June 19, 2014

Government Giants Sack Redskins

Football team loses six trademarks to politically correct bureaucrats.

In a 2-1 decision, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled six trademarks of the Washington Redskins because “based on the evidence properly before us,” the board wrote, “these registrations must be cancelled because they were disparaging to Native Americans at the respective times they were registered.” And so government sacked another private enterprise, while flexing its muscles and showboating to boot.

Over the last few months, the Left has turned up the volume, heckling Redskins owner Dan Snyder over the name. Even congressional Democrats have weighed in. Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) threatened he’d never go see another game as long as the team “promotes a racial slur” – probably the best news the team got all week. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) declared, “[S]lurs have no right to trademark protections.” In May, nearly every Democrat senator joined in sending a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell demanding that he force a name change.

In its ruling, the trademark board also alleged the supposed slur subjected Native Americans to “contempt, ridicule and disrepute.” Memo to bureaucrats: That’s not why teams choose something as a mascot. Just the opposite – a mascot is a source of pride.

Besides, the offensive part of the name isn’t “Redskins,” it’s “Washington.”

The Redskins said in a press release the team will fight the decision, just as it did successfully in 1999 and 2003. However, even should the Redskins fail to win back trademark protection, it’s unlikely this will damage the team meaningfully, as they have a strong claim to common law ownership of the name.

Furthermore, The Wall Street Journal notes, “If [the ruling] stands, any third party could sell Redskins jerseys, banners or rosters. But how does pumping more supposedly offensive merchandise into circulation at lower prices remedy the alleged insult?” On top of that, this kerfuffle gives the Redskins tons of free publicity – and it’s not even football season.

There are two things at play here. First, the Left is obsessed with dividing people along race and class lines so as to co-opt those constituent groups come election time. In this case, they’ve managed to find a handful of professionally aggrieved people to yell a few war whoops and fight for change. (In other news, the two Choctaw words okla and humma form the name of the state Oklahoma. The words mean “red people,” which makes the Oklahoma Sooners the “Red People White Settlers.” Or to put it another way, Indian Cowboys. Where’s the outrage?)

Second, the Left seeks power, pure and simple. Statists always use the government to coerce certain behavior and thought. Examples abound, from ObamaCare, EPA emissions regulations and financial “reform,” to light bulbs, toilets and building entrance ramps.

On a final note, given that one nickname of the Redskins is “the hogs,” if they end up losing this battle, they could always rebrand as The Pork Barrel Spenders.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.