Apparently, bipartisanship is making people dislike you equally.

Over the past weeks, Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe worked with Democrats on slimming the stimulus legislation into a leaner, meaner package.

They, and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., were the only Republicans to support the stimulus. A prior vote on the House of Representatives’ version of the bill cleaved along party lines.

Neither Snowe nor Collins broke ranks. They sought compromise. They took roles in changing the terms of the stimulus bill to make it, in our opinion, more effective. They sweated the details while their constituents and country sweated for their jobs.

For their efforts, they’ve earned some strong praise.

And plenty of strong scorn.

Like from the Maine Democratic Party, which said Collins and Snowe created the “partisan gridlock” because, “if they had supported the president’s plan from Day One, it would have been enacted and begun the work to turn our economy around.”

Yet President Barack Obama credits Snowe and Collins for unlocking a compromise on the stimulus. He knows compromising is not obstructionism, not when the economy hangs in the balance.

Republicans had an even worse reaction to Collins, Snowe and Specter. Some called for their expulsion from the party for “treasonous” behavior.

Dick Morris, a right-wing columnist, called them “The Benedict Arnolds of the GOP.” He equated their actions to apostasy (abandoning religion) and wrote, “Real conservatives, who oppose larger government, must stand up to these … phony Republicans.”

Yet real conservatives did much to make government larger. Compromise is not a sign of weakness, not when, again, the economy is in the balance.

So, what is bipartisanship, if not the promised perfection of governance?

In an ideal world, it is what Snowe and Collins displayed: willingness to work with other parties to reach consensus, when politics is impeding progress. The stimulus package needs to work, so many Americans can return to work, or keep working.

The world is far from ideal, though. Still, bipartisanship is a good thing. Even if it means rebuke – as long as it’s from both sides.