Poland's house of cards

In Netflix’s House of Cards, Frank Underwood never storms anything. He has no use for tanks or mobs. He arranges things so that, when the moment comes, the rules themselves hand him power. Sworn in as vice president without facing a single voter, he turns to the camera: “One heartbeat away from the presidency and not a single vote cast in my name. Democracy is so overrated.”

Poland, one of America’s closest allies on NATO’s eastern flank, is now living through its own version of that plot.