For putting the President in the position of having to trade one of the worst men on the planet for her because she had to break the laws of another country!
Absolutely I would. It is dangerous to hold issues above criticism and I do have issues with any criticism being labeled as bigotry towards the LGBTQ community. I do understand why this happens though because some actual bigots and propagandists are muddying the waters on this issue, but I don't see anyone posting here with that agenda. Part of the issues here is that there were people who were arguably more deserving than her though and she was able to "jump the que" because of her celebrity status, which is a privilege that some seem to completely deny because of her minority status. That bothers a lot of people. Since we are doing hypotheticals, if Griner was never there would you care that Trump didn't make the same trade for Whelan years ago? I really don't recall much uproar over that. Another hypothetical, if Alex Jones got himself into the exact same situation. Would you still advocate for his release at any cost? With all that said, everyone should be happy she is home because she doesn't deserve to rot in a Russian gulag...... A whole other thing to consider is that if she did this somewhere like Texas she could actually still be in prison like many are, which is pretty messed up on another level
Yes, I would advocate for Alex Jones to be released if he were in the same situation. Which I can't imagine, frankly. Not every criticism is bigotry. But a lot are. And maybe you don't see it here but I do. Honestly I had little awareness of Whelan. One thing Griner's situation did was bring more publicity to his situation. And yes, it is disgusting that Trump did nothing for 3 years. And now pretends to be concerned. Prisons in America are bad. That is true. It also has nothing to do with whether an American hostage should be freed. As for Bout: I could be wrong but I think after all these years he's pretty out of the loop. He will make loyal statements and get some cushy title and a dacha somewhere but I would be surprised if he becomes a major player again. And as I said, there were no nice Russians that could be released in exchange for Griner. I hope Whelan and other Americans are released ASAP.
You are a better person than me. Fair enough, I hope I am not projecting any of that. An excellent point. I kind of think the same. Surely someone else took over, I feel like his current abilities are being purposely over inflated. This does get into the question is what is too much for a US hostage in general, where is the line? It's also a valid concern that giving too much too easily endangers other Americans. None of that speculation (from my perspective) is personal towards Griner though. This whole issue also highlights the draconian and hypocritical drug laws right here in our own country. Lots of people here are suffering here because of our own laws. Biden specifically is pretty anti marijuana, so on that level it is pretty WTF also.
??? In the last couple of months, he's pardoned federal pot convictions, and also signed a bill that greatly expands allowed marijuana research and permits doctors to talk to patients about the benefits of pot. He may not personally be enthusiastic about pot, and sure, he could push harder, but he's probably already done more than any prior president. barfo
It's not a couple nut jobs. It's in every thread. Anytime somebody posts about how awesome it is that she is home on Facebook, twitter, etc you see a bunch of people blasting Biden for making a bad deal. Embarrassing.
He has been better since October but that's just basically getting the ball rolling, barely. He has a lot of make up to do for his role in our war on drugs and a long way to go before it's decriminalized. So I'll save my high fives for now.
Well, obviously Biden doesn't read S2, at least not since his BenDavis503 account got banned. But generally speaking positive feedback for initial steps is useful for encouraging further steps. barfo
Really happy for her homecoming. Fuck the thug Bout...he's going to a shithole that is hated by the free world right now and has no money. Hope he gets sent to the front lines in Ukraine and has no socks or boots in Dec. Hope a drone vaporizes him or a rival arms thug takes him out. Good riddance.
Blasting it for being a bad deal and wishing that she would have died in the prison are two very different thoughts
We got an innocent person out of a place she would have been tortured and tormented. There is nothing bad about that. -BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, letter to Benjamin Vaughan, March 14, 1785
