Trego's Mountain Ear

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Joe Biden Wasn’t Wrong

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michaelmccurry

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I’ve seen comments that the Kremlin showed that Biden would trade a Russian gun-runner for an American pothead and leave a decorated Marine stuck in the gulag.  There’s a bit of truth to the accusation – Viktor Bout seems to have earned his title “Merchant of Death.”  Surface to air missiles and rocket-propelled grenades are some fairly significant pieces of hardware.  Britney Griner plead guilty to smuggling hash into Russia, so I can’t complain about her characterization as a pothead (and if, at 31, she didn’t know better than to go through customs clean, she’s probably not in the top end of the IQ bell curve).

Then we get to the decorated Marine Paul Whelen.  He looks decorated in this photo:

But when I read further in wikipedia, I learn the rest of the story: 

“He enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1994.[7] He took military leave from Kelly Services to serve with the Marine Corps Reserve from 2003 to 2008, including service in Iraq. He held the rank of staff sergeant with Marine Air Control Group 38 working as an administrative clerk and administrative chief, and he was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.[8] After a court-martial conviction in January 2008 on multiple counts “related to larceny“, he was sentenced to 60 days restriction, reduction to pay grade E-4, and a bad conduct discharge.[9][10] The specific charges against him included “attempted larceny, three specifications of dereliction of duty, making a false official statement, wrongfully using another’s social security number, and ten specifications of making and uttering[a] checks without having sufficient funds in his account for payment.”[12]”

Well, his chest shows decorations – and the BCD is better than a dishonorable discharge – but it does mean that he can’t get back in any branch of the military, doesn’t qualify for veterans benefits, and can’t own a gun in the US (probably not in Russia either).

I hate sticking up for Biden, but it doesn’t look to me he abandoned an American hero to the gulag.  I’ve respected Marines since I was a small brat, but in Whelen’s case I’ll give Slow Joe a pass.

2 responses to “Joe Biden Wasn’t Wrong”

  1. forestdi56 Avatar
    forestdi56

    While his crimes might be accurate, we don’t really know because you used Wikipedia-full-of-lies-changes-the-truth-and-history as a resource. Let’s try that again with a better source. Time to use a search engine that is not Google and encyclopedias not prone to changing things up as it sees fit or as told to do so by the same admin you just agreed with. With respect.

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  2. forestdi56 Avatar
    forestdi56

    Here are some corroborating websites to the Wikipedia article which does not provide the whole picture. Whelan is a suspicious dude. His family may also be involved in some shady stuff. He may, or may not have been suckered into his present situation. There are 3 other countries he claims citizenship in that could help him and most certainly will not given their passive acceptance of the global nonsense or, in Canada’s case, aggressive participation in it. His past may have dug his hole even though he may also be innocent of the charges in Russia. He is enduring some pretty grim conditions he maybe shouldn’t be enduring due more to political shenanigans and maybe some retaliation by the persons who might have set him up. We don’t know. But because of past sins we are convicting him of a life in hell for reasons we don’t know are true. That is not who we should be about in this country. Particularly since we DO know Griner WAS guilty and should have known better. I will say that between the two, Whelan is probably better able to withstand his ordeal than the child Griner is. I don’t like Griner and I believe she deserves some punishment for what she did. What she endured in Russia should be sufficient, there, but something here should also be forthcoming as she wasted our tax dollars and caused more distractions from the real issues in our world. She hates this country and thus is part of its eventual destruction however wittingly or unwittingly. A fine, at least, should be forthcoming. Maybe some international travel restrictions for a short period of time. Maybe, however, you are right and she was the better choice.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/08/who-is-paul-whelan/

    https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2022-12-08/who-is-paul-whelan-8352149.html

    https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Paul_Whelan_(security_director)

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