Democratic Debate Feb. 4, 2016

Nothing much new was said in the most recent Democratic debate; not even the absence of the courtly Martin O'Malley was mentioned.
Sanders is still in favor of single-payer healthcare and free tuition for state colleges.  Clinton is opposed to the first because it is too expensive and the second because she "doesn't want to pay tuition for Donald Trump's kids."  Healthcare is a right and healthcare insurance is a conflict of interest:  the more insurance claims denied the more the insurance profit.  It is unlikely that Trump's kids would go to a state college but should high schools not be free because a millionaire's children can go there?
Clinton got upset because Sanders questioned her contributions from Wall Street, apparently forgetting a previous debate when she defended Wall Street because Wall Street was in New York and she was a Senator once from New York!  Is it unreasonable for Sanders and others to think that Clinton and others might --even unconsciously -- be influenced by those who make large contributions? Clinton even said at one point, apparently without irony, that "these guys make good investments."
Clinton is in favor of capital punishment, at least in some cases.  Sanders says, "there is too much violence in the world and no government should be involved in killing."
On foreign policy both candidates are opposed to ground troops in the Middle East and in favor of coalitions. It was interesting to see that Sanders was questioned about not having any distinguished foreign policy advisers while Clinton continually deferred to (usually unnamed)experts about her policies.
Clinton has changed her mind on trade agreements in several cases; it is unclear where she now stands on the issue.  Sanders is in favor of "fair trade" that keeps, as much as possible, Americans from having to compete with low-paid foreign workers.

Both candidates want to combat the increasing economic inequality but I was once again disappointed that neither candidate discussed unions and what could be done to strengthen them.

Republican Debate Jan.28, 2016

I look forward to the future Republican debates when we can play a drinking game based on every time Chris Christie mentions 9/11 or says "... as a former federal prosecutor."
 --Gail Collins, The New York Times

The Republicans continued their race to the bottom, afraid to say anything that might make anyone who might vote for them change their mind.  Christie, for instance, once suggested that Social Security payments could start later than they currently do.  He may or may not have abandoned that position but when asked about entitlements in the current debate he said no more money for Planned Parenthood and no more legal abortions!  This has nothing to do with entitlements, Planned Parenthood money is a drop in the budget bucket, and the federal government cannot legally pay for abortions!

Ted Cruz, opposed to Obamacare just as all the other candidate are, was asked how he would replace it, a question all the candidates have been ducking.  His answer:  more healthcare accounts, allow insurance companies to sell across state lines, and de-link health insurance from employment. 
All this is great for people who can afford, one way another, health insurance but does nothing for those without health insurance and can't afford it, those whom Obamacare was designed to help!

On foreign policy everyone wants to bomb ISIS back to the Stone Age and rebuild the military, though no one has the courage to call for the return of the draft.   Only Rand Paul seems to have given much thought to the consequences of what to do after ISIS is destroyed.  Everyone is opposed to further immigration and no one, any more, wants a path to legalization or citizenship for immigrants who are here illegally. 

Rick Santorum and Marco Rubio want to diminish inequality by doing away with regulation and climate control.  Rubio actually said he does not want to save the environment if it means losing jobs!  Santorum does show some concern for the 74% of adults who do not have college degrees, though neither he nor any of the other candidates shows any sympathy for unions, one important means to get blue-collar wages to rise.

Kasich pleaded with his fellow Republicans to work with Democrats in a conciliatory way but most of the candidates were too busy bashing Hilary Clinton to listen.  Gilmore, Huckabee, Carson and Fiorina had little to add to the debate:  Gilmore bragged about being a veteran, Huckabee was folksy in a scary way, Fiorina repeated constantly that it was "time to take this country back" and Carson seemed to be dozing off during most of the debate, though he did awaken at the end to prove he could memorize the Preamble to the Constitution.

Democratic Debate Jan. 17,2016

First of all, kudos to Martin O'Malley.  He is the first one in all the debates, of both parties, to mention the crucial issue of unions. In the list of things he said he wanted to do he included "make it easier to join labor unions and bargain collectively for better wages." 

In the "debate" itself there was minimal disagreement.  Bernie Sanders reiterated his support for a single-payer health system while Clinton wants to "build on Obamacare."  As Sanders pointed out, Obamacare still leaves 29 million people uninsured.  Hillary is obviously still feeling the wounds from her healthcare efforts in the 90's and doesn't want a "contentious situation."  When Hillary objected to the tax increases that would be necessary for a single-payer system Sanders correctly pointed out that any increased taxes would be more than canceled out by the savings of insurance premiums, as even employer insurance is costing the employee more and providing less, with more and more people postponing doctor visits because of the high co-payments. 

