# A Perfectly Reasonable Amount of Schadenfreude about Things Happening to Trump & His Enablers (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 19, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250 "2023-05-19T03:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 176
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3502 "2023-12-29T21:35:32Z")
History will show that we’ve already gone over the brink. The only question remaining is how one side will destroy the other. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2023, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3503 "2023-12-29T23:34:18Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Not necessarily. There are states that are massively gerrymandered in in favor of Republicans. Off the top of my head, Georgia which actually went to Biden in the last election is a place where I could possibly see the Republicans get their way on something like this. Just as a hypothetical. > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > History will show that we’ve already gone over the brink. You are the only thing I have to fear. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3504 "2023-12-30T01:46:51Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > People are going to lose faith in democracy and the rule of law if this coming election has a bunch of states inconsistently omitting Trump or Biden from the ballot. We are well past that point. 1/6 and the subsequent investigations proved that to various liberal leaning individuals. And Trump has been harping that Democracy could not be trusted (if he didn’t win) since 2016. That ship has sailed. > [@Riemann](#): > > I’ll repeat, if Trump (for good reason) and Biden (for malicious reasons) are excluded for ballots inconsistently in a random hodgepodge of states, this democracy is on the verge of failure. I think many, possibly most of us feel that this democracy is -already- on the verge of failure. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3505 "2023-12-30T04:51:51Z")
I suppose “former Trump enabler” is close enough: > **[Michael Cohen used fake cases created by AI in bid to end his probation](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/29/michael-cohen-ai-google-bard-fake-citations/)** > > Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen said he used Google Bard to unknowingly generate fake case citations that his lawyer used in a motion seeking to end his probation. > Michael Cohen, a former fixer and lawyer for former president Donald Trump, said in a new court filing that he unknowingly gave his attorney bogus case citations after using artificial intelligence to create them as part of a legal bid to end his probation on tax evasion and campaign finance violation charges… You’d think people would have learned after this story hit the news back in June: > **[Lawyers have real bad day in court after citing fake cases made up by ChatGPT](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/06/lawyers-have-real-bad-day-in-court-after-citing-fake-cases-made-up-by-chatgpt/)** > > Lawyers fined $5K and lose case after using AI chatbot "gibberish" in filings. > A federal judge tossed a lawsuit and issued a $5,000 fine to the plaintiff’s lawyers after they used ChatGPT to research court filings that cited six fake cases invented by the artificial intelligence tool made by OpenAI… ---
**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:** [December 30, 2023, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3506 "2023-12-30T05:46:27Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > > Michael Cohen, a former fixer and lawyer for former president Donald Trump, said in a new court filing that he unknowingly gave his attorney bogus case citations after using artificial intelligence to create them as part of a legal bid to end his probation on tax evasion and campaign finance violation charges… And tomorrow’s headline will be > Regarding the story we published yesterday, it turns out that Michael Cohen asked Google Bard to write the court filing giving a plausible excuse for why he had submitted fake case citations generated by Google Bard. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3507 "2023-12-30T13:27:16Z")
Write-in votes will not count in the Colorado primary [cite](https://www.cpr.org/2023/12/20/colorado-supreme-court-ruled-against-trump-heres-what-might-happen-next/) . Republicans may go to a caucus system to get around the Trump-off-the-ballot situation. [cite](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/colorado-gop-caucus-primary-trump-supreme-court-rcna130591) ---
**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:** [January 2, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3508 "2024-01-02T17:57:44Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > > > History will show that we’ve already gone over the brink. > > You are the only thing I have to fear. So FDR was right! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3509 "2024-01-02T18:05:00Z")
Ha! (I suspect @Atamasama was setting us up for a punchline). ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3510 "2024-01-03T01:54:43Z")
I couldn’t find any recent NRA threads and didn’t want to start one just for this, but I sure hope Letitia James can plant a stake in Wayne LaPierre’s evil heart. The corruption investigation she started back in 2020 is finally going to trial: > **[LaPierre, Longtime N.R.A. Leader, Faces Trial That Could End His Reign](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/02/nyregion/nra-lapierre-trial.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K00.c2nW.qP3c_jDCQFmV&smid=url-share)** > > A lawsuit brought by New York’s attorney general against Wayne LaPierre and three other N.R.A. insiders accuses the gun rights group of decades of corruption. In the days my father was a member, NRA was an organization for sportsmen interested in safety and education. It became a grotesque shitshow of corruption and mindless pursuit of political power at all costs. > Ms. James seeks to use her regulatory authority over nonprofit groups to impose a range of financial penalties against the defendants and to remove Mr. LaPierre; any money recovered would flow back to the N.R.A. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Tuesday before State Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Cohen. The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. Too bad the NRA would get that money back. It really belongs to the members - maybe they - including the 2 million who have left since all this stated - should have a say in where it goes since it’s theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3511 "2024-01-04T00:40:17Z")
