December 11, 2022

"Oh, no, I have been in prison for 10 months now listening to Russian."

Said Brittney Griner to Roger Carstens, special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, quoted in "Griner ‘compassionate, humble’ after release from Russia/‘We talked about everything under the sun,’ says the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs" (WaPo).

Carstens had gotten her to her seat on the plane home and told her: "Please feel free to decompress. We will give you your space." They "ended up talking for about 12 hours out of the 18-hour flight." And she also went up to everyone on the plane “looked them in the eyes, shook their hands and asked about them, got their names, making a personal connection with them.”

“We talked about everything under the sun.... I was left with the impression that this is an intelligent, passionate, compassionate, humble, interesting person, a patriotic person, but, above all, authentic."

58 comments:

rcocean said...

I doubt the patriot part. BUt whatever.

Rusty said...

Yeah. But it's womens basketball.

john said...

"I was left with the impression that this is an intelligent, passionate, compassionate, humble, interesting person, a patriotic person, but, above all, authentic."

Oh no, the Russians have brainwashed her. (Thinking Manchurian Candidate.)

CWJ said...

That's exactly what I'd expect an administration flack to say. Now let's hear what Griner has to say.

RideSpaceMountain said...

Anyone notice how the videos of the exchange in Abu Dhabi all cut immediately after Griner goes in for what looks like an attempt to shake Bout's hand? Watch it again..

Yeah...no way he was going to shake his hand. It cuts immediately to the state department toadie shuffling him off to greet the UAE rep acting as observer.

Paul Whelan would be back home right now if only he'd changed his name to "Paula".

Jim at said...

a patriotic person

Uh-huh.

Pull the other one.

Dave Begley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

She's not a hostage. She's a criminal, and fortunate that Russia does not detain protesters... drug smugglers indefinitely nor administer physical reprimands.

Dude1394 said...

Lucky she was the correct race and sexuality. Paul Whelan, marine, not so much.

n.n said...

Paul Whelan would be back home right now if only he'd changed his name to "Paula".

Diversity [dogma] (e.g. racism) and political congruence ("=") matter.

gilbar said...

.. a patriotic person, but, above all, authentic."

Sure, No Doubt! BUT.. patriotic to WHAT country? Wakanda? or Just Queerland?
I'd be interested in what SHE has to say about the country that paid an Enormous price to free her

Inga said...

All the hateful comments continue unabated. I guess it’s easy and natural for you people to keep up the intensity of your hate.

MadisonMan said...

If you can fake authenticity, you have it made.

Aggie said...

Hey! I got an idea. Let's watch what she actually does with her freedom now, rather than have our perceptions shaped by people telling us what she might have said, or telling us how she might have behaved.

PM said...

Riiiiiight.

Drago said...

Same people called Bowe Bergdahl a hero.

Biff said...

Consider this to be the formal beginning of the next phase of the PR campaign. She'll be on Wheaties boxes before you know it.

Big Mike said...

The world would be safer if Viktor Bout was still in prison, even if was she.

Freeman Hunt said...

After that ordeal, I think I would be feeling particularly patriotic too.

Enigma said...

I smell a PR campaign to make her a 'heroine of justice' and a wronged victim and sympathetic. This is to reward her voting bloc and salvage her professional career, despite her stepping ahead of the other Russian pawns. She may be transformed from her time locked up abroad, or she may yet be scorned.

Narayanan said...

""Oh, no, I have been in prison for 10 months now listening to Russian.""
========
what is the 'no' in above quote in response to?

rhhardin said...

She should take up mathematics. A year between human contacts is fine.

William said...

So it begins. Not since Amelia Earhart have we met a woman of such courage and determination. I hope they go for non-traditional casting in the biopic. Jennifer Lawrence, reprising her Katniss Everdeen role, would be the obvious choice to play her.

RMc said...

Oh no, the Russians have brainwashed her. (Thinking Manchurian Candidate.)

Brittney Griner is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.

Jerry said...

Lol. Yeah, at this point we believe what the Biden administration tells us without any hesitation whatever.

I can believe she needed to decompress. I'm dubious about the 'oh, she's so kind and patriotic' bit.

Then again, she may have gotten some appreciation for what she previously disdained knocked into her.

Oh Yea said...

Whatever you felt about her before and whether you think it was appropriate for Bidden to make the deal the as negotiated to get her out, she deserves the benefit of doubt until she does otherwise. Being subject to the Russian legal and prison systems for 10 months gives you plenty of time to think.

rrsafety said...

We shall see….

Bender said...

this is an intelligent, passionate, compassionate, humble, interesting person, a patriotic person, but, above all, authentic

Who knew that drug smugglers make the best people ever?

Michael K said...

"Compassion and honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made "

Jim at said...

Somebody get Inga a mirror.

rhhardin said...

Not since Amelia Earhart have we met a woman of such courage and determination.

John Denver was described as the Amelia Earhart of country music.

Spiros said...

Why not be honest and up front with the American people? We would respect the Biden Administration so much more if they said --

"Our decision was race conscious and our racism is in your face. How does it feel when the shoe is on the other foot! We chose Griner because she was Black, female, Lesbian. Deal with it."

