yet. But a chilling glimpse of possible things to come?
Until August 8th, Janusz Kaczmarek was Poland's Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration, roughly the equivalent of our Attorney General. He was fired from that position by Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski for supposedly hindering a corruption investigation of another prominent Polish official. He was arrested today on similar charges. Opposition politicians, however, claim that the charges are trumped up, and that the real reason Kaczmarek was arrested was because he has been critical of the prime minister and his conservative allies. Specifically, Kaczmarek has charged the PM with illegal wiretapping of journalists and political rivals. The former minister's arrest came just days before he was due to testify before a commission about his allegations.
Hmmm. A government accused of spying on its own citizens? Something about this sounds so familiar. And the Kaczynski government has been accused of bad management and corruption, and his conservative coalition has lost a great deal of popularity. Yeah, this is definitely ringing a bell. Ooh, almost forgot: politics runs in the Kaczynski family – his brother is the president. Spooky.
An incompetent, corrupt conservative government, run by a family dynasty, that illegally wiretaps its own people. You just can't make this stuff up.
And when someone on the inside is about to give them up, he's whisked off to jail. I guess that's how they do things in the "New Europe."
Message to Gonzo and Rummy and MC Rove and all the other rats who are deserting the sinking USS Dubya: it pays to be loyal.