Many House Republicans are replacing their push to delay or defund the 2010 federal health law with a new strategy: Hang back and see if problems with the rollout continue or get worse.

• 74 percent of Americans believe Congress is contributing to problems in Washington rather than solving them.

• Only 22 percent think the nation is headed in the right direction. Two-thirds believe that the nation is in a "state of decline."

• Just two of every 10 Americans think the economy will get better in the next year.

• Only three of 10 Americans are optimistic about the future of the U.S. political system.

• A majority of Americans don't identify with either party.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for slavery and the era of Jim Crow.

The nonbinding resolution, which passed on a voice vote, was introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen, a white lawmaker who represents a majority black district in Memphis, Tennessee.

While many states have apologized for slavery, it is the first time a branch of the federal government has done so, an aide to Cohen said.

In passing the resolution, the House also acknowledged the "injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow."

"Jim Crow," or Jim Crow laws, were state and local laws enacted mostly in the Southern and border states of the United States between the 1870s and 1965, when African-Americans were denied the right to vote and other civil liberties and were legally segregated from whites.

The name "Jim Crow" came from a character played by T.D. "Daddy" Rice who portrayed a slave while in blackface during the mid-1800s.

The resolution states that "the vestiges of Jim Crow continue to this day."

"African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow -- long after both systems were formally abolished -- through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity," the resolution states.

The House also committed itself to stopping "the occurrence of human rights violations in the future."

The resolution does not address the controversial issue of reparations...

“How does it feel to be white?

How does it feel to move through the world without being accused, for instance, of “shopping while black”? How does it feel to know police officers are there to help you rather than surveil you? How does it feel to have the full range of your experiences represented on the big and small screen? How does it feel to be the dominant race in the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, almost all 50 governorships, every state legislature in the country and most cities and local governments too?

I imagine that that feels good.”

When conservatives started acting like liberals - best exemplified by electing the NewAge Romney - I knew I'd lost who I was conversing with, too,...to NewAge. Listen to the language of advice, spoken now (red emphasis mine) all of it right out of the TMR Playbook:

The Tea Party started this war on Obamacare with no chance of success and no idea how to end it — similarly intoxicated by a self-image of heroic “resistance.” And just like Nasrallah, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas engaged in magical thinking, declaring that the House vote to defund Obamacare — although rejected by the Senate — was “a remarkable victory.” But most of his Republican colleagues aren’t buying it. They see only ruin.

***

But the tea party has a lot to learn, and quickly. “It’s not enough to feel, you need strategy. They need better leadership, not people interested in money, power and fame. Public service requires sacrifice. I see too many self-seekers there…

Most important? “I don’t like saying this but be less gullible. Many of your instincts are right but politics is drowning in money. A lot of it is spent trying to manipulate you, by people who claim to be sincere, who say they’re the only honest guy in the room. Don’t be the fool of radio stars who rev you up for a living. They’re doing it for ratings. Stop being taken in by senators who fund-raise off your anger. It’s good you’re indignant, but they use consultants to keep picking at the scab, not to move the ball forward, sorry to mix metaphors. And know your neighbors: Are they going to elect a woman who has to explain she isn’t a witch, or a guy who talks about ‘legitimate rape’? You’ll forgive politicians who are right in other areas, but your neighbors and the media will not. Get smart about this.

"Get smart," in this case, can only be an admonishment to watch a TV show detective. When it comes to real Americans, I have more confidence that traffic in India works better:

“From what I can tell, a law was passed, people didn’t like it, and they thought they could reverse it by shutting down the government,” said Elizabeth, a 33-year-old Romney voter. “But to me, it’s like, something already passed. Let’s work to fix it. Holding everybody hostage is not the way.”

The women compared politicians’ behavior to kindergarteners or toddlers. “The guy reading—Cat in the Hat? What was it? Green Eggs and Ham?” said Cass, a voluble 40-year-old restaurant worker who voted for Obama. “That summed up the government right there. You’re talking about Dr. Seuss? This is the first intelligent thing I’ve heard out of your mouth right there.”

A few were personally affected by the shutdown: One had a brother who was a furloughed federal worker; another had a friend with terminal breast cancer who couldn’t reach anyone at Social Security to plan for her family’s future without her. They used words like “powerless,” “frustration,” “disgust” and “anesthetized” to describe their feelings. “It’s a sinkhole,” Julia said. “You can keep throwing in dirt to fill it back up, but it’s never going to be level.”

Rather than throw up their hands at the mess, the women said they’d pay more attention to politics and try to get more involved to fix the problem. “We’ll be smarter next time. We won’t vote for somebody sitting next to a tractor just because we like tractors,” said Karyn, a 25-year-old who voted for neither major-party presidential candidate in 2012.

...Jaclyn, a 30-year-old Obama voter, corrected her. “We’re the ones who voted,” she said. “It’s our fault.”

