Seth Reinhardt

[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

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@dustweetr I've never found such skilled words for exactly this sentiment, but I'm saturated with the same feeling

[dusty.rhodes @dustweetr]

I wish I could play another tourney another day another game another half another point another possession with all the teammates I have had over the years.

I miss them all.
Even the ones I argued and disagreed with and got frustrated by.

I think about past teammates often.

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@LeadingReport It sure can! The same thing would happen to Biden if someday he also participates in attempts to overturn an election

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@realstewpeters This is an irrational conclusion. The only data here is that you are racist

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@elonmusk Because real enemies intending harm are primarily crossing the Ukrainian border, while real refugees intending to contribute are primarily crossing the US-Mexico border

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@RichardGrenell Who are you trying to convince with this post? Yourself?

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@Chicago1Ray ...Is that how it works?

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@Ultiworld @WorldFlyingDisc Centimeters 🙄

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@geno_ggdorr @FoxNews I get that you're mad, but you're also simply exaggerating to the point of dishonesty. The highest possible IRS tax bracket is 37%, which only applies to money your family made that exceeds ~$700K income in a year (after deductions). If you make that, great - stop complaining.

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@luluHru Why isn't this flagged as a parody? People might actually believe it

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@Suprasl @MarioNawfal Can't wait to see your proof! In the mean time, your ideas would make for an exciting but unrealistic spy novel

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@KenBane1 This is a level of idiocy that requires years of preparation

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@JoshuaSmithJDS @SteveDeaceShow Wagner and CIA allies?

...Wanna know how I know you know nothing about geopolitics?

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@Chicago1Ray Aren't your supporters offended that you'd consider them so dumb? Simple solutions to complex problems don't exist. One man doesn't control the world - and only foolish men think they have that power.

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@MariaBartiromo @JasonSmithMO @MorningsMaria @FoxBusiness Oh wow, a wildly biased source made completely unsubstantiated claims to support their side, without providing evidence??

That sure is breaking news @MariaBartiromo, thanks for the quality journalism from clown town

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@RepMTG When you say "criminal" does that mean you support politicians being tried in court when there's reason to suspect serious crimes? And you trust the justice system to stand by the results?

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@OccupyDemocrats When is the part where the right wing goons shriek that athletes should stick to sports, and not politics?

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@SpeakerMcCarthy That's not what good faith discussion looks like. What a classless tweet

[Seth Reinhardt @Sefwo]

@__TEAM_USA It would be unamerican to do so without meaningful new evidence. Oddly enough, the whole problem really is the lack of evidence