Schadenfreude

I've seen the word schadenfreude defined a handful of different ways but the one I prefer is the notion of taking delight in the misfortune of others. I was thinking about this the other day after the election knowing there is certainly a percentage of the left who were excited not so much because Obama won, but because the Republicans lost.
Instead of "Yay, we finally have charismatic, thoughtful leader whose victory has been felt the world over," there is more the feeling of "Fuck those guys and I hope Karl Rove has his colon removed with a dull butter knife and no anesthetic."
Why take joy in them losing instead of you winning? It's a notion that carries over to sports as well. And it is kind of a ridiculous character trait to have. But I realized this morning that I have it as well, hopefully to a lesser degree than most.
I listen to National Public Radio while in the car, mostly because music is best left for the iPhone/iPod and sports talk radio is mindless crap. NPR, I've found, provides an insightful look into the news and gives you the off-the-beaten-path stuff that is kinda cool.
In Reno, there are two choices for NPR -- the local KUNR station, which includes some local programming, and Sacramento station, which you can pick up throughout most of the area here. Some of the programming is the same, but I find myself listening to the Sac feed most of the time. And I've never really figured out the reason for that until this morning. While on my seven-mile, 11-minute commute (12 minutes if I miss the light on McCarran), I caught myself smiling when NPR was giving the lengthy traffic report in Sacramento.