If you felt a twinge of pleasure when the Donald was captured by the "fake news" with real, actual toilet paper on his shoe, you had what is called schadenfreude, a little joy at someone else's misfortune.
Science Friday's discussion with Tiffany Watt Smith on her newest book, Schadenfreude, is worth a listen. Usually, she says, it's the little things that give us this fleeting pleasure. If you like the person to which the unpleasant thing happen, and if that same person hasn't done you wrong, you tend to feel bad for him or her; if you don't like the person, or if you see that person getting his or her comeuppance, you probably feel a certain glee.
Having seen our embarrassing White House dweller push other world leaders out of the way, I'd be off-the-charts happy to see that reciprocated, but most other world leaders are too savvy to push and shove in the world playground.
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