10 December 2022 — 1447 mst

National notes: Griner repatriated, Georgia has not
turned purple, Kyrsten Sinema’s empty independence

By James Conner

Brittney Griner

Joe Biden brings Britteny Griner home. Basketball star Britteny Griner, sentenced to nine years imprisonment in Russia for the parking ticket level offense of possessing less than a gram of cannabis oil, is back in the United States after serving nine months behind Russian bars. She landed in San Antonio yesterday after being exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence in an American high security prison.

Griner is from Houston, which has excellent hospitals. But so does San Antonio, a major military center. I suspect she’s there for medical care, counseling, and an extensive debriefing by national security officials. In a practical sense, she’s not yet fully free.

I think most Americans are overjoyed that Griner — who should not have been carrying a substance that is illegal in Russia, where she was playing off-season basketball — is home. I know I am. But according to the Washington Post, Biden’s justice department opposed the exchange.

In other words, American law enforcement leaders were willing to let Griner rot behind Russian bars for a pissant offense that should have earned her a modest fine and a mandatory invitation to leave Putinland because her offense was minor, not major. They did not see her as a human being with intrinsic worth, but as a bargaining chip with little worth. I suspect they wanted to keep Bout behind American bars no matter the cost to Griner. That, as Joe Biden recognized, is not and must not be the American way.

Some Republican politicians also criticized the exchange, arguing that American Paul Whelan, serving time on Russia on a trumped-up espionage conviction, should have been part of the deal, or given priority over Griner. Biden did try to include Whelan in the swap, but Putin said “Nyet.”

The price for Whelan’s freedom was the release of a Russian now serving time in Germany for murder. Germany said “Nein.” It was Griner or no one. Biden chose to bring home Griner, which was the moral choice. She was serving an unjust sentence, and her human right not to be unjustly imprisoned was equal to Whelan’s right not to be unjustly imprisoned.

The trade reminded me of the Cold Car, during which many prisoners were exchanged. Those of us then alive remember Checkpoint Charlie, where swaps were concluded, and cinematic dramatizations, such as Night People, of the process. Prisoner exchanges are as old as history.

Meanwhile, Biden has not forgotten Paul Whelan and other Americans unjustly imprisoned abroad. Whelan’s family endorsed Griner’s repatriation, knowing that when we can deliver something Putin wants, Putin will deliver Whelan. That’s how realpolitik works.

Rev. Raphael Warnock

Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock won re-election, but his victory did not turn Georgia purple. Both of Warnock’s runoff victories occurred under circumstances that may not repeat in six years. On 8 November, Republicans won nine of 14 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and swept all state level offices such as governor and secretary of state. Almost any Democrat would have defeated Republican senatorial candidate Herschel Walker, a legendary football player with legendary character flaws, a limited grasp of public policy, and an unlimited capacity for serving up word salad speeches that made the most imperturbable political operatives cringe.

Kyrsten Sinema

Kyrsten Sinema’s empty independence. She’s now an independent, having left the Democratic Party yesterday. In the Senate, she’ll continue to caucus with the Democrats as she intends to retain her committee assignments. Her defection is designed to protect her from a primary challenge in 2024 in Arizona, where Democrats are angry at her dalliances with rich right wingers. She hopes that the Arizona Democratic Party will not nominate a candidate for the senate lest she and that candidate split the vote, ensuring a Republican win.

The problem with that strategy is that no matter how many Republican positions she embraces, Republicans will vote for a true Republican instead of her. Meanwhile, she will continue behaving and dressing like a butterfly at a garden party. As Michele Goldberg observed in today’s New York Times, she’s so into herself that she sees no one else.

Biden should appoint her to his cabinet in 2023, thus allowing Gov. Katie Hobbs to appoint Rep. Ruben Gallego to replace her.