# A Perfectly Reasonable Amount of Schadenfreude about Things Happening to Trump & His Enablers (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 14, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537 "2020-11-14T00:09:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 40
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/781 "2021-02-06T16:57:58Z")
“Sir, this stuff is so super-secret that nobody else knows it. We haven’t even told Sleepy Joe or the military. So be sure to keep it under your hat, okay?” I only hope his ~~handlers~~ contacts can keep from laughing in his face when he passes it on. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/782 "2021-02-06T18:17:43Z")
As I said here, I believe the two complainants are very unlikely to be satisfied with simply a financial penalty. > [@A Perfectly Reasonable Amount of Schadenfreude about Things Happening to Trump & His Enablers (Part 1)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers/925537/772): > > Agree. Their mutual case is basically cast-iron. And they’re not solely interested in a financial solution, they want to recover their reputation. They can’t achieve that with a probably-secret settlement in which the losing party admits no fault publicly. They win only when the defamatory statements are crushed and openly rebuked, which is achievable only with a jury trial. The very unlikely exception would be if Giuliani et al. agree to a settlement including an extensive and highly public apo… ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/783 "2021-02-06T18:18:31Z")
Now, that could be fun Hillary Clinton seen canoodling with Vladimir Putin at the Russian Tea Room over shot glasses filled with the blood of Republican virgins. China’s President Xi to adopt Hunter Biden and put him in charge of the country’s armed forces. Jill Biden secretly flies to Mars to start a community college for the child sex slaves. Rudy Guiliani secretly awarded the double secret Noble Prize for his brilliant investigative work on election security. Jared and Ivanka are friends with a high level Chinese spy who is rumored to have dated Putin, Ivanka is teaching her children to speak Chinese. OK, so I threw in one [true](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/16/us-officials-briefed-jared-kushner-on-concerns-about-wendi-deng-murdoch) [thing](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/01/wendi-deng-putin-rupert-murdoch-caribbean-russian-yacht), bet you can guess which one. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/784 "2021-02-06T18:45:41Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Biden has [revoked](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/us/politics/biden-trump-intelligence-briefings.html) Trump’s access to daily classified security briefings. Other former presidents will continue to receive them. Trump wasn’t interested in those when he WAS President. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/785 "2021-02-06T19:45:41Z")
Ah, Rupert’s ex. Guessed right. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/786 "2021-02-06T20:09:35Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Trump wasn’t interested in those when he WAS President. I was gonna say, I imagine anything they brought him that didn’t sound good to him was probably dismissed as “fake news”, as he waved them off dismissively without even looking their way, never taking eyes off of Fox News while licking fried chicken grease off his fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/787 "2021-02-06T20:24:50Z")
I’ve struggled through a bit of Carlson, but never Dobbs. Why were advertisers pulling out of Dobbs’ show in particular? Was he _worse_ than the others in some way? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/788 "2021-02-06T21:38:09Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Trump wasn’t interested in those when he WAS President. But he could sell them, which I’m sure he would. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/789 "2021-02-06T22:29:41Z")
Now WABC is airing mandatory [disclaimers](https://news.yahoo.com/rudy-giuliani-slams-radio-station-171135410.html) before Rudy’s crazy town radio hour. Apparently he is unhappy about it. > Appearing surprised, Mr Giuliani responded on air. “I would have thought they would have told me about that before just doing what they just did. Rather insulting,” he said. > “Gives you a sense of how far this free speech thing has gone, and how they frighten everybody” the former mayor continued. “I mean, we’re in America, we’re not in East Germany.” What a mook. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/790 "2021-02-06T22:44:04Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’ve struggled through a bit of Carlson, but never Dobbs. Why were advertisers pulling out of Dobbs’ show in particular? Was he _worse_ than the others in some way? Oh yeah. He was worse. He pretty admitted he had no proof but kept pushing it. It was embarrassing even for that group of clowns. > **[Fox host Lou Dobbs complained that he couldn't find 'actual proof' of voter...](https://news.yahoo.com/fox-host-lou-dobbs-complained-111753587.html)** > > Dobbs said "we have had a devil of a time finding actual proof," though he did not back down in his baseless belief that voter fraud must've occurred. _“Eight weeks from the election and we still don’t have verifiable, tangible support for the crimes that everyone knows were committed,” Dobbs said._ _“We know that’s the case in Nevada,” he added. “We know it’s the case in Pennsylvania and a number of other states, but we have had a devil of a time finding actual proof.”