The ruling does not mean that the Redskins have to change the name of the team. It does affect whether the team and the NFL can make money from merchandising because it limits the team’s legal options when others use the logos and the name on T shirts, sweatshirts, beer glasses and license plate holders.So everyone can make money selling Redskins gear? (There are appeals to come, of course.)
ADDED: Here's the Redskins' statement on the decision, expressing confidence that they will win on appeal (as, in fact, they have won twice before).
Posts
121 comments:
Change the name and move the franchise to Los Angeles. The team has sucked for almost 25 years. Time to mix things up.
PC government in full force.
And that reparations thing?
Never gonna make it, I tell ya,...
It's fine, just pay the Redskins the value of the trademark in compensation.
A taking is a taking.
Extend the same idea to rezonings.
I hope this doesn't affect the thousands of stars named after girlfriends.
Legislation by regulation. Maybe some future Congress can retrieve back some of its legislative power from the State Bureaucracy.
The Redskins will maintain their trademark protection while the decision is repealed, so the floodgates of knockoff merchandise won't start yet. Though, even if they lose again on appeal, the Redskins name itself would only lose it's trademark, not the logos (the Indian Chief, or the Spear, or the cursive R), so the amount of Redskins knockoff merchandise would be somewhat limited.
It has already been reversed on appeal once before.
Trademarks are by the statute that provides for them subject to limitations and the govt found that a condition was not met. The property was always subject to those limitations.
Disparage: to describe (someone or something) as unimportant, weak, bad, etc.
It seems to me that if you are using the Federal Govt to bully a "private" Corporation to do something, you are admitting that you yourself are too weak to do anything about it. Self-disparagement. This notion that the Govt must take care of you is completely infantilizing.
A good question for the people who brought this lawsuit: What kind of nickname -- other than the apparently objectionable one that honors both Native Americans and delicious potatoes -- would be acceptable to honor Native Americans? I wonder if any agreement could be reached on that?
So when are they going to take away Notre Dame's trademark on the Fighting Irish?
I am beyond offended by the arrogance.
Notre Dame's Fighting Irish are next! North Dakota Fighting Sioux better watch out too. Better start donating to Harry Reid's re-election campaign of he'll get you next!
I'd wager that the paternalistic actions of the US Bureau of Indian Affairs have done far more damage and have disparaged the tribes and the people far more than the name of a football team.
Disband the BIA!
Or, since we're into superficial, feel-good solutions, let's rename it, but keep all of the horrendous policies.
Washington Redskins terrorizing the majority by using that name.
Same thing.
Thought police.
Really, we're in a banana republic already.
Trademarks are by the statute that provides for them subject to limitations and the govt found that a condition was not met. The property was always subject to those limitations.
So, you're saying that after a bazillion years of the team being named the Redskins the lazy, stupid, fucks who inhabit the PTO finally got off there asses and noticed that there was a problem in the legal code with trademarking the name "Redskins"?
A government that's that stupid & incompetent has no reason to live, much less impose penalties on the citizens.
Let's call this what it is: yet one more example of the Obama administration weaponizing the federal government.
Washington Redskins terrorizing the majority by using that name.
Same thing.
Thought police.
Really, we're in a banana republic already.
But Professor - can those conditions properly include view point discrimination?
I want the copyright of every Jay-Z and Kanye song revoked and every trademark associated with the two of them and every other rapper who has disparaged women as ho's and more.
How is it that it seems that every conservative lawsuit on any matter is dismissed for lack of standing but this kind of crap makes it through?
And that reparations thing?
Never gonna make it, I tell ya,...
They DID do reparations, but it was handled by VA computers, which, as you well know, haven't been updated since 1985.
Sucks, huh?
Trademarks are by the statute that provides for them subject to limitations and the govt found that a condition was not met. The property was always subject to those limitations.
And the decades of existence prior to this ruling, in which the government allowed it to exist as a trademark don't count for anything?
So "Redskins" is so bad they want to make it easier for people to use it without the patent-holder's permission?
Sure, that makes sense.
Ann Althouse said...
Trademarks are by the statute that provides for them subject to limitations and the govt found that a condition was not met. The property was always subject to those limitations.
6/18/14, 11:22 AM"
What condition has changed since the trademark was first issued other than political correctness?
Professional sports teams shouldn't be permitted to hold trademarks until they're subject to federal anti-trust legislation.
as a worker at the USPTO (patent side), this disturbs me.
effectively, a legally obtained trademark can be ruled invalid based on hurt feelings. can i do the same when rejecting a patent?
interestingly enough, 5 minutes before the decision was handed down we received an email regarding media policy for staff.
Gangster government.
