The War in Ukraine

[🏀]

I will assume the weapons came from an orthodontist.

Close. The weapons came from the totally legal gun store next to the orthodontists office.

[The Sultan]

Not just a basketball player - a basketball player who is at least a minor celebrity, African American and a member of the LGBTQ community. That's also part of the optics that mattered. None of the other Americans being held hostage checked any of those boxes.

Maybe this was the "best deal available". That doesn't mean it wasn't a bad deal.

Oh my lord. Just when I think your brain couldn't get more mushy.

[rocket surgeon]

Oh my lord. Just when I think your brain couldn't get more mushy.

and there you have it lenny-the voice of reason just tore you up

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

I don't know about that.

Mr. Bout will now be free to sell unlimited amounts of weapons to Mexican and Columbian drug cartels, who will then be able  to truck theses weapons across our Southern border, unfettered because the Federal government doesn't give a chit about security at the Southern border. And those weapons will inevitably wind up in the hands of drug gangs in Chicago, LA, Houston, Miami and a host of other big cities in the US. And that usually results in the bodies of young black males and young  Hispanics being stacked up like cordwood on the streets of our cities.

So, laugh it up, funny boy, about the relative dangers presented by dentists and international arms dealers. The next time 10 minority kids are gunned down in an alley in South Central LA, I will assume the weapons came from an orthodontist.

I tend to stay out of these "discussions" but when I read this...

[wadesworld]

Oh, Dickie.
It's cute that you think that gangs in U.S. cities need to get guns from international arms dealers via Mexican cartels, when all they need to do is send a buyer to the nearest redneck state and acquire them legally.
And it's cute that you think the Mexican cartels need to deal with international arms dealers for weapons, when the world's largest gun shop is just north of the border. (Fun fact: the large majority of guns seized in Mexico trace back to the U.S. You worry about guns coming from Mexico? Ha. It's the other way around. )
What's not cute is you pretending to give a sh*t about minority kids gunned down in some alley in South Central. If bodies are being stacked up like cordwood, it's not because of some Russian arms dealer. It's because of our silly gun culture.

Right? Oh no, now guns will get into the USA! What ever will we do! I may need to move to Mequon and hunker down in my basement now that our country may be exposed to firearms!

[Pakuni]

Tucker hearts Lenny.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/tucker-carlson-claims-biden-sought-brittney-griners-release-over-paul-whelan-because-shes-a-black-lesbian/

[The Sultan]

Tucker hearts Lenny.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/tucker-carlson-claims-biden-sought-brittney-griners-release-over-paul-whelan-because-shes-a-black-lesbian/

Lol. Yep. Like clockwork.

[WhiteTrash]

This story need to go away. Literally nobody involved in it, reporting on it, praising it or condemning it looks good.

[Lennys Tap]

Oh my lord. Just when I think your brain couldn't get more mushy.

Personal insults from the likes of you are much appreciated and taken as complimentary. Please keep ''em coming!


Thank you!

[Lennys Tap]

Tucker hearts Lenny.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/tucker-carlson-claims-biden-sought-brittney-griners-release-over-paul-whelan-because-shes-a-black-lesbian/

A) I almost never watch Tucker and didn't tonight.

B) My post was well before his show aired.

But sometimes Tucker Carlson or Chuck Todd or Chris Hayes says something as obvious as the nose on your face. Unlike you and the guy who calls himself Sultan (could anything be more infantile?) I think that people from all different points of view can at times have the facts on their side.

[withoutbias]

A) I almost never watch Tucker and didn't tonight.

B) My post was well before his show aired.

But sometimes Tucker Carlson or Chuck Todd or Chris Hayes says something as obvious as the nose on your face. Unlike you and the guy who calls himself Sultan (could anything be more infantile?) I think that people from all different points of view can at times have the facts on their side.

Think Tucker uses Grindr too?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

On the surface, this is a terrible deal.

I doubt the extent of the deal is being publicly reported.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

On the surface, this is a terrible deal.

I doubt the extent of the deal is being publicly reported.

I'm sure we sent a few pallets of gold or cash their way too.

[Shaka Shart]

Saying Brittany Grindr kinda gives away the whole game doesn't it?

[The Sultan]

A) I almost never watch Tucker and didn't tonight.

