Those who know him best
People who once worked for Trump are trying to stop him winning a second term.
If I had a nickel for every solo female singer named Robyn who had a hit song in the nineties called “Show Me Love,” I’d have two nickels, which isn’t much but it’s kind of weird that it happened twice:
If I had a nickel for every time an American vatnik who featured heavily in Russian propaganda turned out to be a p*dophile, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t much yet, but I suspect Scott Ritter and this guy aren’t the only ones fighting for Putin:
Multiple Russian pro-war Telegram channels have shared a video in the last day that features a “former American soldier named Wil” talking about his experience joining the Russian military and fighting in the battle for Avdiivka.
According to journalists from the independent outlet Agentstvo, the man in the video is Wilmer Puello-Mota, a 27-year-old former city councilor from Holyoke, Massachusetts, who was charged in 2020 with possession of child pornography as well as obstruction, forgery, and counterfeiting. Puello-Mota’s trial was set to begin in January 2024. A Rhode Island court reportedly issued a warrant for his arrest after he failed to show up for a hearing.
Since that local news report aired, a staged propaganda clip very clearly featuring Puello-Mota - or at least someone who looks almost exactly like him - has turned up on pro-Russian Telegram channels.
For his sake, it sure would be a shame if word about Puello-Mota’s criminal charges somehow got to his comrades on the front line in Ukraine. One thing Russia and the West have in common is the way people like him are treated by their fellow prisoners:
The thieves’ culture is a set of rules, modes of action, and a strict social hierarchy that regulates everyday life among those in the criminal underground. It is especially focused on organizing the life of inmates in the many prisons and camps, known as “zones,” of Russia and other former Soviet countries. While traces of it existed even under the tsars, the system was largely forged in the vast gulags of the Soviet Union, the network of camps that formed almost a separate country inside Soviet borders.
The thieves’ culture gets its name from the ruling class, the “lawful thieves” who enforce the thieves’ law—an unwritten set of rules called ponyatiya, literally translated as “concepts” or “notions.” These rules include positive recommendations on how a “proper criminal” should act, harsh prohibitions on various actions with corresponding punishments, as well as a basis for how the social hierarchy in prisons should be organized. All this is described in jargon that, even for ordinary Russians, is hard to understand.
[…]
The lowest caste, and the one that every prisoner fears degradation to, are the roosters, also known as the “offended,” the “pederasts,” or the “downcast.” That is a position to which it is extremely easy to fall down to, but one that you can never climb up from. They’re forced to do all the worst jobs—such as cleaning the cell’s latrine, washing everyone’s underwear—because no, your average Russian prison does not have any washing machines—and often serving as sexual slaves. They also get the worst sleeping spots in the cell, usually next to the latrine.
A rooster is untouchable outside of sex. One is not allowed to share anything with a rooster except as a payment for services—not only is it taboo to touch them, but also anything that they have touched, as that instantly moves one to their caste. Their kitchenware is explicitly marked as such, for one, and whenever transferring cells, they’re supposed to publicly announce their suit status and move in with “their own” accordingly.
Russia’s most educated and politically liberal professionals are fleeing West, while this is kind of person heading in the other direction. All things considered, that’s a more lopsided trade than the Cowboys sending Herschel Walker to Minnesota.
And if I had a nickel for every time a former Trump Administration official begged Americans not to vote for their old boss in 2024, I’d have…a couple of dollars, at least:
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has called him a “threat to democracy.” Former national security adviser John Bolton has declared him “unfit to be president.” And former Vice President Mike Pence has declined to endorse him, citing “profound differences.”
As Donald Trump seeks the presidency for a third time, he is being vigorously opposed by a vocal contingent of former officials who are stridently warning against his return to power and offering dire predictions for the country and the rule of law if his campaign succeeds.
It’s a striking chorus of detractors, one without precedent in the modern era, coming from those who witnessed first-hand his conduct in office and the turmoil that followed.
Sarah Matthews, a former Trump aide who testified before the House Jan. 6 committee and is among those warning about the threat he poses, said it’s “mind-boggling” how many members of his senior staff have denounced him.
“These are folks who saw him up close and personal and saw his leadership style,” Matthews said.
“The American people should listen to what these folks are saying because it should be alarming that the people that Trump hired to work for him a first term are saying that he’s unfit to serve for a second term.”
[…]
Pence recently said he “cannot in good conscience” endorse Trump because of Jan. 6 and other issues, despite being proud of what they achieved together.
And Pence is not alone.
Esper, who was fired by Trump days after the 2020 election, clashed with the then-president over several issues, including Trump’s push to deploy military troops to respond to civil unrest after the killing of George Floyd by police in 2020.
In a recent interview with HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” Esper repeated a warning that Trump is “a threat to democracy” and added, “I think there’s a lot to be concerned about.”
“There’s no way I’ll vote for Trump, but every day that Trump does something crazy, the door to voting for Biden opens a little bit more, and that’s where I’m at,” Esper said.
(From my experience on social media, I think that if we all pile on Esper and shriek that he’s a traitor and a coward for not enthusiastically supporting Biden right now, he’ll totally come around.)
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