Bibartisanship

Was the GOP-led collapse of the auto industry bailout a warning of what is in store for the 111th Congress? Is the Republican Party so angry about its defeat that it will risk dragging the country into a depression just to score a point against the much reviled UAW?

Are the Republicans determine to shrink into a defensive crouch, cowering behind the increasingly absurd Senate rules that allow a marginalized minority to freeze the government? Do they want to stand on the smoking ruins of their economic theories or will they be willing to help craft solutions to the unbelieveable mess the Bush Administration has left behind?

Will the Southern Senators retreat into a misguided regionalism, where protecting jobs at their non-union, foreign owned assembly plants is more important than preserving an entire industry that built Michigan's middle class?

Will they throw boulders in front of critical initiatives like health care reform for no other reason than to show that they still have some vestige of power?

On one hand, I hope they do - because it will reveal to the American people the true nature of the Republican Party, which is to protect the interests of the rich and powerful at the risk of everything else. But that is not the goal of the Democrats right now. There are more important thing to do in 2009 than finish off the crippled Republican Party. They can decide to help in a constructive, bipartisan way or they can proceed to drive themselves into farther into political oblivion.