WNBA star Brittney Griner is experiencing the hell of Russian incarceration. That’s not a unique experience. Tens of millions of human beings suffered and died in Communist gulags and prisons over the past century. While Griner is presumably not being tortured or starved like so many of her prison predecessors, her confinement is surely brutal, especially for one used to freedom and affluence.
Griner was arrested on February 17 at the Moscow Airport, accused of possession of hashish paraphernalia. She’s learned that the wheels of “justice” turn slowly in the Russian police state.
A plaintive letter from Griner to President Biden was recently made public.
“… as I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever …. I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American Detainees …. I miss my wife! I miss my family! I miss my teammates! … I am grateful for whatever you can do at this moment to get me home.”
Biden speaks little about Griner—which may be calculated to lower her profile and decrease her value as a bargaining chip to trade for some incarcerated Russian criminal.
American tradition has been to “leave no one behind” when citizens are stuck in extremis on foreign shores. But that tradition took a hit last August during our hasty retreat from Afghanistan where hundreds of Americans were indeed left behind, along with thousands of other USA friends. While some choose to forget that shameful episode, the Griner saga indeed serves as a reminder about taking care of our own.
Still, the matter of personal responsibility also comes into play here. If Griner indeed broke foreign drug laws, then there are some hard lessons to be learned by her and others.
And some find irony in Griner’s pleas that her native America rescues her. She’s one of those high-profile athletes—like Colin Kaepernick and Megan Rapinoe—who publicly disrespected our American flag before sports events.
“I honestly feel we should not play the national anthem during our season,” Griner said in 2020 during a spate of so-called social-justice protests. “I think we should take a stand.”
The wonder and beauty of America include the freedom of the Kaepernicks, Rapinoes, or Griners to disrespect our national symbol. Occasionally the odd malcontent will refuse to stand for the anthem before a sports event. While that is upsetting to some, I choose to focus on the 99+% of attendees who voluntarily honor our flag. In other places, standing for an anthem is mandatory and failure to do so means prison or a death sentence. Places like North Korea or Iran.
Or Russia.
And yes, service people have a special affinity for our national symbol. They surrender their personal sovereignty and risk their lives, in peacetime as well as wartime, to serve commanders-in-chief of both parties who send them into harm’s way when our national interests are at stake. Indeed, past American sacrifices not only preserved our own freedom and sovereignty, but also the freedom and sovereignty of so many other countries and countless millions of the world’s peoples. Our flag stands for much.
Our country, as always, remains a work in progress. But the inspiring progress America has made since July 4, 1776, should be better understood and celebrated and not reviled and denigrated by the ignorant, the unpatriotic, and worse.
Griner’s letter to Biden cited her father’s military service. Again, such irony. One wonders how many trips Griner’s made to veterans’ hospitals and the like to recognize the type of folks whose sacrifices saved the world from totalitarian tyranny while helping position her to become a successful millionaire athlete.
One also wonders if—when the time comes—Griner will stand for the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” And one does hope, for Brittney’s sake, that such a time comes sooner, rather than later.
God Bless America.
