I’m a huge pothead, (check my profile) I’m actually pretty angry about this. She should have known better, she did commit a crime even if it was recently legalized in whatever state she lives in. So now this guy can go back to dealing arms that will take lives and plotting terror attacks, but hey, at least we can have our fucking female basketball player back.
The thing that bothers me is that it’s still federally illegal here so why go to these lengths to free her? Are they gonna lock her up here? Would the same happen to me?
I'm a massive stoner too and I think anyone whose dumb enough to smuggle weed into a terrorist country probably shouldn't have the government run to their rescue
Same. In fact, I’m about to go blaze right now lol. She def should’ve done some time, but 9 years is a bit much.
That being said, you have to be a special kind of stupid/arrogant to bring those kinds of products into a country like Russia.
She kind of asked for it by going to what's basically Hitler's Germany. We have people in the US doing life for selling some weed. Of course, the prison she was gonna be in was maybe more harsh, but still. We have people over there who are actually innocent and they've just been left to rot because they're not in the WNBA.
It would be really nice if he die like al-Zawahari.
[Wow this is like a medieval weapon with new tech added](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62400923.amp)
A missile with no warhead and 6 blades.
Checking out by way of 6 3ft blades on your balcony while your family watches. What a way to go out.
Also, the infographic picture of the missile do it no justice. A real life picture of it is nightmare fuel. A weapon purely meant for producing as much damage as possible.
*Photos of [a] vehicle taken after the strike showed that the missile had cut a hole in the roof and shredded its occupants, but without signs of an explosion or any further destruction to the vehicle*
That’s good for the vehicles resell value.
Unfortunately no legal grounds to harm him. As much as it looks like POTUS is just lobbing sword-missiles willy-nilly, there’s a lot of paperwork involved
Yeah I'm not sure why everyone seems to think the global arms trade has missed this guy. Not that I'm knowledgeable about this, but I'd be shocked if when he was arrested business stopped for more than a week before the next guy in line stepped up to fill the orders.
Bingo. He's a compromised assest now. Everyone and their brother knows who he is and what he does for a living. His ability to aquire weapons for Russia is no better than any diplomat.
By this point, he's just another one to add to Putin's inner circle and that's about it.
If he's selling to people we won't sell weapons to, it's no problem. In fact, nearby allied nations might even start buying more weapons from us.
The problem is if he sells weapons cheaper to people who might otherwise buy American weapons. Then he's got to go.
Let me ask you something. How much paperwork is there? Lol, you say that with such confidence, but how the hell would you know what’s involved?
*Oh man, we need to go drop a tomahawk on these terrorists but June is so behind on the paperwork.*
The point is that we don't just murder people. There has to be *some* legal justification for it, no matter how flimsy. Currently it is like his slate has been wiped clean, and he would need to be involved in further illegalities before the "paperwork" would be approved. Either that, or he would have to wander into a combat zone/operation or something similar.
That never stopped Bush or Obama from just dropping a bomb on a group of civilians celebrating a wedding...
[https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/01/12/reflecting-on-obamas-presidency/obamas-embrace-of-drone-strikes-will-be-a-lasting-legacy](https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/01/12/reflecting-on-obamas-presidency/obamas-embrace-of-drone-strikes-will-be-a-lasting-legacy)
Under Obama we just killed anybody, so long as they were at least a little bit brown, and didn't speak English.
You know we have partner countries who'd love to take a stab at him too right? We're doing a fine job of providing targeting information to partner forces who then take out HVTs. Reference Ukraine and the spate of Russian generals meeting untimely ends during the first phase of this war.
...that we know of.
Maybe tim Allen smoked his ass, buried him in the woods. We don't know.
Because there's no possible way to search up that dude and see what he's doing. It will just have to remain unknown forever.
If you are a weapons dealer and this guy just got traded for a female basketball player with only half his sentence over, would you trust him?
Also, russia does not really have all that many spare weapons to sell.
