Sara Driscoll

Freelance writer, marketer and journalist. Creating content that people want to read. And of course, still enjoying the odd glass of vino.

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

Is there anything more passive aggressive than a full stop after your name on an email? Furious! Or is that a British thing? @SoVeryBritish

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

Yes this ace and worth sharing

[Paddy Power @paddypower]

No need for a finger up the bum - a simple PSA blood test is all you need to check for the early signs of Prostate Cancer.

Not all pricks are unbearable, @piersmorgan.

Check your risk here: https://t.co/xhoX9KyZZn

18+ | GambleAware | @ProstateUK

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

@ITServiceUnit Thank you for responding. Other Avis units have all my details now after also responding.

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

@Avis please sort out your customer service. One holding email reply since July for awful experience that left kids in tears and us stranded. I’ve tried multiple times to contact you. Nothing. This is frankly not good enough.

[emily m @maitlis]

And …. Here it is

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

This is a stunning video!

[Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy]

This is an incredible piece of work by @JonathanPieNews.

From the research, to the sequencing, to the performance.

You want to know why so many people are turning away from vapid MSM and looking to political comedy & alternative news? Look no further. 👇

[Mitch Benn @MitchBenn]

Don’t know who made this:

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

Really @wembleystadium 12 beers on tap and more bottles in the fridge. And just ONE choice of (pretty crap) wine. Sort it out. Please.

[Bryan Glick @bryanglick]

I'm not that fussed about the Royals - but 16 years ago, my late wife went into hospital for major abdominal surgery and found out she had cancer. The last thing you want is to go about life as normal and pretend to smile at people - let alone tell the world. Just leave her alone

[Have I Got News For You @haveigotnews]

GB News has reported losses of £42 million as a result of overpaying onscreen talent, thereby demonstrating a misunderstanding of both accounting practices and the word 'talent'

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

What he said. Not enough of this happening anymore. Realise it’s different times, but Johnson and Trump got (and are getting) away with too much

[Dan Rather @DanRather]

If I may, there’s something I need to get off my chest.

As democracy remains under siege, it has been frustrating to watch how the press covers politics these days.

I am reminded by lessons that came to me during the Nixon years as a CBS News correspondent, which I’ll add here:

1. Enough with Both-sides-ism

When one side lies intentionally and repeatedly, they are no longer entitled to the benefit of the doubt. They should be held to account, right away. Do not simply repeat the narratives they spew.

2. Prioritize Live Fact-Checking

Rigorous and robust fact-checking is the best defense against misinformation, intentional lies, and deflection.

If Trump says the sky is green, the story isn’t that the sky is now green; the story is that the sky is still blue and Trump got it wrong.

3. Ask Lawmakers Hard Questions

Ask about the fundamental principles of democracy. Push them to go on the record that Biden won the 2020 election.

Ask if they support the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

This writing is not to offer any claim of knowing it all. Your correspondent has made his share of mistakes, but after more than seven decades I believe I have picked up a few useful guideposts.

Good journalism is always worth it. Our democracy depends on it.

↓

For the rest of my list, please see my the latest post of my independent newsletter – the link is in my Twitter biography.

[Dan Rather @DanRather]

If I may, there’s something I need to get off my chest.

As democracy remains under siege, it has been frustrating to watch how the press covers politics these days.

I am reminded by lessons that came to me during the Nixon years as a CBS News correspondent, which I’ll add here:

1. Enough with Both-sides-ism

When one side lies intentionally and repeatedly, they are no longer entitled to the benefit of the doubt. They should be held to account, right away. Do not simply repeat the narratives they spew.

2. Prioritize Live Fact-Checking

Rigorous and robust fact-checking is the best defense against misinformation, intentional lies, and deflection.

If Trump says the sky is green, the story isn’t that the sky is now green; the story is that the sky is still blue and Trump got it wrong.

3. Ask Lawmakers Hard Questions

Ask about the fundamental principles of democracy. Push them to go on the record that Biden won the 2020 election.

Ask if they support the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

This writing is not to offer any claim of knowing it all. Your correspondent has made his share of mistakes, but after more than seven decades I believe I have picked up a few useful guideposts.

Good journalism is always worth it. Our democracy depends on it.

↓

For the rest of my list, please see my the latest post of my independent newsletter – the link is in my Twitter biography.

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

Just reporting this again because….well obvious really isn’t it

[Marina Purkiss @MarinaPurkiss]

Tory voters…

Tell me

What goes through your minds when you see this?

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

Bloody hell, does anyone watch #repairshop without balling it?! Only watching it for 10 mins and I’m in pieces!

[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

[Carol Vorderman @carolvorders]

TORY PARTY - just the last 9 days

Bob Stewart MP....guilty racial abuse

Crispin Blunt MP...arrested on suspicion of rape & possessing banned substance

Peter Bone MP....suspended for bullying & sexual misconduct

#CovidEnquiryUK
Matt Hancock wanted to decide "who should live or die "

Endless gut wrenching testimony insulting the very fabric of this country.

What do we have running the UK?

An entitled, arrogant, greedy, divisive, useless, irresponsible, morally bankrupt, bunch of what?!

[Carol Vorderman @carolvorders]

Today's Tory Calamities Shortlist by lunchtime

Steve Barclay - offering junior doctors and consultants what is in effect a pay cut once inflation over the time of strike action is taken into account. Plenty of Tory money for private health care companies tho!!!

Gillian Keegan....number of RAAC schools now up to 174. She's not worthy of looking after our children

Freedom of speech? Woman who held up a sign outside Inner London crown court to protest about climate change is to be prosecuted for contempt of court by Michael Tomlinson KC, a Tory minister & MP for Mid Dorset & North Poole

Home Office...Brook House Detention Centre inquiry finds breaks of Human Rights and appalling treatment of refugees inc Forcibly moving detainees while naked or near naked

Economy.... Average UK homebuyer needs almost 26 months of earnings in order to cover the cost of a 20% mortgage deposit.

INFLATION.....OECD forecasts that UK economy will have the highest inflation rate among the world's richest nations this year, according to new forecasts.

Yep, life in just a few hours of our inept, inefficient, arrogant, self-serving, divisive, disgraceful Tory government 😡😡😡

General Election Now

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

Great piece.

[The Spectator @spectator]

There's something troubling about the reaction to the Russell Brand story

Sam Leith

https://t.co/8DzUwYuFy0

[Sara Driscoll @Saradriscoll]

Was chatting to a friend about exactly this, this week. WTAF.

[Dean Burnett (@drdeanburnett everywhere) @drdeanburnett]

NHS: "Everything's falling apart! It's an emergency! HELP"
LEGAL SYSTEM: "Same!"
ENVIRONMENT: "Same!"
SCHOOLS: "Same!"
ECONOMY: "Same!"
HOUSING: "Same!"
LEGAL SYSTEM: "Same!"

UK GOVERNMENT: "...yeah, those big dogs are a bit much. We'll get right on that".

[Carol Vorderman @carolvorders]

Eton.
Rishi Sunak as Chancellor refused to give £15bn to make up for the catastrophic inequality between state and private schools enhanced by the pandemic.
He gave just £1.8bn instead.
Sir Kevan Collins (charged with the task) then resigned.
Last week the gap in A level results proved the money had been and still is needed.
The announcement today about Eton (not paying most tax due to charitable status) is another Tory kick in the teeth to state schools.
They'll take YOUR taxes...highest tax regime for 70 years....not if you're a hedge fund (no tax paid in UK) or private equity or offshore trust fund beneficiary tho....and give to the already rich...always and for eternity unless you vote to stop it