Griner had a prescription in Arizona for cannabis to treat chronic pain. Her wife, interviewed in the United States, acknowledged that “a crime should warrant a punishment” but added that Griner “has truly suffered beyond her crime already.” (Her wife is a law student.) Griner wasn’t framed by Russia; she received an outrageously harsh sentence for a minor infraction and was used as a pawn by Russia.
And all have a share in the syndicate!
Democracies usually get a worse deal in these swaps because we care more about our nationals.
A one for one deal is good for us Americans by historical stands. We sometimes have to free 2 or 3 to get one. Plus, she served 9 months, while he served 10 1/2 years in prison, with jail time before that. So their guy got the bigger punishment. Putin must have truly wanted their guy back.
Do I realize that her sentence, unlike his, was grossly unfair by the normal standards of the country imposing it? Yes. That’s how these things work. The authoritarian side has advantages here.
I think that would be a bad idea, because it would directly tie supplying Ukraine with hostage negotiations, which would lead the Rus to try and imprison more (and more important) Americans to negotiate US supplied weapons ‘downward’. Best I think to leave it at people and keep the Ukraine out of it totally.
IMHO as always. YMMV.
Article goes more in depth. It’s obvious that the US wanted Griner a lot more badly than Russia wanted Bout. Biden was getting a lot of pressure for her release. Putin? AFAIK Bout wasn’t a public issue. No pressure on Putin.
That left the American negotiator at a big disadvantage. The Russians could say here’s the deal, take it or go home.
It could be said that few people know more AND less about the law than a law student. 
Not obvious to me.
Then Russia would have insisted on a two for one, or refused to deal,
I wonder what these folks think about people who steal classified documents.
Witch hunt.
This isn’t a draft so let’s not compare the relative ‘worthiness’ of the two prisoners. People doing this are accepting the wrong framing on this issue: THIS ISN’T A SPORTS TRADE
But to this point: an arms dealer who got busted and then released is worse than useless as a future arms dealer. No one will be able to trust the guy and I would not be shocked if he is Windowed in the next year or so.
No. The weapons were just fine.
The surprise was the operators were somehow less useful then if they had trained a tribe of monkeys to take their place.
Joe Biden was able to complete a politically sensitive prisoner exchange with a country we are currently devastating via a proxy war is the Presidential leadership I am glad we have.
[quote=“JohnT, post:70, topic:976202”/
an arms dealer who got busted and then released is worse than useless
[/quote]
so why did Putin care so much about him?
I doubt if it’s because they are personal friends. I assume that Putin sees some value in this guy, and that he isn’t useless.
Putin cared so much he let the guy languish in prison for 11 years. He cared so much that he worked with Trump to get this guy back. The Republicans cared so much about Whelan they let him languish from 2018-2021.
Lot’s of caring! 
It’s a complete mystery why this didn’t get done earlier!
Or, maybe, Biden says “I am kicking your ass military-wise, I have a political problem, and guess what? We are going to solve it or your military situation will get much worse faster.” Since we are imagining things and all.
This guy is such a nobody as an arms dealer that he can’t even get listed on the NYSE ala Raytheon, Lockheed-Martin, and General Dynamics.
Putin would have done Biden more damage had he not done this deal. Biden was under pressure from the female African American community, and this removes that.
Um … I was just kidding. 
My apologies if I misread your sentiment, or misworded my post.
Sadly, for those who have gone down that path (and those who were already adjacent to it), to twist Clint’s words, “deserve” has everything to do with it …BUT it is not about the specific violation.
In the best interpretation of their worldview they believe that the world is inherently unfair and unjust and you should know that if you are rich and powerful you’ll get away with murder, if you’re an ordinary “normal” Joe you’re at risk if you break a serious law, and if you are an “other” then The Man will railroad you and fuck you over for anything, so live defensively in accordance to those rules and you only have yourself to blame if they get ya.
At the BAD end of interpretation, they feel she “deserves” to suffer harshly for being a gay black female anthem-kneeler making more money than them and using cannabis vapes, and so what if it takes railroading her on an otherwise minor charge. They believe 14 years in labor camp is deserved punishment for Being Someone Like That in possesion of a trace amount of hash oil, while 15 days is the deserved punisment for being The Good And Right Kind Of Person in possesion of same.
In both cases underlying it all is an understanding that if The Man wants to send you up for 10 years he will, so don’t give him an excuse and YOU are the fool if you did.
My sense of fairness says that it should be first in first out. But the Russians don’t play by my sense of fairness, getting Whelan out was never in the cards. With that constraint, getting Griner out was the best Biden could do and he did it. You could make the case that making swaps encourages the Russians to take hostages and I wouldn’t argue with you. What I’d like to see is a total ban on US travel to Russia. It just isn’t safe to go there, as if it ever was.
What I find disappointing is the right wing reaction to this. My local TV station’s FB page had many comments that said her sexual preference was a disqualifying factor. Besides that, ordinary people and Republican pols alike bring up kneeling during the national anthem. Yeah right, we best pay tribute for those who died for freedom by denying others the freedom to express themselves during the anthem. Makes perfect sense. A lot of people say do the crime, do the time. But the amount of cannabis was so breathtakingly small that any punishment is ridiculous on its face. Let’s be honest- what really grinds the right’s goat is that Biden did something to help a black lesbian and therefore in their eye is an evil act. So they use this as an excuse to gin up more hatred against minorities and the non-straight because let’s face it, ginning up hatred is the only thing they know how to do. If Republicans cared about policy, they would have had an infrastructure bill and not a dozen infrastructure weeks. They would have a serious alternative to the ACA instead of the nearly successful repeal and replace with nothing. Hatred is the only tool in their box.
Can you really still be disappointed by the right’s reaction to anything after all these years? That implies you had genuine hopes that they might react better.
True, but also just the fact that Biden accomplished anything, full stop. If he did it, they must oppose it.