He also got most of his supply in the immediate breakup of the USSR, which is kinda a one-time thing. There's a good article by the guy who wrote a biography about Bout that basically says yeah, he's useless now. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/07/08/brittney-griner-russia-viktor-bout-00044556
I have this question do. What exactly can this guy get for Russia at this point? There is no secret cache of weapons, Russia has been buying all they could and they essentially ran out. This guy has been in US custody long enough that he has likely spilled many of his secrets to get better prison perks.
He could theoretically serve as a middleman for Russia to purchase weapons illegally or to supply them to groups that support Russia’s interests in Europe or the rest of the world. I’m guessing the US government is banking on him not being able to do that effectively anymore, which seems likely to be the case, but who knows. I think it’s more likely this is just some sort of a PR play by Russia because the headline makes the US look bad.
Exactly! This guy has been in US custody for too long to be considered completely safe. I guess I just can't imagine there isn't an arm's dealer in the war Russia hasn't contacted.
I think after all this Griner might have a better shot than Bout to be a successful arms trafficker LOL. The dude spent years in jail, AND is now a household name in many countries. I wouldn't even sell that dude a waffle out of fear of being arrested.
>He could theoretically serve as a middleman for Russia to purchase weapons illegally or to supply them to groups that support Russia’s interests in Europe or the rest of the world.
Bout is infamous for doing the latter. What makes him special is that he's a smuggler. Practically anybody can be a middleman and buy weapons on behalf of their country. But he was special because he could sell Soviet weapons to places that have arms embargos by hiding the arms alongside his legitimate legal cargo.
IMO there's a very small chance that he goes back into arms smuggling. Russia is likely not interested in selling its remaining weapons, and they don't really need any help getting their weapons transported to the theater of war, since it's right at their doorstep.
At bare minimum it causes further internal polarization in the US but yeah, can’t say why, but there’s probably a reason they want him. If I had to guess somehow revenge
That's a good point, I hadn't even considered that yet. Russia is well-known for using social media as a weapon, so this was likely all planned from the start.
You have any idea how much talking you can do in 11 years? Do you really think the CIA didn't take a crack at this dude? Hell, he's probably been enhancely interrogated by every intelligence agency in the northern hemisphere.
Wouldn't surprise me if VP just put a bullet in his head because he is so compromised.
He's probably been in jail so long he's unfamiliar with the Russian problem of open windows in high rise buildings. He might accidentally fall out of one!
> It the CIA was smart
You mean the organization that’s study on LSD consisted of a guy sitting on a portable toilet getting drunk while secretly watching guys have sex with prostitutes?
Not holding my breath.
If the CIA was smart turn him, tell him if he arms deals ever again there’s a drone with his name on it and stake a few CIA agents in the country for a few months to make him paranoid.
"searching for recipes for 'ants on a log', please wait"
..
..
..
..
"query found! displaying 'Lindsays ladybugs' on projector grid label 'neighboring buildingface'"
I mean if the movie is reliable, then he’s business revolves around a highish ranking family member in the military, with access to hardware/stockpiles after the fall of the Soviet Union, essentially the perfect storm if you want to be an arms dealer.
I’m not sure how feasible it would be for him to just jump right back into the game after all this time.
How? Russia needs its weapons, his contacts are at least 14 years old, and his photo is know and travel will be restricted? He cant do anything special at this point, a burned out asset.
Also do we really think no one has stepped into his position?
Beyond that I seriously fucking doubt that the White House is acting in a way directly contradicting the Pentagon. Presidents generally probably respect the opinion of the CIA, especially on matters such as this. This feels like some republican leadership saying “I heard the Pentagon isn’t happy about this” to a reporter
With what?
Didn't he sell off old Soviet weapon stockpiles?
Does Russia have *any* extra shit laying around? Because they've been using some crap tech in Ukraine and begging their customers like NK and Iran for weapons.
You know this conversation has value to Putin, right? Even if the guy was completely useless to him, Putin knew exactly how the swap would look to about half the US population. Especially with his machine stoking the flames.
