• @derf82
    link
    English
    106 months ago

    Except they did do just that for Brittney Griner.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      296 months ago

      Brittney Griner was a celebrity stuck in a political dispute, Whelan is a totally different case. I don’t think he was spying for the CIA, but he was up to some pretty sketchy stuff, and he has an even sketchier past.

      He’s claimed to work as a police officer in multiple places that say they have no record of him, or that he only worked there for a short time. He was court marshalled for larceny and given a bad conduct discharge. Even after his discharge he was hired as head of security for a global firm that did business in Russia. Even ignoring the fact that he holds like 4 different citizenships, just the information that he has provided himself is super sketchy.

      I wouldn’t be in any rush to to spend political capital on this dude either.

      • @RapidcreekOP
        link
        English
        26 months ago

        Besides, how many Merchants of Death do you think we have in custody?

        • @agitatedpotato
          link
          English
          26 months ago

          Less than we have in political offices unfortunately.

      • @derf82
        link
        English
        06 months ago

        That’s fine. I just would not have spent political capital on Griner, either.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          96 months ago

          At least that has some return on investment, that’s if you’re looking at it from the perspective of a politician.

          Though I do find it pretty hypocritical that he spent that capital freeing someone from a crime that he himself is perfectly fine sending people to jail for in America.

          • @derf82
            link
            English
            -106 months ago

            What return? WNBA fans are not exactly a huge group.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              66 months ago

              But you know who she is… I’d say it’s pretty self evident that it was fairly effective PR.

              Reality doesn’t matter, politics revolves around perception and fabricating the PR story you want.

              “President saves famous female athlete from tyrant” is always going to be a net plus. The people who don’t agree or perceive it in a different fashion are either votes you wouldn’t win anyways, or people who don’t care about it enough to vote for someone else because of it.

              • @derf82
                link
                English
                -56 months ago

                Eh, I really don’t think many people are saying “I wasn’t going to vote for Biden, but he freed Brittney Griner.” And there are surely others who think Biden was wrong for trading an arms dealer for a WNBA “star.”

                • @Fades
                  link
                  English
                  06 months ago

                  Removed by mod

                  • @derf82
                    link
                    English
                    06 months ago

                    The moronic move was trading the Merchant of Death for a WNBA player.

                    Tell me, what was gained by the trade? How exactly was it worth the political capital? How is Griner worth it but Whaelen is not?