Racism. Is there anything it can’t do?

Nope. Racism is the root not just of all evil, but of all things. At least that is what the fine folks at MSNBC want you to believe.

It will never be enough pic.twitter.com/OsuWsg18Eq

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) December 9, 2022

Brittney Griner has been languishing in a Russian prison since February. Which, to be fair, isn’t really that long given that Russia and the United States have been in an undeclared state of war during the time that Griner has been languishing there. The United States has been systematically dismantling the Russian military through its Ukrainian proxy, and while Russia is the aggressor in this war, it is unsurprising that Russia might be a little pissed.

Griner’s incarceration is simultaneously all her fault (she broke the law and expected to get away with it because she was semi-famous) and due to Russia’s being pissed off at the US and wanting to poke us in the eye. She might have been right in her calculation that as a celebrity she would have gotten away with breaking the law, save for the parlous state of relations between Russia and the US.

Having said all this, it is pretty hard to argue that Griner didn’t get special treatment from the Biden Administration in their zealous pursuit of getting her released. Like any other citizen the US had an obligation to help her a bit, and I think we can all agree that it is better she is here than stuck in a Russian prison.

But unlike any other citizen–including other citizens still languishing in Russian prisons and labor camps–the United States traded one of the most dangerous men in the world to get her out.

Griner was traded in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout. He is, to put it mildly, a really really bad guy. So bad that the US spent years and millions of dollars to capture him and put him behind bars. Russia has wanted to free him for years, and the United States government has consistently refused to return him because we deemed him a clear threat to Americans and our allies.

He had arranged the killings of Western troops and citizens, and he needed to be put away. The Obama Administration did and bragged about it.

This is from 2010. It is a 60 Minutes segment on how dangerous Viktor Bout is, the guy Biden just traded to get back Brittney Griner, while leaving behind Marine veteran Paul Whelan pic.twitter.com/R7uBprmd8q

— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) December 8, 2022

The Obama Administration labeled Viktor Bout one of the most dangerous men on the face of the Earth, and we traded him for a drug smuggling black lesbian basketball player who has made a show of hating America. Doesn’t seem like a smart trade, even if Griner had not actually violated Russian law and had been subject to their jurisdiction.

Her color, her sexuality, her celebrity, and her politics shouldn’t matter when considering her value as a citizen; as an American citizen the US owes her no less loyalty than a pro-American saint. The government represents all of us, no matter how pro- or anti-American they are.

But the government owes her no more loyalty than anybody else. And the truth is that if Griner were not a black lesbian anti-American lesbian she would still be in prison, because there is no way the government would exchange “the most dangerous man on the face of the Earth” for a normal citizen.

Griner got special treatment. Indisputably so.

Yet MSNBC is now whinging that she has been freed only to return to an evil, racist, sexist, homophobic, and dangerous America. Perhaps we should have sent her to a 3rd country more to her liking, such as Venezuela or Cuba?

Who are these people? Can we all agree to send them away to some sh!thole country that more aligns with their politics?

The state of powerlessness Black women, including Serena Williams, are relegated to is a phenomenon sociologist and author Tressie McMillan Cottom discusses in her memoir “Thick: And Other Essays.” It “supersedes even the most powerful status cultures in all of neoliberal capitalism: wealth and fame,” Cottom wrote.

The same can be said for American basketball player Brittney Griner, who has been sitting in a Russian prison cell for over five months for carrying 0.7 ounces of cannabis oil in her luggage. Cannabis from a vape cartridge which, her lawyer said, she only brought to Russia by accident. Griner, the two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champion, pleaded guilty to drug charges, the result of which could put her behind bars for up to 10 years.

First of all, that’s right. She pled guilty because she was. In many cases the United States actually ignores the fate of Americans who broke the law in other countries, because we also incarcerate citizens of other countries that break the law. Like Viktor Bout. We can all agree that a 10 year sentence for having some cannabis oil is excessive, but we can equally agree that carrying cannabis oil to a country with such laws is a truly stupid move.