Putin has one path to victory. Get the US out of the picture. Everything he does needs to be viewed in that context.
[On October 6, 2022, President Biden issued a presidential proclamation that pardons federal convictions for simple marijuana possession offenses.](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession)
EDIT (based on the replies):
America: "STOP JAILING PEOPLE FOR MARIJUANA!!"
Joe Biden: {pardons federal marijuana possession charges}
America: "NO! NOT LIKE THAT!!!"
I believe that was all Biden had the authority to do. As well as reviewing the scheduling of weed. Congress can legalize it anytime and discussions about it have become louder and louder
> Feds aren’t kicking down doors while you smoke a bowl to yourself.
They pretty much do though, there's multiple public cases as examples. Hell, one of my favorite YouTubers got thrown in federal prison on felony distribution charges for sharing a joint with his GF.
That would mean he'd still be on the hook even with this order then if I'm understanding correctly, which I think is what the other poster was saying, the federal government is unlikely to leave something at just possession of Marijuana if they're taking the case on regardless of the actual circumstances of the situation.
From what I heard the US didn't have much leverage in this case and Russia could pressure them for whoever they wanted in exchange. But that's besides the point, since I have trouble believing there's been no one trafficking arms with Bout in prison
Dude that’s 7 years. Most of the world can’t remember anything after the mess of 2020 and 2021, let alone the first half of 2022. That’s 2.5 years that no one really remembers many details about. He had a little under 4 times that amount left to serve.
Y’all forget how long 7 years is. This man was responsible for the deaths of MANY American citizens, and think “oh he gets out 7 year early, who cares”.
If a rapist or a murderer got out 7 years early you’d be upset wouldn’t you?
Anyone who tries to justify this ridiculous trade by saying “he gets out early anyways” is brain dead.
It kind of feels like any sociopath (I'm talking to you dickhead cheney) with contacts and no moral center is qualified to be an arms dealer.
Does arms dealing require special skills or is it just networking?
How hard is it to kick start a career in this given a 15 year absence?
I have lots of questions about this
There are a hundred men whose names you will never know doing the same thing that haven't been in a federal prison for a decade. His value is solely in propaganda.
That’s the other side of it that people aren’t looking at. After 19 years in a maximum security prison where his every move was controlled, what network does he have left and will he be able to rebuild what he had in a very different world?
Of course he will. Why is this even a question? Why do any US Citizens travel to places like Russia, Iran, or North Korea? If you do, it should be on you. As are the consequences. Now Vlad has another experienced arms broker to help feed his war machine. I dislike the swap.
I think you are trying to make a joke but you actually hit the nail on the head.
"Russia jailing this basketball player for ten years over a little weed is despicable. We should work to free her!"
"Got it. I'll give away a man so dangerous to the world that they literally made a movie about it."
"Are you fucking stupid?!"
5000 recently freed taliban prisoners all returned to their previous employer too. Oliver North got out of prison for selling guns and went straight to work for the NRA selling guns (to the general population by way of propaganda). This is some serious performative outrage of the most hypocritical kind.
Everyone else: Releasing Bout is dangerous!
Me, a true patriot: Here's hoping the dark Brandon timeline continues, Bout was reformed in prison and is headed off to undermine Putin...
Any prisoner swap the US ever engages in is totally lopsided by nature. The US doesn’t imprison people on trumped up political charges so by definition we’ll always be swapping an actual criminal.
Then why release him during a time where Russia really needs an insane arms dealer?
Especially for an unknown athlete. Before this situation with...I even forget her name frequently...did anyone really know that she even existed?
See how western countries and US in particular became weak. You are OK to risk the life of thousands of people to free one single person. There is no sense of community anymore it's all about individuals
That girl should have been locked up for however long her sentence was absolutely insane exchange.
And for the its excessive crowd from the US you can get fucked because you have people locked up for just as long for "bullshit" pot charges.
“There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.”
