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pangaia

(24,324 posts)
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 10:48 AM Feb 2019

The best description of Donald Trump I have ever heard. "Why do some British People not like Trump?"

From a Facebook post by OCCUPY DEMOCRATS

Someone asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?"

Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England, wrote this magnificent 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 - 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."

90 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The best description of Donald Trump I have ever heard. "Why do some British People not like Trump?" (Original Post) pangaia Feb 2019 OP
I'll condense it....HE'S AN ASSHOLE. spanone Feb 2019 #1
Yup, that pretty much says it.. but there are many assholes in the world... however maybe none like pangaia Feb 2019 #13
it was way too well written Larrybanal Feb 2019 #19
Trump appeals to the lower nature of mankind and cultivates its worst aspect. olegramps Feb 2019 #33
TL:DR roscoeroscoe Feb 2019 #40
Or in British: He's an Arsehole. IronLionZion Feb 2019 #61
Well put, dear chap, well put! Canoe52 Feb 2019 #2
I just quoted whomever posted it in the FB post pangaia Feb 2019 #14
That's ok, I'm not really British! Canoe52 Feb 2019 #88
LOL.... pangaia Feb 2019 #89
You are correct--that is the best description. "The Shakespeare of shit"! panader0 Feb 2019 #3
"Picasso of pettiness" IMO captures the true essence of Tiny groundloop Feb 2019 #27
trump is as 'Murican as the noise and smell of a monster truck rally in an enclosed stadium NightWatcher Feb 2019 #4
If only we Polly Hennessey Feb 2019 #5
I have deeply pondered the one-third. Hugin Feb 2019 #9
K&R 2naSalit Feb 2019 #6
Nailed It!----"Even his flaws have flaws" Fla Dem Feb 2019 #7
I have nothing to add. Hugin Feb 2019 #8
This is a bloody brilliant... 3catwoman3 Feb 2019 #10
Brilliant pangaia Feb 2019 #79
Witty and clever, everything tRumpy is not. NoMoreRepugs Feb 2019 #11
These two sentences absolutely sums POtuS up when he's on the world stage: catbyte Feb 2019 #12
It truly is brilliant.. pangaia Feb 2019 #15
Suggestion: Just forward this post. It's a good summation from a third party in the UK Evolve Dammit Feb 2019 #63
Her Engflish may not be that good.. I did send her some of the choicest points.. pangaia Feb 2019 #71
That line stuck in my head too. BigmanPigman Feb 2019 #50
So riddle me this: DemoTex Feb 2019 #16
I have no experience with that.. pangaia Feb 2019 #17
Because it was a show, not real, and with all of JR's nastiness Perseus Feb 2019 #21
I found a bit of irony as well when the author said.... KY_EnviroGuy Feb 2019 #32
Brilliant! Perseus Feb 2019 #18
K & R SunSeeker Feb 2019 #20
Concur. nt littlemissmartypants Feb 2019 #22
Wow...right on the head BunnyMcGee Feb 2019 #23
Welcome to DU, Bunny! Lefta Dissenter Feb 2019 #72
Huge kick and rec. love_katz Feb 2019 #24
I agree. pangaia Feb 2019 #34
The one thing we all need to be aware of, and worry about it too Perseus Feb 2019 #25
Well said. pangaia Feb 2019 #35
+1. Truth. KY_EnviroGuy Feb 2019 #39
Canadians are apparently having a heyday with it as friends in both BC Enoki33 Feb 2019 #26
good for them. pangaia Feb 2019 #36
fantastic until the last sentence - twat in the oxford dictionary certainot Feb 2019 #28
Generally it is applied to men... mwooldri Feb 2019 #41
ta, somewhere in my existence the other definition certainot Feb 2019 #47
British pronunciation rhymes with 'cat". liberaltrucker Feb 2019 #55
2020 Jennifer82 Feb 2019 #29
In other words: CRASS Dorn Feb 2019 #30
Brilliant! Vinca Feb 2019 #31
Excellent! rusty fender Feb 2019 #37
U.S. description: "Trump ain't worth shit on a stick". oasis Feb 2019 #38
The Brits excel at understatement. trof Feb 2019 #42
And considered an absolute bore in NYC society. ... not to be invited to anything. Basically a joke RKP5637 Feb 2019 #43
He might not be so bad. lpbk2713 Feb 2019 #44
I've seen this somewhere before.... A HERETIC I AM Feb 2019 #45
Jeeze,, HOW did I miss that one ???? pangaia Feb 2019 #54
At least you haven't gotten your chops busted to the nth degree because of a word you didn't write! A HERETIC I AM Feb 2019 #57
Do you mean a word that starts with a T and ends with a T ? pangaia Feb 2019 #58
That would be the culprit, yup. A HERETIC I AM Feb 2019 #62
A nice and clear exposition of the obvious. n/t. NNadir Feb 2019 #46
"the stark contrast (Obama) does rather throw Trump's limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief" LiberalLovinLug Feb 2019 #48
K&R burrowowl Feb 2019 #49
Javva the Hutt, I knew he reminded me of someone Butterflylady Feb 2019 #51
A while back Samantha Bee did a segment about the people in Scotland near his golf course.... George II Feb 2019 #52
YAY! I made it to GREATEST THREADS. First time EVER !!! pangaia Feb 2019 #53
Had to log in to rec! Wawannabe Feb 2019 #56
Deport him back to Scotland, his mother's homeland IronLionZion Feb 2019 #59
Scotland would never take him... pangaia Feb 2019 #60
His grandfather was from Bavaria; check out Larwence O'Donnell's (MSNBC) piece Evolve Dammit Feb 2019 #64
Germany didn't want the Drumpts 100 years ago IronLionZion Feb 2019 #69
Yes, it's brilliant. zentrum Feb 2019 #65
As I understand, one sign of a psychopath is the inability defacto7 Feb 2019 #66
Ever notice how absolutely humorless most republicans are? pangaia Feb 2019 #70
A-freaking-men democrank Feb 2019 #67
A line that should be enshrined under his official portrait: DFW Feb 2019 #68
K & R Lifelong Protester Feb 2019 #73
Kick dalton99a Feb 2019 #74
K&R ck4829 Feb 2019 #75
This is perfect. I have friends who hate Trump but say he is "charismatic" or "a great marketer" spooky3 Feb 2019 #76
Perfect! chwaliszewski Feb 2019 #77
This is tRump donco Feb 2019 #78
In this case i might prefer a .... a......... pangaia Feb 2019 #80
What we have right now friend of m and j Feb 2019 #81
More like a 10 megaton grenade.... pangaia Feb 2019 #83
K & R Blue Owl Feb 2019 #82
A Shakespeare of shit. 47of74 Feb 2019 #84
Wow! This is excellent! n/t bobGandolf Feb 2019 #85
70+ years on this planet, no redeeming qualities... BostonBlue Feb 2019 #86
Even Hitler smiled occasionally.... pangaia Feb 2019 #90
while this is very accurate, the brits also voted for brexit and may. nt Javaman Feb 2019 #87

