Can fmr. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson bring Brittney Griner home?

The Monday Musings!

Kudos to former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on his decision to travel to Russia to seek the release of women’s professional basketball star Brittney Griner (along with former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan). 

While Whelan was detained on charges of espionage that he has vehemently denied since 2018, this past February, Griner was detained after customs officials found less than one gram of cannabis oil in vape cartridges that she brought into the country.

Now, for Hobbservation Point readers who are unfamiliar with cannabis, one gram is a VERY small amount (about $15), and under Florida law, anything less than 20 grams of cannabis is considered a misdemeanor that typically is punished with a fine and some community service for first-time offenders.

Perspective…

In Russia, Griner is facing up to 10 years for an amount of oil that, in leaf form, is barely enough for one tightly rolled reefer cigarette…

Of the two detainees, Griner's incarceration has been the more polarizing on social media as most fall into one of three categories:

1. The "Oh well, Brittney” category, whose adherents state some variation of the cliche "If you do the crime, you must do the time," uttered without the nuance I provide above regarding how MINOR the amount of cannabis oil on her person was when she was arrested…

2. The "Brittney is a political pawn" category, whose adherents realize that Russia is making a legal mountain out of a molehill due to its standoff with the West on Ukraine—and due to its own citizens who are detained in Western nations for various espionage or violent thuggery offenses—citizens that Russia would love to have back…

3. The "I had a salad for dinner" category, whose adherents are indifferent towards Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan, and any other issue that doesn't impact them on some personal level…

WNBA stars wore #42 in honor of Griner during last night's All-Star game

As to Whelan, the Cold War era history buff in me recognizes that he has a checkered past (bad conduct discharge from the military), but I still wouldn’t put it past Russia to have trumped up his espionage charges, as Whelan claims, to help broker the release of Russian detainees as a part of Vladimir Putin's chess game with the West.

Paul Whelan, 50, during a court proceeding in 2020. The Trump administration demanded his release that year—to no avail…

As to Griner, I have vacillated between categories 1 and 2 above, with the empathetic part of my nature settling on "2" based upon that tiny amount of cannabis not hardly being worth a whole decade in some dank Russian prison. Yes, the father in me wonders why Griner, 32, didn't have her thinking cap firmly fixed when packing to go to Russia (where cannabis laws are so draconian), but the humanist in me routinely adheres to British writer Alexander Pope's famous quip, "to err is human, to forgive—divine." Sadly, there are plenty within the court of public opinion who can point to Brittney Griner's errors while refusing to offer forgiveness. 

Such is why I admire former Gov. Bill Richardson for his efforts to bring both American detainees back home! The former governor heads the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, one that aims to secure release for detainees around the globe. 

Richardson, who ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, was instrumental in securing the release of former Marine Trevor Reed this past April! Here's hoping that lightning strikes twice more and that he can broker a deal to bring home Griner and Whelan, and here's also hoping that President Joe Biden will do his part by dangling a carrot or two at Putin by offering to release one or more Russian detainees, as well!

On that last point, back when Whelan was convicted in 2020, it was widely reported that Russia was interested in brokering a prisoner exchange that would have included Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, a man held for conspiracy to sell weapons to U.S. undercover agents who posed as Colombian nationals who were planning to attack the U.S.

Convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, (orange), is serving a 25-year-sentence in the U.S.

I do not know whether Bout's release will be on the table, but what I do know is that if it was a loved one of mine who was facing a decade in a Russian gulag over a stupid and insouciant act, that I would hope that the American government would do its level best to bring my family member home—period, full stop!

Stay tuned…