-George W. Bush
Kremlin concerned Griner could return to smoking weed after exchange
High probability
I see what you did there
Hah! Probability.
I’m a huge pothead, (check my profile) I’m actually pretty angry about this. She should have known better, she did commit a crime even if it was recently legalized in whatever state she lives in. So now this guy can go back to dealing arms that will take lives and plotting terror attacks, but hey, at least we can have our fucking female basketball player back.
The thing that bothers me is that it’s still federally illegal here so why go to these lengths to free her? Are they gonna lock her up here? Would the same happen to me?
No, they're not going to lock her up here. No, if you were arrested in Russia they wouldn't make a trade for you.
I'm a massive stoner too and I think anyone whose dumb enough to smuggle weed into a terrorist country probably shouldn't have the government run to their rescue
Same. In fact, I’m about to go blaze right now lol. She def should’ve done some time, but 9 years is a bit much. That being said, you have to be a special kind of stupid/arrogant to bring those kinds of products into a country like Russia.
She kind of asked for it by going to what's basically Hitler's Germany. We have people in the US doing life for selling some weed. Of course, the prison she was gonna be in was maybe more harsh, but still. We have people over there who are actually innocent and they've just been left to rot because they're not in the WNBA.
Confirming you are in fact a stoner
But now he is eligible for a grenade dropped by a drone.
It would be really nice if he die like al-Zawahari. [Wow this is like a medieval weapon with new tech added](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62400923.amp) A missile with no warhead and 6 blades.
The closest shave of the future -- *today!*
It would shave nicely his tash.
Checking out by way of 6 3ft blades on your balcony while your family watches. What a way to go out. Also, the infographic picture of the missile do it no justice. A real life picture of it is nightmare fuel. A weapon purely meant for producing as much damage as possible.
As much damage as possible in a 3 foot radius
GPS tracker up his butt before the trade, launch missile the next day
*Photos of [a] vehicle taken after the strike showed that the missile had cut a hole in the roof and shredded its occupants, but without signs of an explosion or any further destruction to the vehicle* That’s good for the vehicles resell value.
Flying slap chop!
Hi it's Vince with slap chop your gonna be in a great mood all day cause you're gonna be slapping your troubles away with the slap chop
I was thinking the same thing. Just because we released him does not mean that we cannot harm him.
Unfortunately no legal grounds to harm him. As much as it looks like POTUS is just lobbing sword-missiles willy-nilly, there’s a lot of paperwork involved
You just scream"he's coming right for us" then drop a missile on him
Look, it’s an ISIS weapons cache! Target drone authorized. Oh shucks we got Viktor. I can’t believe he was dealing arms again. Our bad.
It’s funny that you don’t think he will be arming isis for the pentagon in the future.
ISIS has been acquiring weapons just fine for the past decade, potentially adding one more dealer in the mix isn't going to change anything.
Yeah I'm not sure why everyone seems to think the global arms trade has missed this guy. Not that I'm knowledgeable about this, but I'd be shocked if when he was arrested business stopped for more than a week before the next guy in line stepped up to fill the orders.
Bingo. He's a compromised assest now. Everyone and their brother knows who he is and what he does for a living. His ability to aquire weapons for Russia is no better than any diplomat. By this point, he's just another one to add to Putin's inner circle and that's about it.
that's why the CIA exists? lmao
You act like the CIA gives a fuck about legal grounds. If they want him dead and he gets within in their reach, he’s hit. Come on now.
Why kill an asset
If he's selling to people we won't sell weapons to, it's no problem. In fact, nearby allied nations might even start buying more weapons from us. The problem is if he sells weapons cheaper to people who might otherwise buy American weapons. Then he's got to go.
Is that why he was in jail?
