# 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:** 389
**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:** [August 20, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7762 "2024-08-20T19:45:20Z")
Courts of law ought to be, and strive to be, fair. Everything else in life has at least the potential to be unfair. You’ve just got to deal with it. ---
**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:** [August 20, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7763 "2024-08-20T20:01:46Z")
Give 'em hell, John!: > **[Exclusive: John Kelly rejects Trump’s comments that civilian award is ‘much...](https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/19/politics/john-kelly-donald-trump-medal-of-honor/index.html)** > > Former Trump chief of staff and retired Marine Gen. John Kelly rejected former President Donald Trump’s comments that the Presidential Medal of Freedom that honors civilians was “much better” than the Medal of Honor given to service members,... ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7764 "2024-08-20T20:45:43Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Give 'em hell, John!: Trump: “Well, the CMOH soldier that went way above the call of duty may have been shot or died. Looser. Much better a medal to someone that gives the GOP money” I’d say that Trump is un-hinged but he has never in his entire life been hinged. This is simply how a narcissistic egomaniac ‘thinks’ (for different values of thinks) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7765 "2024-08-20T21:05:39Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > When I was growing up, one of the fastest ways to infuriate my father was to complain something was unfair. He’d go into a tirade about how life isn’t fair, and whining about it will get you nowhere. You had to just deal with it and make of life what you will. As a child it was not what I wanted to hear, but as an adult I consider it one of the two most important things he taught me. There are two possible ways to take that. If it’s the larger world that’s being unfair, then I suppose you will have to learn to accept that. If it was your father that was being unfair, and what he said was a way to deflect responsibility from himself and put it on you, that’s a lesson I don’t agree with. I’ve been thinking about what are the core axioms some people hold that lead them into a Republican or conservative world view, and your post kinda touched on it. I used a rather trivial example in another thread of the dad in _A Christmas Story_, when he says to one of his kids “stop crying, or I’ll give you something to cry about.” There seems to be a school of thought that the world, and the people in it, will always be rotten, and the kindest thiing you can do for anyone is to prepare them to accept the rottenness without complaining. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7766 "2024-08-21T01:53:34Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There are two possible ways to take that. If it’s the larger world that’s being unfair, then I suppose you will have to learn to accept that. If it was your father that was being unfair, and what he said was a way to deflect responsibility from himself and put it on you, that’s a lesson I don’t agree with. My thoughts exactly. The world is chaotic and you can’t prepare for everything, and bad things do happen to good people for reasons completely out of their control. But most of the people who use the “life isn’t fair” truism are using it to deflect their own responsibility. And, this is purely in my experience, if they’re saying this to a young child it’s most likely because they don’t have the foundation of knowledge to explain exactly why a certain thing is happening to a small child. It becomes a shorthand to dismiss another person’s experiences, much like “because I said so.” Unfairness in the world is real. And, at least somewhat, created by other human beings. And change is also real. And is also created by human beings. When someone says to me “life isn’t fair”, my first thought is “yeah because people like you make it that way.” It’s a surprisingly effective way to try to remove a person’s sense of agency. Their ability to effect change. Especially if you start hitting them with it when they’re young. I’ve heard this a lot since I was a kid. I still hate it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7767 "2024-08-21T03:07:57Z")
This reminds me of a meme; unfortunately, I can’t remember it. Something along the lines of ‘If you think others should have a hard life because _you_ had a hard life… something, something, something…’ ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7768 "2024-08-21T03:27:35Z")
“I got whacked around when I was a kid, and I turned out all right!” “If you think that, you didn’t turn out all right.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7769 "2024-08-21T03:34:31Z")
Aha! ‘If you think you had a hard life and turned out all right, you didn’t turn out all right’ sounds close to what I recall. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7770 "2024-08-21T04:25:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > This reminds me of a meme; unfortunately, I can’t remember it. Something along the lines of ‘If you think others should have a hard life because _you_ had a hard life… something, something, something…’ I read something once about fraternity hazing. People hate it when they’re going through it, but those same people will, four years later, subject other people to that same hazing, or worse. The rationale seem to be “I had to go through this to earn my way into the fraternity, so everyone else should have to prove their worth to get in, too.” I think a similar process applies to other things, like immigration. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2024, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7771 "2024-08-21T06:54:39Z")
Much like “pressure makes diamonds.” Yes, but the fact is not everyone is a diamond, and diamonds are fragile. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7772 "2024-08-21T07:13:19Z")