I guess the Russians are not going to ask for their money back from the NRA. [The NRA helped deliver a Trump victory for Russia in 2016.](https://www.npr.org/2019/09/27/764879242/nra-was-foreign-asset-to-russia-ahead-of-2016-new-senate-report-reveals) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3512 "2024-01-04T14:48:46Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > In the days my father was a member, NRA was an organization for sportsmen interested in safety and education. It became a grotesque shitshow of corruption and mindless pursuit of political power at all costs. I stopped being a member years ago because I got sick of their fearmongering and noticed they weren’t the ones spearheading efforts to protect the rights of gun owners. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3513 "2024-01-04T14:56:41Z")
Well, that’s pretty much Wayne LaPierre’s legacy. He was largely responsible for the switchover from an organization of hunters who did a lot of safety and education (really good stuff as I recall from my childhood) to more of the current corporate structure that shills for the manufacturers and exists only to perpetuate its own bloat and excess ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3514 "2024-01-04T18:11:08Z")
Paywalled, unfortunately, but the headline says it all. > **[South Florida activist asks judge to keep Trump off state’s election ballot](https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/01/03/south-florida-activist-asks-judge-to-keep-trump-off-states-election-ballot/)** > > A Broward gadfly with a knack for generating attention has jumped into the weighty constitutional question of whether former President Donald Trump is disqualified from another term as president be… Yeah, that’s a new 14th Amendment suit according to NBC News Radio. ---
**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 4, 2024, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3515 "2024-01-04T18:38:14Z")
Some info on the activist who submitted the request: > **[Chaz Stevens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaz_Stevens)** > > Timothy "Chaz" Stevens (born August 31, 1964) is an American political activist, artist, software developer, and entrepreneur from Florida. He is active in local politics in Broward County, and has gained national notoriety for his colorful statewide and national advocacy for the separation of church and state. > His local political activity has led to charges being filed against, and the decrease in popularity of, several local politicians, including two mayors and a former mayor of his hometo... I finally found an article that doesn’t require you to have a login to read it. This is the 4th one I checked. > **[Broward provocateur sues to block Donald Trump from 2024 ballot](https://floridapolitics.com/archives/650962-broward-provocateur-sues-to-block-donald-trump-from-2024-ballot/)** > > The gadfly behind Festivus poles at six state Capitols is airing grievances over Trump's effort to win back his old job. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3516 "2024-01-04T18:46:44Z")
How does one obtain the moniker “Gadfly”? I think I’d like to apply. ETA: I’m currently “Curmudgeon”, but am willing to learn. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3517 "2024-01-04T18:49:28Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > How does one obtain the moniker “Gadfly”? I think I’d like to apply. [Assuming you’re a Democrat, just ask Trump a bunch of questions.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadfly_(philosophy_and_social_science)) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3518 "2024-01-04T21:53:45Z")
I don’t think you can go right from curmudgeon to gadfly. First you have to achieve fussbudget status. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3519 "2024-01-04T22:11:06Z")
Some more grassroots coolness, this time with five folks. Gotta start somewhere. > **[Voters file an objection to Trump's name on the Illinois ballot](https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/voters-file-an-objection-to-trump-s-name-on-the-illinois-ballot-1.6711662)** > > A petition filed by five voters on Thursday seeks to bar former President Donald Trump from the Illinois Republican primary election ballot in March, claiming he is ineligible to hold office because he encouraged and did little to stop the Jan. 6,... > [@](#): > > The Illinois State Board of Elections had yet to set the petition for hearing Thursday afternoon, spokesperson Matt Dietrich said. The board is set to hear 32 other objections to the proposed ballot at its Jan. 11 meeting ---
**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 4, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3520 "2024-01-04T22:46:20Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Some more grassroots coolness Forget grassroots coolness, this is more like a grass fire! (Spreading and accelerating.) ---
**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:** [January 4, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/3521 "2024-01-04T22:58:23Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I don’t think you can go right from curmudgeon to gadfly. First you have to achieve fussbudget status. Where do “crank” and “escaped mental patient” fit in? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250.md?page=175) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250.md?page=177)