BREAKING Britney Griner has been traded for Viktor Bout

[Its On A Slab]

Did we ever stop?

I mean, it *is* stupid.

Or the women's national soccer team that lost to a club of under-15 boys, 5-2.

 

[92tide]

I think that is a little disingenuous. People knew he was there and it was pretty high profile when he got arrested. His family was just told to lay low.

i think your first sentence sums up about 80%+ of the reaction to this. probably more

 

[Bamabuzzard]

i think your first sentence sums up about 80%+ of the reaction to this. probably more

I don't think that is an accurate statement.

 

[CrimsonNagus]

Isn't it also ironic that the US just traded an arms dealer to free someone in a foreign prison for weed possession but, we refuse to free people jailed for the same thing here back home. I bet there are plenty of folks sitting in US jails for having/smoking weed thinking "why couldn't I have been arrested in Russia".

 

[Crimson1967]

Imaging the reaction on the left if Trump swapped a right wing white male pothead for a Russian terrorist.

 

[CrimsonJazz]

Imaging the reaction on the left if Trump swapped a right wing white male pothead for a Russian terrorist.

The outrage would be palpable, but completely justified.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Biden failed here. plain and simple. This is going to end bad.

 

[2003TIDE]

Isn't it also ironic that the US just traded an arms dealer to free someone in a foreign prison for weed possession but, we refuse to free people jailed for the same thing here back home. I bet there are plenty of folks sitting in US jails for having/smoking weed thinking "why couldn't I have been arrested in Russia".

So this is technically in process. Biden instructed the DEA and FDA to begin the review process that is legally required to move weed from schedule I to Schedule II. He can't just wave his hands and make it legal. It either has to be this process or congress would have to pass a laws.

Also he pardoned about 6000 people who were convicted by feds for possession.

 

[Go Bama]

White House disputes Saudi, UAE accounts of mediating Griner’s release

The White House on Thursday disputed a joint statement issued by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia that said the countries were involved in mediations efforts related to Brittney Griner’s r…

thehill.com

Earlier Thursday, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia touted the success of mediation efforts led by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the release of Brittney Griner in exchange for convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout.

But White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre disputed the notion, telling reporters that “the only countries that negotiated this deal were the United States and Russia.” It marked a sharp disconnect between what the joint Saudi-UAE statement said and the U.S. account of the efforts.

When asked about the Saudi-UAE joint statement, Jean-Pierre stressed that she didn’t have anything further to share but that the “the only countries that negotiated this deal where the United States and Russia, and there was no mediation involved.”

 

[92tide]

White House disputes Saudi, UAE accounts of mediating Griner’s release

The White House on Thursday disputed a joint statement issued by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia that said the countries were involved in mediations efforts related to Brittney Griner’s r…

thehill.com

it never ceases to amaze me how efficient and effective the puke funnel is

 

[92tide]

from the whelan’s family statement

“There is no greater success than for a wrongful detainee to be freed & for them to go home. The Biden Admin made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, & to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to..”/

 

[CrimsonNagus]

White House disputes Saudi, UAE accounts of mediating Griner’s release

The White House on Thursday disputed a joint statement issued by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia that said the countries were involved in mediations efforts related to Brittney Griner’s r…

thehill.com

I think the truth is somewhere in between. The exchange happen in Abu Dhabi so, UAE was involved somehow even if it was minor.

 

[CrimsonJazz]

I didn’t know much about about Bout before all this went down. The more I learn, the worse this gets.

Arrested Arms Dealer's Planes Flew U.S. Missions in Iraq

abcnews.go.com

 

[Go Bama]

I think the truth is somewhere in between. The exchange happen in Abu Dhabi so, UAE was involved somehow even if it was minor.

From Basket’s post above:

Lost in all the Bout / Griner / Whelan talk is the fact that the suit against the Saudi prince for the murder of Khashoggi (sp?) was dropped, I’m sure entirely co-incidentally.

The dropped murder charges probably were co-incidental. I suspect that had much more to do with foreign relations with Saudi Arabia than Brittney Griner.

 

[81usaf92]

I disagree with HCR's post today, she is just not going to criticize Biden. If the government cared about all citizens then they would not have released a man who was trying to kill Americans and will most likely try again. Not to mention the American left behind. This was a price to high for a basketball player who broke the law in Russia.


If this happens, the blood is on both Biden and Griner's hands.

This is as dumb as the Bowe Bergdoff swap but everyone on one side is going to pretend it is the only sensible move there is. Really at some point we need to stop caving for political reasons to bad trades.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

From Basket’s post above:

The dropped murder charges probably were co-incidental. I suspect that had much more to do with foreign relations with Saudi Arabia than Brittney Griner.

I guess reasonable people can interpret the same set of facts differently.

The reason I don't think the timing of (1) the dropped murder case and (2) the release of Griner is random happenstance, is the way the Saudis are crowing about their involvement -- which help Biden is disputing.

I'm also guessing that the Whelan family is reacting the way it has because they don't want to alienate the folks that might, maybe, one day, if they feel like it, be able to help out the prisoner.

Unless there's some jaw-dropping revelation that hasn't come out yet, this is a monumental mess.

 

[Go Bama]

This is as dumb as the Bowe Bergdoff swap but everyone on one side is going to pretend it is the only sensible move there is. Really at some point we need to stop caving for political reasons to bad trades.

Bergdahl was a soldier. Griner is a US citizen.

Look, we weren't going to get Griner home without making the trade. Nobody is saying it was an even swap. If it weren't for the Ukraine/Russia war, perhaps we could have made a better deal, but at this point in time, it was (admittedly, I'm guessing here) the only deal Putin was going to take.

If you don't like the deal, cool. I'm of the opinion that the administration weighed the same issues we are discussing plus others we know nothing about, and came to the conclusion that making the trade was in the best interest of the US. I sincerely hope Paul Whelan is home soon.

 

[Go Bama]

I guess reasonable people can interpret the same set of facts differently.

Yep. Our priorities are different.

 

[81usaf92]

Bergdahl was a soldier. Griner is a US citizen.

Look, we weren't going to get Griner home without making the trade. Nobody is saying it was an even swap. If it weren't for the Ukraine/Russia war, perhaps we could have made a better deal, but at this point in time, it was (admittedly, I'm guessing here) the only deal Putin was going to take.

If you don't like the deal, cool. I'm of the opinion that the administration weighed the same issues we are discussing plus others we know nothing about, and came to the conclusion that making the trade was in the best interest of the US. I sincerely hope Paul Whelan is home soon.

Had this been Trump or Bush then the same people who are saying that this is a good trade would be cussing about it. Personally I found our resolve and decision making on prisoner swaps as being very weak since the conclusion of the Cold War no matter who sits in the Oval Office.

Bergdahl was a traitor, and the administration went to great lengths to say otherwise. We play politics instead of thinking like a rational government more often than not.

 

[Go Bama]

Had this been Trump or Bush then the same people who are saying that this is a good trade would be cussing about it.

I would not. I cannot speak for others.