On foreign policy and the armed forces Sanders pointed out that we still have an army based on what we needed during the cold war and this needs to be looked at.  Clinton is still apologizing for her support of the Iraq war and feels a different wind blowing now, as she bends with it.  O'Malley correctly put the emphasis on the increased intelligence needed to fight ISIS and Sanders emphasized the need to learn from the past (what a concept!) and to have a good idea of what will happen after we topple a despot before we do it as an end in itself.

Sanders emphasized that we need a Congress that responds to the needs of the people and not just the billionaires and for that we need detailed campaign finance reform, a subject on which Clinton continues to be quiet, as much of her money comes from super PACs and from Wall Street. Both Sanders and Clinton attacked the systematic racism in our criminal justice system and Sanders emphasized the "de-militarization" of the police, emphasizing community and diversity.

Republican Debate Jan. 14, 2016

The only difference in the Republic debate this time was the moving of Carly Fiorina to the undercard, with Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum.  This allowed the seven men in the main bout to get back to the "mine is bigger than yours" bragging:  I will spend more on bombs and kill more opponents than you will.  Once again none of the participants and moderators mentioned unions, everyone saying that if we stopped handcuffing businesses with regulations they could grow unimpeded and, somehow, that would bring back the American dream and the affluent middle class! I will give Rick Santorum some populist credit as someone who is trying to appeal to the "74% of those ages 25-66 who do not have college degrees" and emphasizing the importance of "rebuilding the family" but everyone else wants to do away with Obamacare and beef up the military, as if that would solve any problems either at home or abroad.   And how is de-funding Planned Parenthood going to help anyone?  No one had any solutions or even suggestions how to make healthcare more available to everyone or how to make college more affordable. High school was not always free to everyone either.

I did find it amusing, in a mordant way, for Cruz to attack Trump for having "New York values,"  which he defined as "pro-abortion, pro-gay-marriage, socially liberal and obsessed with money and the media."  Cruz must be aware that most Americans are in favor of a woman's right to choose and letting people marry someone of the same sex.  As he appeals more and more to evangelicals he appeals less and less to everyone else.  Chris Christie does not seem to realize that Presidents are limited to two terms, threatening to "kick Obama's rear end out of the White House" and Ben Carson doesn't want to decide anything himself, preferring to get experts together and let them solve it.  Jeb Stuart and Donald Trump talked about mental health as an alternative to gun control but did not seem aware that most insurance companies offer little mental health coverage.

I missed Rand Paul's intelligent responses to those who want to bomb the hell out of everyone we don't like  (Paul says perhaps we could try diplomacy first and bombing only as a last resort) but he was relegated to the undercard and chose not to participate.  The seven contenders on the main card want America to be as different as possible from other nations, especially European countries:  no universal healthcare, no parental leave, no minimum wage, no labor unions, deport all illegal immigrants and don't allow any new legal ones, no increased taxes (especially for the wealthy), little or no gun control.  This is how we will "take our country back" and "make America great again"?

Jessica Jones on Netflix, Created by Melissa Rosenberg.

I haven't read comic books since I was 11 years old and I wouldn't even know where to buy one now.  When I was a child I looked forward to the arrival of DC Comics --Superman, Batman, et al. -- on Tuesdays at the local convenience store, mainly because I had little else to read; there was no local library and there were almost no books in my home.  So I followed closely the characters in the DC world.  In 1961 along came Marvel Comics and by then I had started to find books to read, mostly paperbacks on the store racks that I purchased with the five dollars a week or so that I earned on my paper route.

Now we have an abundance of movies and TV shows based on comic books, including Jessica Jones on Netflix.  The show seems to be liked by some adults and Emily Nussbaum in The New Yorker even praised it for its contribution to the continuing debate over sexual consent, as Jones fights the attempts of Kilgrave to control her mind, which he apparently was able to do for a while. I think the show would be much better if Jessica Jones were  the same gritty private eye but without the superpowers (which aren't too clear anyway; she can lift things and fly a little bit) and who is a somewhat bitter dipso because of her time with Kilgrave.  As it is, when she pursues Kilgrave (whose mind control powers are also a little vague) almost everyone who tries to help her ends up dead.  At one point Jessica tried to get Kilgrave to use his powers for good, but that plotline was unfortunately quickly dropped. 

