# 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:** 420
**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:** [January 10, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8387 "2023-01-10T23:03:51Z")
He’d be safer in Prison. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8388 "2023-01-10T23:08:34Z")
My understanding was that Rikers isn’t a prison, it’s a jail. You go there while you await trial unless you can post bail. More to the point, nobody in Rikers has been convicted of a crime yet. Have I been completely wrong about this essentially my entire life? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8389 "2023-01-10T23:12:11Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > My understanding was that Rikers isn’t a prison, it’s a jail. You go there while you await trial unless you can post bail. More to the point, nobody in Rikers has been convicted of a crime yet. Like many city jails, it holds defendants pretrial, and also those serving sentences less than one year. People sentenced to a year or more go to a state prison (exceptions probably exist). ---
**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:** [January 10, 2023, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8390 "2023-01-10T23:13:05Z")
This little tidbit from the article surprised me > Though no longer CFO, Weisselberg remains on paid leave from the Trump Organization. I thought they would have cut him off as soon as he turned state’s evidence. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8391 "2023-01-10T23:14:53Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > also those serving sentences less than one year Thanks much. I would say I learned my something new today, but that does sound vaguely familiar. I think I knew that once. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8392 "2023-01-10T23:16:24Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I thought they would have cut him off as soon as he turned state’s evidence. He didn’t rat on Trump personally, so I’m sure they’re grateful. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8393 "2023-01-10T23:23:10Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > > [@EllisDee](#): > > > > My understanding was that Rikers isn’t a prison, it’s a jail. You go there while you await trial unless you can post bail. More to the point, nobody in Rikers has been convicted of a crime yet. > > Like many city jails, it holds defendants pretrial, and also those serving sentences less than one year. People sentenced to a year or more go to a state prison (exceptions probably exist). Thanks for that clarification. I could have sworn that Harvey Weinstein was enjoying the hospitality of Rikers Island, but indeed, he was transferred to a state prison. I believe he was at Rikers prior to sentencing. I would love to see Trump following that same route. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8394 "2023-01-10T23:58:34Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > This little tidbit from the article surprised me > > > Though no longer CFO, Weisselberg remains on paid leave from the Trump Organization. > > I thought they would have cut him off as soon as he turned state’s evidence. > [@Procrustus](#): > > He didn’t rat on Trump personally, so I’m sure they’re grateful. Yeah, this. Weisselberg essentially gave up as little information as he could without incurring a multi-year sentence. I’ve heard it said that the Trumps actually learned a lesson after the experience of Michael Cohen–who gave up a huge amount of damaging information after being cut off from all financial support. They made sure Weisselberg would stay loyal to the extent he could without being given a 20-year sentence, by keeping the cash flowing to him. Of course it’s tough to imagine the Trumps _learning_ anything–but where money is concerned, apparently sometimes they do. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8395 "2023-01-11T00:30:25Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > My understanding was that Rikers isn’t a prison, it’s a jail. You go there while you await trial unless you can post bail. More to the point, nobody in Rikers has been convicted of a crime yet. > > Have I been completely wrong about this essentially my entire life? I too was wrong about this. I really didn’t know there was a difference between “jail” and “prison” and always thought they were just synonyms. Huh. Thanks for educating me, everyone. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8396 "2023-01-11T00:44:33Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I really didn’t know there was a difference between “jail” and “prison” and always thought they were just synonyms. I didn’t know the difference until I had a brother who was incarcerated. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8397 "2023-01-11T13:12:06Z")
My vague understanding is that Riker’s is a crumbling, mismanaged hell-hole, so I suspect it will be a very unpleasant 5 months for Weisselberg. (Though maybe it’s not so bad for rich white guys.) ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8398 "2023-01-12T02:44:15Z")
Be that as it may I personally would not want to spend five _minutes_ in the nicest part of Rikers Island. Five months doesn’t sound like much but I don’t think a single moment of it is going to be fun for Weisselberg. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8399 "2023-01-12T03:13:15Z")
No joke. When I think of jail I think of a few small holding cells in a police station like on Andy Griffith and countless other shows and movies. Not only is Rikers a separate self-contained facility – making it more prison-like – it’s on a fucking island. That makes it more _Alcatraz_-like. Hell no. Do not commit a crime in New York City. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8400 "2023-01-12T03:23:51Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Not only is Rikers a separate self-contained facility – making it more prison-like – it’s on a fucking island. That makes it more _Alcatraz_-like. Hell no. Do not commit a crime in New York City. Inmates there volunteer to go do work on Hart Island to get out for a while. (And any quick explanation of Hart Island would make most people think a horror writer was trying too hard.) ---
**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:** [January 12, 2023, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8401 "2023-01-12T03:34:06Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > I personally would not want to spend five _minutes_ in the nicest part of Rikers Island. I think the nicest part is a few miles offshore. Think Escape from New York with bars. 19 people dies in there last year. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8402 "2023-01-12T14:29:08Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > …any quick explanation of Hart Island would make most people think a horror writer was trying too hard. Jeez, I just looked it up, and you’re not kidding. It’s got to be a top candidate for 'island most likely to be haunted by angry, vengeful spirits": > **[Hart Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_Island_(Bronx))** > > Hart Island, sometimes referred to as Hart's Island,\[a\] is located at the western end of Long Island Sound, in the northeastern Bronx in New York City. Measuring approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) long by 0.33 miles (0.53 km) wide, Hart Island is part of the Pelham Islands archipelago, to the east of City Island. > The island's first public use was as a training ground for the United States Colored Troops in 1864. Since then, Hart Island has been the location of a Union Civil War prison camp, a psyc... ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8403 "2023-01-12T15:00:42Z")
_Hart Island has been the location of a [Union Civil War prison camp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War_prison_camps), a [psychiatric institution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatric_institution), a [tuberculosis sanatorium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis_sanatorium), a [potter’s field](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter%27s_field) with mass burials, a homeless shelter, a boys’ [reformatory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformatory), a jail, and a drug rehabilitation center. Several other structures, such as an amusement park, were planned for Hart Island but not built. During the [Cold War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War_(1953%E2%80%931962)), [Nike defense missiles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_missile) were stationed on Hart Island. The island was intermittently used as a prison and a homeless shelter until 1967; the last inhabited structures were abandoned in 1977._ I wish they had built that amusement park… an then abandoned it. An abandoned amusement park is like the one thing that island is missing. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8404 "2023-01-12T15:27:07Z")
Make it an abandoned golf course too. With very deep bunkers where you can’t get out because the sand keeps falling down on you when you try. Yes, I know who I am thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8405 "2023-01-12T15:30:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I wish they had built that amusement park… an then abandoned it. An abandoned amusement park is like the one thing that island is missing. Yeah, and the reason it had been abandoned is because of the many tragic and mysterious ‘accidents’ that kept befalling the visitors to the park. It’s a horror story that writes itself. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/8406 "2023-01-12T15:55:54Z")
Not to mention a ton of Batman stories. [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=419) [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=421)