Rob 🇺🇦

Horse Racing, History, ECFC, Music of all types, Dr Who, Mongolia and my roots from the Baltic port of Luebeck

[Rob 🇺🇦 @SnowballRob]

Surreal times

[Rob 🇺🇦 @SnowballRob]

@thebedfordfox @ObserverUK On Thursday we were in the Guinness Village and everyone was singing along to “Country Roads” and it was a camaraderie that as an avid sports fan, I always see at Cheltenham and hopefully it will continue for many years without crass attempts to create division

[Gianl1974 @Gianl1974]

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

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.

[Victoria Derbyshire @vicderbyshire]

Reform’s position on the war -

9 March, Economic spokesperson Robert Jenrick: ‘this war needs to come to an end as soon as possible because it is making Britain poorer….that’s why Nigel Farage immediately ruled out suggestions that the UK might deploy boots on the ground. Nor do we see why British aircraft should become involved in offensive action.’ Daily Telegraph

8 March, Reform Deputy Leader Richard Tice,: ‘We wld be helping the Americans and the Israelis in any way they saw appropriate’ GB News 

28 February Reform leader, Nigel Farage ‘ The Prime Minister needs to change his mind on the use of our military bases and back the Americans in this vital fight against Iran!’  Post on X

[Liam Gallagher @liamgallagher]

@salvadelacidra It was a top goal and Exeter are a top team

[Saucy Seventies Adventures @SaucySeventies]

Midweek cultural appropriation. Egyptian Reggae by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, as danced by Legs & Co. With influences from Carry On Cleo, Wilson Keppell and Betty and the pantomime horse from Rentaghost.

[Rob 🇺🇦 @SnowballRob]

@NewburyRacing @Coral The atmosphere on the lawn at that second win was one I’ll never forget

[Second World War tweets from 1941 @RealTimeWWII]

North Dakota Senator Gerald Nye has claimed anti-Nazi propaganda is "being injected" into American films by a "cabal of foreign-born Jews" who control the Hollywood studios.

[Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 NICE 爷爷 @MichaelRosenYes]

As a tribute to the six Al Jazeera journalists killed in Gaza, here's the poem I wrote a few months ago:

[Dr Helen Ingram @drhingram]

I don’t want to panic anyone in Bristol but

[Rob 🇺🇦 @SnowballRob]

@JohnSimpsonNews John, it’s a pleasure to follow you and keep informing us of what’s is actually happening in the world. You have been a source of information for me ever since the Iranian revolution in 1979

[Second World War tweets from 1941 @RealTimeWWII]

British bookmakers now offering punters 3-1 odds of Germany being defeated by the end of the year- up from 7-1, thanks to Soviet claims of huge Red Army counter-attacks.

[The Redheaded libertarian @TRHLofficial]

Blessing your evening with the greatest joke of all time.

[Rob 🇺🇦 @SnowballRob]

@trussliz The parody account which keeps on giving

[Rob 🇺🇦 @SnowballRob]

@USASteeplechase Agree with you Steve - was there that day it was absolutely brilliant

[Rob 🇺🇦 @SnowballRob]

Retro crashed after another hard day

[Alex Taylor @AlexTaylorNews]

"Trump paid tribute to the late Pope, appearing on the balcony with a giant rabbit" - BBC News

We are where we are

[Daily Star @dailystar]

President Donald Trump really captured the Easter spirit this year when a bunny standing behind him made it look like he had massive fluffy rabbit ears.

https://t.co/ePYiTjcz7N

[ABC News @ABC]

Pres. Trump says he signed an executive order to lower federal flags to half-staff following the death of Pope Francis.

“He was a good man, worked hard. He loved the world and it’s an honor to do that.”

Follow live updates: https://t.co/hDcIPYPY74