Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center rooted for WNBA player Brittney Griner to rot in a Russian prison on wildly trumped-up drug charges simply because she exercised her First Amendment rights (which purportedly makes her "un-American") and failed to be heterosexual -- even as it fretted over the plight of Russian athletes facing the consequences of their home country launch war on Ukraine -- then it petulantly whined that the U.S. government negotiated her release. It has continued to whine ever since:
- A Jan. 17 post by Kevin Tober complained that one network newscast offered "a news brief on anti-American lesbian athlete Brittney Griner appearing at a Martin Luther King Day rally" rather than reporting on the right-wing outrage of the day.
- A March 16 post by Jay Maxson grumbled about criticism of homophobia at Baylor University: "Homosexuality is a campus taboo, though the lesbian Brittney Griner formerly played basketball at the school. Left unsaid by [the writer] is that Griner’s lesbian WNBA world more than makes up for her sexual orientation having been a closeted no-no at Baylor."
- Maxson groused some more in a March 27 post: 'Everyone knows the story of a very tall, woke Women’s NBA player and social justice warrior who played basketball in Russia. Brittney Griner, right? No, this is a story about the other annoying person fitting that description: Brianna Turner, who penned a Houston Chronicle op-ed dismissing the problem of transgender men in women’s sports. ... And we all thought Griner was the loudest SJW on the Phoenix Mercury team."
- Tober returned for an April 27 post whining that the right-wing outrage du jour was ignored in favor of "news that anti-American athlete Brittney Griner held a press conference to discuss her experience in a Russian prison after breaking the law by bringing illegal drugs into a foreign country." Griner had had two vape cartridges of cannabis oil in her luggage when she was arrested in Russia, which hardly makes her the major drug trafficker Tober wants you to think she is.
Nicholas Fondacaro devoted a May 1 post to huffing that other people don't hate Griner as much as he does:
If there’s anything more annoying than journalists and media types hyping up the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s them blowing smoke about who they invited to be their guests. Viewers of Monday’s CBS Mornings were treated that to grotesque display as everyone gushed about them inviting anti-American basketball player Brittney Griner to be their guest of honor; even bragging about how her presence meant there were at “the cool people's table.”
“It was the weekend much of Washington waits for all year long as reporters, politicians, celebrities, all kinds of familiar faces gathered on the red carpet at the White House Correspondents Dinner, one of Washington’s biggest social events of the whole dang year,” co-anchor Tony Dokoupil touted at the top of their FIRST segment about the dinner.
Chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes noted that Griner and her wife Cherelle “were guests of CBS News” and boasted that they were “one of the night’s biggest draws.” “President Biden met privately with Griner before the dinner. She described the moment to Gayle King,” she added before playing a video of Griner’s reaction King apparently shot with her phone.
Later that hour, CBS went to King directly so she could personally gush about having Griner at her table. “I couldn't stop smiling. I think my face hurt from smiling so much,” she described her evening with the Griners.
Fondacaro didn't explain what drove his rage.
John Simmons spewed his own rage at Griner in a May 15 post, even starting by bizarrely calling her an "entitled brat" for some reason:
We all remember that WNBA star and entitled brat Brittney Griner got released from a Russian prison in the most lopsided prisoner exchange in American history - the one where we released the most infamous arms dealer of the past 50 years to get back a clueless social justice who didn’t know Russia’s rules on weed possession.
Putting all that aside - and the fact that we left behind a former U.S. Marine and a school teacher - Griner is back in America and enjoying life. Perhaps unironically, her perspective on America has changed after the Biden administration made sure she didn’t have to face nine-and-a-half years in a Russian prison.
We remember that Simmons was all about wishing that Griner would rot in a Russian prison, and we also remember that the "former U.S. Marine" Simmons wishes was released by Russia instead of Griner received a bad-conduct discharge from the Marines for committing offenses much worse than Griner was ever accused of.
Simmons' whining continued:
Before Griner and the Phoenix Mercury played their preseason game against the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday (the game that no one probably watched), Griner was in awe of how powerful the singing of the “Star Spangled Banner” was.
“Hearing the national anthem, it definitely hit different,” Griner said. “It’s like when you go for the Olympics, you’re sitting there, about to get gold put on your neck, the flags are going up, and the anthem is playing, it just hits different.”
Well isn’t that funny, because in 2020 she couldn’t be bothered to even be on the court for the national anthem before WNBA games."I honestly feel we should not play the National Anthem during our season," Griner said. "I think we should take that much of a stand. I'm going to protest regardless," she said. "I'm not going to be out there for the National Anthem. If the league continues to want to play it, that's fine. It will be all season long, I'll not be out there.”
Simmons curiously failed to mention why Griner chose to do this; according to the link he supplied, it was related to the police shooting of Breonna Taylor. He also reused to note what Griner also said: ""I don't mean that in any disrespect to our country. My dad was in Vietnam and a law officer for 30 years. I wanted to be a cop before basketball. I do have pride for my country."
In the right-wing bubble of the MRC, saying such things and taking a stand against injustice makes one "un-American." But Simmons continued to sneer:
My oh my, America sure looks pretty good to Griner now that we got her idiotic self out of a Russian prison. Gosh, what a difference that makes!
Maybe Griner - and all her self-centered, America-hating peers - will shut up and realize that they have it pretty good on American soil. Maybe they’ll be more appreciative fo a country that allows them to act like spoiled children and make more money than the average American playing a sport. I guarantee you countries like Saudi Arabia, China, and Pakistan wouldn’t put up with their bullcrap.
But knowing Griner, she’ll likely hop back on the social justice train soon. She’ll just needs some time.
It's quite entertaining to watch privilged writers like Simmons rage from their right-wing bubble, smearing anyone who commits the offense of not agreeing with them as "entitled brats" and "spoiled children." Simmons also seems to want the U.S. to become like other countries where people who express "bullcrap" -- that is, any opinion that deviates from mandated government speech -- to be harshly treated; he's inadveretently demonstrating the authoritarianism that underlies right-wing politics. It seems that Simmons would have Griner rot in prison until she is "re-educated" and becomes a loyal government zombie. Creepy, huh?
Simmons wasn't done, though. He gleefully crowed in a May 22 post that Griner's WNBA return wasn't a sellout:
Brittney Griner’s first WNBA game after being brought back home from Russia was on Friday night - not that many of you cared.
Griner’s Phoenix Mercury played against the Los Angeles Sparks, losing 94-71 to open up the WNBA regular season. But Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard wasn’t just miffed that her squad had a nearly 20-point loss to start the 2022-23 campaign.
She was annoyed because in her mind, not many people showed up to support Griner’s homecoming, as only 10,396 fans attended the game at Crypto.com Arena. She wanted all 19,068.
Simmons declared that Griner somehow deserved every bad thing that happened to her:
The WNBA star and part-time social justice warrior was threatened with nine-and-a-half years in a Russian prison for possession of marijuana vapes. While the sentence was certainly overkill, she brought the trouble on herself and should have known better. Maybe people weren’t willing to treat Griner like a hero because she isn’t one?
One Twitter user perfectly summed up why so many people chose to do something better with their Fridays than watch social justice warriors play a basketball game.
Then again, Simmons thinks a disgraced criminal ex-Marine is a "hero," so maybe his judgment shouldn't be trusted.
