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Keller @ Large: Lessons Of Loyalty And Honesty

BOSTON (CBS) - Have you been letting the kids stay up and watch the Republican Convention?

There are some real teachable moments to be had there, even if some of the more boorish rhetoric may not be suitable for children.

Wednesday night would have been a good one to share with the family.

One of the most important life lessons parents teach their kids is the value of loyalty. Loyalty to family, to friends, to values, to the Red Sox.

But it's not always easy to know what real loyalty looks like, or what the parameters of it should be.

Was it reasonable for people to expect Ted Cruz to walk out there Wednesday night and endorse Donald Trump after the vicious attacks Trump launched on Cruz's wife and father during the campaign? Is it fair to demand that Cruz be loyal to someone who he thinks doesn't share his political principles?

I hope we all try to teach our kids to be honest. Would a Cruz endorsement of Trump – instead of urging Americans to "vote their conscience" – have been dishonest, considering the profound doubts Cruz obviously has about Trump?

Or would it have been living down to Trump's charming campaign nickname for Cruz: "Lyin' Ted"?

Cruz himself apparently inspires little loyalty among his Senate colleagues, and maybe what he did to Trump Wednesday night explains why.

But the whole scenario certainly provides good fodder for a meaningful family conversation around the dinner table tonight.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

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