Schadenfreude
Their hopes were dashed. Their prayers (if they pray) were ignored. Much to their surprise and consternation, President Trump recovered. As everyone knows, after only 3 and 1/2 days in the hospital, he was discharged from Walter Reid on Monday. After flying back to the White House, he ascended the long steps to the portico quickly and with no assistance. Though he didn’t look, at that point, back to being his robust self, he looked strong enough. It was clear that he would survive. One could almost hear the cries of anguish from Trump haters throughout the land. (Kind of like the collective moan recorded surreptitiously at the Democratic National Committee when they first got the news that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had passed, opening an appointment up for President Trump to fill).
The response of America’s leftists, progressives, mainstream media and commentators to President Trump’s COVID-19 illness has been nothing less than reprehensible. And, in fact, can be described by a non sequitur that I find I have to use more and more these days: shocking but not surprising.
Dear readers, when I learned of the recent passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I was encouraged that her passing would allow the appointment of a conservative justice to the Supreme Court (which, under a liberal majority for decades, would often make “new law” rather than interpret the Constitution as was the Founder’s intention), but I was saddened at the death of a valiant and tenacious woman that had endured much suffering but remained dedicated to her calling. Readers might recall, that despite my disagreement with many of Justice Ginsburg’s judicial rulings, I wrote no commentary gloating over her demise.
Not so with today’s leftists and progressives. As our President became increasingly symptomatic, social media, and even main stream media, exploded with glee.
Schadenfreude is a German term which means, literally, “dark joy,” but is used, specifically, to denote happiness at someone else’s misfortune. Though Schadenfreude is, perhaps, an unenviable aspect of human nature, it was not something anyone would be proud of. And, it has NEVER been CELEBRATED as it was with President Trump’s illness.
One can find countless examples of Schadenfreude over Trump’s illness in media commentary and on social media but I’d like to offer one quotation that, I think, sets the standard. The following quote is not from some internet troll or some lunatic chat room. It is from a member of the MARYLAND BOARD OF EDUCATION since 2002, longtime educator, Jaqueline Fischer. Referring to President Trump, Fischer has posted:
“Since he has tested positive for COVID-19, maybe the country will be lucky and he will die. Wouldn’t that be an act of karma! He could care less [sic] how many Americans die from this even if he is the one who exposed them.” (By the way, what kind of “educator” uses such bad grammar?) Unashamedly, she concludes with the following simple wish: “I hope he DIES from it.”
Well, ladies and gentlemen, that sums it right up doesn’t it? Where, on God’s green earth, has basic human decency gone?