Brittney Griner

[ArtieChokePhin]

The race baiter got what she deserved.   Nine years in a Russian prison.   For someone who has trampled on the Constitution and the national anthem, she's now experiencing what it's really like to live in a country where she isn't free.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/brittney-griner-trial-russian-court-hands-down-verdict-wnba-stars-case

[EDGECRUSHER]

I'm sure this thread will go pleasantly 

It seems very excessive but it isn't out of line with other sentences for this crime in Russia. They are basically a zero tolerance drug country. Now, maybe if the US President asked nicely to have her released, something could've been done. However, our current US President has been trying to murder Putin since February, so I don't think he will be doing us any favors.

Other angles not yet discussed are how are we going to negotiate the release of someone over CBD/Weed nonsense by exchanging war criminals or arms dealers, when in our own country we have people incarcerated for weed? That would be really messed up. IMO, she's doing at least 2 years and then Putin will release her to the next President as a way to humiliate Biden. Kinda like when Reagan got the hostages back right after he beat Carter.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

You can always tell who the true Ronald Reagan pro-Amercan  anti-communist conservative patriots are.  They are the ones cheerleading Putin.

/Sarcasm off

[ArtieChokePhin]

I'm sure this thread will go pleasantly 

I couldn't care less how pleasant it is.   The liberals on this board better take a good look at this example and realize how good they have it in this country and quit speaking out against American freedoms. 

Kinda like when Reagan got the hostages back right after he beat Carter.

That's because Reagan made it clear that he would launch a full scale invasion of Iran if the hostages weren't released.

[Spider-Dan]

The liberals on this board better take a good look at this example and realize how good they have it in this country and quit speaking out against American freedoms.

So liberals like Griner don't realize how good they have it to live in a country where they have the right of free speech.
Other liberals should take a good look at her example of being imprisoned and... quit speaking out.

I guess the best kind of free speech is the kind you're afraid to use, lest you be imprisoned!

[CF DolFan]

What she got is way overkill. With that said you have to respect other countries if you are going to visit them because there isn't a constitution there to protect you. The saddest part of the story to me is that we are looking at trading a killer for her. That seems like more overkill too but I guess the White house thinks it will work out as well as the case of Bowe Bergdahl that Obama made. Apparently democrats are so confident in our abilities we like to give our enemies multiple chances to kill us and others.   

 

[ArtieChokePhin]

So liberals like Griner don't realize how good they have it to live in a country where they have the right of free speech.
Other liberals should take a good look at her example of being imprisoned and... quit taking your constitutional rights for granted and show a little more respect for this country

Fixed it for you.

[stinkfish]

I see where Artie choke fins is going. I see where spider is going. But this has nothing to do with free speech. This is all about someone so blissfully ignorant of another country’s Draconian laws. I mean, maybe because I’m not some untouchable” celebrity or athlete or whatever, but I would make damn sure before I traveled  internationally that I knew what was good and what was bad according to the laws of where I was traveling to. She could have done some homework.

[EDGECRUSHER]

I see where Artie choke fins is going. I see where spider is going. But this has nothing to do with free speech. This is all about someone so blissfully ignorant of another country’s Draconian laws. I mean, maybe because I’m not some untouchable” celebrity or athlete or whatever, but I would make damn sure before I traveled  internationally that I knew what was good and what was bad according to the laws of where I was traveling to. She could have done some homework.

I agree 100%. As Americans, we are kinda isolated form the rest of the world for various reasons and we don't understand how many countries just suck or have really bad laws you have to watch out for. In England, they're arresting people over mean tweets and I am dead serious. Freedom of Speech and Due Process is pretty much an American thing. I have a billion problems with our Government and DOJ, no matter which party is in charge, but I do love the Constitution and am grateful we have it.

[Dave Gray]

This isn't a liberal/conservative thing at all, to me.

She went to another country and did a thing that was illegal there and there are consequences.  That's fair.
But we live in a world community where laws have to reflect punishments.  They have to be fair, they have to be equitable, and sometimes, if another countries laws are fucked up, they can get fucked.  We wouldn't let Iran just summarily execute Ellen DeGeneres for being gay.

