If you have to obsess over a political candidate who's ocassionally allowed on television, please do so with Ted Rall's book on Bernie. This is not John Nichols' interview of Bernie in which he forgets that foreign policy even exists. This is not Jonathan Tasini's almost worshipful book in which he selectively includes the best and omits the worst of Bernie Sanders' record.

And this is not even just an honest look at the facts about Bernie (which Rall sees as far more positive than negative). What sets this book apart is not that it's a cartoon, but that it's an argument for placing Bernie Sanders in a particular position in U.S. history, namely as the restoration of liberalism to a Democratic Party that hasn't seen it since the McGovern campaign.

As the winter emerges

It fixes me with a piercing stare

My tears sparkle,still

I take a walk in the cold

Mist wraps me up like a robe

Nature's severity lessens my inner shock

Daisies, Lilies, Roses adorning the yards

Charm me and I am taken up, but

Your ignorance hurts me as the cold approaches

Like winter trees you are brutal and stand bare

Drop my love like leaves to survive yourself.

(The poet lives in Ohio, USA; She can be reached arubabz@gmail.com)

Write about love, as in love thy enemy, and the social recoil sounds like this:

“There is no nexus at which we can speak with ISIS. Singing Kumbaya while being led to a beheading can’t work.”

Or this:

“Any thug who threatens a cop gets what he deserves. One bullet or ten — I could care less. If a thug will threaten a cop or a prison guard, he will kill or maim me or mine without hesitation for very little reason. You want to give these thugs ‘civil rights’ — I want to give them a funeral. My way insures me and mine do not get killed or maimed. Your way insures I probably will.”

A note on those notorious spoilers: I'll be talking about plot elements of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in this review, some of which might not have been revealed in the copious pre-release trailers, but I'll steer clear of anything that could fairly be considered a big reveal or the resolution of any of those plot elements. Consider yourself warned!

A few months ago, when discussing Star Wars: The Force Awakens with some friends, one said he was worried that the movie would just be A New Hope retold with a woman and a black man. At that point I (a woman) shared a meaningful look with another friend (a black man), and we both shrugged and said that'd be fine with us.

The Force Awakens is not quite that, but it also doesn't veer far off course. And that's not a criticism here. After the atrocity of The Phantom Menace and the lesser crimes of the following prequels, J.J. Abrams needed to reassure Star Wars fans that Disney made the right decision in buying LucasFilm and putting him in charge of the nearly 30-year-old franchise. And Abrams has shown himself to be a perfect fit for Star Wars for all the reasons he was a terrible one for Star Trek.