Brittney Griner and the Republican Party of Hate
"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)
At 6'8, Griner dunking at the WNBA 2015 All-Star game. And when just now, she got back on the court shortly after she got home, she demonstrated that she still can.
(Image by Wikipedia (commons.wikimedia.org), Author: Danny Karwoski) Details Source DMCA
As is well-known, the very well-known basketball player, Brittney Griner (very well-known if you are into pro basketball), was captured by the Russian government just at the time of the beginning of the Russian War on Ukraine. She was "caught" with a couple of "vaping cartridges" containing a form of hemp oil used for superficial pain management. (I use a similar product, "CBD paste," for my own mild pain-producing orthopedic conditions [at this point in my life related to aging, not to the triathlon-racing in which I participated for 36 years].)
Actually, we have no idea if any cannabinol-related substance was in the cartridges. One does have to say that, if there were none, Ms. Griner was very wise not to raise the issue of planting evidence whilst she was in Russian custody --- her sentence could have been even longer. (If it were planted, I should think that would come out in interviews --- but hey, you never know.) Given that the usual sentence for such offences in Russia is 6-9 months, the 9-year one indicates clearly that she was captured as a political hostage, for the arrest came at just about the same time that Putin invaded Ukraine. Whether or not she was initially picked up as a hostage, she certainly became one.
As is well-known, Russia also holds another U.S., one Paul Whelan. They claim that he was a spy. Whether or not that is the case, the crime or "crime" claimed did/does put him a different category from Ms. Griner. That is, because of her imporatance on several levels (certainly unspoken in public), as is also well-known almost from the moment Ms. Griner was convicted (and then not merely expelled so that she could not earn the $1 million she was scheduled to receive for playing for her Russian pro team, UMMC Ekaterinburg), the Biden Administration was engaging in "prisoner-swap" negotiations.
They were focused at this end on an (again, well-known) Russian illegal-arms dealer, Viktor Bout. Although the Biden Administration tried hard to make it a two-for-one swap, the Russians wouldn't budge. As one negotiator noted, two-for-one simply wasn't going to happen. So, for reasons known only to the Administration, the one swapped for one was Ms. Griner, not Mr. Whelan. (The Russians have proposed swapping Mr. Whelan for a convicted murderer, Vadim Krasikov. But he was convicted adn imprisoned in Germany and the Germans are not interested in getting involved.)
The Russians had been interested in getting Bout back for quite some time. One of the mysteries is why the Trump Administration apparently made no efforts whatsoever to arrange for a Bout-Whelan swap which could have easily been done. In fact, for all the yelling-and-screaming from the Republicans about the exchange that was made, they have not yet offered any explanation as to why the exchange for Whelan did not happen. (The intimate relationship between Trump and Putin [see the Mueller Report], and what Putin might have [that is, almost certainly has] on Trump might explain it. But that is a matter for another column (which column would require a lot more information than I have to hand).
At any rate, the swap was arranged and Ms. Griner came home. The actual prisoner exchange took place on an airfield in the UAE. Although not nearly as dramatic, it brought back memories of the bridge scene at the end of the famous Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg movie, "Bridge of Spies." The live-one was surely as choreographed as was the one in the movie. Ms. Griner stood with a couple of Russian officials just after they had dis-embarked from the Russian aircraft, and Mr. Bout stood with a couple of U.S. officials. The two groups were about 20 yards apart. Then each walked toward the other. As they reached the same point on the taxiway, left-hand-side to left-hand-side, the exchange took place. Right out of the movies!
From there, as Ms. Griner and Mr. Bout went back to their home countries, the dramas diverged. Bout was warmly received in Russia, has made a number of appearances on Russian state TV, and may be headed towards a career in politics. Ms. Griner was received quite differently. The Biden Administration, her colleagues in the Women's' National Basketball Association, her friends and family, the broader civil rights community in which she holds a place of some prominence, and the majority of non-Rightist U.S. were of course thrilled. It is not yet known (possibly not even by Ms. Griner herself) whether or not she will return to her Phoenix Mercury team in the WNBA. She is only 33 so she certainly should be able to play, physically.
