So, enough about the Republicans for a moment. Let’s look at a couple of other matters, starting with the only organization that may rival Ted Cruz for being despised intensely. I’m talking, of course, about the airlines.

Recently JetBlue publicly hailed itself for major renovations in its cabins including better wifi, new seats, attractive colors, etc. It all sounds great. Except for the fat that what the airline didn’t announce was the addition of more seats in its planes and the resulting takeaways in space for passengers. JetBlue upped the number of seats ton 162 from 150, which apparently means everyone loses two inches of room.

Now, JetBlue only reluctantly admits this, asserting that it still offers more room than other airlines. And for the most part that is accurate. But it’s all relative, and the bottom line is that every airline is cheating on it space for passengers (at least the ones who fly coach). There is no airline that offers living space for coach travelers. Not one.

And then there’s this: JetBlue has begun charging a fee for a first checked bag. that’s not very friendly, either.

Still, sometimes you have to fly, and you try to make the best of it. We managed a first class domestic flight on American Airlines recently, and much to our surprise the seat was actually spacious, recalling what first class used to be like. And American served a pretty darned good meal in first class as well, even though the flight was just three hours. (Hear that, Delta?)

And finally, a travel writer for the Boston newspaper wrote about a cruise along the Canadian Maritime provinces, observing how wonderful it was the see lovely, interesting cities and get to really know other places without having to put up with lots of traffic.

Really? You get to know other places with 6-hour shore excursions? And hey, there really isn’t a lot of traffic in the Maritimes. And if you drive there and spend a few days, you might actually have a chance to get to know the place a bit. Not a lot; just a bit. But a bit longer than hopping off and on your luxury cruise ship allows you.

Ah, well, any more and this will get to sound like a rant.