B) My post was well before his show aired.

But sometimes Tucker Carlson or Chuck Todd or Chris Hayes says something as obvious as the nose on your face. Unlike you and the guy who calls himself Sultan (could anything be more infantile?) I think that people from all different points of view can at times have the facts on their side.

😂😂😂 What "facts" do you have on your side? 

You are imposing your feelings (not facts) over identity politics onto a highly sensitive and secretive foreign policy issue. Less than 24 hours after the news broke!

And no that's not obvious at all. That's you waking from your afternoon nap and just kinda saying whatever enters your mind. The absolute height of "my feelings are the facts" type of thinking.

[Hards Alumni]

Because the US wasn't "bullied" into anything.

You believe that the trade of Griner for Bout was equal?

I'm not saying they *have* to be equal, but undoubtedly, it wasn't an equal trade. 

If you want to quibble over the word 'bully' then that's fine.  Stupid, but fine.

[tower912]

One man's opinion...   This was never about Greiner.   Greiner was a symbol and a flex by Putin.   If things had gone his way, she would still have come home eventually, but as a symbol of his power and benevolence.

Well that didn't work.

So it came down to old fashioned diplomacy and trading.  Was it a completely even exchange?   Probably not. But symbols matter.  So, this will be a discussion for about another week and then we will be on to the next.

The Grindr thing is funny.  And it could have been used as a punchline for a while.  But not now.     Alas.

[Pakuni]

You believe that the trade of Griner for Bout was equal?

I'm not saying they *have* to be equal, but undoubtedly, it wasn't an equal trade. 

If you want to quibble over the word 'bully' then that's fine.  Stupid, but fine.

We should have busted Alexander Ovechkin for speeding and handed him an eight-year prison sentence.
Boom ... equal trade.

[MU82]

Griner landed safely in Texas.

But just her luck ... DeSantis had her shipped to Martha's Vineyard.

[lawdog77]

One man's opinion...   This was never about Greiner.   Greiner was a symbol and a flex by Putin.   If things had gone his way, she would still have come home eventually, but as a symbol of his power and benevolence.

Well that didn't work.

So it came down to old fashioned diplomacy and trading.  Was it a completely even exchange?   Probably not. But symbols matter.  So, this will be a discussion for about another week and then we will be on to the next.

The Grindr thing is funny.  And it could have been used as a punchline for a while.  But not now.     Alas.

IMO, it had nothing to do with the color of her skin, her gender, etc. She was a celebrity plain and simple. Bringing a celebrity home looks good.

Not sure why Marc Fogel couldn't have been thrown in the deal.

[tower912]

Which is also why she was grabbed in the first place.

[rocket surgeon]

Griner landed safely in Texas.

But just her luck ... DeSantis had her shipped to Martha's Vineyard.

  nice try, but i missed the part about desantis taking over texas from abbott...nyet though eyn'a?

[MU82]

  nice try, but i missed the part about desantis taking over texas from abbott...nyet though eyn'a?

Perfect.

[The Sultan]

You believe that the trade of Griner for Bout was equal?

I'm not saying they *have* to be equal, but undoubtedly, it wasn't an equal trade. 

If you want to quibble over the word 'bully' then that's fine.  Stupid, but fine.

Well there is quite a difference between "Russia bullied the US into making this deal" and "Russia and the US made an unequal trade." The US wasn't forced to make a trade. There wasn't some sort of overwhelming political or public support for doing this.

What I will admit to is not knowing all of the facts, so I don't really have much of an opinion either way. Unlike some people here, I don't create narratives to fit my political feelings.  What I do know is that the guy she was traded for, while undoubtedly an evil man, was in custody since 2008 and only going to be imprisoned for another decade or so. The judge in the case was so skeptical of his initial conviction that she gave him the absolute minimum sentence allowed in the case.

Is that worth it? I don't know...maybe?  Is there something else going on behind the scenes? Could be. I do think the whole hand-wringing over him being an international arms dealer and calling him the "Merchant of Death" is insanely ironic however.  I guess we only worry about guns that might kill Americans when they are trafficked by Russians and not the trade shows down the street.

[Lennys Tap]

On the surface, this is a terrible deal.

I doubt the extent of the deal is being publicly reported.

You think it includes a "hostage to be named later"?