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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   32584 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 5, 2022

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Maybe this is just my confusion but when I read your description of Whelan as an "American security official" I assumed that meant he did some kind of security work for the US government. In fact he was a "security official" in the sense that he was director of global security for an international automotive part manufacturer based in Michigan. He also has a Bad Conduct Discharge from the Marines due to attempts to defraud the government with a fake Social Security Number.

Frankly, I don't think you need to reach for any race or gender based explanations to determine why the US would rather free Brittney Griner than Paul Whelan. And looking at the crimes each was charged with (Griner with pot possession, Whelan with spying) seems to adequately explain Russia's relative reluctance to exchange each.

Frankly, I don't think you need to reach for any race or gender based explanations to determine why the US would rather free Brittney Griner than Paul Whelan. And looking at the crimes each was charged with (Griner with pot possession, Whelan with spying) seems to adequately explain Russia's relative reluctance to exchange each.

Even if you believe this, you still can't use this logic to prioritize Griner over Marc Fogel, who was caught with weed that he had a legitimate American prescription for, and due to back problems is likely suffering orders of magnitude more from the labor camp than the young and healthy Griner.

True! If I had to explain the relative prioritization of Griner over Fogel I'd probably attribute it to Griner's relative fame in the US. Not saying she's, like, a super famous celebrity or anything but I get the sense she's more famous than Fogel, and so there's correspondingly more pressure to secure her release. Not saying this is right or just but I am still unconvinced it's a race or gender bias (except maybe to the extent Griner's fame is due to her race and gender?)

Why is she famous? Why is WNBA a 'thing'? It wasn't a 'thing' 20 years ago.

It seems kind of short sighted to just assume that the doctrine that has been in charge for a few decades now, that shaped the cultural climate as it is today, is not to do with race and sex when that's the main point it focused on. It would certainly seem odd to me if that weren't the case given the huge emphasis the powers that be place on those things.

Why is she famous?

Because she's a really good basketball player and has won a bunch of awards, including being part of the gold medal winning USA women's basketball team in both the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

Why is WNBA a 'thing'?

Presumably because there are women who would like to be paid to play basketball and others who would pay to watch them. Why is any sports league 'a thing'?

It wasn't a 'thing' 20 years ago.

This is just false.

It seems kind of short sighted to just assume that the doctrine that has been in charge for a few decades now, that shaped the cultural climate as it is today, is not to do with race and sex when that's the main point it focused on. It would certainly seem odd to me if that weren't the case given the huge emphasis the powers that be place on those things.

I think you're selling it a little short to claim that "the doctrine" whose "main point" is "race and sex" has only been in charge for "a few decades." I'm confident that a doctrine whose main point has been race and sex (especially race) has been in charge in America going all the way back its founding.

Presumably because there are women who would like to be paid to play basketball and others who would pay to watch them. Why is any sports league 'a thing'?

The latter part is empirically false based on WNBA profitability.

I'm not sure if you just don't get meaning behind words because you are autistic or if this is intentional trolling but cutting up the question being asked isn't a valid way to answer it.

To give an example:

I think you're selling it

I am not selling anything. Why do you think I am selling something?

But that is neither here nor there considering what you say next:

I'm confident that a doctrine whose main point has been race and sex (especially race) has been in charge in America going all the way back its founding.

Then we don't have a disagreement.

Apologies if this seemed like trolling. It seemed like each of your questions could be answered discreetly, though I believe I understand your larger point with the questions was to denigrate or degrade the WNBA and Griner.

The point of the questions was to contextualize Griner's fame and why it would, in that context, make sense for them to get treated the way they did.

The only case for expecting Whelan would be that they tried a similar exchange for him back in 2020.

Can you clarify who "they" are?

Moscow, allegedly.

[Whelan’s lawyer] Zherebenkov has previously said he believes Moscow wants to exchange Whelan for two Russians held in U.S. prisons - arms dealer Viktor Bout and a pilot named Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine.

Wikipedia didn’t mention that the belief was held by a guy telling Whelan not to appeal.

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