Now Marco, once presented as the sunny hope for a new generation of conservative leadership, is tossing about the equivalent of “chickenhawk” against those who have the temerity to suggest that maybe, just maybe, backtracking on his statements about Trump being mentally unfit and dangerous isn’t consistent with the pure and cool image he cultivated.

Sure, he’s a party man and he’s not leaving politics. As a party man with an eye on his own political future, maybe such support is necessary to an extent, but to impugn those who actually stick to their ideological guns tends to prove correct those who questioned his authenticity. Perhaps he should read Sun Tzu instead of focusing on the long game: “In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.”

In other words, Rubio is who his critics thought he was. Not only is he going sour grapes since people didn’t have the wisdom to give him the nomination, he’s engaging in verbal attacks reminiscent of a Code Pink rally as he positions himself for future runs. Maybe that whole Gang of Eight thing was more indicative than some realized.

Note that it’s highly likely Ted Cruz will also flip on Trump, so for those interested in keeping that particularly ridiculous civil war going, you may want to keep your powder dry on this.