Mutually Assured Destruction, GOP-style

Jon Chait sees the big picture and it's not pretty: "The debt ceiling hostage crisis was a political catastrophe for both Obama and Congressional Republicans. He came away looking weak. They came away looking crazy. The episode, though, had more than political ramifications. It had economic ramifications. Confidence in the economy -- the number one conservative explanation for economic weakness -- took a real and justified plunge. The Republicans pursued a strategy that torpedoed the economic recovery, and, indeed, may well bring about a double-dip recession. Voters may punish House Republicans at the polls in 2012, but they're at least as likely to punish Obama. That Republicans may gain the White House on the shoulders of a Republican-induced recession offers lessons about the incentive structure of our divided system of government that are frightening to contemplate." Indeed. Anyone familiar with Cold War history should recognize the stratagem the Republicans are employing: Mutually Assured Destruction. It's not called M.A.D. for nothing. How have we strayed so far abeam? And what would the Founders have made of this looming catastrophe?