Doyel: Brittney Griner a pawn for Putin – and U.S. culture wars
Update, Dec. 8, 2022: Brittney Griner released from Russian prison in exchange for Viktor Bout
WNBA star Brittney Griner is a prisoner, a hostage, a pawn in a game much bigger than most of us can comprehend. She is being held hostage in Russia as that country attacks citizens in Ukraine, and as the global economy tanks, and as Russian President Vladimir Putin represents the rise of the hard-right strongman.
Also, Brittney Griner is a mirror – something to look at, to see what is looking back at us.
What looks back at you?
A Russian court sentenced Griner on Thursday to nine years in prison for having a vape cartridge with 0.7 grams of cannabis oil – one-seventh of a teaspoon – but that prison sentence, like most of the news coming from Russia, is a mirage. Nothing is real in Russia, nothing that doesn’t benefit Putin. Somehow, someway, Putin thinks Griner’s conviction and prison sentence will benefit him. He’s probably right, and in this case, that’s OK.
We need to bring our American sister home. We also need to bring home another hostage, our American brother named Paul Whelan, and any other American citizens held illegally by one of the most evil regimes of the 21st century. If in return Putin gets back some of the murderous slime he calls Russian patriots, so be it.
That’s the story, the obvious one, as it relates to Brittney Griner, but there are other topics here, topics that affect most of us – that affect our entire country – more than the freedom of Griner or Whelan.
Here, look into the mirror that is Brittney Griner. See what stares back.
Brittney Griner is Colin Kaepernick 2.0, with clarity
Brittney Griner didn’t stand for the anthem. To some in this country, that’s her biggest crime. Well, that and being Other; she’s Black, she’s lesbian. As Black citizens have continued to be mowed down, murdered by police officers in blatant examples of the systemic racism that afflicts America even now, she refused to stand for the anthem before WNBA games.
And some Americans, they lashed out.
This is the Colin Kaepernick story, only it’s clearer now. This story, this one involving Brittney Griner, offers clarity Kaepernick never did.
You see, Griner’s plight in Russia unfolded at the exact same time the PACT Act was put before Congress. The PACT Act – the “Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics” – would insure medical care for 3.5 million U.S. veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during employment in Iran and Afghanistan.
The PACT Act is humane, it’s patriotic, it defends our citizens, our veterans, the heroes.
And 42 U.S. Senators voted against it.
Every one of the Senators who voted against the PACT Act is a member of the party of patriotism. You know, the party of: Stand for the anthem, honor our troops you ungrateful...
Six of the patriotic senators who voted against it – whose swing votes delayed the bill – celebrated their votes by gathering on the Senate floor for congratulatory handshakes. Cameras caught Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Steve Daines of Montana engaged in a particularly emotional fist bump.
Cruz and Daines have been two of the most outspoken senators when it comes to standing for the anthem. Because kneeling, like Brittney Griner has done, is unpatriotic.
Voting down a bill that would aid U.S. veterans injured while fighting for our country? That’s disgusting.
And yet …
News of Griner’s nine-year prison sentence, news that President Biden was trying to negotiate for her release, drew sneers and even taunts from one side of the aisle. One example: Fox News host Tomi Lahren tweeted to her 2 million followers, “On the bright side, B. Griner won’t have to endure our National Anthem for 9 whole years! What a win for her!”
Thousands of similar tweets Friday morning, as “National Anthem” trended nationwide.
Confession time, for me
We can change. You know that, right? I’m trying to change, right now, as we speak.
True story:
Thursday afternoon, Derek Schultz asked me onto his IndyStar podcast. We discussed the Colts, and training camp, and how the maligned, inexperienced receiving corps has looked awfully good. I interrupted Schultz to say, well, no, they don’t always look that good; I’m seeing lots of dropped passes.
I kept going, wondering why we’re not hearing more about those dropped passes. Then I went on a tangent about our market being, shall we say, more forgiving than others. It’s possible I bragged about myself being willing to say and write things others won’t. Might have mentioned Josh McDaniels and Carson Wentz. Probably did.
It’s possible that podcast was an audio mirror for me to look into. It’s possible I woke up Friday morning before sunrise, literally tasting bile in my throat, not wanting that podcast to go online. Because I didn’t want you to hear me saying those things. Because that’s not who I want to be.
Because I’m trying to change.
Long story short, Derek edited the podcast, took out my stupid commentary – not sure it left enough for a podcast; not my problem – and reposted it online. If I hadn’t just told you, you’d never know what I’d said.
Change, growth, kindness, compassion. Trying for that here. Are you trying for it, there?
Griner, pot and "war on drugs"
Also: Nine years for marijuana possession? In an era where we have learned so much about cannabis, about its medically proven benefits to combat pain, anxiety, more? Nine years for having only enough cannabis for herself?
Griner’s sentence in Russia is repulsive, and instructive.
See, we do that in America too.
In Mississippi, Tameka Drummer has been in prison for 14 years after an officer pulled her over with an expired license plate and found her in possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana. As a “habitual offender,” Drummer received a life sentence. Imagine that: No matter Drummer’s mistakes before – it had been nearly a decade since her last non-marijuana-related conviction – the difference between freedom and life in prison was a little pot.
We are evolving in this country, learning that marijuana isn’t evil, realizing our “war on drugs” – a phrase made popular by President Nixon in 1971 – has unfairly targeted people of color, people like Tameka Drummer.
People like Brittney Griner.
We have much to consider in America these days, but we can’t agree on anything. As the Jan. 6 committee uncovers the obvious threat to our democracy, that whole day is being dismissed by some as a healthy protest – you kneel for the flag, we use it to batter our way into the U.S. Capitol – or a liberal waste of time. Abortion rights are at risk because of the whims of a religious minority in a country founded, primarily, on freedom of religion.
Assault rifles are being used to massacre children and churchgoers and even people at the Greenwood Mall food court, but we can’t agree that assault rifles are too easily available?
What is happening to us?
Now this, a U.S. citizen being held hostage by Russia, and we can’t even agree that she deserves out?
Good morning, America. Brittney Griner is your mirror. Take a good, long look at what you’ve become.
Not too late to change. Promise.
Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Brittney Griner's jail sentence in Russia picks national anthem scab