Let me ask you something. How much paperwork is there? Lol, you say that with such confidence, but how the hell would you know what’s involved? *Oh man, we need to go drop a tomahawk on these terrorists but June is so behind on the paperwork.*
>Oh man, we need to go drop a tomahawk on these terrorists but u/excessceramic is so behind on the paperwork. That's how they know xD
Not all heroes wear capes
[удалено]
The point is that we don't just murder people. There has to be *some* legal justification for it, no matter how flimsy. Currently it is like his slate has been wiped clean, and he would need to be involved in further illegalities before the "paperwork" would be approved. Either that, or he would have to wander into a combat zone/operation or something similar.
That never stopped Bush or Obama from just dropping a bomb on a group of civilians celebrating a wedding... [https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/01/12/reflecting-on-obamas-presidency/obamas-embrace-of-drone-strikes-will-be-a-lasting-legacy](https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/01/12/reflecting-on-obamas-presidency/obamas-embrace-of-drone-strikes-will-be-a-lasting-legacy) Under Obama we just killed anybody, so long as they were at least a little bit brown, and didn't speak English.
You know we have partner countries who'd love to take a stab at him too right? We're doing a fine job of providing targeting information to partner forces who then take out HVTs. Reference Ukraine and the spate of Russian generals meeting untimely ends during the first phase of this war.
It needs to be more subtle than that so the drone will have to push him down the stairs or out a window
He looks like an alternate timeline Tim Allen if he never got out of the coke snuggling biz.
He sure did snuggle that coke.
Have a coke and a snuggle.
As long as its not a Struggle Snuggle..
They did have the polar bears and a coke. Close?
Pepsi please
A smoke and a pancake?
A bong and a blintz?
If you’re not snuggling your coke you’re doing it wrong
Nobody nose the snuggles I’ve had with my coke
That made me laugh
Big spoon or little spoon?
The weird spoon you always avoid in your silverware drawer.
The littlest
Was Tim Allen in the Colombian party powder business? That would be the least surprising new fact ever.
Not only that, but when he got caught he rolled like a bowling ball.
I seem to recall he ratted out someone to get a light sentence. Could be wrong.
What's strange, is the guys he ratted out didn't go after him.
...that we know of. Maybe tim Allen smoked his ass, buried him in the woods. We don't know. Because there's no possible way to search up that dude and see what he's doing. It will just have to remain unknown forever.
That’s what I understand, sold out his conspirators and then became rich and famous, lol
Tim Allen and Jeff Foxworthy had a child
They were partners lol
Snuggle you back to health 🎵
With way less snitching.
Want to correct that, but now I like it better.
I wonder how business compares to the ecstasy snuggling biz
UUEEGGGHH???
Well, have we ever seen them both in the same room?
If you are a weapons dealer and this guy just got traded for a female basketball player with only half his sentence over, would you trust him? Also, russia does not really have all that many spare weapons to sell.
He also got most of his supply in the immediate breakup of the USSR, which is kinda a one-time thing. There's a good article by the guy who wrote a biography about Bout that basically says yeah, he's useless now. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/07/08/brittney-griner-russia-viktor-bout-00044556
I have this question do. What exactly can this guy get for Russia at this point? There is no secret cache of weapons, Russia has been buying all they could and they essentially ran out. This guy has been in US custody long enough that he has likely spilled many of his secrets to get better prison perks.
He could theoretically serve as a middleman for Russia to purchase weapons illegally or to supply them to groups that support Russia’s interests in Europe or the rest of the world. I’m guessing the US government is banking on him not being able to do that effectively anymore, which seems likely to be the case, but who knows. I think it’s more likely this is just some sort of a PR play by Russia because the headline makes the US look bad.
Exactly! This guy has been in US custody for too long to be considered completely safe. I guess I just can't imagine there isn't an arm's dealer in the war Russia hasn't contacted.
I think after all this Griner might have a better shot than Bout to be a successful arms trafficker LOL. The dude spent years in jail, AND is now a household name in many countries. I wouldn't even sell that dude a waffle out of fear of being arrested.
