scha·den·freu·de
ˈSHädənˌfroidə/
noun
- pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune
nar·cis·sism
ˈnärsəˌsizəm/
noun
- extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents and a craving for admiration, as characterizing a personality type.
This weekend was a time of great sorrow. Sorrow over the state of our country and the growing adversities which will likely soon confront my children and grandchildren.
Not that I have ever believed Donald Trump is a savior who will address all the problems that have led to our economic and cultural decline. But at least he gave us a shot at slowing down enough to turn the ship around.
At least Trump would give us a few more years before the Supreme Court forced every nun to choose between jail and paying for abortions. At least we might have a few more years before churches and religious schools would have to choose between closing or embracing the secular (pagan) world view on human sexuality. And at least we would have a few more years before the floodgates of taxpayer dollars would be opened to abortionists and Planned Parenthood even more than they already are.
Now, that opportunity seems on the verge of slipping away.
I expected to see many of my friends experiencing the same sorrow. I thought that, even though some of them were #NeverTrump, they would at least be grieved by what a now likely Clinton presidency means for our Constitutional Republic and for our future.
Silly me.
Instead, I saw cheering, score-counting, self-aggrandizing, and worst of all, schadenfreude. Not familiar with what schadenfreude is? It is a word used to describe one’s deriving joy and happiness at another’s loss, pain, and suffering.
The self-aggrandizing #NeverTrump’ers were so happy to be right in their prediction Trump would implode that they forgot about the potential victims of a Clinton presidency and what it would mean for all of us.
Imagine national security experts who warned of 9/11 cheering about being right when the towers fell.
Imagine financial analysts who predicted the 2008 financial collapse celebrating being right as millions of Americans lost their jobs and saw their pensions decimated.
Imagine opponents to the Iraq War high-fiving each other for being right in the high amount of American casualties.
A Trump defeat will mean the Supreme Court is lost to conservatives for at least 40 years. The new court, with Clinton-appointed justices, will be a totalitarian 21st-century version of the Warren Court.
A Trump defeat will mean conservatives lose the ability to freely dissent from the Left’s radical sexual worldview.
A Trump defeat will mean conservatives lose any hope of lower taxes, a repeal of Obamacare, any regulatory reform, any deficit cuts — oh and Iran will get their nukes for sure.
So congratulations on your prescience, #NeverTrump’ers. Hip hip hooray.
Terry Schilling is the executive director of American Principles Project.
