A claim conservative opponents of President Trump frequently make is that he has too much baggage and that his rhetoric and his tone are divisive, which is why he's despised by Democrats.

They add that it is time to turn the page and look for a candidate who stands for Trump's policies, but who is disciplined.

This noise hit the top of its crescendo after the GOP underperformed in what had been expected to be a wave year in the midterms.

The mainstream media held Donald Trump solely responsible for the lack of a red wave, obviously. 

But some conservative news outlets joined in, too.

The editorial board of the "conservative" National Review rejected Trump as a presidential candidate in 2024 in an article titled "No." 

The Murdoch media have also traveled into the NeverTrump realm.

But GOP officials in power now, such as Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican National Committee chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, and House minority leader Kevin McCarthy received no such blame for the midterm disappointment.

In parallel, swamp media denizens such as David Frum, Chuck Todd, the WaPo, CNN, Maggie Haberman, Bill Maher, the NeverTrumps, Karl Rove, Piers Morgan, and the Murdoch media are making the case that Ron DeSantis should be the nominee in 2024.

The DeSantis wing claimed that their man has a clean record and is more disciplined and hence is less vulnerable to attacks and probes from the Democrats than Trump was.

So how are "disciplined" Republicans treated in D.C.?

Let's take Mitch McConnell, who is a prime example of an establishment Republican and a D.C. loyalist.  McConnell doesn't engage in "mean" social media posts.  McConnell approves of most of the Democrat plans.  He approved sending billions of taxpayer money for the war in Ukraine without any transparency and accountability measures.

McConnell allegedly informed Biden that he wanted to blunt President Trump's influence by conveying to allies in Eastern Europe that "Republicans believe NATO is important."  McConnell voted for a "gun safety" bill that empowers a judge to order the seizure of firearms merely based on someone's suspicion.  McConnell is silent about the Stalinist January 6 Select Committee that intends to criminalize political opposition. 

McConnell was mum about the mask and vaccine mandates and the lockdowns advocated by the Democrats after the COVID-19 pandemic.

McConnell is always eager to attack Trump.  He slammed Trump for attempting to "overturn the 2020 election."  He agreed with the Democrats that the January 6 protests were a "violent insurrection" and blamed Trump for it. 

Trump is not fond of McConnell, either.

So how is this establishment loyalist treated in D.C.?

Yesterday, an event was held in D.C. to honor hundreds of police officers who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Why is the D.C. Democrat establishment suddenly honoring law enforcement officials?

NBC News revealed the motive behind the event in the following excerpt of their report:

Top House and Senate leaders will present law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with Congressional Gold Medals on Tuesday, awarding them Congress's highest honor nearly two years after they fought with former President Donald Trump's supporters in a brutal and bloody attack.

The real goal behind the event was to keep the "insurrection" narrative alive.

If the Democrats cared about the police, they would have done more to combat the crime wave that causes law enforcement officials to be placed in harm's way.  They would have also honored law enforcement officers who were injured or killed during the BLM riots in 2020–2022.

At the event, Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was honored posthumously.

Sicknick's death was initially misreported to be the result of bludgeoning by Trump supporters.  However, D.C.'s chief medical examiner determined that Sicknick died of natural causes on Jan. 7 after he suffered two strokes.

On stage presenting the honors were House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, McConnell, and Kevin McCarthy.

The Sicknick family was very cordial with Democrat leaders Pelosi and Schumer.  Sicknick's mother even planted a brief peck on Schumer's cheek.

However, the same Sicknick family refused to shake hands with McConnell and McCarthy and just walked by despite McConnell having his hand outstretched throughout.

This was a purposeful snub, which the Sicknick family confirmed later.

Sicknick died of natural causes, yet his death was being exploited by the Democrats to score political points against the GOP.  Sicknick's family participated in this propaganda by needlessly insulting McConnell and McCarthy, who had no role in Sicknick's death.

It isn't beyond the realm of possibility that the Sicknick family received Democrat approval for snubbing McConnell and McCarthy.

The snubbing certainly made headlines.

The goal is to build on the insurrection narrative. 

The Democrats and their propagandists know that most news consumers are unaware that Sicknick died of natural causes.  They know that consumers will watch a brief video and assume that the Republicans must be guilty, since family members of a January 6 martyr are refusing to shake hands with McConnell and McCarthy.

During Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for Jan. 6 police, representatives of those receiving awards shake hands with Schumer then walk past McConnell and McCarthy. pic.twitter.com/YGjKXRGtiZ

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) December 6, 2022

It wasn't just the Sicknick family.  All through their presence on stage, Pelosi and Schumer shared cordial interactions with the top police officials on stage, while McConnell and McCarthy were largely ignored.

The treatment that McConnell and McCarthy received was a perfect metaphor for how the GOP is regarded in D.C.

Currently, McConnell, the NeverTrumps, Liz Cheney, and others are useful idiots for willingly functioning as proxies in the Democrat war against Trump.

But once their purpose is achieved, they will be tossed back into the D.C. dustbin.

Republicans receive two kinds of treatments in D.C.

The establishment Republicans may occasionally be invited to the party, but at the party, they will be ignored and given a table in a dark corner of the room.  As long as they meekly swallow their pride, the establishment allows them their pecuniary gains.

The harshest treatment is reserved for the challenger Republicans, such as Trump.  This is the rare variety of Republicans who openly defy and act against the establishment.  The establishment reacts by deploying the media and various politicized agencies to destroy the challenger.

The snubbing of McConnell and McCarthy is a reminder the Democrats will never, ever treat Republicans as equals.

Any Republican, be it Trump, who is a blatant challenger, or McConnell, who disagrees only on rare occasions, is a target.

If the individual is well behaved and has a clean record, he will still be targeted.  The media will merely fabricate claims, and the agencies will conduct probes based on trumped up claims.

In fact, the attacks are a barometer of worthiness of a Republican.

If a Republican is treated like a member of the club in D.C. it is proof that he has been compromised.

Image: Twitter screen shot of CSPAN video.