Posted on 06/25/2014 12:43:31 PM PDT by Kaslin
The audacity of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in canceling the trademark of the Washington Redskins is frightening. When the government is in charge of deciding what is offensive and what is not, and has the power to punish the "offenders," we move further away from a free society and closer to a tyrannical nanny state.
We are not talking about a political issue that should have Democrats and Republicans coming down on different sides, but rather the fundamental freedom to express oneself, which is a part of the fabric of America. In the case of Dan Snyder, who owns the Redskins, he is being demonized for standing up for basic American principles. The team bore the same name when he purchased it in good faith. There was no indication at the time that subsequent demands for a name change would emerge, costing him millions of dollars in related expenses, not to mention lawsuits he might encounter by other businesses that could be injured by such a move.
There is no indication that many in the Native American community are upset after decades of the team's prominent and proud display of its mascot and name. This appears to be yet another case of purposefully induced hypersensitivity, providing yet another opportunity for unnecessary heavy-handed government tactics to infringe upon the peaceful existence of Americans.
I have had the pleasure of meeting Snyder, who is far from the demonic characterization seen in the gullible press, which allows itself to be manipulated by those wishing to bring about fundamental change in America. I do not doubt for one minute that the Redskins organization would change the name tomorrow if it thought it was truly offensive to most Native Americans.
Also, the majority of American citizens are still decent people who would not only demand a name change, but would vote with their feet and purses in a way that would send a loud and convincing message -- if they thought the name was offensive.
It appears that many have forgotten the power of free-market economic forces and instead have placed their trust in flawed government forces. Historically, individual freedoms vanish as government interventions increase.
Traditionally, sports teams choose mascots and names that bring them pride, rather than shame. There are numerous sports teams throughout the nation with colorful names and symbols, and they are not out to offend anyone. In a large, diverse society, it is likely that almost anything is offensive to someone. I suspect there are those who are offended by the fact that the Duke University basketball team is called the Blue Devils. Some would ridiculously opine that this nomenclature pays homage to the forces of evil. Should we cater to such foolishness, or should we grow up and focus on real issues, such as unacceptable rates of unemployment, terrorism, energy development, education, poverty, a stagnant economy, massive corruption, illegal immigration, growing national debt and many other things of greater importance?
We, the American people, must cease being distracted by peripheral issues and demand that our government officials focus their attention on the myriad problems that threaten to destroy our way of life. Like the ancient Romans, we are in danger of being distracted by relatively unimportant issues while our society crumbles beneath us. I challenge those who say I am exaggerating to a debate on this issue.
Many people equate political correctness with kind and compassionate speech. The two things are vastly different with very different purposes. Political correctness is meant to control thought patterns and speech content, creating unanimity and societal conformity, while kind and compassionate speech is meant to take into consideration the feelings and circumstances of others without compromising the truth. It is a much better alternative.
We need to be wary of those who attempt to convince groups of people that they should be offended by a word, phrase or symbol instead of concentrating on the real message being conveyed. These people remind me of the troublemakers in grade school who enjoyed watching the fallout from their devious ploys.
In today's politically correct society, we are in danger of extinguishing interpersonal communications altogether for fear of offending someone. All of this would be comically absurd if it were not so tragic and such an immense departure from the vision of a free and prosperous society that was envisioned by our Founders.
Rather than concentrating on unanimity of thought and speech, we must concentrate on extracting the meaning of verbal communications. Examining every word or phrase for possible offense is beyond stupid. More importantly, it is divisive and destructive. We must outright reject those who try to manipulate emotions for their own political advantage. The Founders of our nation were concerned about what would happen if the populace became uninformed and refused to think for themselves. They feared the day when Americans could be easily led and manipulated, which would lead to a drastic alteration of our nation.
The power to stop the erosion of our values and to restore common sense and prosperity to our nation is in our own hands. We must shake off the passivity and vigilantly guard against manipulation.
Remove the name Washington from the team name and just call them Redskins.
Change the name to The Washington Whiteys.
Just call them the Washington Reds, and you’ll be a lot closer to the truth.
Was the team bought for 24 bucks?
Here is the perfect name. The San Antonio Bandits. You really want to piss Washington off, move the team to SA. Really want to piss them off? Call them the Banditos.
Find the doers. Track them down, build a file, find their further connections, and trace them back to Action Central.
Then expose and punish them.
How about the “Washington Whatever You Feel Like Calling It’s”?
Call them the “Washington DC-vers”
Or, "Concentrate on what was meant." Some folks take offense just in order to yank others' chains.
Analogous naming of other teams show that they are intended to reflect some good side of something. Even the Blue Devils are supposed to be intimidating, though as a Christian I would be uneasy with such a name on other grounds. Then there is the legendary ferocity of the Vikings, or the intensity of the Fighting Irish, etc. A little mutual charity can sweep away a lot of these problems.
Change the name to the Washington Fighting Irish.
Dare the trademark office to defend the rights of a bogoted hateful name.
How about the Pugnacious Politicians ??
Washington Skinheads?
Personally I think citizens should start lodging complaints and filing lawsuits against every last company that makes Crackers, citing of course the Trayvon Martin Trial when the stupid one said “Creepy little Cracker” Cracker has widely and historically been used as a derogatory, Racist, and Inflammatory term used to describe White People. Maybe it should be a Hate Crime for Black people to even utter the Word.
The Washington Vandals.
Solved.
And what are we going to do about the browns.
And there are at least 2 college teams called Wildcats, but no Wilddogs. That is speciesist.
I don’t know Schneider’s politics, but he could make Lib heads explode by renaming the team The Washington Reagans. A textbook case of, Be careful what you wish for....
And replace the Injun with a Cowboy....
Figured the word mark would be nondescript and sufficient.
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