Julie Downey

[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

[Julie Downey @newfeathers13]

@Leo_Puglisi6 perhaps it was intentional like that

[Julie Downey @newfeathers13]

@TheRealPBarry if she were more important they would also have allowed her to stand closer. She should be grateful however …. They did allow her to be in the photo to show the world they have employed one…. Sarcasm font

[Julie Downey @newfeathers13]

@Lateralthinka75 @simon_rosenberg actually I wonder if you have that backwards… hamas might not be palatable but they are what they say they are. And the more this drags on the more it would appear they are a response to a problem. And it’s a problem perpetuated by the alleged good guys….

[Julie Downey @newfeathers13]

@SvobodaMarybeth @KiwiFunknuckle @Coles Oh with a bonus ocd typo yay

[Julie Downey @newfeathers13]

@bradpsychology Was it Damian drum Nat Nicholls who hid her in Shepparton whilst it died down? There were a number of rumours of this

[Dr Sheep Person Podge @noplaceforsheep]

This is a lie.
The claim was settled one year after it was lodged.

And if the cattle industry has been struggling for 10 years, 9 of those were when Campion’s husband was in government 🤪

[Julie Downey @newfeathers13]

@Ozgreat @virgotweet @normboy562 @joshgnosis The bloke Behind him…. What on earth is going on there

[BNO News @BNOFeed]

4 years ago today: A man in Wuhan, China starts feeling ill, becoming the first confirmed case of COVID-19. At least 7 million people have since died, with estimates as high as 27 million

[Julie Downey @newfeathers13]

@RonniSalt @ADL

[Joanna Mendelssohn @oldlillipilli]

I have just received an email from @SydneyTheatreCo apologizing for actors supporting the people of #Gaza. This is my reply:

[Nina Funnell, Journalist & Survivor advocate🎗️ @ninafunnell]

#BetinnaArndt has labelled Brittany Higgins a "scheming charlatan" and a "trainwreck"... Also saying that she predicted #BruceLehrmann would have no troubles under cross examination given his recent "smooth handling" of legal questions.

I kid you not folks
#JusticeShouldntHurt

[Julie Downey @newfeathers13]

@PRGuy17 Hmmmm ya think?

[Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing]

⚠️UNDIAGNOSED PNEUMONIA OUTBREAK—An emerging large outbreak of pneumonia in China, with pediatric hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning overwhelmed with sick children, & many schools suspended. Beijing Children's Hospital overflowing. 🧵on what we know so far:

[Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis]

Hear the screams in the background but, above all, LISTEN to Dr Mads Gilbert, Norwegian surgeon, sending a heart-wrenching message, from Al Shifa Hospital, to Biden, Blinken and Europe's non-existent leaders.

[Fanny Fitch @FannyFitch]

@MFWitches And ..... "Collective punishment is not in line with international law....." https://t.co/a23zyBkakc

[MFWitches @MFWitches]

Retweet if you
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understand that nobody can
ever justify the murders of
thousands of civilians in
order to destroy Hamas .

#CeasefireNOW