The long run up to the 2016 election confirmed once and for all my belief that going “all in” for any politician or party is never a good idea because it requires checking your brain at the door. If you haven’t learned that yet, then you may want to search your pockets for a claim check ticket. Not only is it an abdication of one’s role as a thinking human being, it is also a guarantee of inevitable disappointment. Some, though, some remain loyal to the end because the former often negates the latter.

For those reasons, I’m no more a fan of Senator Bob Corker’s than I am of Donald Trump’s.  You shouldn’t be either.

It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.

— Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) October 8, 2017

The long knives are out for Corker for uncorking criticism of President Trump. A lot of folks are attempting to ignore the fact that many in the GOP share Corker’s opinion to one extent or another. Instead they’re attacking Corker’s record and hanging the Iran nuke deal around his neck. Whataboutism, the tribalist’s preferred weapon, is now being used against Corker not because of the Iran nuke deal but because he was disloyal to his tribe and spoke his mind against the chief.

Talking points issued:

Bob Corker gave us the Iran Deal, & that's about it. We need HealthCare, we need Tax Cuts/Reform, we need people that can get the job done!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017

Talking points regurgitated by obedient toadies:

Corker's leading role in delivering the Iran deal https://t.co/x2kWzsqobV

— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) October 9, 2017

FLASHBACK: How Cardin and Corker clinched the Iran deal https://t.co/rEexhSzzDN via @politico

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) October 9, 2017

Corker’s role in the Iran deal wasn’t important to Trumpists when he was among the first GOP Senators to publicly support candidate Trump. It is of utmost importance now that he has been disloyal. Political tribalism is the antithesis of rational thought. Never mind that the Iran deal still exists despite repeated campaign rally assurances by both Trump and Mike Pence that they would rip it up upon taking office. The Iran deal has nothing to do with the feud between Trump and Corker. It’s just a tool for whipping the tribe’s outrage, like Danish cartoons are for radical imams.

While the President ranted on Twitter making claims that are more than likely untrue, his yes men attacked Corker for a lack of decorum. Many Republicans have become no different than the Hollywood women who marched against Trump while enabling Harvey Weinstein or the peaceniks who demonstrated against George W. Bush but went into hiding while Barack Obama executed his “drone’em all and let Allah sort it out” strategy against terrorism. Like the left wing hypocrites, many Trumpists have become parodies of themselves. Ideas are secondary to unconditional loyalty.

Kellyanne Conway, for whom the Presidents’ irrational social media outbursts often seem to be a feature not a bug, condemned Corker for “demeaning” the President. Conway along with Fox and Friends cornball Brian Kilmeade gave Politico a headline worthy of The Onion.

Conway: Corker tweet criticizing Trump ‘incredibly irresponsible’

During an appearance on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends,” host Brian Kilmeade brought up the feud, which reached personal levels over the weekend.

“What a demeaning tweet at the president,” Kilmeade said, referencing a comment from Corker that described the White House as “an adult day care center.”

“Well it is, and world leaders see that. We’ve all worked with Sen. Corker over the years. We thank him for his service, but I find tweets like this to be incredibly irresponsible,” Conway told the hosts.

“It adds to the insulting that the mainstream media and the president’s detractors — almost a year after this election they still can’t accept the election results — it adds to their ability and their cover to speak about a president of the United States, the president of the United States, in ways that no president should be talked about.”

The President, of course, is never demeaning or insulting or irresponsible on social media. Anyone who says so simply can’t accept the election results. How is this any different than those who dismissed any criticism of Barack Obama as evidence that people couldn’t accept that we had a black President? It’s the same flawed equation, just with different values assigned to the variables.

Anyone who in defense of Trump can accuse another politician of tweeting irresponsibly is not someone who is expressing serious thought. It’s someone who is spinning and attempting to manipulate, or someone with no self awareness whatsoever.

Former Fox News Trump surrogate Eric Bolling expressed doubts about Bob Corker’s integrity.

Sen Corker invoking "World War III" is highly irresponsible, speaks to his bias against @realDonaldTrump. Hope he votes tax reform w/o bias

— 🇺🇸 ERIC BOLLING 🇺🇸 (@ericbolling) October 9, 2017

There’s probably no greater judge of what is or isn’t responsible than a guy who got fired for texting junk shots to female colleagues. As long as he remains loyal to Trump, his judgement will be considered impeccable by the rest of the tribe though.

There are many reasons why Washington is broken—corrupt, inept, or incompetent politicians; adherence to failed philosophies, irresponsible spending; and unchecked bureaucracy. Neither side wants to drain the swamp. They are just fighting to control it. No one inside the beltway is innocent. As long as people allow themselves to be manipulated into siding with a tribe at the expense of ideas, the swamp won’t ever be drained. In many ways the swamp extends well beyond the borders of  D.C. and to the front door of every one of us who declares blind loyalty to a person or party.