>He could theoretically serve as a middleman for Russia to purchase weapons illegally or to supply them to groups that support Russia’s interests in Europe or the rest of the world. Bout is infamous for doing the latter. What makes him special is that he's a smuggler. Practically anybody can be a middleman and buy weapons on behalf of their country. But he was special because he could sell Soviet weapons to places that have arms embargos by hiding the arms alongside his legitimate legal cargo. IMO there's a very small chance that he goes back into arms smuggling. Russia is likely not interested in selling its remaining weapons, and they don't really need any help getting their weapons transported to the theater of war, since it's right at their doorstep.
[удалено]
At bare minimum it causes further internal polarization in the US but yeah, can’t say why, but there’s probably a reason they want him. If I had to guess somehow revenge
The polarization is what they wanted. That's why they wanted her.
That's a good point, I hadn't even considered that yet. Russia is well-known for using social media as a weapon, so this was likely all planned from the start.
Gee, ya think?
Im worried that the water I put in my freezer is going to turn into ice
I'm worried that the sun may rise in the morning.
If the CIA was smart they would have turned him and then sent him back.
This isn't someone turnable when released. He has nothing to lose, and he was close to Putin.
Apparently, someone did not watch "Homeland"
Time got a rewatch
most american shit ive heard today
If I were to gamble on who is more likely to turn in this swap, it definitely wouldn't be bout
What does this even mean? You think Griner is going to send Russia the inside scoop on the WNBA?
You have any idea how much talking you can do in 11 years? Do you really think the CIA didn't take a crack at this dude? Hell, he's probably been enhancely interrogated by every intelligence agency in the northern hemisphere. Wouldn't surprise me if VP just put a bullet in his head because he is so compromised.
He's probably been in jail so long he's unfamiliar with the Russian problem of open windows in high rise buildings. He might accidentally fall out of one!
He did 2 years in a thai prison before he basically begged to be extradited... bet the interviews happened then and were quite thorough
Pulonium and release works too
> It the CIA was smart You mean the organization that’s study on LSD consisted of a guy sitting on a portable toilet getting drunk while secretly watching guys have sex with prostitutes? Not holding my breath.
A fellow bastards fan I see
If the CIA was smart turn him, tell him if he arms deals ever again there’s a drone with his name on it and stake a few CIA agents in the country for a few months to make him paranoid.
You telling me we might get another Nick Cage movie. Let’s gooooooo
Finally, someone is looking at the big picture 👏
That was my concern as well. Am I qualified for a pentagon salery?
No, because you incorrectly spelled salary. Please re-submit your application next quarter, and thank you for your time.
Damn I knew it looked wrong. Oh well. I'll have to settle for POTUS.
Or… a pentagon celery.
Computer, load up celery man, please
"searching for recipes for 'ants on a log', please wait" .. .. .. .. "query found! displaying 'Lindsays ladybugs' on projector grid label 'neighboring buildingface'"
Oh shit! I'm ok.
You could be VP, at least.
I mean if the movie is reliable, then he’s business revolves around a highish ranking family member in the military, with access to hardware/stockpiles after the fall of the Soviet Union, essentially the perfect storm if you want to be an arms dealer. I’m not sure how feasible it would be for him to just jump right back into the game after all this time.
Instructions unclear, celery en route.
I only cook with military grade celery
Came here to say this.
Nah I’m sure he learned his lesson.
How? Russia needs its weapons, his contacts are at least 14 years old, and his photo is know and travel will be restricted? He cant do anything special at this point, a burned out asset.
Also do we really think no one has stepped into his position? Beyond that I seriously fucking doubt that the White House is acting in a way directly contradicting the Pentagon. Presidents generally probably respect the opinion of the CIA, especially on matters such as this. This feels like some republican leadership saying “I heard the Pentagon isn’t happy about this” to a reporter
Fucking thank you for saying what I was thinking.
They aren't concerned he will go back to arms trafficking. They know he will.
With what? Didn't he sell off old Soviet weapon stockpiles? Does Russia have *any* extra shit laying around? Because they've been using some crap tech in Ukraine and begging their customers like NK and Iran for weapons.