Instead the Administration sounds defensive about its choice. Nobody believes this nonsense about how nice Griner is. Griner, like most athletes, is an entitled, dumb bully. I'm so disappointed in Joe Biden.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Maybe she has re-evaluated her past choices. An inventory is always… greener than the grass she was smoking.

walter said...

Unforced error leads to release of Merchant of Death.
Will that register on her?

Rory said...

Prediction: Whelan will come home soon and quietly, in exchange for an obscure but tangible concession.

n.n said...

Obama/Biden left people behind in Libya. Biden left people, Americans, allied, and native, behind in Afghanistan, and now in Russia. It doesn't pay to honorably serve your nation and government. That said, in America, they kill people for lesser offenses, kick them until they are no longer viable, for the exercise of civil rights. In Indonesia, Singapore, too, her crime would have been a caning offense.

Lurker21 said...

Ten months in a Russian prison does things to people.

It takes energy to be a jerk or an asshole and she doesn't have it right now.

I wish her well, but seven adjectives suggest that this is just spin control by the administration.

Mike said...

And unlike the former Marine Slow Joe left behind, she's neither, white, male, nor heterosexual. Joe has to keep his base happy and the Marine wouldn't appeal to Joe's base. .

Kevin Rogers said...

What did she say about Paul Whelan and other Americans held in Russian prisons a lot longer than her and for totally specious reasons. ?? ( Answer.... .".Crickets..")
So pleeezze let go back to the most important Q.."..why did she had to cut her hair?."

Such and important topic, doncha think??!
MSM... so dead..so irrelevant.

Yancey Ward said...

Considering that she was arrested for breaking Russian drug laws, I never felt much sympathy for Griner's plight, and I don't really feel sympathy for Whelan either- I am assuming he was a US operative of some kind who got his ass caught. I am glad Griner has been released, but spare me the tales of bravery and heroic resistance to tyranny- she acted stupidly and caught a lucky break to get away with only 10 months in a Russian jail.

Peglegged Picador said...


Blogger Narayanan said...
""Oh, no, I have been in prison for 10 months now listening to Russian.""
========
what is the 'no' in above quote in response to?

It seems like you can read and have a modicum of curiosity. That's a great start!

Peglegged Picador said...

(Protip, learn to use the 'find in page' function, and you can keep doing hardly anything to inform yourself, but still find the answers to your basic questions!)

Sebastian said...

"a patriotic person"

What's the basis for that claim?

Caroline said...

Nice to hear. A George Bailey for our times.

Joe Smith said...

"Actions speak louder now than words..."

-- Elvis Costello

Joe Smith said...

Hopefully all of that listening turned into comprehension.

Learning Russian, even not-by-choice, is still better than nothing, comrade...

The Vault Dweller said...

Authentic is only a compliment if people expect you to be fake.

pacwest said...

I'm happy for her. She must be on top of the world. She is not the one at fault for the the unbelievable blunder the Biden admin just made. It might not be Bergdahl bad, but pretty close.

Mary Beth said...

intelligent, passionate, compassionate, humble, interesting person, a patriotic person, but, above all, authentic

It's like a list of keywords that test best with viewers of "The View". So authentic.

Sprezzatura said...

“Considering that she was arrested for breaking Russian drug laws, I never felt much sympathy for Griner's plight”

I sorta have this gut starting point too. Even if the laws are insanely oppressive and absurd, I sorta think ‘well the law is the law, if you break the law ya get what ya get.’

But then I consider that I hate government control of humans. So I’m especially opposed to government taking a human and locking them in a cage for a stupid-shit idiotic infraction.

I know that we keep putting sanctions on Russia. But what about the self-sanctions Russia is putting on itself? The world sees a nation that passes anti-LGBTQABCXVZ laws, and they could at any point lock up a visitor for some absurdly unfair reason, and they really want to free an evil (not to mention cis/binary/no alphabet soup of letters/no fancy pronouns/can’t have babies) man.

Who the F wants to go there? Answer: a bunch of our homegrown authoritarians, bigotry-lovers and some of our evil business folks looking to make a buck anyway they can. But nobody that cares about freedom and justice will want anything to do w/ Russia. Let’s see how that positioning works for Russia. They get our losers, we lose our losers.

MountainMan said...

"In Indonesia, Singapore, too, her crime would have been a caning offense."

In Singapore that would most likely be the minimal penalty. Bringing illegal substances into Singapore is a capital crime and can get you a death sentence. Both times I went there about 15 years ago I was given a little card at immigration when they stamped the visa in my passport that had that warning written in red letters at the bottom.

Paul said...

Give her time.. she will go back to being a Commie American hating woke liberal.

The effects she has now will wear off.

Butkus51 said...

Hitler was authentic

glacial erratic said...

I'm sure she's stunning and brave.

Donna B. said...

I have no idea what an authentic person is.

UDee said...

A Russian prison would be humbling.

M Jordan said...

Focus the outrage on Biden, not Brittney. She’s an American citizen and I’m glad she’s home.

wendybar said...


Juanita Broaddrick
@atensnut
Britney Griner was rescued for the same reason Karine Jean-Pierre was hired.
11:44 AM · Dec 10, 2022