Britney Griner Released In Prisoner Swap

[CJD]

I'm glad she's coming home.

The reason this trade feels unfair is simple.

We are requesting they release someone who did nothing wrong based on our and the vast majority of the developed world's morality. Having prescribed cannibis oil in your suit case is not worthy of 9 years in prison. It isn't even worthy of a day in the Airport security office.

Yes, it's "illegal" in Russia. But there's all kinds of dumb bullshit that is illegal in Russia. That's why we call it an authoritarian state.

So, how do we, as America, convince Russia, an authoritarian state that does not care about its people or the people who visit its country, get them to release an innocent person back into our custody, especially in a global climate where we are assisting their enemy in embarrassing them on a global stage?

We overpay.

That's how it works.

Britney being released is the correct thing to occur and the only way we could facilitate that correct outcome was to return an actual criminal.

Because, unlike Russia, America generally does not arrest foreign nationals who did nothing wrong. There are probably exceptions, but we're generally in step with the global morality of what should and should not be illegal. So there's a really good chance that this guy we traded was the "least bad" Russian national we have.