 And no one could talk these new “powerless” folks out of doing it (don't call them anybody's "victims"). They were all so sure and positive, they'd bury anyone who disagreed - including their friends. 

 And don't tell them to look at what they've done to their allies - they'll bury you with them. That's how cultish thinking "works": 

It kills compassion for those you abuse - merely because you don't want to admit you were wrong - and can't face you wronged them.

 

No, there's been no place for me, amongst such people - and nowhere to run from their madness - for a long, long time,...

 

That everything could be turned upside-down. 
Did you ever play "Red Light/Green Light" when you were a kid? 
Oh man, that was fun - Red Light!

If we care to recall it, there is a direct and historical relationship between the ideological commitment to small government and the belief that the government’s priorities are skewed toward racial minorities. Federal intervention in the Little Rock desegregation crisis and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society initiatives hardened the conviction among some whites that government worked predominantly on behalf of minority communities. L.B.J. had envisioned the Great Society as an updated New Deal, but F.D.R. knew well that his reforms didn’t stand a chance unless Southern legislators believed their benefits went largely to white workers.

It’s also worth remembering that the Dixiecrats had few illusions that Strom Thurmond, their Presidential nominee, could win the election. But they did believe that by denying either party a majority in the South they could magnify their influence in national affairs and, in a best-case scenario, throw the Presidential election to the House of Representatives. In short, they hoped to leverage their influence as spoilers and obstructionists in national affairs,...

Those still "searching for new members" can now keep walking,...

 

Work Songs. 

A German (German!) "breakthrough" in science!

“They hurt the conservative movement, they hurt people’s health care, they hurt the country’s economic situation and they hurt the Republican party. And a lot of congressmen and senators are not going to win because we spent three months chasing our own tail — or at least, parts of the conservative movement spent three months chasing their own tail.”

[Actor Peter] Lorre was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee and asked to name anyone suspicious he had met since coming to the United States. He gave the committee a list of everyone he knew.

I think we have seen a remarkable thing happen. Months ago, when the effort to defund Obamacare began, official Washington scoffed. The scoffed that the American people would rise up. They scoffed that the House of Representatives would do anything, and they scoffed that the Senate would do anything. 

We saw, first of all, millions upon millions of Americans rise up all over this country. Over two million people signing a national petition to defund Obamacare. We saw the House of Representatives take a courageous stand listening to the American people, that everyone in official Washington, just weeks earlier, said would never happen. That was a remarkable victory to see the House engage in a profile of courage. 

Unfortunately, the Senate chose not to follow the House. And in particular, we saw real division among the House of Representatives. That was unfortunate. I would point out that had Senate Republicans united, and supported House Republicans, the outcome of this, I believe, would've been very, very different. I wish that had happened, but it did not.

I don't know what the Tea Party types wanted from TMR.

When I reflected France the way I saw it - a crowd just tried to drown a police officer at the beach, BTW - did I join in the lying?

TMR shows you the way things really are.

There's been no talk of "principles" while facing demands for fairness.

Why would I do that?

As Americans we should be speaking the same language.

Instead the Tea Party turned French.

There's no way for TMR to fix that online.

We are contributing without our humanity; we're just our ideas.

But it ain't hard to tell who's got good ones and who doesn't.

Unfortunately, the Tea's miscalculated blacks weren't too bright.

Our place was made very clear.

But there's even a real way of looking at the same things.

So I've reflected the Tea Party Congress the way it is - it was just announced “The votes aren’t there” again, BTW - I wouldn't join in the lying.

And this hasn't been the Tea Party's best - they've missed the mark.

Mostly because they've forgotten how they've looked.

As not acting in good faith.

They lost the fight - in public - fair and square.

But now, for a lot of reasons, they can't accept the change.

Insisting on "negotiations" after the deal is done.

Imagining they're engaged in some epic struggle.

None of it was ever real.

The truth is the Teas lost in the world of ideas a long time ago.

So it was TMR's duty to show that - not to join in the lying.

Admit they did it to themselves. 

That was TMR's job.

You can't win a fight against an immovable object.

I told 'em to stop.

So now they've got the reality they wanted,...

Oh my! Peter Beinart describes what Republicans winning, via Ted Cruz, might look like:

The Washington GOP’s plummeting approval ratings may well boost the presidential prospects of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, just as the Gingrich Congress paved the way for the comparatively moderate George W. Bush. Like Bush, Christie is described as moderate because he has Democratic allies in his home state and because his rhetoric is not as harsh on cultural issues. But in the White House, Bush’s economic policies were hardly moderate. To the contrary, from taxes to social security to regulation, he governed well to the right of Ronald Reagan. Christie likely would as well. As governor, after all, he’s vetoed a hike in the minimum wage, cut the earned income tax credit, vetoed a millionaires’ tax three times and adopted basically the same attitude towards public sector unions as Wisconsin’s Scott Walker.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful,...