So, Granholm and her legislative tools are threatening a partial "government shutdown" Oct. 1 if Senate Repubs (mostly Allen Cropsey) don't cave and allow MDOT to proceed on the track of spending a billion taxpayer dollars on a bureaucratic empire-building Detroit River International Crossing bridge that is probably not needed at all, and which in any event has a private contractor willing to build at no taxpayer cost in a slightly different location. (That being wheeler-dealer extraordinaire Manny Maroun, who proposes to "twin" the existing Ambassodor Bridge with another span right next to it.)

If there's no deal then all road construction/repar in the state stops Oct. 1.

The politics are interesting. Repubs could go on offense, state the facts, and use "Bridge to Nowhere" notoriety to break through the media fog and bias with a cause and label that bottom-feeding reporters won't be able to resist, much though they're loathe to not genuflect to St. Jen and the Messiah in the weeks before a big election. Oh, and the Senators aren't up for reelection, so they could just tell St. Jen to stuff it and go fishing.

Do Senate Repubs have the smarts, cojones and - perhaps most doubtful - the energy to pull that off? Do they have the moxie to risk it?

One possible trap door: Using that "Bridge to Nowhere" label could risk being accused of charactizing as "nowhere" either, A. Detroit, B. Canada, C. Detroit and Canada. Well, if the shoe fits . . .