🇺🇸 Griner Going Home

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Right: 44,000 marijuana convictions in Connecticut to be cleared in 2023 (The Blaze)

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Left: Congress’s historic shift on marriage equality, in 2 charts (Vox)

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FOREIGN AFFARIS

Griner Going Home

Yesterday Brittney Griner was freed from a Russian penal colony into the custody of US officials. In exchange, US authorities returned reputed arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is often referred to as “the Merchant of Death.”

Reporting from the Left: WNBA star Brittney Griner released from Russian custody in a high-profile prisoner swap between the US and Moscow (NBC News)

Reporting from the Right: White House not going to apologize for releasing 'Merchant of Death' as critics rail against swap (Fox News)

From The Flag: We last covered Griner’s situation in July, several months after she was arrested in Moscow for having cannabis oil in her luggage. Here’s commentary from both sides concerning her detention and release.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Identity Politics Helped Get Griner Out, But What About Whelan?

• Although the State Department routinely linked them together over the summer, former US Marine Paul Whelan remains imprisoned.

• Griner’s protected status among the left as a Black lesbian led to her release.

• Despite the unfairness of her sentence, swapping Griner for a Russian terrorist seems like a rather imbalanced trade.

“WNBA Star Brittney Griner Freed In Swap For Arms Dealer” Louise Radnofsky and Catherine Lucey, Wall Street Journal: “Not included is Paul Whelan, a former US Marine and corporate security executive from Novi, Michigan who is 52 and has been held in Russia since late 2018. He was accused of spying, which he consistently denied, found guilty in June 2020 and sentenced to 16 years… in a penal colony in Mordovia, the same region 350 miles southeast of Moscow where Ms. Griner had been sent. Mr. Whelan’s fate became closely tied to Ms. Griner’s after an April exchange that freed Trevor Reed, another former US Marine. … After that, US officials began referring to Mr. Whelan and Ms. Griner in the same breath. … Secretary of State Antony Blinken had openly pressed for both Griner and Whelan to be released… Russia signaled in response that a two-for-one deal was unacceptable.”

“Brittney Griner’s Black Privilege” Matthew Boose, American Greatness: “The Griner case shows the application of black supremacy ideology, or ‘anti-racism,’ to foreign policy. … You would think the Biden Administration had bigger priorities… (this deal is) the height of absurdity, a national disgrace for the US, and more fodder for Kremlin propagandists to use as evidence the West is frivolous and decadent. Griner is receiving unusually solicitous treatment because she is black. She gets extra points for being a lesbian who plays women’s basketball. In the metropole of the liberal world order, someone like Brittney Griner is a patrician. The Biden Administration exhorts Americans suffering the consequences of the Ukraine war to make sacrifices for the liberal world order, but the liberal world order does not apply justice equally at home or abroad. Like the empires of the past, there are orders of rank. Black privilege travels to the empire’s very frontiers, if not quite beyond them.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Biden Admin Trades 'Merchant of Death' Russian Terrorist for Brittney Griner Matt Margolis, PJ Media

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Justice for Brittney Griner, Plus Bout Is Not An Imminent Threat

• While there’s outcry concerning Viktor Bout’s release, the truth is he’s lost his influence and ability to cause harm.

• Griner’s arrest and harsh prison sentence is a reminder that the US continues to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders.

• The WNBA’s low salaries is the only reason Griner and other players of her talent level choose to play in a place like Russia.

“Brittney Griner in Exchange for the ‘Merchant of Death’” Douglas Farah, POLITICO Opinion: “Bout is a spent force... His business depended on personal relationships and trust among the parties. After being out of the business for more than a decade, (he) has neither of those left in the shadowy world in which he once operated. Second, Bout needed access to a global network stretching from Afghanistan to Europe, Africa and South America. That network has morphed through several generations of new actors, markets and gatekeepers. … Finally, Bout depended in the early years on the gross negligence of the former Soviet states to allow him to simply fly out aircraft and weapons in a spree of de facto privatization of one of the world’s most advanced arsenals. In his later years, he was reined in by the Russian state under Putin, no longer able to freelance at will.”

“It's time to bring her home.” Editorial Board, Los Angeles Times: “​​Griner never should have been sentenced to spend nearly a decade in jail, let alone doing hard labor, for the crime of inadvertently ‘smuggling’ a tiny amount of cannabis oil into Moscow where she was scheduled to play basketball. She was arrested a week before Russia invaded Ukraine and has been compared to a political hostage. She pleaded guilty to the charges to take responsibility for her actions and in the hopes of avoiding a long sentence. It didn’t work, and an appeal of the sentence was denied… Griner’s sentence is also a reminder that the US doesn’t have clean hands on this issue. Thousands of Americans have been arrested, tried and incarcerated in America for similarly minor drug possession charges, including Allen Russell, who is serving life without parole in Mississippi for possessing 1.5 ounces of marijuana.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Brittney Griner deserves more than American support. She deserves American cash. Dave Zirin, MSNBC Opinion

FLAG THIS

Four in Ten Backed the 2-For-1 Swap, Said Griner’s Treatment Was Unfair

Last month, a poll asked if respondents would approve of a 2-for-1 prisoner swap involving “an alleged arms dealer” as well as Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan. A quarter said they weren’t sure, 42% strongly or somewhat approved, and 32% somewhat or strongly disapproved.

Meanwhile, 25% said Griner was being treated fairly by the Russian penal system, while 44% described her treatment as unfair, and 31% weren’t sure (YouGov).

FLAG FINDS

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