Oliver Ellis

Kids' media guy. Producer of 'Cloudbabies', 'Shane the Chef' and ‘Toad & Friends’. Gardener. Dog Lover.

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

Wow!
KING CARNEY ACTIVATES KONG MODE WITH ZERO FUCKS https://t.co/8Td1aq4RMv

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

Shout out to @HenryDimbleby on @BBCBreakfast for his call for advertising for healthy food. Could our #shanethechef help?

[Dogs Trust 💛🐶 @DogsTrust]

Dudley is a sweet and snuggly Lurcher who is looking for his forever home where he can receive all the fuss and attention and maybe the odd yummy treat! This adorable boy greets everyone with a waggy tail!💛
@DT_Canterbury📍 https://t.co/cg3eG4dLip

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

Time for King Charles to visit Canada, where he is head of state and has every right to go whenever he wants. I have no doubt the welcome would be ecstatic. And very symbolic. Retweet if you agree.

[Wyatt @Swithuk1]

@kelvmackenzie https://t.co/Bvrxo0yaZ4

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

A British writer penned the best description of Donald Trump I’ve ever read:

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

-Nate White

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

En español!

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

@Jan_Leeming Amazing!

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

@FionaLeadbeater https://t.co/xKPsQ4K99H

[Madeline Grant @Madz_Grant]

No idea who made this but it's absolutely ruined me

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

@Jan_Leeming Get better soon Jan. Are you in St Mag’s for Xmas?

[RegularCapital @RegularTweetsUK]

Adrian Edmondson to lead cast of new Wind In The Willows series as Mr Toad: The series Toad And Friends is due to launch on Warner Bros Discovery’s preschool brand Cartoonito in 2023. https://t.co/9t5FQNqT1s

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

I've #justsponsored Steve Hart, who's fundraising for Make-A-Wish Foundation UK on @JustGiving. Donate now https://t.co/KIwWGPZFOp

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

@Jan_Leeming Glad you are ok!

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

@Sfanolis1 @kittykrumley @ANGRYref @bridgetappleby @CloudbabiesNews There’s new merch available on Amazon US. Look out for announcements on Cloudbabies FB & Instagram accounts for UK, coming soon.

[Alex Vindman 🇺🇸 @AVindman]

Please retweet this important message for widest distribution.

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

Learn a language with me for free! Duolingo is fun, and proven to work. Here’s my invite link: https://t.co/HE4dEvF1TS

[Oliver Ellis @IAmOliverEllis]

@JohnnyThomson2 Congratulations!

[Russell Tovey @russelltovey]

This makes me cringe with sadness - I hope this woman is uncovered and @RSPCA_official take away every animal that this woman is near in any capacity forever - please retweet and put an end to this appalling treatment of innocent creatures