Politics

It sure looks like Obama is going to win next week. And it will be historic (a greatly devalued adjective that in this case might actually come close to understatement). It will be huge. If they were voting in Malaga Obama would get over 90% of the vote. Last night our book group came here to the apartment for our monthly discussion (this month Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach) and afterwards we ended up talking about politics, a very broad discussion of our current global mess. Asun was with Daniela in Madrid for the weekend, but got back just as our book conversation was getting underway. (Everyone liked this brief novel and we had a good conversation; the consensus was that it's an interesting, minor work.) Anyway, one of the issues that came up briefly was health care, and it's just inconceivable to our friends how it is that the US doesn't have guaranteed universal coverage for all its citizens. I suspect the US may finally get there as a consequence of our current crisis. Obama's current plan, as best I can tell, pretends to sustain our current system of employer-based insurance, but in the long run I don't think it's sustainable. (The annual increase in insurance premiums cannot outpace the rate of inflation indefinitely.) Economics aside, it's simply unethical. Quality medical care should be available to all regardless of your ability to pay. Above, the most famous etching in Goya's Caprichos series: "The sleep of reason produces monsters". That's exactly what happened to the Bush administration on September 12, 2001. And the world has been suffering the consequences ever since. It also describes the condition of the Republican party. A very, very busy week coming up. Here goes...