by Ernie McCray
My mind stays
with thoughts
of Brittney Grinder spending her days
in a Russian prison faraway
and it breaks my heart
that so many folks are fixated
on how, on her part,
having a weed product
in her traveling bag
wasn’t very smart
which is true
but what good does it do
to throw shade
on her misguided misadventure
involving a
cannabis concentrate?
How is she helped
by claims that just because she’s a celebrity
she’s no more deserving
of being released than others are,
or by speculations
that White basketball stars
would get more publicity
if they were in the situation
she is in?
That’s so much idle chatter
blowing in a directionless wind,
especially when
one considers that what she did
has no dignified reason
to even be considered a crime,
unless possession of a
packet of aspirins
would qualify as one too.
So the task at hand
is for us to,
rather than pontificate
and debate
aspects of this case,
place BG,
and any others in a similar state,
in our
thoughts and prayers
and see to it
that our powers-that-be
fervently and continuously
work to set her free…
And we will see
a woman
who will make many more mistakes
in life,
but none, ever again, like
this one
that landed her in prison –
that’s a guarantee!
Ernie, this was nicely expressed. I think Brittney Grinder’s exemplary conduct during her arrest and imprisonment has placed her far above her captors in moral authority. She is bearing the cross of Putin’s evil with strength and courage, just as the Ukrainian people are. But we should all be writing our congresspersons, our President, and our media to demand that she be set free. She deserves action as well as prayers.
This may be some good news, Ernie.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jul/27/brittney-griner-prisoner-swap-biden-administration
sealintheSelkirks
RIGHT ON! SHE WAS ARRESTED FOR POLITICAL REASONS!
Yep TLG, just like Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Stabb who was kidnapped off a jetliner in an airport to be ‘renditioned’ to a prison in the US for ‘trial’ for…doing the job a diplomat does who BROKE NO LAWS.
I guess the US no longer pays attention to the concept of ‘Diplomatic Immunity.’ Except of course when our diplomats do something wrong like run over someone… I do wonder just how fast the US would bomb the crap out of some country that snatched a US diplomat? The screams of ‘diplomatic immunity’ would scrap the clouds I bet! Or maybe the missile attacks would…
Maybe this finally buries the stinking lie of Julian Assange/Wikileaks being a Russian spy? Notice Putin doesn’t say one word about trading her for him, eh? Putin doesn’t like whistleblowers any more than the US politicians do it seems. Telling the truth on war crimes committed is just a big no-no it seems. Look at how many the US has put in prison the last 20 years!
sealintheSelkirks
As for Brittney, this seems to apply:
A Panicking Biden Administration Seeks Talks With Russia
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/07/a-panicking-biden-administration-seeks-talks-with-russia
sealintheSelkirks
Here is a very good idea:
Get Brittney Griner Back? Sure, But Release Her Counterparts in America, Too
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/29/get-brittney-griner-back-sure-but-release-her-counterparts-in-america-too/
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600,000 pot busts a year in the US. Tens of thousands in jail at any one time. So tell me, just exactly what is Russia doing that is so different from the US?
sealintheSelkirks
Here’s a new take on this due to the GOP drug warriors (including Biden by the way) all suddenly being so shaming of Russia… Hypocrisy is alive and well in the US.
Conservative Hypocrisy Over Brittney Griner
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/02/conservative-hypocrisy-over-brittney-griner/
The rank hypocrisy among conservatives in the Brittney Griner case continues apace.
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End the Drug War. And while we’re at it, hang in effigy Harry Anslinger.
sealintheSelkirks
I guess Brittany should be GRATEFUL that she wasn’t caught in this state with that nasty devil’s drug, yes? All those Rethuglicans acting so upset over awful Russia doing this to OUR citizen when they are doing this every day:
High court upholds life sentence for Mississippi man convicted of marijuana possession
https://www.kplctv.com/2022/06/17/high-court-upholds-life-sentence-mississippi-man-convicted-marijuana-possession/
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A man sentenced to life in prison on a marijuana possession charge has lost his appeal in the state’s highest court.
Thursday, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that Allen Russell’s life sentence was not a violation of the Eighth Amendment and was in line with state statute.
Russell was given life without parole in 2019 after he was found guilty of being in possession of 43.71 grams of marijuana. continued at link…
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1.6 ounce of weed. Life sentence upheld.
Russia is MORE LENIENT than many US States. Obviously Mississippi and the other slave states haven’t changed much, eh? What a surprise…
sealintheSelkirks