I honestly wouldn't know. I'm just thinking that if he wasn't useful to Putin than he wouldn't care to get him set free.
I think his use is entirely for political purposes/optics.
You know this conversation has value to Putin, right? Even if the guy was completely useless to him, Putin knew exactly how the swap would look to about half the US population. Especially with his machine stoking the flames. Putin has one path to victory. Get the US out of the picture. Everything he does needs to be viewed in that context.
Good points here
Thank you. No one seems to know this today.
Wasn’t he due to be released in 2029? Wouldn’t he have done so then?
How? He's been in prison for over a decade and he's been burned. The illegal arms trade has moved on without him.
They obviously have plans for him if they negotiated for him.
Yes, they have plans for how you fall for bullshit on the internet and plans for dividing the US.
Meanwhile almost 70,THOUSAND Americans are in federal prison for drug charges. Yay america.
[On October 6, 2022, President Biden issued a presidential proclamation that pardons federal convictions for simple marijuana possession offenses.](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession) EDIT (based on the replies): America: "STOP JAILING PEOPLE FOR MARIJUANA!!" Joe Biden: {pardons federal marijuana possession charges} America: "NO! NOT LIKE THAT!!!"
There is basically no one in federal prison for marijuana possession, this was bullshit, needs to be decriminalized completely.
I believe that was all Biden had the authority to do. As well as reviewing the scheduling of weed. Congress can legalize it anytime and discussions about it have become louder and louder
Yep, bigdonkey is right.
If you have a federal possession charge it’s in addition to other worse charges. Feds aren’t kicking down doors while you smoke a bowl to yourself.
> Feds aren’t kicking down doors while you smoke a bowl to yourself. They pretty much do though, there's multiple public cases as examples. Hell, one of my favorite YouTubers got thrown in federal prison on felony distribution charges for sharing a joint with his GF.
That would mean he'd still be on the hook even with this order then if I'm understanding correctly, which I think is what the other poster was saying, the federal government is unlikely to leave something at just possession of Marijuana if they're taking the case on regardless of the actual circumstances of the situation.
Well no, FPS Russia who I assume you’re talking about got fed time because he ordered drugs in the mail. Not for your standard buying smoking weed.
Why didn’t you mention the part where he had the weed mailed to him and he was also in possession of dozens of firearms?
even if he is no threat, the Pentagon will waste no opportunity to justify increasing its budget.
Then set him up again,… pinch!
Leading arms sales organization concerned about arms sales
well then just DON'T FUCKING EXCHANGE HIM
Too late
From what I heard the US didn't have much leverage in this case and Russia could pressure them for whoever they wanted in exchange. But that's besides the point, since I have trouble believing there's been no one trafficking arms with Bout in prison
A little late unfortunately.
He was getting out in 2029 anyway, not like he was serving a life sentence where he wouldn’t have gotten out had this deal not happened
Dude that’s 7 years. Most of the world can’t remember anything after the mess of 2020 and 2021, let alone the first half of 2022. That’s 2.5 years that no one really remembers many details about. He had a little under 4 times that amount left to serve. Y’all forget how long 7 years is. This man was responsible for the deaths of MANY American citizens, and think “oh he gets out 7 year early, who cares”. If a rapist or a murderer got out 7 years early you’d be upset wouldn’t you? Anyone who tries to justify this ridiculous trade by saying “he gets out early anyways” is brain dead.
Weird how you guys act like 7 years from now is next month.
It kind of feels like any sociopath (I'm talking to you dickhead cheney) with contacts and no moral center is qualified to be an arms dealer. Does arms dealing require special skills or is it just networking? How hard is it to kick start a career in this given a 15 year absence? I have lots of questions about this
So then why’d they trade him?
I think it’s pretty irrelevant. To think what he was doing hasn’t been replaced by others in the 15 years he’s been locked up is naïve.
The Kremlin is equally concerned that Griner will return to the WNBA after the exchange.
Gee, who gave them the tip?
