Swap for WNBA player

[Red05]

Griner has the good fortune, dare I use the term "privilege" of being the right ethnicity and sexual orientation. She pled guilty to a crime. One that she knew happened. Even if by accident.

The other 2 have not.

Welcome home America.

Whelan was found guilty by the Marines of questionable character. Therefore his nonsensical excuse that the flash drive that Russian authorities caught him with was given to him by a friend as part a sting operation and he thought it contained wedding pictures (?!?!) is in question. Russia considers him a danger to national security and refused to include him in the deal. I question why the U.S. would trust him as a spy and therefore his guilt but to consider him a military hero is a stretch. Biden’s choice was Griner or nothing. The effects of the release of Bout remain to be seen but as he was scheduled to be released in 7 years I’m in the bird in the hand camp.

 

[TallTom]

Whelan was found guilty by the Marines of questionable character. Therefore his nonsensical excuse that the flash drive that Russian authorities caught him with was given to him by a friend as part a sting operation and he thought it contained wedding pictures (?!?!) is in question. Russia considers him a danger to national security and refused to include him in the deal. I question why the U.S. would trust him as a spy and therefore his guilt but to consider him a military hero is a stretch. Biden’s choice was Griner or nothing. The effects of the release of Bout remain to be seen but as he was scheduled to be released in 7 years I’m in the bird in the hand camp.

For all I know he could be guilty.

The current administration labels him as wrongfully detained. He went largely unheard of before this. By what tape measure do we measure who is wrongfully detained? Nobody that travels and works in Russia is unaware of the stiff drug penalties they favor.

So why do we value her differently?

 

[TheGza]

Deflection? You’re the one who posted up a picture of him in his dress uniform with the flag, which also has nothing “to do with the fact that he’s still there and she ain’t.” A Court Marshall convicted him of being a thief and a liar. Does Griner have a criminal record? Is she less of an American than the born in Canada citizen of several countries? Is the Rx less than a gram of cannabis oil bothering you? It takes about four full grams of sugar to fill a tea spoon.

I worry more about the potential lives that could be lost due to this guy being released. Do I think Brittany deserved to be there... Of course not... But she did do something stupid to put herself in that situation. Well now atleast... The merchant of death is free and Brittany can light up the courts for all 8 of the WNBAs fans and the entire womans movement and lgbtqa can complain about why she doesn't make as much money as LeBron

What ever happened to "we don't negotiate"

 

[TallTom]

I worry more about the potential lives that could be lost due to this guy being released. Do I think Brittany deserved to be there... Of course not... But she did do something stupid to put herself in that situation. Well now atleast... The merchant of death is free and Brittany can light up the courts for all 8 of the WNBAs fans and the entire womans movement and lgbtqa can complain about why she doesn't make as much money as LeBron

What ever happened to "we don't negotiate"

When she can fill up a stadium like LeBron we can revisit pay inequities.

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Deflection? You’re the one who posted up a picture of him in his dress uniform with the flag, which also has nothing “to do with the fact that he’s still there and she ain’t.” A Court Marshall convicted him of being a thief and a liar. Does Griner have a criminal record? Is she less of an American than the born in Canada citizen of several countries? Is the Rx less than a gram of cannabis oil bothering you? It takes about four full grams of sugar to fill a tea spoon.

She disrespected and bashed this country crying racism more than we could keep count of. I would have been fine if they sent her to Siberia and worked her to death. Screw her.
Do you honestly think if anyone here did same thing sleepy would have given a sh!t? No he wouldnt. She trashes this country and kneels for the anthem and they call her a ‘role model’? Yeah SCREW HER!
What he did here is no reason to leave him there. Thief and liar? Fine. Bring him home and throw him in jail. But nope we didn’t even try to get him. Made a half hearted lazy ass attempt just so they could say they tried but I’m pretty sure the current admin didn’t want him back. Instead we swapped an intl arms smuggler for an anti American basketball player. Effin laughably sad.

