Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Sid Salter: Two Presidents Ignored Marine Paul Whelan's Plight in Foreign Prison

The debate over the recent prisoner exchange that brought about the release of WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Britany Griner’s release from a Russian prison is yet another example of a polarized, divided America and of bedrock political disagreements that make the political middle ground a bridge too far.

The political debate centered on the fact that Griner’s release was won in a one-for-one prisoner exchange for truly dangerous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as “the Merchant of Death” for his ruthless international trail of death and mutilations in locales like Sierra Leone and Angola while former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan was left behind in another Russian prison on dubious espionage charges.


Bout was held in a Marion, Illinois federal prison for more than a decade after being sentenced to 25 years in prison for conspiring to kill Americans. Griner had been jailed in Russia for less than a year on a nine-year sentence for having vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.


Former Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who played a key role in negotiating Griner’s release, told a home-state newspaper that the Griner-Bout prisoner swap “was a good trade” for the U.S. but expressed deep concern for Whelan and other American hostages in Russia.


Sometimes a prisoner exchange is unseemly, unsavory and unfair, but we have to do it to bring our hostages home,” Richardson told The Albuquerque Journal. “I think this one was a good trade for the United States.”


Former President Donald Trump weighed in on the Griner release, blasting the administration of his successor President Joe Biden for leaving Whelan behind. The Trump social media message said: “He (Paul Whelan) would have been let out for the asking. What a ‘stupid’ and unpatriotic embarrassment for the USA!!”


Whelan’s twin brother, David Whelan, called the former president out on the claim.


I just wanted to call out the fact that during his presidency, Trump never, ever mentioned Paul’s name in public. Not once in his many, many tweets or any sort of public statement. In a sense, you could say they did nothing.”


After the Griner release, David Whelan went on to Tweet: “Former President Trump appears to have mentioned my brother Paul Whelan’s wrongful detention more in the last 24 hours than he did in the 2 years of his presidency in which Paul was held hostage by Russia (zero). I don’t suggest he (Trump) cares now any more than he did then (zero).”


The Whelan family praised the Biden administration deal that secured Griner’s release. Despite their apparent solidarity with Griner’s supporters in celebrating her release, David Whelan expressed concern over whether Biden would do what was necessary to win his brother’s release. The Griner prisoner swap was the second time the Whelan family had to watch other U.S. prisoners win their freedom while Paul Whelan remained jailed.


The partisan and factional political debate spilled out over the Griner deal. Biden’s spokesperson’s remarks fueled some of that partisan bickering when Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “Brittney is more than an athlete, more than an Olympian. She is an important role model and inspiration to millions of Americans, particularly the LGBTQI+ Americans and women of color.”


True. But that status also gave rise to staunch criticism that the American media paid more and more consistent attention to Griner’s detention in Russia than that of the white ex-Marine Whelan.

For many, it came down to a value judgment of whether the Biden administration should have negotiated an exchange of both Griner and Whelan for Bout and left the table if the Russians balked. 


The Biden administration countered by saying the Russians simply had no interest in exchanging Whelan for any Russian prisoner in U.S. custody – including Bout.


Whelan’s brother suggested the Biden administration should fight Russia’s detention fire with fire, telling Fox News: “If bad actors like Russia are going to grab innocent Americans, the U.S. needs a swifter, more direct response and to be prepared in advance. In Russia's case, this may mean taking more law-breaking, Kremlin-connected Russians into custody. It's not like there aren't plenty around the world.”


Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com

18 comments:

Don Drane said...


Salter includes the word (zero) twice. Who used the word zero or is that an inference by Salter or is it Salter's use of the word as an emotional trigger? If Salter were quoting the brother, the word would not have been enclosed in parentheses.

'Richardson expressed *DEEP CONCERN*. What's that mean and why was he even involved?

Anonymous said...

Only purpose of this column is to attack Trump.

Anonymous said...

translation-trump did it too so its ok

Anonymous said...

At this point Salter's hatred for Donald Trump appears to border on mental illness.

Anonymous said...

Sid's tds is still strong

Anonymous said...

Sid points out the obvious, that not just Trump but other members of the GOP use Whelan to bash the prisoner exchange are hypocrites.
Sid is kind not to point out that any male Olympian on the other record setting number of medals and consecutives wins on the US Basketball team would be welcomed, even if they didn't have TWO Golds for the US, not just one. A
Micheal Jordan or Magic Johnson trade for Bout would NOT have been criticized.
Most of you have no clue how little hemp is in a vape. It's not like she was smuggling drugs. This is a common pain relief for athletes. Probably some you know and admire.
You will peddle any partisan swill no matter how ill informed it is!
What you can't stand is verifiable facts ...even when testimony is sworn under penalty of perjury and documented evidence online for ALL to read.
That is the definition of blind loyalty and gullibility and stupidity!

Anonymous said...

Salter’s headline is misleading . The former President completely ignored Welham . At least the current one tried.

Anonymous said...

better headline: when a president refused to exchange a mass murderer

Anonymous said...

Amazing how conspiracy theorists defend Trump when he publicly lies and is caught.

Anonymous said...

Risk were too high and trade too one-sided for Trump to swap the Merchant of Death for Whelen. Biden got a much much worse deal.


Anonymous said...

Only to the intellectually weak is pointing out Sid's derangement an automatic endorsement of Trump.

Anonymous said...

Salter's hatred of Trump is crazy. He and the low testosterone media have some severe TDS!

Anonymous said...

Nothing but politics. She hit all the Dems check marks and optics, so come 2024, you’ll be reminded about this. Imagine if they brought home just the white guy, every basic liberal idiot would be sky screaming and twittering their feelings. Drumpf brought 3 prisoners home for free from N. Korea just for visiting, shoplifting UCLA players from China, a guy out of Iran etc etc and left a guy in Russia because he didn’t want to swap Nick Cage for him, Sniffer exchanges a law breaking America Hater for Nick Cage and leaves a guy in Russia.

Anonymous said...

Biden didn't even know which way to exit the stage yesterday afternoon. Had to ask his wife and be led off by a child. He is totally unaware of any prisoner exchange, or if he was award, he had no recollection of it three hours later.

Like George Straight, he just wants some *Christmas Cookies* with his apple sauce.

He Received a Bad Conduct Discharge said...

KF - fair and balanced reporting - not.

Anonymous said...

@8:44 - learn to read, including punctuation and context, before you go criticizing jus because you don't like the message.

Salter did not include (Zero) twice as you say - he included the Twitter comment that brother Whalen made. The (zer0's) you refer to were those of Whalen, not of Salter. That's what those little """"" things mean.

Anonymous said...

A headline stating:

Trump didn’t trade “truly dangerous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as “the Merchant of Death” for anybody; Biden traded him for a Celebrity

would have made too much sense.

Why anybody would volunteer to fight (or do anything) for this country today, is a mystery.

Anonymous said...

The evidence is overwhelming that Whelan was a spy. Don’t they typically understand the risks involved? Why didn’t he bite down on his cyanide tooth capsule inside the car after he was arrested picking up a flash drive from a Russian honeypot? If he had bit his capsule then he at least have killed a few Russian counter-intelligence agents!

Griner on the other hand is just a pothead who gets paid more in Russia to play a childrens game than she does in the USA. What more do you expect?


Recent Comments

Search Jackson Jambalaya

Subscribe to JJ's Youtube channel

Archives

Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS
.