How fitting that Heath Ledger received a posthumous Oscar for his role as Batman’s archenemy, just as the equally unhinged Republican party is trying to figure out how to do battle with its own dark nemesis. As reported in today’s Times, the GOP governors are split on whether or not to take money slated for their states in the Obama’s stimulus package. The more moderate (and seemingly sane) leaders, like Florida’s Crist and California’s Arnold, are not only frank about needing the dough but see the future of the party hinging on its willingness to cooperate with a popular president at a time of great fiscal crisis.  

And then there are the ideologically pure, like Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal and Alaska’s Sarah Palin (how can we miss her when she won’t go away?) who think, since they oppose government help on principle, they shouldn’t take a dime. Or some dimes. It is no coincidence that those who are most vehemently opposed are also considering a run for president in 2010. 

This would be fun if it were simply about the dubious future of the GOP and the internecine warfare stayed within party walls, like some futuristic cage match. Let them devour each other, and the longer it takes them to heed the words of men like Crist–who said, ” We need to be nonpartisan” if we’re going to survive–the better. 

But the money they’re refusing is chiefly for expanded unemployment compensation. Taking it could force states that don’t already do so to provide relief to part-time workers who have lost their jobs. One of our economy’s dirty little secrets is that it’s supported by part-time labor, and compensating those who don’t actually work 40 hours (on one job, that is — workers with families commonly work several part-time jobs to make ends meet) seems simply fair and decent. 

And without compensation, unemployed workers can’t survive, let alone spend and stimulate the economy. In rural areas of Louisiana and Alaska, you need gas to fill your tank to drive your truck to look for a job. But Jindal, Palin, Haley Barbour et al would rather make a point than save our economy. Why ask why? In the Dark Knight,  Bruce Wayne’s faithful manservant Alfred cautions Bruce Wayne (who underneath that black armor is a bit of a bleeding heart) from looking for a motive in the Joker’s madness. “Some men,” he says, “just want to watch the world burn.”