It seems that too many parents these days are content to let their children read comic books; at least they are reading something!  Whether today's Marvel Comics are any good or not I am not qualified to say, but they certainly play a leading role in today's movies and TV.  Perhaps comics are more artistic and intelligent than they were when I was a kid, but they still discourage kids from using their imaginations, just as TV has done since it basically replaced radio.

Democratic Debate Dec. 19,2015

I still do not understand why the question of unions has not emerged at any of the debates.  Be that as it may, and I mainly blame the moderators for not raising this question, only Bernie Sanders has spoken out about the importance of building the trade union movement in restoring some level of income equality. In any case, the Democrats projected a measure of hope for the future, unlike the Republicans who, catering to fear and ignorance, want to cut spending for everything but building up the military.

I still see the major differences between Sanders and Clinton in Sanders advocating a single-payer healthcare system and tuition-free state colleges.  Clinton (apparently) wants to build on Obamacare and keep college tuition, though with some vague suggestions of how to do it without student debt.  I do think that Sanders needs to come up with a very detailed plan about how to finance the single-payer system.  Huge profits are currently going to health insurance companies, as employers pay as much as $15,000 a year to insure their employees while the insurance companies, in a clear conflict of interest, avoid paying claims whenever they can get away with it.  I do think the money going to insurance companies, along with the tax on speculation advocated by Sanders, would effectively finance a single-payer system.  Clinton has not stated clearly why she is opposed to a single-payer system (if she is, in fact) though it is clear that donations she receives from drug companies are a factor.

Sanders and O'Malley also disagree with Clinton about tactics in the Middle East; they both believe that the toppling of dictators has produced unintended consequences and contributed to the rise of Islamic terrorists.  There has been something of an assumption that once dictators are removed there will be a happy democracy voted in.  This has not been generally the case.  As Sanders said, "Clinton is happy to get ride of Qadaffi without worrying enough about what comes next."   Sanders voted against the Iraq war, which he sees as contributing to chaos in the Middle East.

As part of his single-payer healthcare plan Sanders want to treat drug offenders, not incarcerate them; as he says, "addiction is not a criminal act."  He also wants to considerably extend mental health assistance, which is mostly absent from insurance plans.  My take on this debate is that Sanders has specific ideas to improve education and healthcare and to put the brakes on the increasing inequality while Clinton speaks mostly in generalities and of allowing everyone to live up to "their God-given potential."

Republican Debate: Dec. 15, 2015

Ho Hum.  This time the potential candidates tried to outdo themselves and each other with warmongering and saber-rattling.  Ted Cruz wants to carpet-bomb in Syria and earlier said he wants to bomb ISIS "back to the Stone Age,"  an expression used by Curtis Lemay when he was George Wallace's running mate, referring to the Vietnam war.  Donald Trump went the furthest, saying he would target the families of terrorists, under the questionable theory that terrorists may not care about their own lives but do care about their families.  Everyone seems to have forgotten about Vietnam and even Iraq in their ideas about a Pax Americana.  Carly Fiorina wants to listen to the advice of the generals who have shown time and time again their inability to understand the wars we fight.  Of all the candidates only Rick Santorum was willing to make an attempt to understand ISIS and what it is doing.  I suspect that this is, to some extent, because his own theology is so conservative and misogynistic but he did at least make something of an attempt to put the situation into context, a context that goes back to the French and English imperialist division of the Middle East after World War I.

All the candidates want to return to a mythical time when the United States ran the world and vanquished all its enemies.  When Chris Christie mentioned the shutdown of the Los Angeles school system he talked about the safety of  all "the mothers taking their kids to school and all the fathers going off to work" as though this were still the 50's!  The candidates want to build up the military (though they all said they would not reinstitute the draft, probably because 18- year-olds vote now) and at the same time cut taxes and balance the budget; only Rand Paul pointed out the contradiction there.  Everyone wants to "secure the border" and only Rubio would consider a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, though he said that was far in the future after many other things were dealt with. The candidates seem to have made an agreement that when they mention how ineffective they think Obama is that his name should always be coupled with Hillary Clinton's, guilt by association. And each candidate had some sort of slogan they repeated, from Fiorina's "take America back" (it's unclear what that means) to Chris Christie's "I was a federal prosecutor," i.e., mine is bigger than yours.