Britney Griner released 12-08-2022

I voted for Biden, so I'm not just looking for tribalistic reasons to criticize. And I generally want presidents/leaders to succeed and do the right by our country whether I vote for them or not.

That disclaimer out of the way, I don't like the trade and the precedent. Basically Russia kidnapped a "celebrity" with the intent of using her as a political game piece and we just fell right into it. We released a dangerous criminal back into the world during a time when violence against the West is at a boiling point. This will bolster Putin's regime, make him look stronger, fortify his position against the West, and very possibly lead to more violence against American interests. If even one American dies as a result of this dude being back in the world, then there is no metric by which this is a defensible trade. You're not even winning votes with it.

And I don't like to "value" citizens. An American is an American, who should deserve the protection of our country, but I can't help but add those valuations anyway between a dissident who's good at a sport vs. someone who has served their country. Trading for a POW or civil servant wouldn't have irked me nearly as much (and that might be wrong of me, but there it is).

It sucks what happened to her and I'm glad she's not being subjected to that torture anymore, but it wasn't worth the cost. At least LeBron is appeased though.