Tea Party Republicans can shrug, dodge, divert, hem, and haw all they want, but the senior director for Standard & Poor’s left little doubt today about the reason for America’s ratings downgrade.

Without specifically mentioning Republicans, S&P senior director Joydeep Mukherji said the stability and effectiveness of American political institutions were undermined by the fact that “people in the political arena were even talking about a potential default,” Mukherji said.

“That a country even has such voices, albeit a minority, is something notable,” he added. “This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns.”