President Joe Biden has long been known to succumb to pressure to continuously push the liberal agenda down the throats of Americans. He pays more attention to minorities than anyone else, all to help ensure he can buy their vote when he needs it. His attention to their needs over the needs of Americans, in general, has been disgusting since he was a Senator.
Now the story of Marc Fogel is getting out there. Detained in August 2021, at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, Russian authorities have accused him of concealing marijuana in contact lens cases, as well as cannabis oil e-cigarettes in his luggage. June of 2022 saw him convicted and sentenced on the charge of “large-scale drug smuggling.” Meanwhile, Brittney Griner was arrested in February 2022 and released just 10 months later.
Griner is back in the US and, surprisingly, behaving more like a model citizen than ever before. She is now standing for the Anthem and encouraging others to do so but respecting their right not to. She claims that the realities of the Russian jail made her realize what she has and is now more appreciative.
While it’s nice to see her WNBA salary is making that a lot easier, Fogel is in Rybinsk, a city six hours north of Moscow, and he is doing hard labor in a prison camp. Turning 62 later in July, his family claims he suffers from chronic pain following numerous surgeries on his back, rotator cuff, hips, and knees. He also walks with a severe limp due to an atrophied calf muscle.
He was in Russia to cap off his 10th and final year at the Anglo-American School of Moscow, as well as ending a career of teaching abroad. For over 35 years, he was a teacher for the children of US and international diplomats in Malaysia, Mexico, Colombia, Oman, Venezuela, and Russia. After finishing the year, he and his wife had planned to retire north of Pittsburgh.
Fogel’s sister Anne of Missoula, MT as well as his son Ethan met with multiple lawmakers on July 18th, including Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT). Daines shared a shot of himself with the family on Instagram and included a caption discussing how he was working with the family to push Biden’s hand to get Fogel released.
Yet, lawmakers have refused to give him the “wrongfully detained” tag. Family, former students, and others have been fighting to have things changed and to have Biden treat him like others including Griner, US Marine Corps veterans Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan, as well as their most recent US capture, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Biden took to the podium in Finland on July 13th where he vowed to work on getting Gershkovich’s release handled. According to Fogel’s sister Anne, she believes Biden is putting his attention on Gershkovich because of the “wrongfully detained” status. Thus far, the White House has refused to comment on his situation.
Lawmakers have also introduced the “Marc Fogel Act” from PA reps in the US House back in June. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) represents Fogel’s district and said, “What this bill does is pushes and requires the State Department to report to Congress about these wrongful detention designations and why they do or don’t make them. In Marc’s case, he’s not been designated as wrongfully detained, and that designation is an important part of our government putting its power behind getting someone brought home.”
With 11 separate criteria to meet the already established Levinson Act, Fogel meets six, but that’s not enough. If the bill passes, they will add to this act, and allow him to get the provisions for help. Given everything that has happened to him, this is the least the White House could do.
And yet, the Biden administration is continuously showing just how biased they can be. If you meet the criteria for their liberal and opposed people or a celebrity, you get a free pass to do whatever you want. It’s not the message we need to be sending the American people, although Biden is more than happy to keep it up. Even when it’s bipartisan, he can’t see fit but help the liberals and ignore the rest of us.
