Much of the interpretation of the Standard and Poor’s downgrade of U.S. debt focused on the “dysfunction” of the U.S. political process. And certainly the S and P (which, let’s not forget, contributed to the 2008 financial crisis by failing to downgrade bad mortgage debt) invited such analysis by citing “the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related fiscal policy debate. . .”

Yes, the confrontation over raising the debt ceiling was ugly, but not nearly as ugly as the underlying policies that are carrying us to the brink of insolvency. This focus on the contentiousness of the debate, rather than on debt, is dangerous and obtuse. It’s reminiscent of those liberals during the Cold War who were more upset about someone being called a communist than about someone actually being a communist.