Bravely the House soldiers on toward a government shutdown at midnight Monday night, proud in its assertions that it knows best for the country, the other half of the legislative branch is full of traitors and knaves and the President is beyond the pale (heh heh! Get the joke?).

The Senate and the White House reacted with disgust.

Mr. Reid made it clear that failure was inevitable. “After weeks of futile political games from Republicans, we are still at Square 1,” he said. “We continue to be willing to debate these issues in a calm and rational atmosphere. But the American people will not be extorted by Tea Party anarchists.”

The White House was just as blunt. “Any member of the Republican Party who votes for this bill is voting for a shutdown,” the press secretary, Jay Carney, said in a written statement.

It’s astonishing, pathetic, and frustrating. We have a rump group of Tea Party Republicans in the House who are entirely sure of their own righteousness and who are willing to destroy the country (that’s next, when the debt ceiling battle begins in October), assured that they’re doing The Right Thing according to Rand, Norquist, Hayek, Milton Friedman or somebody. And because there are about 80 of them, they can do that.

He or his office groused after hearing President Obama warn the House not to shut down the government

“The House will take action that reflects the fundamental fact that Americans don’t want a government shutdown and they don’t want the train wreck that is Obamacare,” Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said in a statement. “Grandstanding from the president, who refuses to even be a part of the process, won’t bring Congress any closer to a resolution.”

John, buddy, he’s got no one to negotiate with even if he wanted to. The Senate is on board with the continuing resolution funding the government through November 15; it’s just that legislative body of which you’re ostensibly Speaker which can’t get its act together. Since you’ve given over your nominal authority over the House to Senator Ted Cruz of Texas (or perhaps he’s just taken it), maybe you should try to reclaim it and then tell your Caucus you’ll just get enough votes for passage from the Democrats.

But you won’t do that because a) you want to keep your job as Speaker and that would enrage your Tea Party members and b) you’ve lost whatever feeling you once had about public service which prompted you to run for the House in the first place.