The PTO will have to defend this in court and it looks like they have a weak argument to me.
The Crack Emcee said...
And that reparations thing?
"Mo money mo money mo money!"
Honestly, I think this is an exercise at "othering". Was there any indication, at all, that this was going to happen? Someone in the administration pulled the trigger on it.
Flagged by scandals, their foreign policy adrift, the economy quite possibly heading into official recession territory, etc, the DNC doesn't have much to run on.
Pull the trigger on this one, watch the inevitable outrage, and gin up your base.
Washington DC gets a taste of Washington DC. Delicious!
I'm guessing that the trademark was cancelled by a couple of rouge agents in the Cincinnati office. There's not a "smidgen of corruption here".
"But Professor - can those conditions properly include view point discrimination?"
I was responding to rhhardin and meant only to say why it's not a taking if the Patent Office made its finding correctly. (A taking requires "just compensation" under the 5th Amendment.
Free speech arguments could be used to attack the way the statute is applied here. I haven't studied the case law about this, but I would guess it could be part of the appeal.
Not really a "wow" decision, since it's actually the second time the PTO has made this finding. What I found curious is that the last time they found the mark unregistrable, it was reversed in an opinion that was upheld by a federal appeals court. Me, I'm just a humble litigator whose cabined thinking would lead me to conclude that that put the issue to rest. Had to read the opinion to see how they got around that one, and it's a deusy.
Trademarks aren't as trivial as novelty license plates.
Can they really inflict that kind of disadvantage for certain people because they don't like the content of the speech. "We don't like the name of your business so we won't afford you the same brand protections."
This is insane.
And political.
What about the stupid Viking names and logos with horned (and longhorns! at that!) helmet logos?
How about the Valley High Vikettes?
I am greatly offended and demand that all such cease and desist forthwith, besides paying my court costs and reparations for pain and suffering!
I wish a law prof. would talk through the ways treating government regulations/regulatory arrangements as contracts would alter the legal dimension of political changes--if (say) the EPA decides to change the rules after you've built a power plant you don't have an argument on akings nor detrimental reliance grounds now, right?
The skins still have a state common law right in the name and can enjoin use under state law. The just don't have a federal statutory right.
The redskins can do their own trademark enforcement by scalping infringers.
That's assuming the Braves don't have the trademark on scalping.
Ann seems to have much more faith in The Law than I do. "I haven't studied the case law about this, but I would guess it could be part of the appeal." I don't doubt it would be. What I doubt is that it would be relevant in any way. I don't think it matters at all what's in the appeal. If the board or judge is bothered by the Redskins name, then it will rule one way. If it isn't, it will
rule the other way. "Justification" will come later, by interpreting laws to fit whatever desired outcome "the decider" wants.
"North Dakota Fighting Sioux better watch out too. "
Already gone.
And that reparations thing? Never gonna make it, I tell ya,...
Weird -- Crack said something intelligent. He meant it sarcastically, but still. Baby steps.
They named the team the Redskins presumably because they believed it evoked some positive quality. They wouldn't name the team something negative, would they? Every comparison to other names that are negative stereotypes misses that point. It seems that they've taken a name that could be considered a slur and turned it into something positive.
I don't get it.
Let's call this what it is: yet one more example of the Obama administration weaponizing the federal government.
Precisely.
Pretty soon the word "America" will be considered an ethnic slur and racist.
One up the bastards. Each year the Redskins should "adopt" a tribe. Wear the tribes insignia on the helmets - The Apaches one year, the Arapahoe the next. Make BIG donations to the various sponsored Nation. reserve a section of your stadium and fly members of the tribe in. Have the Chief of the tribe give benedictions to victory... Get out ahead of the public relations curve. Study how FSU has dealt with the Seminole Nation in using their tribal identity.As it is Team management are patsy's with that dear in the headlights look. Buncha' chumps if you ask me.
hmm, the trademark office had these non-offensive trademarks listed on the website:
1 85593189 TNO TRUE NIGGAS ONLY
2 85379668 S.N.I.T.C.H= SUCKA NIGGA INFORMING THE COPS HATIN
3 78965104 A NIGGER FOR LIFE
4 77626353 N.O.B.L.E. N.I.G.G.A.Z.
5 77309301 BLACKS AGAINST NIGGERS
6 77309286 NIGGERS AGAINST BLACKS
7 76639548 NIGGA
from the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)
Anyone still think fascism is a phenomenon of the Right?
Anyone?
What kind of nickname -- other than the apparently objectionable one that honors both Native Americans and delicious potatoes -- would be acceptable to honor Native Americans?
The term Redskins refers to bloody scalps of Native Americans.
They don't want to be anyone's mascots. I'm guessing you don't call your students Redskins, right?