 

[WuzzaCBXRider]

Trump ‘turned down Paul Whelan and Viktor Bout prisoner swap years ago’

Mr Trump blasted the Biden administration’s deal on his Truth Social platform – despite refusing to take action to try to free Mr Whelan for two years of his own presidency

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Trump ‘turned down Paul Whelan and Viktor Bout prisoner swap years ago’

Mr Trump blasted the Biden administration’s deal on his Truth Social platform – despite refusing to take action to try to free Mr Whelan for two years of his own presidency

www.independent.co.uk

So what? I ain’t saying the guys a saint. Neither is the one you love to slam, Trump. Just that they put her so high on a pedestal acting like she is one. It was literally every day we heard about her. I do not for one second believe she didn’t know she had the drugs on her. I don’t believe for one second she didn’t know it was against the law or the risks involved. What I do believe is she thought since she played there and that she’s a WNBA player she’s special. Above the law and what commoners would be subject to. An entitled female LeBron is what she is. Putin got the merchant of death a hardcore arms dealer and we got her. That’s the worst trade in sports history. Worse than the Sox trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees for pennys.

 

[TallTom]

So what? I ain’t saying the guys a saint. Neither is the one you love to slam, Trump. Just that they put her so high on a pedestal acting like she is one. It was literally every day we heard about her. I do not for one second believe she didn’t know she had the drugs on her. I don’t believe for one second she didn’t know it was against the law or the risks involved. What I do believe is she thought since she played there and that she’s a WNBA player she’s special. Above the law and what commoners would be subject to. An entitled female LeBron is what she is. Putin got the merchant of death a hardcore arms dealer and we got her. That’s the worst trade in sports history. Worse than the Sox trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees for pennys.

Dude. Biden needs to put some kind of win in that column. In case you aren't keeping track, his approval ratings at all time lows.

Dropped 2 more points since her release.......lol.

 

[Red05]

What he did here is no reason to leave him there.

I agree but it's not the U.S.'s decision. Russia refuses to release him so far. Hopefully that changes.

Second paragraph

"The Kremlin gave the U.S. the choice of only Griner's return or no deal at all"

 

[fallenarch]

Ballotpedia's Polling Index: Comparison of opinion polling during the Trump and Biden administrations

ballotpedia.org

 

[Bumblebee]

And they didn't choose no deal at all. The U.S. got played again.

Now the Russian population will hear the U S. doesn't believe a Marine is worth the same as a gay drug user.

And a gay drug user has enough value to be traded for a weapons dealer serving life in prison in the U. S.

I think it is more that an American citizen has more value to the US than a weapons dealer, it doesn't have anything to do with her sexual orientation or use of drugs...she is however a 2 time Olympic gold medalist

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

I think it is more that an American citizen has more value to the US than a weapons dealer, it doesn't have anything to do with her sexual orientation or use of drugs...she is however a 2 time Olympic gold medalist

She was not caught up in anything she didn’t put herself in on purpose. Not like an innocent lamb. She knew exactly what she was doing and I’d even go so far as to bet she’d done it before and gotten away with it.
Now we all know every media outlet is clamoring to get the first televised interview if it already hasn’t happened. It will be like a heroes welcome home. At no point will anyone go hard on her and ask her if she regrets being so stupid to smuggle drugs into Russia. And at no point will she be asked if she appreciates this country more so because we got her out of there.
I could be wrong and if she’s humble enough to say she regrets it and now has a better outlook and view on the USA I’ll forgive her. But for now she’s still an American hating person to me.

 

[TallTom]

I think it is more that an American citizen has more value to the US than a weapons dealer, it doesn't have anything to do with her sexual orientation or use of drugs...she is however a 2 time Olympic gold medalist

She's a 2 time Olympic gold medalist. That used illegal drugs and pled guilty of.

So who do we have to trade to get someone of higher value out of their prison system?

