Brittney Griner exchanged

who did we give up for a basketball player? i hope they aren't dangerous

 

We just got played by Putin. It was an uneven trade for Viktor Bout. The charges on Griner were politically faked for the media. No victory here.

 

Good to hear.

 

I would have let her serve it out. She knew the rules. She did the crime. She put herself in position to earn her chance to win some time behind the curtain. Not me, not you, not anyone else. She did it. Why should anyone make special effort to get her out of trouble? Same goes for any knucklehead that decides to go on vaca to NK or China. You better be squeaky clean and keep your fingers crossed. You go outside of our borders, maybe you need to play by their rules? The only reason she's worth the effort of getting released is because someone is pandering to voters. This covers a small group of voters that is important to the "big man" and his group. That marine? You aren't going hear anything about him now, unless she's in the story. His name appearing in the media is about to fade away...........again.

 

I agree with some of what you are saying.

There has to be some amount of common-sense risk assessment that an individual must accept and well as some sort of common-sense adherence to that country's laws.

Sure you can make a couple of quick dollars playing in that country's basketball league but is it worth the risk - especially if you are going to violate strict laws of the country and that country is basically at war or preparing for war with the civilized world.

That being said I am glad she is going home - I have heard her take no responsibility for her actions or risk assumptions though. Ignorance is generally not a good defense in court.

 

Weren’t her actions, using a CBD ointment that had been prescribed by a doctor?
My understanding is she was targeted and would have been arrested for J-walking if that was all that could be scrounged up.

 

Which exactly makes the point - common sense assessment of the risk of going to a country like that for some money- really worth it?

The young lady is also in a same sex marriage - which is her right- but not a great choice of lifestyle in the Communist/Socialist Utopia country known as Russia

Russia Outlaws Same-Sex Marriage, Bans Trans People From Adopting | Them

Russian Authorities Target LGBT Rights Organization - Human Rights First

LGBTQ Russians Were Putin's First Target in His War on the West (foreignpolicy.com)

Again what about a common sense risk assessment before putting yourself in that situation.

 

I am glad she is coming home to a country she dislikes.

 

Actually, It's a huge victory for her friends and family and her fans and for the WNBA... But because she's only a superstar women's basketball player and not white she doesn't have tens of millions to spend on getting released and now that she is released too many awful people saying dumb and hateful stuff about her. It's shameful! So sick of how people don't think twice about inequality, but actually reinforce/normalize it.

If this was Tom Brady or Le Bron James being held as a prisoner in Russia for cannabis residue in a vape cartridge it would of been headline news every day and they would of been freed in a matter of days, not nearly a year.

 

Russia hasn't been communist for quite some time.

That's a stretch.

 

Isn't that the same thing as saying I'm racist enough to think that everything I dislike about black people is actually what they don't like about me and my country? As in the only thing white people don't like about all their perceived benefits from racism is being accused of being racists.

 

Unfortunately, my comments have been taken as an assessment of her lifestyle and through the lens of racism. My comments were only on the basis of the deal. Even if you were a little green man from Mars, my comment on the deal would have been the same.

 

This has no relevance. A prescription does not over-rule law. Just because a prescription is legal in one place does not make it legal in another. There are many states where medical marijuana is legal. There are many where it's not. Bring your "legal" weed into a state where it's illegal, and cry while the po-po walks you to the cell.

Not that a large percentage of "medical marijuana" cards are not legit or anything.......

 

Whelan should be released as well, but I don't know what the 'cost' would be.

Viktor Bout appears to be a perfectly evil person who deserved to stay in prison, but now he won't. That is a loss; a cost. But I doubt he will have future success as an illegal arms dealer.

'Human intelligence resources' will follow him around, and everybody knows he fell into a legal trap earlier. He's watched and a screwup. Those seeking such intermediaries will look elsewhere.

 

It was literally an empty container that had residue in it. Your cause and effect pro-authoritarian power trip is way off base and offensive to the basic facts of the case.

 

If this was Paul Whelan or Marc Fogel or any of a number of non-sport non-celebrities, they would still be in Russian prison.

This spring, Griner's spouse really turned me off by playing both the sexism and racism cards, claiming that if Brittney were a white male, she'd be home already. As if Whelan, Fogel, and others previously taken into custody, some years earlier, didn't exist. Or didn't matter.

Yes, it is good that she has been released. But she must not forget that as a sports celebrity, she is very privileged, and was rushed to the front of the line. Ordinary mortals remain political prisoners for years longer.

 

The Merchant Of Death. A major arms supplier to many conflict zones.

 

The basic facts are she broke their laws. She knew the laws. She's been there previously, many times. Please explain what I'm missing. Color/race/gender/LGBTQ status has nothing to do with it. It's pretty basic. Why are you trying to make this a race/gender/equality issue? No one should have personal responsibility for their actions?