I am serious. You're assuming that the Chinese will be benevolent if we don't default and aggressively malevolent if we do. That's naive. If they're willing

I am serious. You're assuming that the Chinese will be benevolent if we don't default and aggressively malevolent if we do. That's naive. If they're willing to be aggressively malevolent, they'll be so without an excuse so it's absurd to worry about excuses. If they're unwilling, their worst is actually good for us - it will force us to live within our means. BTW - A US-class blue water navy is really hard to build. So, the likely malevolence is nuclear.