Matthew J. Lipman

writer, reader, cats and coffee

[Matthew J. Lipman @likeawetcat]

You should be able to tell if someone plans to feed you by how they slice the pie.
@DNC @GOP
#ethics #oath #tired #transparency #sendhelp

[Gianl1974 @Gianl1974]

*BRITISH WRITER PENS THE BEST DESCRIPTION OF TRUMP*
Someone asked "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 or female – 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 most 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.

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

Keep calling it Twitter.

[Matthew J. Lipman @likeawetcat]

@lololeereverie AI is a sucker’s bet

https://t.co/ETvPq1VAYw

[Matthew J. Lipman @likeawetcat]

@NASAArtemis, I have a remote feeder in my yard for cats, birds & raccoons. Please add to future missions. Then people on earth can dispense jelly beans or M&Ms to the astronauts. So far no raccoon has been able to break into it, so it should be suitable for space missions.

[Matthew J. Lipman @likeawetcat]

@Eric_Erins @unusual_whales So he can claim credit for prices dropping just before midterms.

[Matthew J. Lipman @likeawetcat]

@AuthorJFuller Bribe him

[Matthew J. Lipman @likeawetcat]

Barry McGuire - Eve Of Destruction https://t.co/bZ2Uamuw6A via @YouTube

Weaponize Kindness

[Nina Turner @ninaturner]

“We can either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but
we can not have both.”

- Louis Brandeis, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1856-1941

[John Leguizamo @JohnLeguizamo]

Project 2029 get on board now!

[Covie @covie_93]

Two months ago a Democratic lawmaker, her husband and their dog was murdered in their home and there was no moment of prayer in Congress, no lowering of flags, a Republican senator openly mocked their death and other Republicans just ignored it.....

[Matthew J. Lipman @likeawetcat]

@AuthorJFuller In a perfect world, you’d have time to go read to her, dementia be dammed.

[Matthew J. Lipman @likeawetcat]

@ruthbenghiat or playing semantics… there is a list but Epstein didn’t call it a “client list”

[Matthew J. Lipman @likeawetcat]

@StellaParton Shifty and the Amorals.

[Citizens for Ethics @CREWcrew]

Ban congressional stock and crypto trading now.

The American people overwhelmingly support it. Time to get it done.

[Matthew J. Lipman @likeawetcat]

@cnnbrk so the new pope is from....(checks notes).... chicago? Sure ok, but what's his favorite pizza or beef place & who does he know?

[Randy Bryce @IronStache]

Stephen Miller Is an Immigration Hypocrite.

I Know Because I’m His Uncle.

If my nephew’s ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out.

https://t.co/Z6ZZ9kDOIR?

[Smriii @smriiis_reading]

reminder ― ˖ ࣪⊹

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

Remember.