Thinking of Brittney 2022 ... and Prague 1968

By Silvio Canto, Jr.

We learned that Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal camp for drug-smuggling. It's a serious charge, but there is no question that Brittney is getting a lesson in Russian justice.

Before the verdict, Brittney addressed the issue:

"I want to say again that I had no intent on breaking any Russian laws. I had no intent. I did not conspire or plan to commit this crime," she added.

I'm glad that she did not mean to break any Russian law, but she did. Worse than that, she is getting a lesson on why she is so lucky to be an American citizen. Of course, this is the same Brittney who did not appreciate much about her country when she was bouncing the ball on the court. All of that woke stuff is not helping her one bit in Russia.

Let me tell Brittney a little story about the country where she sits in jail.

Russia used to be the USSR and the Warsaw Pact was a military alliance or their version of NATO to counter NATO. Prague is now the capital of the Czech Republic and Slovakia is another country, or the Slovak Republic, in what used to be Czechoslovakia.

Back in this week of August 1968, 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the “Prague Spring.” It was called "the spring" because the citizens under communism sought freedom and some of the due process that Brittney does not understand that come with being an American.

So the tanks came and crushed everything in a few days:

Armed resistance to the invasion was negligible, but protesters immediately took to the streets, tearing down streets signs in an effort to confuse the invaders. In Prague, Warsaw Pact troops moved to seize control of television and radio stations. At Radio Prague, journalists refused to give up the station and some 20 people were killed before it was captured. Other stations went underground and succeeded in broadcasting for several days before their locations were discovered.

Dubcek and other government leaders were detained and taken to Moscow. Meanwhile, widespread demonstrations continued on the street, and more than 100 protesters were shot to death by Warsaw Pact troops.

It was a dark day for freedom. Like the Hungarians in 1956, the people of Czechoslovakia were given a taste of Soviet “tolerance.” The “Prague Spring” was all about freedom and reforms but the Kremlin did not accept them, and responded by sending the tanks in.

It was a sad day for those of us who were watching from the West.

Of course, Brittney was not around in 1968, but I hope that her experience with the Russian judiciary teaches her a lesson and then she kisses the U.S. soil when she returns, and I hope that she returns soon.

Then I hope that she yells at her woke teammates and tells them that she is not criticizing the U.S. anymore.

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Image: Picryl, via Wikimedia Commons // public domain