_ It was really bad. Compare that to Carlson, who you also mentioned; as far back as November he was calling BS on his show about some election fraud claims (specifically the ones from Sidney Powell). He was even getting frustrated by it. > **[Tucker Carlson bashes Trump attorney Sidney Powell for lack of evidence in...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/20/tucker-carlson-sidney-powell-fraud/)** > > "She never demonstrated that a single actual vote was moved illegitimately by software from one candidate to another," Tucker Carlson said on Thursday. "Not one." He hadn’t gone so far as to declare that the lack of evidence was enough to declare there was no fraud, but he wasn’t beating the drum declaring for certain it happened. And he’s certainly no paragon of truth, here he is insisting that Trump’s clear attempts to muscle in on Georgia to “find votes” to help Republicans are no big deal: > **[Tucker Carlson Says Everyone Should Listen to Leaked Trump Call: 'It's...](https://www.thewrap.com/tucker-carlson-says-everyone-should-listen-to-leaked-trump-call-its-interesting-video/)** > > Tucker doesn't get why anyone cares that Trump told the Georgia secretary to overturn the election results You know Fox News is rotten when Carlson isn’t as bad as some of the others. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/791 "2021-02-06T23:26:46Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Ah, Rupert’s ex. Guessed right. We never really hear the true story behind questionable conduct by the powerful until they are no longer powerful. For example, the misdeeds of both Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby were known for, literally, decades, before the information reached the public. It wasn’t until Weinstein’s movies were no longer making money and Cosby was no longer the producer of a successful TV show (his own) that their execrable conduct was revealed. Humans don’t like to offend the powerful. It’s dangerous. But no one retains power forever. What we will learn about Rupert Murdoch when he is no longer able to do what powerful people do to journalists who offend them…well, it beggars the imagination. \ In a more schadenfreudian vein: several journalistic outfits are concentrating on the classic “follow the money” rule for analyzing bad behavior, in this case the Capital insurrection: > **[Following The Money Behind The Capitol Insurrection](https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2021/02/05/following-the-money-of-the-capitol-insurrection)** > > The rally before the attack on the Capitol. Who funded it? How much did they spend? Who are they funding now? We talk dark money and the insurrection. It’s audio, but the page has some nice links, such as: > [@](#): > > **ProPublica** : “[Text Messages Show Top Trump Campaign Fundraiser’s Key Role Planning the Rally That Preceded the Siege](https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-campaign-fundraiser-ellipse-rally)” — “In the week leading up to the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., that exploded into an attack on the Capitol, a top Trump campaign fundraiser issued a directive to a woman who had been overseeing planning for the event.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/792 "2021-02-06T23:47:18Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > _“Eight weeks from the election and we still don’t have verifiable, tangible support for the crimes that everyone knows were committed,” Dobbs said._ > > _“We know that’s the case in Nevada,” he added. “We know it’s the case in Pennsylvania and a number of other states, but we have had a devil of a time finding actual proof.”_ It’s just bizarre, isn’t it? He’s spelling out, very explicitly, step by step, that reality isn’t what the facts and evidence point to, reality is what we “know”… without any hint of concern that this implies a problem about the validity of this “knowledge”. It’s like they don’t even care to make any pretense that this is anything other than the cognitive pattern of a cult. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/793 "2021-02-08T19:13:57Z")
My impression is that Carlson does a “12 lies and a truth” shtick. Most of the time he engages in the same fear mongering and alt reality as the rest of the cadre, but he will occasionally throw a curve ball by actually acknowledging a reality that doesn’t match the party line as a way to appear objective. That way all of his viewers can say, “See it isn’t purely partisan, he just follows were the facts lead.” Even if for some reason the “facts” always lead in the direction of racism and Xenophobia. Tucker’s target audience are those people how voted party line Republican in every election since 1960, but are proudly registered as “independent” because they “think” for themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/794 "2021-02-08T21:00:40Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Add battery cables to the testicles and we’re good to go. Charging… ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/795 "2021-02-08T21:16:15Z")