pangaia

(24,324 posts)
13. Yup, that pretty much says it.. but there are many assholes in the world... however maybe none like
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 12:25 PM
Feb 2019

olegramps

(8,200 posts)
33. Trump appeals to the lower nature of mankind and cultivates its worst aspect.
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 01:58 PM
Feb 2019

The office of the presidency, as many have attested, is so awesome in its responsibilities that it is humbling to even the most egotistical narcist. Only a person whose soul has been irremeably destroyed by greed and insatiable lust for power could be oblivious of its demand for protecting our dedication as a nation to the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for every citizen. We have been shouldered with a soulless amoral creature who could in reality destroy the nation with has venom of hatred and prejudice. We can only hope for deliverance from this tragedy as quickly as possible.

IronLionZion

(45,380 posts)
61. Or in British: He's an Arsehole.
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 06:23 PM
Feb 2019

and a wanker, a shitgibbon, bawbag, tosser, dodgy, daft, git, muppet, etc.

NightWatcher

(39,343 posts)
4. trump is as 'Murican as the noise and smell of a monster truck rally in an enclosed stadium
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 10:57 AM
Feb 2019

He provides nothing to civilization.

Polly Hennessey

(6,777 posts)
5. If only we
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 11:03 AM
Feb 2019

could rid ourselves of the one-third who support him. I am hopeful that the world understands, we also have the grace of Obama in our midst. Would that the blob callled tRump had stayed in his horrible hole and all of his terrifyingly ugly
family. I will always blame the media for glorifying him to the easily persuaded.

Hugin

(32,989 posts)
9. I have deeply pondered the one-third.
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 11:25 AM
Feb 2019

And, have come to believe it's a statistical aberration.

Like when confronted with a random four answer multiple choice, each possible selection will receive approximately 25% of the responses.

In the case of Trump support, it's a two response question. If it were truly random, his approval would get around 50% of the responses. However, he should find that getting only 30% in his favor is terrible. Because, that means he is actively disliked by 60% of the respondents who cared enough to answer.

