Eight days ago, Americans went to the polls and re-elected President Barack Obama. But for those who didn’t help Obama win a second term, this news caused some fairly bizarre reactions. In fact, some conservatives were ready to take immediate, drastic action.

NBC News’ Allison Linn reported that Robert Murray, chief executive of Ohio-based coal provider Murray Energy Corp., fired more than 150 employees at three locations after Obama’s victory, blaming the president’s “war on coal.” “The American people have made their choice,” he told employees.

Meanwhile, deep in the heart of Texas, Hardin County Republican treasurer Peter Morrison called for conservative states to initiate an “amicable divorce” from the rest of the country after “maggots” re-hired Obama. “Why should Vermont and Texas live under the same government? Let each go her own way in peace, sign a free trade agreement among the states, and we can avoid this gut-wrenching spectacle every four years,” he wrote in his newsletter.

Not to be outdone, Eric Dondero, former aide to Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, announced he was instituting his own secession of sorts. “Starting early this morning, I am going to un-friend every single individual on Facebook who voted for Obama, or I even suspect may have Democrat leanings,” Dondero wrote on the website Libertarian Republican the day after the election. “All family and friends, even close family and friends, who I know to be Democrats are hereby dead to me. I vow never to speak to them again for the rest of my life, or have any communications with them.”

But if you wanted to see the conservative brain trust losing their collective minds in real time, political analyst Karl Rove on Fox News Channel Election Night was second to none. Just before 11:30 p.m. Nov. 6, most networks already had called Ohio and the election for Obama. The lead was clearly insurmountable and the results coming indicated no path to victory for Mitt Romney.

Still, Rove, senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, wouldn’t let the issue rest. He challenged the network’s prognosticators on air, holding up proceedings for more than 20 minutes. While the split-screen showed the masses cheering for Obama at his campaign headquarters in Chicago, co-anchor Megyn Kelly was forced to walk across the studio to the “Decision Desk” to get clarification.

Finally, after going back and forth with Rove, Kelly couldn’t mask her contempt any longer. “Is this just math that you do as a Republican to make yourself feel better, or is this real?” she asked Rove, exasperated. It was most assuredly the former. Rove, who is also co-founder and senior adviser to the super PAC “American Crossroads,” spent between $90 million and $160 million of other people’s money trying to fire Obama, according to Daily Finance.

Conservatives: I know it hurts right now. However, we need to work together to solve the problems facing our country. For an example of the kind of bipartisanship I’m talking about, look no farther than eastern Africa.

Reuters reported that housewife Millicent Awuor, 20, gave birth to twins Nov. 7 in Kenya. “I decided to name them after Barack Obama and Mitt Romney,” she said. “I named the first twin Barack and the second one Mitt just the way Obama and Romney performed in the U.S. election.” Had the election gone the other way, she would have named the elder Mitt and the younger Barack.

That’s the kind of fair and balanced I’m talking about. Something about that story warms my heart. If that woman can find such political harmony within her own womb, what’s really stopping us from coming together as a people?

Rob Burgess, Tribune night editor, may be reached by calling 765-454-8577, via email at rob.burgess@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/robaburg.