Intellectual honesty please.

I bet you know some rabid sports fans that are blindly, irrevocably loyal to their favorite team even when that team stinks. You might even be one yourself. And why not? Loyalty is an admirable trait, right? And it's just a game.
Sadly that same attitude seems to prevail in the arena of public policy. People support and defend "their team" jealously. Anxiously exploiting and exaggerating any misstep or miscalculation made by the 'enemy', while willingly overlooking or rationalizing their own teams misdeeds.
But this isn't a game. The stakes are enormous.
This is the flaw, potentially fatal, of the two party system. It too easily becomes a game. Victory trumps values. Partisanship replaces principle.
This is a bad long term plan because the very nature of 'principles' is that when we violate them, regardless of intentions, bad things happen.
Both of the major parties have supporters that fall into this trap.
I can understand why many people were attracted to Pres. Obama during the campaign. His rhetoric was soaring and inspirational. With so many citizens suffering from Bush fatigue, whether real or created, Obama offered a refreshing reprieve.
In the past 7 months it's become clear that his vision for America differs from the one he presented during the campaign. I suspect many that voted for him do not believe that the federal government should take ownership roles in banks and auto manufacturers. Or get further into the insurance providing business. Or guarantee future confiscatory taxes and inflation by devaluing the currency with enourmous debt. After all, economic principles are just that, principles. When we violiate them, regardless of intentions, bad things happen.
This presents those supporters with a dilemma. Do they support their team or their principles? Either way they feel disloyal.
To me it seems obvious. Politicians come and go. Principles persist.
With so wide a variety of issues facing us we can't expect to agree with anyone about everything. It is not contradictory to claim to support a party or individual while opposing this policy or that when intellectual honesty requires we do so.
Our country, our families, and our individual integrity will be better served.