There’s been a lot of whining…

… by the corrupt GOP establishment types lately that Donald Trump should sign a “loyalty pledge” to not run third-party if he doesn’t get the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Of course, the establishment has stacked the process in their favor with (a) enormous amounts of financial backing from establishment figures and their donors who stand to gain by maintaining the corrupt status quo that leaves the freedom and taxes of the American people in the lurch, and (b) a propaganda machine that viciously demonizes anyone who doesn’t kiss the ring of the establishment favorite. With the deck stacked like this, they expect to be able to pull the rug out from under any other candidate and end up engineering a win for themselves, and so they demand that all the peons dutifully fall in line and back their corruption.

Instead of calling for blind pledges to whoever ends up buying securing the nomination (regardless of whether they represent and uphold Republican principles or not), what we should have is a pledge for all Republican candidates to be loyal to the Republican Party platform. After all, if you’re going to call yourself a Republican, shouldn’t you reliably represent the documented values of the Republican Party?

You’d expect a member of the Dallas Cowboys to represent the team well and follow the team’s playbook, right?  You’d expect the president of the American Medical Association to follow accepted medical practices and procedures, right?  You’d expect the president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to uphold standards of sober driving and not drive drunk, right?

So why should it be too much to ask that a Republican candidate uphold and fight for the documented values of the party with which they have chosen to align themselves?

We all know what the documented and historic values of the Republican Party are, don’t we?  Freedom, the free market, limited government, respect for and adherence to the U.S. Constitution, upholding the rule of law, family values, public morality, protecting innocent human life, strong defense of our nation, and so forth.

So why should Republicans have someone representing them and their party who had openly shown that they despise the rule of law, have made it clear that they won’t protect our borders and enforce our immigration laws, who won’t protect innocent human life, who won’t fight for adherence to the U.S. Constitution, who won’t resist unconstitutional edicts from any branch of government, who won’t protect the institution of marriage and family from Leftist assaults, who won’t promote and protect the freedom of individuals and free market principles for business, and things like this?

The simple and clear answer is: we shouldn’t!

But ironically, while establishment types fall all over themselves demanding loyalty to the nominee (unless, of course, that nominee is conservative, in which case all bets are off), they fight hell and high water against efforts to demand loyalty to Republican principles.

Because if there is anything that the past five years have taught us, it’s that loyalty is a singular, one-way street in the minds of establishment types. They demand blind loyalty to a person (so long as it’s one of them) but spit on loyalty to the principles that the Republican Party ostensibly exists to advance.

Tell me: what good is a group that is all about promoting particular people, but has no loyalty toward the principles it claims to stand for?

Does the Republican Party exist to advance Republican principles and values…or does it exist to keep anyone who doesn’t belong to it from holding office?  If it exists for the latter reason, then the establishment is definitely working hard to achieve its goal.  But if it exists to advance Republican principles and values, the establishment is doing a pathetic job.

Don’t expect any calls for loyalty to Republican principles from the establishment.  They and their favored candidate like to pander to people who loathe Republican values, bash other Republicans in Spanish, and call breaking our nation’s laws an “act of love.” They have no regard for loyalty to Republican principles, and in many cases, are actually hostile toward certain Republican principles.

*** Bob Ellis *** Is a conservative author  and Life and Liberty News contributor

      Read more from Bob Ellis and other conservative authors at American Clarion