I'll have no problem removing the bridge, but I will always question whether there are other, less visible, errors with the board. SparkFun said "hope you know how to email or solder

" in IRC.
My main reason for posting here is to let people know about the problem. If it happens to one board, it's undoubtedly happened to others. Losing a $65 piece of hardware because you were so excited to load its first program that you neglected to check for errors is an awfully saddening thing.
Unfortunately this has seemingly been pretty common with the new arduino boards.
Have a search around and you will no doubt see what I mean.
The Arduino team have stated that boards can be returned and a new one will be issued free of charge but that's probably not worth it in your case.
Mowcius