The Republicans have been handed another weapon in their fight against Mr. Obama, and the irony is that the governmental dysfunction that is the cause of the downgrade is the result of their unwillingness to cooperate in the governing system.

If one rated the ability to compromise on a scale of 1 to 10, Mr. Obama would be a 12, Republicans a minus 3. So in the end we have Republicans creating governmental chaos leading to a credit rating downgrade which then helps Republicans in trying to defeat Mr. Obama in 2012.