With bells on...

I'm at a loss how to comment, with any good sense, about US politics (or even about British politics, especially Brexit) these days. "Sometimes the only thing you can do is stare blankly."* For now, I'll rely on anyone remaining more clear-headed than I'm feeling:
(*A line from "The Long Earth" by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter - my current read.)

Jim Haygood, a regular in the comments section at naked capitalism, on 17 October wrote, in the afternoon "Water Cooler" segment:

Truthdig has posted an awesome interview of Chris Hedges by WSWS.

Excerpt:

Cris Hedges: Politicians like the Clintons, Pelosi and Schumer are creations of Wall Street. That is why they are so virulent about pushing back against the Sanders wing of the Democratic Party. Without Wall Street money, they would not hold political power.

The Democratic Party doesn’t actually function as a political party. It’s about perpetual mass mobilization and a hyperventilating public relations arm, all paid for by corporate donors. The base of the party has no real say in the leadership or the policies of the party, as Bernie Sanders and his followers found out. They are props in the sterile political theater.

These party elites, consumed by greed, myopia and a deep cynicism, have a death grip on the political process. They’re not going to let it go, even if it all implodes.

Bring it, Lord!

INDEEDY! (With bells on!)

I'll add a little more from the Chris Hedges interview, this on identity politics:

Chris Hedges: Well, identity politics defines the immaturity of the left. The corporate state embraced identity politics. We saw where identity politics got us with Barack Obama, which is worse than nowhere. He was, as Cornel West said, a black mascot for Wall Street, and now he is going around to collect his fees for selling us out.

My favorite kind of anecdotal story about identity politics:
Cornel West and I, along with others, led a march of homeless people on the Democratic National Convention session in Philadelphia. There was an event that night. It was packed with hundreds of people, mostly angry Bernie Sanders supporters. I had been asked to come speak. And in the back room, there was a group of younger activists, one who said, “We’re not letting the white guy go first.” Then he got up and gave a speech about how everybody now had to vote for Hillary Clinton. That’s kind of where identity politics gets you. There is a big difference between shills for corporate capitalism and imperialism, like Corey Booker and Van Jones, and true radicals like Glen Ford and Ajamu Baraka. The corporate state carefully selects and promotes women, or people of color, to be masks for its cruelty and exploitation.....The new form of feminism is an example of the poison of neoliberalism. It is about having a woman CEO or woman president, who will, like Hillary Clinton, serve the systems of oppression....

Another Broken Reed : Sen. Cory Booker

In a vote this week against a budget resolution amendment jointly proposed by Senators Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar to allow both pharmacies and people with prescriptions to order their pharmaceuticals from Canada and other countries, where they sell for significantly cheaper prices than in the United States, the following Democratic Senators voted against it: Michael Bennet of Colorado, Bob Menendez and Cory Booker of New Jersey, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray of Washington, Tom Carper and Chris Coons of Delaware, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Jon Tester of Montana and Mark Warner of Virginia.

Some of those Senators said they voted for other measures to drive down drug costs and they cited safety concerns as the reason for their opposition to the Klobuchar-Sanders measure. A very iffy excuse in my opinion, and it's one said to have been used regularly in the past by those whose political coffers are topped up by pharmaceutical industry $$$$$$$. It's a wee bit heartening that 12 Republican senators did vote "yes"; the measure would have easily passed had Democrats remained loyal, and walked the walk.

What most disappointed me was seeing Cory Booker's name among the "no" votes. Way back in 2008 when his name first came to my notice, (see my blogpost Drive-by Astrology - Cory Booker) I had high hopes about him. I thought Booker to be a definite "one to watch", one with true leadership skills. A pair of later posts about Senator Booker are here,
from that one:

I hope that life in the Senate will not change Booker, that he will not be infected by what appears to be a spreading disease of uselessness among congressional Democrats, or be co-opted by monied interests. I can hope, but do not feel optimistic. We shall see.

We saw!
A third post on him is here.

Booker's support for Hillary Clinton rather than for Bernie Sanders was disappointment number one. From what I'd gleaned, Booker's original style would have been the perfect partner to Sanders'. What a pair they could have been! I fear that the old Cory Booker of 2008 vintage has been well and truly "got at". He chose the establishment route, with accompanying corporate donations, including, it seems from the pharma people. Another broken reed. I'd have expected better - much, much better!