Griner may not have deserved that particular sentence, but her incarceration itself was not an outrage against justice. We have people in jail for breaking cannabis laws.

What she did was epically stupid. For a normal person the US would expend some effort to ensure that they are treated well, but the State Department is not generally in the business of getting citizens who violated laws of another country out of jail. They say so on their website:

Consular Assistance to U.S. Prisoners

When a U.S. citizen is arrested overseas, he or she may be initially confused and disoriented. They may be in unfamiliar surroundings and may not know the local language, customs, or legal system.

 We Can:

• Provide a list of local attorneys who speak English
• Contact family, friends, or employers of the detained U.S. citizen (with their written permission)
• Visit the detained U.S. citizen regularly and provide reading materials and vitamin supplements, where appropriate
• Ensure that prison officials are providing appropriate medical care
• Provide a general overview of the local criminal justice process
• Upon request, ensure that prison officials permit visits with a member of the clergy of the religion of the detainee’s choice
• Establish an OCS Trust, if necessary, so friends and family can transfer funds to imprisoned U.S. citizens

We Cannot:

• Get U.S. citizens out of jail
• State to a court that anyone is guilty or innocent
• Provide legal advice or represent U.S. citizens in court
• Serve as official interpreters or translators
• Pay legal, medical, or other fees

 

Last Updated: November 7, 2022

Griner, 32, is certainly a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Griner was imprisoned one week before Russia invaded Ukraine and has effectively become Vladimir Putin’s political prisoner. Griner, a lesbian, has also found herself in the grip of a government that persecutes LGBTQ+ people to undermine democracy.

But the conditions that brought her to Russia in the first place, and perhaps what have kept her there for so long, are uniquely American, and they reflect the vulnerability that often comes with being a Black woman. Much like Williams’ near-death experience, those conditions override Griner’s status as one of the most dominant female basketball players in history.

The gender pay gap – particularly for Black women –that exists across the workforce in the U.S. is especially egregious in basketball, and it’s what makes traveling overseas such an attractive option for many WNBA players like Griner. In 2019, half of the WNBA played in Europe and Asia during the league’s off-season because they can expect to get paid more than they do at home. The average WNBA salary, around $100,000, is 1.5 percent of the average NBA salary, which is well over $7 million.

Russian teams, including UMMC Ekaterinburg, which Griner plays for, reportedly pay WNBA players more than $1 million annually. In her latest season playing with the Phoenix Mercury, Griner made $221,450.

MSNBC is whinging because Griner, a person whose economic value to her employer is likely close to nil (the WNBA isn’t quite the NBA in terms of revenue generation), gets only $221,450 and hence is grossly oppressed. So oppressed that she went abroad to make even more money. They of course ignore the huge endorsement deals she gets. Not Michael Jordan money, but not insignificant. Millions of dollars is more than most people see in decades.

Uh, got news for you honey. Most Americans make a lot less than that. Griner’s income alone places her in the top decile of US household income, and she has a wife whose net worth is between $4 and $10 million. Griner herself is very wealthy, with a net worth north of $5 million. They are in the dreaded 1% the Left claims to hate.

We are to believe she is facing oppression in the United States. Only a Leftist in the MSM could assert that with a straight face.

We already know that the demand for American racism in the media far exceeds the supply. They hop on every racist fraud (nooses are suddenly everywhere!), and invent racism everywhere they can plausibly do so. They repeat a racism mantra, but like a mantra it only exists to comfort themselves.

They need an excuse to hate us, so they invent it. They revel in a fake sense of victimhood, because it feeds their narcissism. Here is a group of MSNBC’s horribly oppressed Americans:

The Hillary Challenge: Can you make it all the way through this video without jumping out a window? pic.twitter.com/JYjQ7RAAwg

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) December 9, 2022

I have no idea whether Griner will replace her anti-Americanism with gratitude, but I am not holding my breath.

Frankly I don’t care what she thinks. As for MSNBC, I do care, not because it makes me feel any differently about myself, but because they perpetuate the false Narrative that is ruining our country.