Fla Dem

(23,542 posts)
7. Nailed It!----"Even his flaws have flaws"
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 11:14 AM
Feb 2019

"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."

Hugin

(32,989 posts)
8. I have nothing to add.
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 11:17 AM
Feb 2019


"In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws - he would make a Trump. "



'nuff said.

3catwoman3

(23,931 posts)
10. This is a bloody brilliant...
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 11:27 AM
Feb 2019

...summation.

I particularly liked the 5th section with all the alliteration.

I’ll add my own, about some qualities he does have - he is crass, coarse, common, and crude.

catbyte

(34,306 posts)
12. These two sentences absolutely sums POtuS up when he's on the world stage:
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 12:10 PM
Feb 2019

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 sniveling sidekick instead.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perfect.

Thanks for posting--the author nails him absolutely.

pangaia

(24,324 posts)
15. It truly is brilliant..
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 12:29 PM
Feb 2019

Last edited Sun Feb 17, 2019, 08:52 PM - Edit history (1)

I have a Chinese FB friend from Shanghai who is now living in Melbourne. She just asked me, among a couple other questions, What do I think of Trump?

How can I ever answer...

DemoTex

(25,387 posts)
16. So riddle me this:
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 12:29 PM
Feb 2019

Why did the British so LOVE the US television sitcom "Dallas," and the quintessential American villain "JR" Ewing?

pangaia

(24,324 posts)
17. I have no experience with that..
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 12:31 PM
Feb 2019

I never watched an entire show.....
In fact not even more than 2-3 minutes of it.. way back when..

 

Perseus

(4,341 posts)
21. Because it was a show, not real, and with all of JR's nastiness
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 12:40 PM
Feb 2019

he was not stupid or petty. The orange buffoon is in a class by himself. It would be impossible to do a series like Dallas with a character like the orange buffoon, it would make the character non-believable. Also, JR was smart.

DISCLAIMER: I never watched a full episode of Dallas, I don't care for that stuff, but I do read a lot, so I know what it was about, and of course, it was almost impossible to avoid comments from other people about the show.

KY_EnviroGuy

(14,488 posts)
32. I found a bit of irony as well when the author said....
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 01:54 PM
Feb 2019

"All our heroes are plucky underdogs" when many there literally worship their Royal Family.

To be seen as royalty is exactly what Trump desires......

 

Perseus

(4,341 posts)
18. Brilliant!
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 12:36 PM
Feb 2019

Witty and truthful...I will send the link to all my friends, and not friends. It should be spread around.

BunnyMcGee

(463 posts)
23. Wow...right on the head
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 12:53 PM
Feb 2019

well written too. I can't believe some people refuse to see these traits.

his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

love_katz

(2,578 posts)
24. Huge kick and rec.
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 12:54 PM
Feb 2019

Bookmarked as well. And lmao! This is perfect, the best description of tRump, ever. Thanks so much for posting.

pangaia

(24,324 posts)
34. I agree.
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 02:00 PM
Feb 2019

Funny, I think I mentioned above, but a Chinese friend of mine living in Melbourne asked me just a few hours ago what I thought of trump. Her English is pretty good so I sent her a lot of this.. I'll see how much she understood when she wakes up. :&gt )))

 

Perseus

(4,341 posts)
25. The one thing we all need to be aware of, and worry about it too
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 12:55 PM
Feb 2019

Is the fact that the orange buffoon keeps everyone on their toes every day, he has made these last few years all about him, nothing good about him, but nonetheless it is all about him, and that gives him energy.

I was watching a documentary on Idi Amin, a cruel dictator from Uganda, and something he did very well was to bring attention to him, he made it all about him, it disarms the masses, he was also very cruel and a murderer, we don't have the last thing here, at least not yet, but we do have the cruelness (family separation and disregard for children's mental and physical health, etc.), which is pretty bad, but we have to be on our toes because Putin is definitely pulling the strings and like the orange buffoon, he doesn't have a heart, consequences don't exist, its all collateral damage, to them the important thing is to reach their goals.

I wish the media would begin to ignore him, at least his rants and tweets which are nothing but a child's bullying strategy, that is what bullies have done to kids who have committed suicide, they have bullied them through tweet and facebook, and the media is allowing the buffoon to do it to our country and the world, it must stop, when will the media start to show some real patriotism?

