But don’t pop those champagne corks too soon. Instead, they are now debating the idea of refusing to raise the debt limit in return for a White House agreement to “delay” implementing Obamacare. This is the political equivalent of “we’re not going to hold our breath until we turn blue and collapse now; instead, we’re going to wait a few additional weeks and then we’re going to hold our breath until we turn blue and collapse.”

Now, granted, if the GOP wants to knock themselves out (literally), who are we, as non-crazy and rational people, to stop them? Knock yourself out, GOP!

The problem, however, is that while shutting down the government would be bad for the country and disastrous for the GOP, it’s not the desired political Armageddon. Refusing to raise the debt limit – well, that’s something else altogether. So, instead of holding its breath, collapsing and perhaps suffering a nasty cut, the GOP would prefer to hold its breath, collapse and fall on a plunger – a la Alec Guinness in Bridge on the River Kwai – and blow up the whole goddamn bridge. (In this analogy, the bridge is a stand-in for the US economy.)