Britney Griner on the way back.

We traded a terrorist for a basketball player. Then again, the U.S. jailing someone for being an international arms dealer is more than a little hypocritical. The U.S. is the biggest arms dealer in the world.

I think the movie Lord of War with Nicholas Cage was based on the story of the just released Russian arms dealer. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
 
SeniorBen said:
We traded a terrorist for a basketball player. Then again, the U.S. jailing someone for being an international arms dealer is more than a little hypocritical. The U.S. is the biggest arms dealer in the world.

I think the movie Lord of War with Nicholas Cage was based on the story of the just released Russian arms dealer. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
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We are by far the largest arms dealer, and Ukraine is very glad that we are.
 
1955 said:
It was reported this morning that Russia targeted her specifically to get the "merchant of death" guy back because he was close to Putin. Russia would only make the 1:1 exchange with these two people.

This was great new this morning but still heart felt for remaining people..
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It was initially reported that Putin offered Griner or Whelan to Biden in exchange for Bout. Griner is the WNBA player who refuses to come out of the locker room while the National Anthem is being player She stated that the NA does not represent all Americans because it was first written and composed while slavery still existed.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/news-why-brittney-griner-hates-america-trending-all-need-know

She isn't looking at the big picture scores of men on battlefields and on seas have given their lives protecting the flag and the rights made under it. Why is it so hard to stand for 1 minute and 56 seconds to give thanks and respect for those men that died protecting the flag and what it stands for? If you want to protest, fine, but but find a less patriotic method.

And by the way, Andrea Mitchell of NBC, first reported that Biden was offered Whelan, an active U.S Marine or Griner, a WNBA basketball star, in swap for Bout. This is what Mitchell reported. "The Kremlin gave the White House the choice of either Griner or Whelan — or none." It is thought to be that NBC sanitized the story to read, "The Kremlin ultimately gave the White House the choice of either Griner or no one."

Supposedly, Biden made his pick using the politics of the day by choosing Griner, a female of color and a lesbian. The White House press secretary made the statement, not me.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: "The choice became to either bring Brittney home or no one. As the president said this morning, he will never stop working to secure Paul's release and return home, and he will not give up. On a personal note, Brittany is more than an athlete, more than an Olympian. She is an important role model and inspiration to millions of Americans, particularly the LGBTQI+ Americans and women of color. She should never have been detained by Russia."

What did Sgt. Griner do? He went to Moscow to attend a friend's wedding. Poor choices for both men. (My opinion.) Supposedly, someone slipped him a flash drive with confidential information on it. This rest of the story is kind of sketchy. I haven't heard or found a report that actually spells it out. Sgt. Whelan is an administrative assistant for a Marine Air Control Group (#38, I think) still on active duty.

Anyone that gets out of a Russian prison should consider them very fortunate. We will see how she feels about America now. The conditions in a Russian prison are unthinkable. A lot of diseases is shared among the inmates.
 
Geezerette said:
Im still not fully convinced it was an innocent packing oversight. I’m glad she’s out but I wish Whelan got back too. I hope she has enough dignity to just fade into the background now, and not make herself the “pitiful celebrity of the year” doing the talk show route.
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"and not make herself the “pitiful celebrity of the year” doing the talk show route."

I'll be surprised if she doesn't.
 
It's not very big business. It's never made a profit and has been totally subsidized by the NBA. She went to Russia as Pepper noted to supplement her income, which is in the 221,000 per year range. Average attendance last year for a WNBA game was about 5600 people, and that has been going down for years, although last year was a bounce back from the pandemic.
JimBob1952 said:
The "product" is not very good, although I'm not sure why, as women's soccer, golf, tennis are all excellent and fun to watch, and women's college basketball is becoming bigger each year.
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Just being curious, but what happens if men decide to identify as female and takeover the WNBA? Not likely, I’m sure, but then I never thought a man would swim as being a woman.
 
From CBS....

To secure Griner's release, the president ordered that Bout be freed and returned to Russia. Mr. Biden signed the commutation order cutting short Bout's 25-year federal prison sentence.

Notably, the Griner-for-Bout exchange left retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia. Whelan has been in Russian custody for nearly four years. He was convicted on espionage charges that the U.S. has called false.

"We've not forgotten about Paul Whelan," Mr. Biden said Thursday, adding "we will never give up" on securing his release.

U.S. officials told reporters it became clear in talks with the Russians that the prospect of securing the release of both Griner and Whelan in exchange for Bout was a nonstarter, with one official saying the U.S. had "a choice between bringing home one particular American — Brittney Griner — or bringing home none."

Whelan told CNN in a phone call Thursday he was happy Griner was free but he was "greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four-year anniversary of my arrest is coming up." This month marks the fourth anniversary of Whelan's time in Russian custody.

Griner, a 32-year-old star center for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, was detained at a Russian airport in February and later pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the discovery of cannabis-derived oil cartridges in her luggage. Griner said she didn't mean to bring the cartridges with her when she traveled to the country to play in a Russian basketball league during the WNBA offseason.

After five months of stalled diplomacy and various permutations of potential swap arrangements — including a previously unreported offer by the U.S. this past summer to send two prisoners back to Russia for the two Americans — sources say the one-for-one exchange came together over the last two weeks.

Whelan, who once worked as a corporate security contractor, was in Moscow for a friend's wedding when he was detained at a hotel in December 2018. Russian authorities later sentenced him to 16 years in prison for espionage — a charge the U.S. and Whelan denied.

Bout, who was most recently held at a federal prison in Marion, Illinois, was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Agency in Thailand following a sting operation in 2008. He was convicted of conspiring to kill Americans and began his 25-year sentence a decade ago.

Griner's arrest coincided with the February start of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and all U.S. dealings with the Kremlin have been complicated by that conflict. The U.S. has said both Griner and Whelan were "wrongfully detained," and officials have suspected that Russia has been using the American prisoners as leverage.

Griner's return for Bout marks the Biden administration's second prisoner swap with Russia. In April, the U.S. traded Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian smuggler convicted of conspiring to import cocaine, for Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who had been imprisoned in Russia for nearly three years.

CBS News learned last Thursday that the Griner-for-Bout swap was in the offing but agreed to a White House request to hold the reporting because officials expressed grave concern about the fragility of the then-emerging deal.

The Biden administration officials warned that making details of the swap public beforehand would almost certainly lead Russia to pull out of the agreement and potentially endanger Griner's well-being.
 
Indiana Joe said:
Druggies and criminals don't learn squat even after they might have suffered consequences due to their actions. They end up back jail, unless they are rich and famous enough to get away with such nonsense time and time again.

But there is a bright side to this whole matter. Biden has consolidated the vote of the Rainbow and Black Communities. What more could a Democrat want?
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WoW ! do I ever agree. He/She is already displaying arrogance for this country .... why did we bother ? ... oh that's right ... for the reasons you pointed out.
 
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