What's happened here is that Putin is given her a crazy sentence for political reasons to stick it to the US.  It's not about liberals.  It isn't about Griner.  It's about him giving us a "fuck you."  So if you're cheering this on, you're cheering on Putin's leveraging against the US.  It is was it is.  And now, he's essentially holding her hostage under the guise of some fake-ass laws so that he can work out an exchange because she's a high-profile person, and as an Olympic gold-medalist, her value to the US is more than just her as an individual.

It would be like if we gave some Russian hero years in prison for jay-walking.   Sure, it might be illegal, but you gotta be reasonable.

[Dave Gray]

The race baiter got what she deserved.

I find it astounding that you would have the balls to accuse others of race baiting.  Didn't you get very publicly fired and doxed and made national news for being a racist?

[CF DolFan]

This isn't a liberal/conservative thing at all, to me.

She went to another country and did a thing that was illegal there and there are consequences.  That's fair.
But we live in a world community where laws have to reflect punishments.  They have to be fair, they have to be equitable, and sometimes, if another countries laws are fucked up, they can get fucked.  We wouldn't let Iran just summarily execute Ellen DeGeneres for being gay.

What's happened here is that Putin is given her a crazy sentence for political reasons to stick it to the US.  It's not about liberals.  It isn't about Griner.  It's about him giving us a "fuck you."  So if you're cheering this on, you're cheering on Putin's leveraging against the US.  It is was it is.  And now, he's essentially holding her hostage under the guise of some fake-ass laws so that he can work out an exchange because she's a high-profile person, and as an Olympic gold-medalist, her value to the US is more than just her as an individual.

It would be like if we gave some Russian hero years in prison for jay-walking.   Sure, it might be illegal, but you gotta be reasonable.

I can only assume Ellen Degeneres knows better than to go to Iran and flaunt it.

I agree with some of what you are saying but I have to wonder. Do you think it is ok to release the "Merchant of Death" in order to get her back?

[Dave Gray]

I agree with some of what you are saying but I have to wonder. Do you think it is ok to release the "Merchant of Death" in order to get her back?

It's not something I feel really strongly about either way.  I understand both sides of that argument.  There is a larger "do you negotiate with terrorists" type of thing.  I don't think there's a black/white right answer.  In general, I don't have an issue with exchanges to get our citizens back to be handled here and the nature of us having more freedoms and a more moderate society than the places we're trading with, the nature of the game is that we're going to be giving more than we get, every time.  That's the cost of being at the top.

It also matters some that Griner was there working -- she was hired to play basketball there -- it's not like she's just galivanting across dangerous countries.  And this crazy Putin behavior escalated when she was already part of that situation.

Let's be honest -- if Griner is guilty, she's guilty of carelessness.  It's not like she's out there trying to run a drug cartel.  Those laws there aren't in line with what's normal world behavior.  She's being held because of who she is.  Make no mistake: this is essentially kidnapping and they're hiding behind fake laws to do it, to apply political pressure because Putin is waging an unjust war and war crimes against another country and has very little support for it.

We just gotta get rid of Putin...let democracy return there.  Right now, it's too dangerous to have the world hinge on that mad man.

[ArtieChokePhin]

I find it astounding that you would have the balls to accuse others of race baiting.  Didn't you get very publicly fired and doxed and made national news for being a racist?

I've worked in the same business since I was 19 years old and have been the owner of it for the past 9 years.   No way I'm firing myself, son.  And if I did something stupid like the guy from Papa John's did and use a racial slur on a conference call, I'd willingly step down like he did.   But that's not going to happen because I know when to keep my mouth shut and I have no ill will against different races.  I do, however, have ill will against liberals who trample on our constitution.

[Spider-Dan]

quit taking your constitutional rights for granted and show a little more respect for this country

And the best way to quit taking your constitutional rights for granted is... to quit speaking out.
Again, I guess liberals don't have to worry about "abusing" our free speech if we're scared to do so, after we "took a good look" at Griner being locked up.

It's incredible that you think YOU'RE the one standing up for the values of this country as you tell other people to shut up and stop criticizing the government.  And naturally, your version of "showing respect for this country" means "liberals should bow down to the police," but NOT "conservatives should avoid hostile takeovers of capitol buildings."