"ingus Jerry said...
North Dakota Fighting Sioux better watch out too."
That's already done.
some more fun with non-offensive trademarks:
2 86286757 FUCK CANCER
3 86284571 FUCK YOU
4 86277825 FUCK YOUSE, I'M GOING TO MARS!
5 86267495 R*CH AS FUCK
6 86243815 MEMPHIS AS FUCK
7 86218064 FUCK THE COOL KIDS
8 86137738 FUCK THE FAME
9 86208364 FUCK IT, TSDR LIVE
10 86205950 SAPIOSEXUAL A MIND I'LD LIKE TO FUCK M.I.L.F.
11 86110141 OPERATOR AS FUCK
12 86088761 WHATEVER THE FUCK IT TAKES
13 86065220 GO FUCK YOUR #SELFIE
14 86044599 FV?KWHEAT
15 86034281 EIICY OSE POLR OPP
16 86105424 GET THE F(OSSIL FUELS) OUTTA HERE!
17 85961540 FCK SANDY
18 85903685 KNOCK YOU THE F OUT, KNOCK YOU THE FUCK OUT
19 85923859 FUCK FAKE BITCHES
etc.
What kind of nickname -- other than the apparently objectionable one that honors both Native Americans and delicious potatoes -- would be acceptable to honor Native Americans?
The term Redskins refers to bloody scalps of Native Americans.
They don't want to be anyone's mascots. I'm guessing you don't call your students Redskins, right?
Harry Reid: "Let me perfectley clear, the USPTO was NOT redmansplaining."
Scott M,
"They DID do reparations, but it was handled by VA computers, which, as you well know, haven't been updated since 1985."
Hey - argue with yourself, buddy:
The official said the VA needs to update its scheduling software package, which the department has been using since 1985. “It predates the internet and Blockbuster’s rise and fall,” he said.
White people broke it,...
I can see this ruling being linked to the IRS' targeting of conservative organizations for special scrutiny, as another indication of which team (red or blue) is in charge of the federal bureaucracy and which viewpoint reigns supreme there.
It would also be interesting to know whether other trademarks that some might find disparaging have been challenged in a similar way, let alone cancelled. Quaker Oats owns the Aunt Jemima trademark, for example, and has been using it for many decades to sell pancake mix, syrup and the like. The name came from 19th century minstrel shows, and was a stock character for a black maid at the time. Sambo's Restaurant chain is another, even though the name is a combination of the two founders' names (Sam and Bo, as it happens).
There will be hell to pay if a large segment of the public comes to believe that the federal government is an overtly politicized and highly partisan bureaucracy. Great work for a president who pledged to bring us together, no more red states or blue states but just the United States.
Hope and change.
Tank,
"Really, we're in a banana republic already."
Ha!
He said "banana"….
So, you're saying that after a bazillion years of the team being named the Redskins the lazy, stupid, fucks who inhabit the PTO finally got off there asses and noticed that there was a problem in the legal code with trademarking the name "Redskins"?
I'd look to see if anybody at PTO has season tickets :)
I bet some judges do...
"one that honors both Native Americans and delicious potatoes"
Just call them the Washington New Potatoes and be done with it.
As someone who despises Dan Snyder with all the fiber of my being--
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
The very idea of him losing money is just glorious, I know it's wrong to be happy about others' misfortunes but the hell with that guy. He's a lousy human being.
Though, while I agree that the name "Redskins" is offensive--and if you disagree then please explain why no one would consider naming a pro-team the "blackskins" today, and why this is different--I was not aware that offensiveness of a name or logo is grounds for the PTO to cancel one's registration.
I'm actually starting to enjoy watching Crack beg for money like a bum on the street. It remains frustrating to watch him hijack every thread with his racism, but you have to find some joy in it since AA doesn't seem to intend to stop him.
They did this twice before and eventually lost on appeal. And they will do so again.
Ann Althouse said...
Trademarks are by the statute that provides for them subject to limitations and the govt found that a condition was not met. The property was always subject to those limitations
Your use of verb tense is makes your statement ambiguous nigh unto misleading. The "condition" is tested at the time of original registration. So the PTO found that decades ago, the condition had not been met. The proofs for that are creative. Suffice it to say that the opinion runs to well over 100 pages for a reason: the record is far from clear.
But the bigger question is: if it takes you the better part of 100 years to figure out a word is offensive, can it really have been so offensive?
This reeks big time of Chicago politics! Hey fella nice football franchise you have there, it would be a shame to lose it.
Kevin,
"How is it that it seems that every conservative lawsuit on any matter is dismissed for lack of standing but this kind of crap makes it through?"
