K. von Hammerstein

Journalist

[Andrei Soldatov @AndreiSoldatov]

My father, Alexey Soldatov, is dying in prison. Terminally ill, he has been in jail since July 22.
-- a thread. 1/7

[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

[K. von Hammerstein @hamkons]

What lies behind Russia’s acts of extreme violence? Freudian analysis offers an answer https://t.co/wVVOjbDpwa

[Gesine Dornblueth @Dornblueth]

Putin versteht nur Stärke? Nein, es ist schlimmer. "In Russland zählt wirklich nur eines: Gewalt", schreibt @BorisSchumatsky heute in der @NZZ und begründet das u.a. mit eigener Erfahrung. Ein Text, der an die Nieren geht. Bitte unbedingt lesen!
https://t.co/bdoDYaNRdJ

[Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk @IlkoKowalczuk]

1/Sahra @Wagenknecht sitzt im Bundestag, obwohl ihre Partei die 5-%-Hürde verpaßte und obwohl ihr Landesverband Nordrhein-Westfalen nur 3,7 %-Punkte erhielt. Ihr Mandat erhielt sie, weil die SED-Nachfolgepartei drei Direktmandate errang. Darauf sollte hingewiesen werden,weil auch

[Fidelius Schmid @FideliusSchmid]

+++Exclusive: China and Russia supposedly in negotiations over delivery, mass production of strike drones. Reporting with ⁦@gebauerspon⁩ ⁦@MelAmann⁩ ⁦@MartinKnobbe⁩ ⁦@MB_Journalist⁩ for ⁦⁦@derspiegel⁩ https://t.co/YAQQU1rc7U

[Matthias Gebauer @gebauerspon]

Zwei Wochen nach der Entscheidung, #Leopard #Panzer in die #Ukraine zu liefern, stockt das Projekt. Bisher hat außer 🇩🇪 kaum ein EU-Partner Zusagen gemacht. Kanzler Scholz greift nun selbst zum Telefon, seine Leute sprechen von einem „mühsamen Kraftakt“. https://t.co/sxJqf6WsbL

[K. von Hammerstein @hamkons]

https://t.co/igZT86W8oh

[K. von Hammerstein @hamkons]

https://t.co/asYCOSXlC5

[Visegrád 24 @visegrad24]

The 108 best minutes of his life

[Gordon Brown @GordonBrown]

A special international tribunal now taking shape in The Hague could indict President Putin for the crime of aggression.

[Thread]

[Vatnik Soup @P_Kallioniemi]

In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce the current Deputy Minister of Defense in Russia, Timur Ivanov. Actually, I'll talk more about his wife and a socialite, Svetlana Zakharova, whose 8000 leaked e-mails were carefully inspected by Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.

1/12

[Denis Zakharov @betelgeuse1922]

'WE ARE SO FUCKED RIGHT NOW' THREAD
1) 2023 is coming and what are the results? Well, there is a single thing I can say about Russia’s near future. This country is fucked. Not “showing the symbols of decay” or “bleeding occasionally”. Not “close to collapse”. Fucked.

[Matthias Gebauer @gebauerspon]

News: Nach einigen technischen Problemen ist der Entwicklungshelfer Jörg Lange am späten Freitagabend mit einem #Bundeswehr Flieger in Deutschland angekommen. Er war am Donnerstag nach 4 1/2 Jahren Geiselhaft in #Mali freigekommen.

[Matthias Gebauer @gebauerspon]

Nachfragen zu diesem schon sehr schrägen Vorgang wollte das @BMVg_Bundeswehr heute aus »zeitlichen Gründen« nicht beantworten. Aber morgen ist ja auch noch ein Tag...

[Michael Bauer @Bundesheerbauer]

Am 26. September 1878 wurde Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord geboren. Er war Generaloberst und von 1930 bis 1933 Chef der deutschen Heeresleitung und gehörte zum militärischen Widerstand gegen Hitler. Seine Einteilung der Offiziere ist zeitlos:

[Stewart McDonald @StewartMcDonald]

Testimony of Ukrainian volunteer medic, Taira Paievska before the US Congress on what she witnessed in Mariupol when she was captured by Russian forces. The last line is haunting.

[Severin Weiland @SeverinWeiland]

Empfehlung: Heute digitalplus und im Heft des @derspiegel der 2. Teil der ausgezeichneten, monatelang aufwändig recherchierten Geschichte der Kollegen @gebauerspon /@hamkons über den Abzug und die Flucht der Deutschen im August 2021 aus Kabul/Afghanistan. https://t.co/JTyvb6ufOY

[Agnieszka Brugger @agnieszka_mdb]

Einer der besten, vielleicht sogar der beste Text dieses Jahres. Top recherchiert, richtig aufwühlend. Katapultiert mich regelrecht ein Jahr zurück. Zeigt auch nochmal wie notwendig der Untersuchungsausschuss ist.

Vielen Dank dafür!

#Afghanistan

@SaraNanni @robinwagener