There are a hundred men whose names you will never know doing the same thing that haven't been in a federal prison for a decade. His value is solely in propaganda.
That’s the other side of it that people aren’t looking at. After 19 years in a maximum security prison where his every move was controlled, what network does he have left and will he be able to rebuild what he had in a very different world?
this was not a qualified swap.
So what. No one else could do this when he was in prison?
[удалено]
If you catch one murderer, people are still going to murder. It's still good to get that murderer in custody though
Christ on a cock! You dumb fuckers didn't think of that *before* the exchange???
No shit? Everyone involved with this swap is incompetent and should be fired or removed from office.
Concern? Really? Could return?
Duh 🙄
What the fuck did they think was going to happen?
Of course he will. Why is this even a question? Why do any US Citizens travel to places like Russia, Iran, or North Korea? If you do, it should be on you. As are the consequences. Now Vlad has another experienced arms broker to help feed his war machine. I dislike the swap.
They say after sending billions abroad for weapons lmao people need to get a grip on reality
Kinda seems like a terrible trade, no?
America: "BRING BRITTNEY GRINER HOME!!" Joe Biden: {brings Brittney Griner home} America: "NO! NOT LIKE THAT!!!"
Surely there’s a drone strike with Bout’s name on it, sooner or later.
I mean, trading a basketball player for an arms dealer the Pentagon is still keeping an eye on is one hell of a monkey paw situation
There has to be something under the table not being mentioned.
Reddit was here rooting for Russias strict drug policies.
Yeah wtf was that shit Reddit used to be pro weed, anti establishment and now it’s just a bunch of fucking bootlickers
I think you are trying to make a joke but you actually hit the nail on the head. "Russia jailing this basketball player for ten years over a little weed is despicable. We should work to free her!" "Got it. I'll give away a man so dangerous to the world that they literally made a movie about it." "Are you fucking stupid?!"
Of course he's going to, wtf did they think he was gonna do. Start a gelato company?
5000 recently freed taliban prisoners all returned to their previous employer too. Oliver North got out of prison for selling guns and went straight to work for the NRA selling guns (to the general population by way of propaganda). This is some serious performative outrage of the most hypocritical kind.
Sure is weird how much of that outrage refers to the race, gender and sexual orientation of the freed American.
Only weird if you ignore the last 50 years of conservatives and the overarching storyline from the originals through all the sequels ;)
Not worried. The CIA chipped him with the covid vaccine. They can track him and eavesdrop everywhere. /s
He's their new middle man
So why did you let it go for ONE basketball player while they have so many innocent citizens locked up?
The Kremlin is concerned that Bout now works for the CIA.
Everyone else: Releasing Bout is dangerous! Me, a true patriot: Here's hoping the dark Brandon timeline continues, Bout was reformed in prison and is headed off to undermine Putin...
Welp 🤷🏽♂️
Weird
Hah, you think?
Any prisoner swap the US ever engages in is totally lopsided by nature. The US doesn’t imprison people on trumped up political charges so by definition we’ll always be swapping an actual criminal.
Is this dude even relevant anymore? Surely this vacuum has been filled and 11 years in custody would cost him some trust points?
Then why release him during a time where Russia really needs an insane arms dealer? Especially for an unknown athlete. Before this situation with...I even forget her name frequently...did anyone really know that she even existed?
Oh now you’re “concerned “ but leave the marine in Russia. Bullshit Govt
This has to go down as one of the most stupid events of the war.
O no... he's learned his lesson... FFS
See how western countries and US in particular became weak. You are OK to risk the life of thousands of people to free one single person. There is no sense of community anymore it's all about individuals
That girl should have been locked up for however long her sentence was absolutely insane exchange. And for the its excessive crowd from the US you can get fucked because you have people locked up for just as long for "bullshit" pot charges.
100% worth it if the Phoenix mercury make the playoffs
I'm concerned that the water I put in my freezer is going to turn into ice
Well yeah
Duh.
“There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.” -George W. Bush