Luxor4u

As we wave goodbye to Donald Trump I’ve been reflecting on my visceral antipathy to this guy. I’ve never met him...nor am I likely to do so. I have no great knowledge of whether the direction he’s taken the USA is beneficial to the population of that country.....but the effect on me, personally, must be minimal.

My only exposure to him is what I learn from main stream media ( always to be viewed with some suspicion) and the words and actions of the man himself....displayed abundantly via TV and Twitter.

Why then, along with what appears to be a large proportion of the British population, do I, almost instinctively, dislike the man and am so pleased to see him defeated ( if not rejected) in the US election.

The reason is beautifully summed up by journalist Nate White who , when asked why some Brits so dislike Trump, answered thus :

“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, D*ck 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 sh*t. 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.“

I couldn't have put it better. Both newcastle's introductory comments and those made by Nate White express splendidly my own thoughts.

As if 2020 hasn't been bad enough, the remainder of the year, and the start of 2021 look to be difficult times for America, with the obvious knock-on effects to the rest of the world. Let's just hope that Biden really is the man to take on the job, and that he has a strong, diligent and honest team behind him.

HEPZIBAH wrote: Sat Nov 07, 2020 3:17 pm

As if 2020 hasn't been bad enough, the remainder of the year, and the start of 2021 look to be difficult times for America, with the obvious knock-on effects to the rest of the world. Let's just hope that Biden really is the man to take on the job, and that he has a strong, diligent and honest team behind him.

I think the run up to Jan 20th 2021 is going to give us some moments of hilarity/incredulity....but, thereafter, I don’t envy Biden his task.Still....could be fun and distracting over lockdown Christmas

There’s still a remote possibility that Trump’s legal team will successfully contest the mailed in ballots....particularly those in Pennsylvania where the Democratic election overseer altered procedural rules at the last minute to facilitate the recognition of mailed in votes. If this complaint is upheld...and it might end up in the Supreme Court....then Biden’s majority might disappear. All hell would break loose if the election is given to Trump at this stage

It looks as if there will still be a Republican majority in the Senate which will, as it did in Obama’s presidency, frustrate any attempts to take America in a more liberal direction. He’s also got a very conservative Supreme Court to deal with.

On the domestic front, his hands are partially tied. He has more freedom internationally so we’ll see a return to the Climate Accord and perhaps a better relationship with America’s allies.

There’ll certainly be a return to a more civilised dialogue.

I imagine Boris has mixed feelings given Biden’s past remarks about him...and Brexit

What next for Trump? Back to the 'Shark Tank" (US version of the Apprentice) More deals in Trump Towers, Endless rounds of golf? The only thing that will happen is that he'll still be called Mr President wherever he goes.

crewmeal wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 7:48 am The only thing that will happen is that he'll still be called Mr President wherever he goes.

Come Jan 20th 2021, this form of address will only be used by ignorant reporters and possibly his more rabid supporters who refuse to accept the 2020 election results. Many Americans will be only too happy to forget he was ever their first citizen

“Mr President” can only mean the current incumbent of the office.

Former presidents are correctly addressed as Mr (last name)....or perhaps some other relevant title , such as a former military rank.

In recent years it has become common for reporters and the like to refer to, and to address, former presidents as “president (last name)” ....but this is, strictly speaking, incorrect. And somewhat insulting to the sitting president.

Having a “madam vice-president “ is going to trip up a few American reporters

One of the great ironies of this election is that Trump May have been the author of his own downfall by denigrating the postal voting system, saying it was subject to fraud and urging his supporters to vote, on the day, in person.

Of postal votes, he famously said....

"There's fraud. They found them in creeks. They found some with the name 'Trump,' just happened to have the name 'Trump,' just the other day, in a wastepaper basket," he said. Later, he claimed that ballots were being "dumped in rivers."

No doubt many of his supporters believed this claim which may have resulted in them not voting at all...if they encountered some personal difficulty on the day, didn’t fancy the long queues, exposure to Coronavirus etc.

The postal ballots significantly favoured Biden, and took him over the line in key states.

It will be interesting to find out any misbehaving in thw Whitehouse over the past 4 years, and now he is a citizen, will he be exempt from prosecution?