Shadenfreude

It goes without saying that I did not support Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. Neither, in fact, did I support Donald Trump. I voted for neither. The reasons were many, some of which are shared by the two, others unique to each. There were other Republican candidates who, had any of them won the nomination, I would have voted for. Although I would never have voted for Bernie Sanders, he appears to have at least a modicum of integrity, unlike his primary election opponent.

I have the dubious luxury of living in a state whose electoral votes were never in doubt, so I was able to vote my conscience without any worry that my vote would make any difference. Were I living in a state that was actually in play, my decision would have been far more difficult. I honestly couldn't tell you whether I would have voted as I did, or very tightly held my nose and voted for Trump.

Like many, I was rather certain what the outcome of the general election would be. And, like many, I was quite surprised at the actual result. Since then it has been a rather wild ride. I won't go into details; there is no need. Suffice to say, a lot of Trump's words and actions have me shaking my head, but some have had me nodding. To be fair, it's possible that there would have been at least one or two things Clinton would have done that I would have been okay with, or at least not outright disgusted with... maybe.

The opposition to Trump, the wailing, gnashing of teeth, rending of clothes, invective and insults that have occurred since the election are unprecedented in modern American politics. If there are any positives to come from his victory, there are these:

• Many people who were perfectly fine with a large federal government, and especially a powerful executive, are getting a clue that maybe, just maybe, having all that power resident in one office isn't such a good idea.
• Many people are dropping the masks they've worn for many years. They oppose what they claim is fascism, but have thrown away all pretense and are utilizing tactics historically employed by actual fascists. Recent events at several universities bear this out.

There are people for whom I hold little to no respect, at least when it comes to their political views. They have been reliably disingenuous and dismissive, resorting to fallacious arguments, and exhibiting a thoroughly unjustified arrogance and attitude of smug superiority. What they fail to realize is that the election of Trump is in large measure a reaction to this. Perhaps the best piece I've read on this appeared on Vox, of all places: The smug style in American liberalism. Written before the election, the author realized that Trump actually had a chance:

Here's the conclusion I draw: If Donald Trump has a chance in November, it is because the knowing will dictate our strategy. Unable to countenance the real causes of their collapse, they will comfort with own impotence by shouting, "Idiots!" again and again, angrier and angrier, the handmaidens of their own destruction. 

The smug style resists empathy for the unknowing. It denies the possibility of a politics whereby those who do not share knowing culture, who do not like the right things or know the Good Facts or recognize the intellectual bankruptcy of their own ideas can be worked with, in spite of these differences, toward a common goal. 

It is this attitude that has driven the dispossessed into the arms of a candidate who shares their fury. It is this attitude that may deliver him the White House, a "serious" threat, a threat to be mocked and called out and hated, but not to be taken seriously. 

The wages of smug is Trump.

Which brings us at last to the title of this post. Whenever I see the reactions of these people to something outrageous that Trump has said or tweeted, whenever I see them apoplectic with rage and indignation over any action that he has performed as president, even if I myself find those words or actions reprehensible, it still requires effort on my part not to celebrate. This is especially true when they experience an epic fail as recently happened with Rachel Maddow and his 2005 tax returns. For I seem them living their nightmare, and I know they absolutely brought it on themselves and they deserve every second of it.