The fact is _nobody_ is a diamond. People are people and, frankly, it’s far past time for governments and organizations to stop pretending otherwise. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2024, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7773 "2024-08-21T08:19:12Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > “I got whacked around when I was a kid, and I turned out all right!” I definitely did not. I think it’s fortunate for my family that I don’t in turn abuse them, because the thought of any of them going through what I did sickens me. (Instead I’m just an asshole to myself, which I know isn’t healthy, but whatever, I know I’m fucked up.) If only Trump also internalized that he’s a loser and left the rest of the world alone. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2024, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7774 "2024-08-21T10:59:45Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I think it’s fortunate for my family that I don’t in turn abuse them, because the thought of any of them going through what I did sickens me. Same same. It’s a big reason I waited until later in life to become a parent. The downside is that I will be retired before my youngest kid graduates high school, but the big upside is that I took the time to unscrew and rescrew my head so I’m a healthier person mentally and emotionally and therefore (I hope) a better father than I had. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7775 "2024-08-21T11:13:56Z")
Jesus, you guys assume the worst. My father was a very fair man. But he recognized the world isn’t fair, and wanted us to be prepared for that fact. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7776 "2024-08-21T12:34:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There seems to be a school of thought that the world, and the people in it, will always be rotten, and the kindest thiing you can do for anyone is to prepare them to accept the rottenness without complaining. I look at it another way. The lesson is not “the world is not fair, so accept it,” it’s more that you make your own happiness in this world. Nobody else is going to help you out with that. Now, the key to happiness is learn to not let things you can’t change (or don’t want the responsibility for changing) bother you. If those things really bother you and your [pride, stubbornness, whatever] won’t allow you to ignore them, get off your ass and do something about it! The people who believe that since they had to eat dirt when they were growing up (and believe they are better for it), so everyone ought to have to eat dirt believe everyone should be like them. The people who hated eating dirt when they were growing up enough to do everything the can so nobody has to eat dirt ever again believe everyone to be different. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2024, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7777 "2024-08-21T12:40:03Z")
Nicely said. Not to Godwinize (nor hijack) this thread, but I am reminded of Viktor Frankl’s approach to the ultimate unfairness: > **[Viktor Frankl's 'Search for Meaning' in 5 Enduring Quotes](https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/viktor-frankl.htm)** > > Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl is best-known for penning "Man's Search for Meaning," after surviving three years in Nazi concentration camps. This book has been a beacon of hope to millions over the years. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7778 "2024-08-21T15:06:39Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I read something once about fraternity hazing. People hate it when they’re going through it, but those same people will, four years later, subject other people to that same hazing, or worse. I went to HS with someone that went to West Point the last year they allowed freshman/plebe hazing. He was not happy that he didn’t get to torment the next class. No more pinging, no more getting yelled at, etc. It is odd. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7779 "2024-08-21T15:16:21Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > most of the people who use the “life isn’t fair” truism are using it to deflect their own responsibility. And, this is purely in my experience, if they’re saying this to a young child it’s most likely because they don’t have the foundation of knowledge to explain exactly why a certain thing is happening to a small child. It becomes a shorthand to dismiss another person’s experiences, much like “because I said so.” This seems unreasonable to me. Who among us can explain this stuff to a small child? And of course a parent has to fall back sometimes, with a small child, on “because that’s just the way it is” or something similar. The point should be that you, the parent, don’t keep things at that level as the child continues to grow in understanding. Instead, you elaborate and explain and add nuance as they are able to understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7780 "2024-08-21T15:17:24Z")
I spearheaded an attempt to eliminate hazing in in my fraternity. There was some resistance from the upperclassmen, but we succeeded in three years. The biggest hurdle was making everyone responsible for cleaning the house, not just the pledges. We did keep some traditions, like being able recite the greek alphabet and memorizing everyone’s poop1. The Poop Book was a little black notebook, where we recorded everyone’s names, majors, and hometown. The Poop Book was what you read while you pooped. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-2/984250/7781 "2024-08-21T15:20:59Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > The Poop Book was a little black notebook, where we recorded everyone’s names, majors, and hometown. The Poop Book was what you read while you pooped. Yet another reason I don’t get greek life. I preferred living with 2 or 3 other friends in an apartment. BTW, I bet that tradition died off once cell phones became ubiquitous. [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=388) [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=390)