Patriotism is not about wearing a flag on your lapel or saying over and over how much you love your country, it is the actions that determine your patriotism, and most of the media has an "F" on that, they were complicit during the elections and continue to do so. I will admit that some good journalism has risen, but its not enough, the media needs to become a soldier against despotism, ignorance, cruelty, etc., they need to call the shots exactly how they are, enough with "collusion", it is "conspiracy", enough with "untruths", the word is "lies", enough with pondering about the stupidity of the buffoon, it is plain clear that it is stupidity and there is no need for analysis, everything the buffoon does and says comes out of his butt.

pangaia

(24,324 posts)
35. Well said.
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 02:02 PM
Feb 2019

The issue of a balance between keeping the country/world abreast of what is happening vs ignoring his insatiable need for ego feeding.....

Enoki33

(1,587 posts)
26. Canadians are apparently having a heyday with it as friends in both BC
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 01:05 PM
Feb 2019

and Calgary have been circulating it. All express depressing amazement that there exists one human being that absolutely nothing good can be said about. And it is the most powerful one.

pangaia

(24,324 posts)
36. good for them.
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 02:03 PM
Feb 2019

We need to do the same.

Now I can not find the FB post but.. nevertheless.. it is ALL in my OP if anyone wants it..

 

certainot

(9,090 posts)
28. fantastic until the last sentence - twat in the oxford dictionary
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 01:05 PM
Feb 2019

british author was clearly using the 1st

twat

NOUN

vulgar slang
1A person regarded as stupid or obnoxious.
2A woman's genitals.

 

certainot

(9,090 posts)
47. ta, somewhere in my existence the other definition
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 03:53 PM
Feb 2019

was used regularly by some vulgarian somewhere and it stuck with me

Jennifer82

(4 posts)
29. 2020
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 01:06 PM
Feb 2019

At least in a year we'll have the White House back, and Chump will be out. So since he won't be president anymore we can have the long deserved lynching and give him what he deserves.

Dorn

(523 posts)
30. In other words: CRASS
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 01:41 PM
Feb 2019

crass :
insensitive, stupid, gross, blundering, dense, coarse, witless, boorish, obtuse, unrefined, asinine, indelicate, oafish, lumpish, doltish

RKP5637

(67,078 posts)
43. And considered an absolute bore in NYC society. ... not to be invited to anything. Basically a joke
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 03:33 PM
Feb 2019

of a person to be avoided. The only people that hang around tRump are sycophants.

lpbk2713

(42,729 posts)
44. He might not be so bad.
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 03:36 PM
Feb 2019



If you could get beyond Trump being a vile scourge on humanity he might have a good side.

LiberalLovinLug

(14,164 posts)
48. "the stark contrast (Obama) does rather throw Trump's limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief"
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 04:23 PM
Feb 2019

Only the British can form a sentence with such understated grammatical sophistication.

Butterflylady

(3,537 posts)
51. Javva the Hutt, I knew he reminded me of someone
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 05:14 PM
Feb 2019

I just couldn't think of who. He's got to be Javva's twin.

George II

(67,782 posts)
52. A while back Samantha Bee did a segment about the people in Scotland near his golf course....
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 05:40 PM
Feb 2019

....lots of humorous insults. My favorite, with a Scottish accent, was "bawbag", which is their term for a scrotum.

Evolve Dammit

(16,689 posts)
64. His grandfather was from Bavaria; check out Larwence O'Donnell's (MSNBC) piece
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 06:52 PM
Feb 2019

on Trumps immigrant grandfather going from NYC back to Bavaria, only to be deported (after pleading not to be) back to the U.S.

defacto7

(13,485 posts)
66. As I understand, one sign of a psychopath is the inability
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 07:30 PM
Feb 2019

to understand or create humor. They can learn to fake it if it's necessary but they have no real capacity for it. Hmmm...

DFW

(54,253 posts)
68. A line that should be enshrined under his official portrait:
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 08:14 PM
Feb 2019

"He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit."

spooky3

(34,387 posts)
76. This is perfect. I have friends who hate Trump but say he is "charismatic" or "a great marketer"
Sun Feb 17, 2019, 10:38 PM
Feb 2019

and I think that is wrong. Most Americans see right through him and are not charmed by him at all. The problem is that the system permits the minority to prevail, especially when a lot of people (who are not charmed by him) simply don't care enough to vote.

friend of m and j

(220 posts)
81. What we have right now
Mon Feb 18, 2019, 12:32 AM
Feb 2019

is a toddler sitting in the middle of the room with daddy’s loaded revolver. Some how, some way, some one needs to take it away from him before he pulls the trigger.

 

BostonBlue

(53 posts)
86. 70+ years on this planet, no redeeming qualities...
Mon Feb 18, 2019, 10:29 AM
Feb 2019

Not only the worst person to ever sit in the Oval Office but given his advantages in life, one of the worst people this country has ever produced.

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