Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gettr, Truth Social, Twitter, YouTube
“Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.” – Aristotle
On March 13, 2026, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant in Little Rock by the owner. It wasn’t because of anything she said. It wasn’t because of anything she did. It was because her presence made employees feel threatened and uncomfortable.
The owner went on to explain the employee reactions. “It was due to her political views” explained the owner. Let me repeat. The intense emotional reactions by both employees and customers (a customer shouted, “it’s time to go” and made a crude hand gesture as Sanders was leaving) was caused by the Governor’s political views. She said nothing and did nothing in the restaurant to cause their upset. The owner regretted being put in an uncomfortable situation.
Who demonstrated emotional intelligence (EI)? The owner? The employees? The customer who shouted? The Governor and her party?
The Importance of Emotional Intelligence
“I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.” – Aristotle
Over the past 30 years since Daniel Goleman first published his seminal work, Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, EI has risen to be a premier leadership competency in both personal and business interactions.
Emotional Intelligence helps each of us to act with wisdom. This is one reason (the main reason in my opinion) why Goleman claims that EI is more important than IQ (Intelligence Quotient) to achieve success.
Our choices create the quality of our life and having emotional intelligence enables us to make wise choices. When EI is missing, our inappropriate reactions can cause harm to ourselves, others, and our relationships.
EI includes four basic competencies:
Were the reactions of the employees, customer and owner appropriate for the situation. Did they achieve their desired results? What was their desired result? Was it just the removal of the threat (the governor)? Was it to gain a deeper understanding of the governor’s political views and why she embraces them? Was it to gain wisdom?
EI Leads to Wisdom
“To fear and respect the Lord is wisdom.” – Proverbs 9:10
Can we agree that wisdom is the ability to make good decisions by balancing circumstances, intended outcomes, emotional intelligence and universal principles? So, emotional intelligence is needed to have wisdom, and a wise decision can be unpopular.
The Bible defines wisdom as a deep understanding of God’s ways (Proverbs 2:6). Universal principles and EI are needed to discern the choices available during difficult circumstances like the Governor Sanders restaurant experience.
The owner received the first complaints from the employees after the Governor was served her lunch. “At that point, we chose not to interrupt, expecting that the party would complete their meal and depart without issue.” The owner decided not to decide (deciding not to decide is also a decision). Was his decision not to decide a wise one? Was it emotionally intelligent or cowardice?
The wise decision in this case was to speak to the employees about their overreaction, listen to their concerns, and explain how any inappropriate request to remove the Governor would damage the reputation of the business and alienate a large percentage of citizens.
The owner’s first responsibility is to protect his business and the rights of all (employees, the customers, the Governor’s party)? The employees, owner and customer all lacked EI. The only ones demonstrating EI were the governor and her party.
Is Hate Speech OK?
When Charlie Kirk was assassinated, some on the political left made the argument the assassination was justified because of Kirk’s “hate” speech. Kirk’s frequent opposition to gun control, gender ideology, and abortion, etc., caused uncontrolled emotion on the political left.
Tyler James Robinson, the accused assassin, was significantly impacted by Kirk’s speech. Robinson said, [he] “had enough of [Kirk’s] hatred” and that “some hate can’t be negotiated out.” During a phone call with his father, Robinson explained, “there is too much evil and the guy [Kirk] spreads too much hate.”
There was zero violence at Kirk’s memorial service held on September 21st (the political right). Even though the State Farm Stadium was filled at more than 63,000 and thousands more were waiting outside, the emotional attendees were not violent. Instead of inappropriate overreaction, voter registration booths were set up reinforcing the idea that change can happen by following the rule of law, not rioting.
The prayerful messages by speakers were about forgiveness, worship, and love (not hate). There were calls for fighting evil using political influence, free speech and love, not violence.
Which political party demonstrates EI?
Summary
Can we assume, from their behaviors, that the employees and the customer (who yelled), were on the political left? Can we also assume the governor and her party were on the political right? In this story the political left was emotionally unintelligent, and the political right was emotionally intelligent. This is only one example, so it’s unfair to assume the political left always lacks EI.
However, other obvious examples include the recent “No Kings” protests and the attacks on I.C.E. agents including those by Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Did a lack of EI contribute to these protests?
Were the BLM riots (George Floyd ) caused by a lack of EI? What about the two government shutdowns?
Acting on our emotions alone is not wise. Acting according to objective truth is demonstrating wisdom. Perhaps if we all worked on our EI skills, we could have a safer and more successful world.
Stay updated with the latest in the Constitution State with The CT Centinal