 

[TallTom]

She was not caught up in anything she didn’t put herself in on purpose. Not like an innocent lamb. She knew exactly what she was doing and I’d even go so far as to bet she’d done it before and gotten away with it.
Now we all know every media outlet is clamoring to get the first televised interview if it already hasn’t happened. It will be like a heroes welcome home. At no point will anyone go hard on her and ask her if she regrets being so stupid to smuggle drugs into Russia. And at no point will she be asked if she appreciates this country more so because we got her out of there.
I could be wrong and if she’s humble enough to say she regrets it and now has a better outlook and view on the USA I’ll forgive her. But for now she’s still an American hating person to me.

Yeah she would not go on to a court until the National Anthem stopped being played.

I hope she thinks about that now.

 

[Bumblebee]

She's a 2 time Olympic gold medalist. That used illegal drugs and pled guilty of.

So who do we have to trade to get someone of higher value out of their prison system?

I don't know if the court system in "Mother Russia" gives a person too much leniency to plead anything other than guilty....

They don't just hand out those gold medals, people who receive them work hard to get to that level.

Regardless, this is a good lesson for people who travel to learn-inspect your luggage and personal effects before travelling.

 

[Bumblebee]

She was not caught up in anything she didn’t put herself in on purpose. Not like an innocent lamb. She knew exactly what she was doing and I’d even go so far as to bet she’d done it before and gotten away with it.
Now we all know every media outlet is clamoring to get the first televised interview if it already hasn’t happened. It will be like a heroes welcome home. At no point will anyone go hard on her and ask her if she regrets being so stupid to smuggle drugs into Russia. And at no point will she be asked if she appreciates this country more so because we got her out of there.
I could be wrong and if she’s humble enough to say she regrets it and now has a better outlook and view on the USA I’ll forgive her. But for now she’s still an American hating person to me.

Yep, play with fire and you will eventually get burnt, people make mistakes and this one was an expensive one to make.

I would hope this will change her outlook on where she lives and how lucky she is.

I know for one, I threw out all the Steven Seagal movies I had (speaking of people who turned their back on their own country).

 

[fallenarch]

Many pro athletes use cannabis due to chronic pain. 1 Gram?

 

[TallTom]

I don't know if the court system in "Mother Russia" gives a person too much leniency to plead anything other than guilty....

They don't just hand out those gold medals, people who receive them work hard to get to that level.

Regardless, this is a good lesson for people who travel to learn-inspect your luggage and personal effects before travelling.

Exactly. People in America think that what's a minor offense to us should be a minor offense elsewhere.

She has been playing basketball there for years. Knew the rules. Knew the laws. I totally think she simply forgot she was carrying what was legal elsewhere.

The fact that the media tried to make her out to be about American policy, is where Russia capitalized.

No swap was required. If we wanted to negotiate, hit Russia with stiffer sanctions.

For all I know the Arms Dealer is innocent. We've had 14 years to use him to swap for higher value prisoner swaps than this.

Now we have shown who we turn our backs on and who we put the full effort into releasing.

 

[Red05]

And they didn't choose no deal at all. The U.S. got played again.

Now the Russian population will hear the U S. doesn't believe a Marine is worth the same as a gay drug user.

And a gay drug user has enough value to be traded for a weapons dealer serving life in prison in the U. S.

Stiffer sanctions? You truly think that would get them home? Whelan was not on the table, available for a deal. Apparently you choose to not believe that or look the other way to support your argument which is that it would be better to have both Griner and Whelan still in jail in Russia than to have her home.
Having the hash oil was illegal yes, but you use the word gay as if it's illegal to be so or it paints a negative image of her. That says a lot.

 

[Bumblebee]

Stiffer sanctions? You truly think that would get them home? Whelan was not on the table, available for a deal. Apparently you choose to not believe that or look the other way to support your argument which is that it would be better to have both Griner and Whelan still in jail in Russia than to have her home.
Having the hash oil was illegal yes, but you use the word gay as if it's illegal to be so or it paints a negative image of her. That says a lot.

Didn't she have some sort of cannabis oil in her vape cartridges?