The Conservative (Not So Very) Intelligentsia: Like Hamsters On An Exercise Wheel
Full of sound and fury and ultimately signifying nothing
Imagine going through life assuming the worst of everything and everyone who wasn’t on your team. Your default is to think that everyone who doesn’t think and/or believe as you do is evil, awful, and looking to see what they can get out of a situation. Worse, they’re just dumb.
Even a situation as seemingly good and wonderful as the release of Brittney Griner has been turned into the rejection of Paul Whelan, who’s been held for four years by the Russians on espionage charges. Why, because Conservative performative outrage, that’s why.
Never mind, as we’ve no doubt all heard by now, that the cases of Whelan and Griner were never connected. It was never a case of Whelan OR Griner leaving one behind so the other could return home to the loving arms of their family. It was a case of Brittney Griner or NO ONE. The State Department and the Biden Administration understood that. As much as they hated that calculus, they took the deal they could get rather than leave both of them in Russian prisons.
So, cue the righteous outrage from the Conservative (not so very) intelligentsia, who are working overtime to convince us that Joe Biden left an American hero and a former US Marine to rot in a Russian prison. Not surprisingly, it’s not nearly that simple or clean-cut.
But where were these Patriots over the past four years? Whelan certainly hasn’t gone anywhere, and few, least of all Donald Trump, raised Whelan’s case as a priority issue with the Russians. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration HAS been working behind the scenes, looking for ways to bring Whelan home.
Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council Russia specialist, has said that Trump “wasn’t especially interested in engaging in the wasp for Paul Whelan.”
Even Trevor Reed, a marine held by the Russians whose release was secured by the Biden Administration, makes it clear that the Trump Adminstration did little to advance his cause.
Reed, who spent nearly three years in a Russian prison, has also previously said that Trump did nothing to help secure his release or Whelan’s.
“Whelan went to prison when Trump was president and his administration did nothing. I also went to prison when Trump was president and he also did nothing,” Reed wrote on Facebook this past summer. He posted similar comments on Twitter. He did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
There appear to be two things at work here:
Conservatives want to be sure that Joe Biden doesn’t get “too much” credit for freeing Brittney Griner. By watering it down with accusations of “leaving an American hero” behind, they’re hoping to tarnish the stellar work done by the State Department. In doing so, they’re ignoring the truth that Whelan’s and Griner’s cases were never related or intertwined.
The portrayal of Paul Whelan as an “American hero” is somewhat overcooked. Yes, he served as a Marine, but Conservatives are choosing to ignore that Whelan was court-martialed by the Marine Corps and separated from the Corps with a bad conduct discharge. I won’t get into the details because they’re not pertinent. Nonetheless, the characterization of Paul Whelan by Conservatives is fundamentally dishonest.
Whelan’s family was tremendously gracious regarding Brittney Griner’s release. Though understandably disappointed, they understood the circumstances and the pressures the State Department faced. Because Paul Whelan is facing espionage charges, his case is considered by the Russians to be on a different level than Griner’s.
Worse, the Russians appear to be in no particular hurry to let go of Whelan. They have all the leverage, they know it, and they’ll play their cards as long as they have the advantage. Paul Whelan is a bargaining chip, nothing more. His life is not a consideration to the Russians; it’s a poker chip in their geopolitical game.
Perhaps they’ll eventually let him go. Maybe they won’t. They have little incentive to release him until they can broker a deal that breaks in their favor. Will that happen anytime soon? It seems unlikely, but the State Department isn’t about to broadcast their negotiations in the American media.
Meanwhile, the Conservative (not so very) intelligentsia will continue their attempts to spin events in a manner designed to embarrass Joe Biden. Unfortunately for them, they’re firing blanks. The facts are easily accessible, and when their leader, Donald Trump, has the credibility of a bran muffin, they have no argument to work with.
The truth is that if you’re not celebrating the release of Brittney Griner, you’re a heartless, conniving asshole. That she’s free and back with her wife and family should be cause for joy, not political machinations. She deserves her freedom, as does Paul Whelan- and hopefully, he will be released soon.
In the meantime, Donald Trump and the Conservative (not so very) intelligentsia can vent their spleens all they want. They have nothing of value to add to this discussion.
The reichwhiner outrage machine has never been such as to permit logic, principles, evidence, or facts bog it down.