No one likes it when things don’t go their way. Whether it’s a being passed over for a promotion at work or the dissolution of a long-term personal relationship or a financial reversal, a setback is never welcome.  What defines a person’s character is his reaction to adverse events. Mature adults will stop, take a breath, internalize the misfortune, evaluate their options and calmly pick a corrective course of action, with a minimum of hyperbolic arm-waving and verbal histrionics. Young children, of course, haven’t attained this level of personal composure and they react with gut-level emotion, stamping their feet, shouting out excuses and rationalizations, and just generally blaming everyone and everything for their predicament, pointedly and unjustifiably.

Liberals have the emotional make-up of 8-year-old children. Almost to a person -- whether they’re elected politicians, pundits, journalists, or simply rabidly partisan voters -- liberals are absolutely incapable of rationally accepting an undesired outcome and dealing with its consequences in a mature and measured manner.

There are countless examples. Here are two: liberals’ refusal to accept the 2016 election results and their dismissal of John Durham’s recent findings that implicate Hillary.

Stunned and horrified over Hillary’s unexpected, shockingly humiliating loss in 2016 -- perhaps the biggest upset in American presidential political history -- liberals at every level, in every position, went on a four-year temper tantrum of irrational, hysterical rejection of reality. Democrat politicians refused to work with President Trump, rebuffing his numerous efforts to forge compromise and move his Pro-American agenda forward. For elected Democrats, trying to deny President Trump any political success whatsoever was far more important to them than actually delivering benefits to the general population.

Liberal pundits and media reporters followed in lockstep. Negative report followed negative report. At one point, the Media Research Center said that over 90% of the TV network reporting on President Trump was negative. With liberal public opinion cast in stone, the rank-and-file hard-core leftist voter base never accepted President Trump either. But it was far more than just political disagreement. It was an emotionally based rejection of the man, because of his having defeated their presumed winner, his in-your-face communications style, and his perceived boasting about having beaten the Clinton Political Machine.

However, it should be noted, most emphatically, that the liberals’ childlike emotional reaction to Trump’s victory and his Presidency was not solely because of Donald Trump’s aura and persona. If, for instance, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis -- as “normal” a personality as there is -- should become president in 2024, the liberal emotional response to him will be identical to what it was to President Trump. DeSantis shares none of Trump’s caustic, abrasive manner, but liberal reactions are not based on that. Their reactions are based on their not winning and not getting their way. Just like eight-year-olds stubbornly pout when things don’t go their way, so do liberals.

Now that John Durham has released his report that casts Hillary and her 2016 campaign acolytes in what can be charitably termed a “very precarious ethical position,” the liberal media are dismissing and pooh-poohing the findings with predictable childlike obstinacy.  Like any embarrassed, humiliated young person, the liberal media simply refuse to acknowledge reality, insisting that what is real doesn’t actually exist.

The proof, of course, is the cliché that once a liberal is confronted with undeniable facts and logic, they will resort to personal, vitriolic attacks. Having lost the argument on its merits, liberals default to their, “Well, you’re an idiot, so shut up” position. That is essentially what they say when they are challenged.

When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, there couldn’t possibly have been a candidate more diametrically opposed to what conservatives stood for than him. But despite conservatives’ disdain for his political philosophy, they never ranted that the election was “illegitimate,’ nor did they bring impeachment charges against him, despite the Fast and Furious gun-running scandal, despite the blatantly illegal Lois Lerner/IRS weaponization of the tax department, despite his outright lying about “You can keep your doctor” that cost millions of Americans their healthcare so that Obama could secure a cheap political win, and above all, despite his willful mishandling and lying that led to the death of four Americans in Benghazi at the hands of Muslim terrorists.

No, instead of bogus, time-wasting impeachment proceedings, Republicans respected the outcome of the 2008 and 2012 elections and simply did their best to work within the bounds of our political system while Obama was President. In other words, conservatives acted like adults.

Liberals are not emotional adults. That is established fact and obvious to any objective observer. The political takeaway is that conservatives need to shape their strategy and responses knowing that their elected political rivals, the liberal media, and the hard-core Democrat voting base will all respond like spoiled children, not like mature adults. Therefore, what conservatives need to concentrate on is this:

1. Crystal-clear messaging that makes perfect sense to the general public and can’t be easily distorted by the media.
2. Party unanimity that can’t be destructively divided by their political opposition. A “RINO-free” zone.
3. “Carrot and stick” tactics to keep liberals in line and ensure that they (liberals) respond predictably. Publicly call out and embarrass liberals for every false, insincere, lying instance of intentional misrepresentation of the facts and their double standards. Make sure the voting public sees things as they really are. Clear. Consistent. Unyielding.

This is the way a savvy teacher keeps a recalcitrant third-grader in line. Liberals need to be treated accordingly.

Image: Piqsels