Britney Griner released 12-08-2022 (31 Viewers)

[tjharris]

The federal government should definitely decriminalize marijuana.

Most of the people in jail for weed are on state charges, so there isn't anything the federal government can do about that.

The could legalize it federally, put pressure on the states to release

 

[Brandon13]

Yes.

And to this point I haven't been able to find any evidence that NBC didn't acknowledge the correction at the time they made it.

@DavidM So I did find this archived copy of the page with the updated language but with no acknowledgement of the correction that was up about three hours prior to when the acknowledgement was added.

That's just a bad way to handle something like this, especially when you're referencing such important information provided by a "senior U.S. official," and it opens it up for people to be skeptical as to what exactly was going on there.

 

[Loco Hornet Fan]

What’s funny when you go back and read what she said about the anthem it’s not even really that controversial. She said it shouldn’t be played before games and to be honest I agree with her. It’s weird. We don’t play the anthen before movies, concerts or other forms of entertainment but we do it before every sporting event and it’s kind of weird. At the Olympics? Yeah that makes sense. Before every sports ball game we play? Eh.

I mean really? That’s were all of this “she hates America” is stemming from? Yeesh. I think I’ve had stronger opinions on America in the political forum on here.

I seem to remember video interviews of her expounding on her anthem comments.

I believe she repeatedly said things like “I mean no disrespect” and “I have great respect for this country”, while also talking about her dad’s military service.

Didn’t she also help this country win 2 Olympic gold medals?

 

[Sailorsaint]

Seems to me the time to be outrage over Paul Whelan was 3 years ago.

The Russians claim that Whelan is a spy and that is why they feel the need to hold out for someone that matches his value. If only we had someone of value in our country that would match that trade.

Well allow me to reintroduce you to Maria Butina, she was a Russian Operative that was captured and convicted in our country. It is thought by many that Whelan's arrest was retaliation for hers. After working out a sweet deal with the DOJ, she was released and deported back to Mother Russia in Oct 2019 without any consideration to Paul Whelan.

It's my opinion that russia wouldn't have taken that deal either. putin doesn't care about people. He got what he could for BG, but Whelan is a different matter. He will want something substantial for Whelan and a warm body ain't it. He will want the US to make a statement, like getting Ukraine to stop fighting long enough that he can reconstitute his army, or maybe pressuring the EU to up the per barrel ante to $100 vs $60. Any one person we have isn't going to be enough.

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

It's my opinion that russia wouldn't have taken that deal either. putin doesn't care about people. He got what he could for BG, but Whelan is a different matter. He will want something substantial for Whelan and a warm body ain't it. He will want the US to make a statement, like getting Ukraine to stop fighting long enough that he can reconstitute his army, or maybe pressuring the EU to up the per barrel ante to $100 vs $60. Any one person we have isn't going to be enough.

That maybe true today, but in 2019 it should have been option #1.

 

[Sailorsaint]

That maybe true today, but in 2019 it should have been option #1.

Yeh, you probably right there. I guess we missed our chance.

 

[CapitalCitySaint]

I had to read through the whole thread before commenting because I didn’t want to repeat things that were already said.

Wait, so Whelan is a citizen of four different countries & was dishonorably discharged from the Marines? Something there (to me) doesn’t pass the sniff test.

Not saying he deserves to rot in a Russian prison but seems suspicious so not shocking the Russians think he’s a spy.

I am glad BG is home because the punishment seemed disproportionate to the crime but for the life of me, I will never understand dumb azzz Americans doing really dumb ish abroad. Particularly in countries who are not US ally/friendlies.

I have watched so many episodes of Locked up Abroad and am always astonished at dumb Americans who try to smuggle drugs into other countries then want to cry about how dangerous, awful and disgusting these 3rd world country prisons are and how heavy a sentence they got for something that back home wouldn’t have been as long of a sentence.

Like okay dummy. Before you decide to smuggle some drugs for a meager $7k, research what the maximum penalties are for the crime(s) you are about to commit as well as the state of their prisons and make sure you’re willing to take that ride if you get caught.

You’re in their country, you play by their rules and their rules may be entirely made up as they go along.

I don’t know if this is true or not but I read somewhere that Bout was stealing weapons from Russia and selling them to whoever the highest bidder was.

If there is any truth to that, it wouldn’t surprise me if he suddenly fell out of a top floor window or had a “heart attack”.

 

[HoustonSaint68]

I had to read through the whole thread before commenting because I didn’t want to repeat things that were already said.

Wait, so Whelan is a citizen of four different countries & was dishonorably discharged from the Marines? Something there (to me) doesn’t pass the sniff test.

Not saying he deserves to rot in a Russian prison but seems suspicious so not shocking the Russians think he’s a spy.

I am glad BG is home because the punishment seemed disproportionate to the crime but for the life of me, I will never understand dumb azzz Americans doing really dumb ish abroad. Particularly in countries who are not US ally/friendlies.

I have watched so many episodes of Locked up Abroad and am always astonished at dumb Americans who try to smuggle drugs into other countries then want to cry about how dangerous, awful and disgusting these 3rd world country prisons are and how heavy a sentence they got for something that back home wouldn’t have been as long of a sentence.

Like okay dummy. Before you decide to smuggle some drugs for a meager $7k, research what the maximum penalties are for the crime(s) you are about to commit as well as the state of their prisons and make sure you’re willing to take that ride if you get caught.

You’re in their country, you play by their rules and their rules may be entirely made up as they go along.

I don’t know if this is true or not but I read somewhere that Bout was stealing weapons from Russia and selling them to whoever the highest bidder was.

If there is any truth to that, it wouldn’t surprise me if he suddenly fell out of a top floor window or had a “heart attack”.

Sorry, after 15 pages this is just way too much common sense for me to handle.

