The Day Democracy Self-Destructed

The oddest thing of all about the economic disaster that will follow a default on the national debt is that it will have been completely voluntary. No crisis or emergency or massive deregulated financial fraud will have precipitated it. This suicidal outcome will have been freely chosen by a political party whose members either hope to pull power from the wreckage caused by chaos, or are simply stupid enough to chainsaw the very branch on which they sit, laughing like hyenas and demanding "respect" while they do it.