Jemele Hill didn't know there were so many experts on hostage negotiations on Twitter

Of course, we’re happy that Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison over a trivial offense, but a lot of people are wondering if we couldn’t have gotten out retired Marine Paul Whelan as well in exchange for the “Merchant of Death,” who senior defense officials say will almost certainly return to arms dealing, just as the prisoners released in exchange for Beau Bergdahl went right back to work as terrorists.

We suppose CNN+ star Jemele Hill wouldn’t like our opening paragraph, what with our bringing up Whelan. Hill is seeing a lot of experts on hostage negotiations on Twitter today:

Did not know there were so many hostage experts with geopolitical expertise on Twitter …

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) December 8, 2022

Neither are you https://t.co/gr1xF2QxGw

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 8, 2022

Ah, but she is, or at least she plays one in The Atlantic. Good for Brad Slager for digging up this hot take by Hill:

She was saying…??? https://t.co/xwBptOURfh pic.twitter.com/8bCbC0Lw5d

— Brad Slager: Just Watching Walls Moving Out… (@MartiniShark) December 8, 2022

“If the U.S. gave women’s basketball the respect it deserves, the WNBA star might not be in legal jeopardy,” Hill wrote earlier this year.

Griner’s plight is especially acute because she’s a Black queer woman being held by authorities in a country that is hostile toward LGBTQ people. Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, has made a show of embracing “traditional values” that he claims the West has rejected. Last year, he signed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. In 2013, the country passed a “gay propaganda” law that banned distributing information on LGBTQ issues and relationships to minors. (Of course, elected officials in some U.S. states also approve measures targeting gay and transgender people.)

…

Russia wouldn’t be a tantalizing option for America’s best women’s basketball players if they could earn more at home and be treated with the same professional respect as NBA players. It is damning that teams in oppressive countries such as Russia and China—another opportune marketplace for women’s basketball players—place a higher value on players such as Griner than the teams in her own country do.