 

[DavidM]

@DavidM So I did find this archived copy of the page with the updated language but with no acknowledgement of the correction that was up about three hours prior to when the acknowledgement was added.

That's just a bad way to handle something like this, especially when you're referencing such important information provided by a "senior U.S. official," and it opens it up for people to be skeptical as to what exactly was going on there.

Yeah, I agree, and it shouldn’t have happened. At the same time, part of media literacy is people understanding that developing stories are inherently fluid, reports are often updated, and that shouldn’t automatically be cause for suspicion.

 

[faceman]

The could legalize it federally, put pressure on the states to release

Agreed. The least they could do is remove it from schedule 1.

 

[Hoodoo]

Wait, so Whelan is a citizen of four different countries & was dishonorably discharged from the Marines? Something there (to me) doesn’t pass the sniff test.

Not exactly. He was discharged for bad conduct, which is not as severe as a dishonorable discharge. If I'm not mistaken, it involves a demotion and stripping of some veterans benefits, but he is still eligible for military retirement. As for his crimes, this is what I found:

Paul Whelan was discharged from the Marines for bad conduct in 2008 after being convicted of larceny.

The specific charges against him included attempting to steal more than $10,000 in 2006 in Iraq and using a false Social Security number to create a false account on a government computer system to grade his own examinations.

 

[Hoodoo]

Yeah, I agree, and it shouldn’t have happened. At the same time, part of media literacy is people understanding that developing stories are inherently fluid, reports are often updated, and that shouldn’t automatically be cause for suspicion.

You have to admit, it was a very significant & specific mistake if that's what it was. I have to say that I am very skeptical.

 

[DavidM]

You have to admit, it was a very significant & specific mistake if that's what it was. I have to say that I am very skeptical.

Ok, skeptical about what, exactly?

Let me explain what I'm under the impression happened and you or anybody else can correct me if I have something wrong, because I haven't dug into this at all today.

Sounds like in one report, not sure who filed it and who corrected it, that NBC reported in error that a choice to release either Whelan or Griner existed. That was corrected, but that correction wasn't acknowledged for some period of time. Unfortunate but reporting errors happen. Sometimes can be as simple as omitting a word (was vs was not) but I'm not entirely sure what happened.

I listened to the president's remarks yesterday and posted at 7:42 in the morning, in this thread, that he said there was no choice that included an opportunity to bring Whelan home in this exchange, so I was never under any other impression.

 

[Brandon13]

You have to admit, it was a very significant & specific mistake if that's what it was. I have to say that I am very skeptical.

It's.. odd. Odd enough with the way it was handled that it opens the door for a reasonable amount of skepticism as to what exactly was going on there.

Ok, skeptical about what, exactly?

Let me explain what I'm under the impression happened and you or anybody else can correct me if I have something wrong, because I haven't dug into this at all today.

Sounds like in one report, not sure who filed it and who corrected it, that NBC reported in error that a choice to release either Whelan or Griner existed. That was corrected, but that correction wasn't acknowledged for some period of time. Unfortunate but reporting errors happen. Sometimes can be as simple as omitting a word (was vs was not) but I'm not entirely sure what happened. Help me out if I have this wrong.

I listened to the president's remarks yesterday and posted at 7:42 in the morning, in this thread, that he said there was no choice that included an opportunity to bring Whelan home in this exchange, so I was never under any other impression.

The idea of course would be that the administration is lying and that there was in fact a choice available for either Griner or Whelan and someone screwed up or something and told that story to NBC instead of the administration's preferred version which is that it was a choice between Griner or no one.

It certainly could have been an error on the reporter's part or a misunderstanding between the reporter and the senior U.S. official.. but I would say that considering the passage in question would easily be the most ripe for criticism portion of the story for the administration if it were in fact the true version of things.. I don't think it's crazy, considering the way it was handled by NBC, to wonder if there's maybe more to it than just human error.

If I flip it around in my head and it was a Republican President and Fox News did something like this.. it'd be the same for me as this where I'd really just like to know more as to what exactly was going on there with the change and why there was no immediate acknowledgment when it pertained to such a crucial portion of the story.

*I haven't followed this today so maybe they've already addressed it

 

[DavidM]

It's.. odd. Odd enough with the way it was handled that it opens the door for a reasonable amount of skepticism as to what exactly was going on there.



The idea of course would be that the administration is lying and that there was in fact a choice available for either Griner or Whelan and someone screwed up or something and told that story to NBC instead of the administration's preferred version which is that it was a choice between Griner or no one.

It certainly could have been an error on the reporter's part or a misunderstanding between the reporter and the senior U.S. official.. but I would say that considering the passage in question would easily be the most ripe for criticism portion of the story for the administration if it were in fact the true version of things.. I don't think it's crazy, considering the way it was handled by NBC, to wonder if there's maybe more to it than just human error.

If I flip it around in my head and it was a Republican President and Fox News did something like this.. it'd be the same for me as this where I'd really just like to know more as to what exactly was going on there with the change and why there was no immediate acknowledgment when it pertained to such a crucial portion of the story.

*I haven't followed this today so maybe they've already addressed it

The possibility it's accurate seems remote, to me, unless there are corroborating reports from other sources about what is being claimed.

The president addressed this early in the story's news cycle, so I guess I'm seeing it as public record of the highest possible source, in this case, against a single alleged report (the screenshot you found appears sourced from the Today show), made at a time that isn't clear (before or after the president's remarks) and corrected - when?

This report from the AP, which is consistent with other reporting, doesn't give an indication the family believed Whelan was offered for release, or that he will be released anytime soon.

Family of American prisoner Paul Whelan backs Griner deal

The brother of an American detained in Russia since 2018 says that his family fears he will not be released for years.

apnews.com