Crises have a way of clarifying things — what’s important, who’s ultimately worthy of your trust, who can get things done. The five weeks since Election Day have done just that for grassroots Patriots, and one conclusion is clear, regardless of the outcome: The establishment has failed us.

For the past decade, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, grassroots Patriots have been hit with one coordinated attack after another. Let’s take a quick spin through some of these attacks, coupled with the establishment’s response to each:

• In 2011, Sarah Palin was falsely accused of inspiring a mass shooting that killed six and seriously wounded Arizona Representative Gabby Giffords. The establishment mostly sat on its hands.
• The Internal Revenue Service targeted the Tea Party for harassment, potentially suppressing its activity to the point of tipping the 2012 election in Obama’s favor. The establishment did nothing to hold the abusers accountable or to prevent future abuses.
• After failing to pass massive anti-Second Amendment legislation in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, the Obama administration kicked Operation Chokepoint into high gear, targeting gun manufacturers and other law-abiding businesses. The establishment failed to hold the administration accountable.
• In Wisconsin, rogue prosecutors targeted conservative nonprofit groups in Wisconsin with a “John Doe” investigation. Ultimately, the state’s supreme court put the kibosh on the politically motivated hit but, again, bupkis from the establishment.
• When a number of state attorneys general plotted to use RICO statutes to attack opponents of their preferred environmental policies, the establishment did nothing to stop the attacks.
• When the FBI and Justice Department abused their powers to spy on the Trump campaign in 2016, the establishment did nothing — at least so far.
• When the duly elected governor of Missouri was targeted by a George Soros-funded prosecutor and hounded out of office, the establishment did nothing.
• When Andrew Cuomo and his attorney general targeted the NRA during the crucial run-up to the 2020 election, the establishment did nothing.
• When Donald Trump and Senate Republicans faced a must-win election in 2020, some members of the establishment formed the bogusly named Lincoln Project … to defeat the Party of Lincoln.

When was the last time any media Never-Trumper called out the Left for smearing those on his or her side as racist? The last time John Kasich defended a colleague falsely accused of sexism? The last time Jeff Flake came to the aid of a fellow Republican being called a domestic terrorist merely for supporting the Second Amendment? The last time Paul Ryan stood up for Patriots seeking a secure border against smears of xenophobia?

Even now, with mounting evidence of ballot fraud, failures to follow the laws and procedures established by the state legislatures, the removal of safeguards against fraud, Big Tech’s massive in-kind donations to Joe Biden’s campaign, and the systemic denial of vote-counting transparency in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Detroit, among other places, grassroots Patriots are smeared in the media for seeking to address these depredations through peaceful and constitutional means.

Some Republican leaders have fought back. These include Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelly Ward, Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer, RNC Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon, Alabama Representative Mo Brooks, former ambassador and Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, and others. Many leaders, though, haven’t fought back — especially when their party’s standard-bearer, President Donald Trump, has come under attack. These people haven’t earned our support, whether during a party leadership election, a nominating convention, or a primary.

Enough is enough. If Republicans and conservatives can’t hang together, we will, as Ben Franklin put it, most assuredly hang separately.