There's a fine line between loyalty and bad judgment. We see examples of this in the greatest show in pop culture and the greatest show in political culture.

Tonight's incredible episode of The Sopranos (spoilers follow), and the incredible drama that's been taking place regarding the Pentagon's blunders, can teach some valuable lessons on the limits of loyalty.

Adrianna's loyalty to Christopher got her killed. Christopher's loyalty to Tony is sending him to Hell.

Adrianna confided in Christopher about the FBI's threat to send her to prison if she refused to cooperate. Christopher responded by punching her, swearing at her, and nearly choking her out. Adrianna, nevertheless, maintains her loyalty to her fiance to the death. Christopher admits to Tony that he is back using heroin. Tony responds by repeatedly kicking his mob apprentice. No matter what rotten things Christopher does to Adrianna, no matter what rotten things Tony does to Christopher, loyalty remains. Adrianna dies because of her loyalty. Christopher will burn for his.

President Bush may lose the White House because of his blind loyalty to Donald Rumsfeld and others in the Pentagon who've made mistake after mistake without any institutional repercussions. The Secretary of Defense and his underlings miscalculated the situation in post-war Iraq. The prisoner-abuse scandal happened on their watch. They promoted Ahmad Chalabi as an ally, but he is a rogue and a charlatan who aids our enemies. Their pronouncements regarding Iraqi connections to 9/11, Hussein's nuclear weapons program, and the tyrant's weapons of mass destruction, at best, seem wildly exaggerated. How many chances do you get?

Adrianna's blind loyalty hastened her death. President Bush's blind loyalty may hasten his political demise.

Aristotle confessed his loyalty to Plato, but proclaimed that his love for truth overrode his friendship. "We love both the truth and our friends," Aristotle famously said, but "piety requires us to honor the truth first." Wise counsel for anyone.