Never let them see you sweat

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is sweating profusely. ""If we go into default, [the president] will say that Republicans are making the economy worse ... The president will have the bully pulpit to blame the Republicans for all of this destruction. "I refuse to help Barack Obama get re-elected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy," McConnell said this morning. The Washington Monthly: "A more thoughtful argument might have referenced the senator's desire to do right by the country. Maybe something about the public suffering in the event of a self-imposed economic crash. ... That said, McConnell's comments this morning reinforce a few things. First, the Republicans' Senate leader doesn't see a way to reach a debt-reduction agreement. Second, McConnell doesn't buy into the right-wing nonsense that default would be painless and inconsequential. And third, the GOP leadership really doesn't want to get caught shooting the hostage." How did we ever get here?