I had the talk with my son.

Then I had the talk with my oldest daughter.

Then I had the talk with my youngest daughter.

And now, I’m having the talk with Democrats.

The Talk? No, it’s not the one about the birds and the bees, but the other “B” word: Bullies.

There aren’t many things my children experience that I did as a child, but one thing that hasn’t changed is bullies. As long as there is the weak and the strong, there has been bullies, and there always will be.

And the talk is always the same: the best defense against a bully is to ignore him. Act like the taunts, insults and barbs have no effect. Don’t let them know they are bothering you, or they are bound to repeat the behavior. If you act like it’s not a big deal, they will lose interest and move on.

My children learned that lesson. Democrats haven’t.

The Biggest Bully in Politics, Donald Trump, is back on the playground and he’s giddy with the renewed ability to enflame the liberals in the room.

His most egregious taunt of late was promoting an AI-generated image of himself in papal clothing, just after the funeral for Pope Francis and the onset of a conclave to select his successor.

When asked about who he thinks should be the new leader of the Catholic, Trump, in his typical bombastic style, said he should be.

Soon after, the photo surfaced and he posted it on his Truth Social page.

As soon as I saw the photo, I knew exactly what would happen.

A group of people would be outraged. Words like “disrespect,” “tasteless” and maybe even “sacrilegious” would be used.

And through it all, Trump would be cackling like an old hen.

The bully has won again.

It took me about six months into Trump’s first presidency to realize exactly who he was and what his modus operandi is.

The guy likes to say outrageous things and revel in the outrage it creates.

Does he REALLY think he’d be a good Pope? Of course not. No more so than he’s serious about sending troops to Greenland, or occupying Gaza and developing it into a resort area, or even running for a third term.

Is there a more over-reaching reason and strategy to him making repeated ludicrous claims? Perhaps. It could very well be part of a master scheme to provide a smokescreen for when he is serious about something that may seem far-reaching, like actually building a wall the entirety of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

And while that may be an ulterior motive, I really don’t think it matters to Trump. The man likes to poke the bear, or in this case, the Democrat/liberals. He likes saying outrageous things, reading and watching the media reaction, and the comments on social media. He is a showman and a showman always craves the spotlight, no matter how he gets it or why it’s there.

Spoiler alert: DJT is going to make dozens of outlandish comments in the next 3.5 years. How many? Well, the number would be smaller if folks didn’t get so easily riled up, especially over non-consequential statements like “I’d be a good Pope.”

I know it’s difficult if not impossible (and unrealistic) to expect everyone to ignore what the President says, primarily because what the President says is usually important.

But there’s nothing “usual” about a Trump presidency. I would have thought we would have learned that the first time.

Apparently not.

Gregory Orear is a Senior Editor for Cherry Road Media. He has worked in newspapers for 32 years and can be contacted at gorear@cherryroad.com.