Vero

British/Canadian creative-soprano type with major wanderlust. 2016 @The_GSA BA Musical Theatre grad. I like campari and comedy. Searching.

[Vero @veronica_vm_]

“There is always magic to be summoned at any point. I love to live in a world of magic, but not a fake world of magic. We all really basically have a lot of magic … it’s only those of us that choose to accept it that really understand it. It’s there for everyone.”

[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

[Vero @veronica_vm_]

@kevinddaly Oh my god I never knew and now I’m obsessed!

[Kyle Brittain @BadWeatherKyle]

Kelowna is on fire.

[ALASTAIR CAMPBELL @campbellclaret]

Why are the police not all over this?

[Vero @veronica_vm_]

Enjoying this little bird while I can… not sure how long I’ll continue to exist on here but it’s been a fun 14 years. #exterminatebillionaires

[Vero @veronica_vm_]

Birds flying into windows and me having to take care of them once they’re gone is way too common and way too sad. I can’t believe younger me wanted to be a vet! I cannot deal with animal deaths! Too fucking sad

[Dr Una McIlvenna 💀🎶 @UnaMcIlvenna]

My take on the Jonah Hill stuff. I used to be an air hostess. Those girls I worked with were hot, glamorous, fun-loving. Guys LOVED dating air hostesses, would boast to their friends about their exciting girlfriends. But there was a pattern I saw a lot. 🧵

[best of david bowie @ONLY4B0WIE]

LABYRINTH was released on this day 37 years ago.

[George Stroumboulopoulos 🐺 @strombo]

Right, because climate crisis has a passport.

[Anthony Farnell @AnthonyFarnell]

Canada just surpassed 4 million hectares burned this year. For comparison, last year only 28 thousand hectares had burned by June 7th. That’s an increase of about 14400%. Wow!

[Fatima Syed / @fatimabsyed.bsky.social @fatimabsyed]

Can Canadians please stop apologizing to Americans for the wildfire smoke?

First of all, climate change doesn't care about borders and everyone should understand that.

Secondly, umm this is humanity's fault for not taking climate action seriously.

[Jann “stop live horse export” Arden @jannarden]

These fucking creeps.

[Vero @veronica_vm_]

Happy Pride!

[𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ @Grimezsz]

I love how the physics community is just completely going off and no one seems to care haha

[Vero @veronica_vm_]

@RebeccaCaine NOOOOO

[Vero @veronica_vm_]

We are so so so fucked Global warming set to break key 1.5C limit for first time - BBC News https://t.co/oemRJmPmRZ

[Vero @veronica_vm_]

Help