(A big NBA fan since I rooted for the New York Knickerbockers as a child back in the 50's [think Carl Braun, Sweetwater Clifton, Dick McGuire, and Ernie Vandeweghe, who played only the home games because he was actually going to medical school at Columbia Physicians and Surgeons at the same time (!!!)] and I still do. But I have never been able to work up much enthusiasm for the rather slower [but still highly skilled] women's game. But believe me, if Ms. Griner does play with the Mercury next summer, I will surely go to see them when they come to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Liberty [and I will get my ticket well in advance, for I am certain that many other folk will want to do the same thing{!}]).
As for the U.S. Right in general and many elected Republicans in particular, they took their political clothes off in public. Racism, homophobia (for those who might not know, Ms. Griner is gay and married), and anti-feminism all got rolled up into one tight ball. Yelling and screaming. "Uneven deal." "Whelan left behind." (As noted, Trump never did anything to try to get Whelan released, but of course logic is not a Republican strong-suit.) The standard Repub. position is "The deal [for a Black, female, very tall, Lesbian, married, outspoken-fighter-for-civil-rights, top-drawer basketball player] never should have been made" (even if, I guess, it had meant that Griner would be rotting away in a Russian penal colony for the next nine years).
So, what does all this mean for the Republicans. In recent months, they have been trying to shift away somewhat from racism to homophobia (see Gov. DeSantis, see Herschel Walker, see the former Kanye West. {Of course West brings anti-Semitism to the table, which does create some problems for "Jews for Trump" [who are similar in many ways to "Jews for Hitler"]. Indeed, Trump has already criticized them for even raising the issue.}). As for Ms. Griner, she represents homosexuality, race, being outspoken on civil rights issues, all rolled up in one very tall, very skilled package. What a target.
As a fine example of the anti-Griner-swap Republican position (and a few did support it) let's see what Tucker Carlson (who else?) had to say:
"Carlson cited a NBC News report which said that Russia originally gave Biden a choice of whether to free Griner or Whelan in exchange for Bout. The initial reporting cited a senior U.S. official. He then claimed that the report was 'scrubbed' and 'sanitized' to state Biden was given 'the choice of either Griner or no one.' [That claim happens to be true.]
" 'Why did they make that choice? You should know that Whalen is a Trump voter and he made the mistake of saying so on social media, and he's paying the price for that now,' Carlson said. 'Brittney Griner is not. She has very different politics.'
"He went on to claim that Griner despises the United States, citing comments she made in support of not playing the national anthem at WNA games. (Interesting just how opposing the playing of the National Anthem [which status for that text-attached-to-an-old-Irish-drinking song, was achieved by John Phillip Sousa] was made into a major political issue by the racist Trump.)
" 'That's the kind of position [Griner's, that is] that gets you rewarded by Joe Biden,' he said. 'Hate America? Perfect!' "
So, in summary, this is what Republicans do with the kinds of issues that could be raised by the Griner-Bout swap, which excluded Mr. Whelan: when it's a Democrat, who obtains the release of a gay, married, Black person who is active in the civil rights struggle: go on the offensive, against: her, the deal, and Pres. Biden. Surely don't celebrate a deal that brought home an American imprisoned by Putin who otherwise would have been left to rot in a Russian "penal colony" (which the Repubs. so used to rail against [in the old days]). It's an: "It's an: 'Unpatriotic Embarrassment': Republicans Slam Biden's Deal To Free Brittney Griner As Paul Whelan Stays in Russia." And so, the rescue becomes a chance for the Republicans to reveal once again who they are, and more importantly what thye will be running on in 2024 (even though that combination of issues, along with "stolen election" didn't seem to do to much for them in 2022). And so, for as long as they do, slamming them as the Party of Hate, over-and-over again, would seem to be a winning issue for Democrats, and anti-fascists in general.