Thanks for the link. I typically don’t listen to podcasts — I have a _ **strong** _ preferences for long written pieces, but I may give it a shot. And the link also has good links to several articles. Speaking of “following the money”, I hope someone is doing it with regards to to the Dominion / Smartmatic smear campaign. Because it looks like there is a business entity that would profit greatly from the damage done to those companies, one who is kind of sleazy. and that company was the prime competitor in a rather nasty fight over who would get the contract for the court ordered replacement the GA voting machines, and were in an equally nasty fight over who would get to replace the machines in LA County, CA. On the other hand, business competition for that kind of high dollar contract is intense. This sleaziness may just be the way of voting machine companies. Still, if anyone’s interested, here’s a [link](https://fairfight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Election-Systems-and-Software-ESS-Corruption-07162019.pdf) And I will note that link is from 2019, and the focus of the investigative file is the ESS ( the competitor) relationship with Georgia, and despite all the outlined irregularities and conflicts of interest…Dominion ultimately got the contract. So there really may be nothing to this. But I’ve got to say that the little bit of research I’ve done into Georgia, voter suppression and voting machines has totally eradicated any sympathy I may have once had for all those beleaguered GA election officials. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/796 "2021-02-08T23:58:20Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I typically don’t listen to podcasts — I have a _ **strong** _ preferences for long written pieces … I feel that way too–it’s always disappointing to get to a page and find it’s just a promo for a podcast or other audio content. Anyway—I hadn’t been familiar with [fairfight.com](http://fairfight.com). Looks like some interesting stuff; thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/797 "2021-02-09T00:50:48Z")
It is interesting but I’m still viewing it with a certain amount of skepticism, especially with regards to the specifics of all the individual claims. I was hesitant to post it, but some of the embedded links are quite good. But while I haven’t seen any confirmation of the specific claims that Fair Fight makes and some of what they describe could be industry standard business practice, I’m pretty comfortable with the broad narrative of “there is a voting machine manufacturer that is currently the market leader and they are both highly litigious and very political connected, especially in Republican circles. Smartmatic and Dominion are smaller companies seeking to encroach on their market share, and both companies recently beat them out on major contracts for the 2020 election (Smartmatic in LA County, Dominion in Georgia). And that may be all there is, but I hoping someone’s connecting the dots. With all the litigation, I’m sure they are. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/798 "2021-02-09T01:09:29Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > … > > But I’ve got to say that the little bit of research I’ve done into Georgia, voter suppression and voting machines has totally eradicated any sympathy I may have once had for all those beleaguered GA election officials. Oh, yes. We’ve had a dozen or so bills introduced into the House this session, dealing with “election integrity” - bills to forbid drop boxes, limit the availability of absentee ballots, require picture ID with mail-in ballots. All by Republicans, of course. They’ve even created a new legislative committee - [the House Committee on Election Integrity](https://www.legis.ga.gov/committees/house/193) - because the Democrats on the committee that used to oversee election legislation got too good at blocking voter suppression bills. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/799 "2021-02-09T03:20:03Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > . . . the broad narrative of “there is a voting machine manufacturer that is currently the market leader and they are both highly litigious and very political connected, especially in Republican circles. . . . I’ve seen the name ES&S a few times lately, in contexts that fit your description here. I’ve never heard of them before this. Back in the Bush v Gore days, it was Diebold that was the big bugaboo of alleged voting-machine skullduggery. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/800 "2021-02-09T13:18:41Z")
Let’s see, as far as I can tell… Diebold changed their name to Premier Election Solutions in 2007. In 2009, the company was acquired by ES&S. This set off a flurry of investigation, and the DOJ filed and won an antitrust lawsuit. ES&S was forced by court order to divest, so it sold Premier to Dominion in 2010. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537.md?page=39) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537.md?page=41)