The culture now recognizes racism as bad, but few whites understand what racism is (because they're so practiced at it) so how it's being destroyed escapes them, too.
You know how whites are all proud to say "We don't even THINK about race!" when blacks have to think about it all the time? Whites are now discovering that was a mistake, because thinking about it all the time means blacks are coming up with solutions that never occurred to whites - who insisted on being willingly ignorant because they convinced themselves MLK said so.
MLK never said so. Thinking that just made a way for whites to continue attacking blacks who do what MLK did say to do - from what whites thought was a morally superior position (as though there was anything morally superior in wanting to hurt blacks after centuries of doing so) - incredible.
Anyway, that's what's happening,...
I'm guessing you don't call your students Redskins, right?
Why on Earth would I call them that? They have names, usually given at birth, that I use.
Crayola withdrew indian red just in time.
Meade said...
"one that honors both Native Americans and delicious potatoes"
Just call them the Washington New Potatoes and be done with it.
Not sure if you know this, but the PTO rejected WASHINGTON REDSKINS POTATOES just this March.
JimBonobo said...
some more fun with non-offensive trademarks:
I don't mean to spoil your fun, but those aren't registered. But CHOCOLATE MILF is. They're a bit selective in deciding what's derogatory.
Submitted for a new logo / name for the Redskins:
The logo: A man in a business suit with a stern look on his face wagging an index finger as if to scold someone.
The name: The DC Buttinsky Bureaucrats.
So when are they going to take away Notre Dame's trademark on the Fighting Irish?
First you'll have to file an actual complaint and not just whine about it on a blog.
Same thing with everyone else pointing to other trademarks they are offended by. If you really want something changed then get off your butt and actually do something about it.
The original owner of the Redskins, George Marshall, was a stone cold racist. His bedfellows were the American Nazi Party and the KKK, who rallied at the stadium in support of Marshall, who refused to sign black players. The first black player was signed a full 15 years later after the league integrated.
This is what people want to rally around?
Reparations? Need to tap Obama's stash, oh Crackerific.
Someone has to say it said:
"Anyone still think fascism is a phenomenon of the Right?"
Not me. Never did. I always thought National Socialism was socialism.
I always took Mussolini at his word when he said that Fascism (capital F, as in the Italian political party) was socialist.
Only stupid people think they aren't socialist.
Of course there are some stupid people who talk of "right wing socialism" so go figure.
John Henry
Meade:
Red Potatoes?
garage: "This is what people want to rally around?"
LOL
Oddly enough, the left has seriously rallied around Planned Parenthood and Margaret Sanger who invented it to kill off black babies.
Garage, why does the left hate black babies so much?
Why do you?
I think this team should be renamed to something like the "Washington Manitou." The name would reference a Native American spirit and permit it to keep the Indian head emblem. It's not a total capitulation by the NFL, but it acknowledges the offensive nature of the term "Redskins."
@garage,
This is what people want to rally around?
Yeah, 'cause we don't want to be around the sort of racist trash that American Nazis would support!
Garage:
Agree. I would bet that most of the season ticket holders have no idea about this. Being Democrats they have their original issue robes.
This is what people want to rally around?
Redskin fans, those that were born after the founding of the franchise and which undoubtedly make up the majority, should declare that they've taken back the word "Redskin", internalized it and now it's only okay for them to use it, nobody else. It would be a term of endearment when they use it to refer to each other, but hate if anyone, say a Cowboys fan, uses it.
The Congress shall have Power To...promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries....
Article I, Section 8, Clause 8
I would argue that the Founders thought patents/copy-writes/trademarks so important they put it in the Constitution...
...a Constitution so small you could walk around with it in your sock and barely notice.
I am waiting for PETA to jump on the bandwagon. After all, many teams with animal names have a live example of the named animal...
Taima the auger hawk represents the Seattle Seahawks. Free Taima!!!!
Just give every team a random computer generated, six-digit/alpha name:
"Go 793A31R!"
That will last until our robot overlords arrive - and they put a stop to THAT as offensive to computers, which will be self aware at that point.
@Brando/
I'll tell you why no one has ever named a sports team the "Blackskins." VERY SIMPLE. We never fought a war against the black race wherein one comes to respect the fighting prowess of one's opponents. Look at the British in their war against the Zulus. They found the Zulus such worthy opponents that they proudly named a Destroyer (HMS Zulu) after the tribe. In fact there have been three HMS Zulu keels laid down in the history of the RN. There is also a RAF fighter squadron who's nickname is the "Zulus" and whose squadron patch displays a Zulu shield w. crossed spears. People in the armed services and in athletics do not chose names and emblems out of disrespect but for admiration and respect for their fierce fighting ability. Do you think General William Tecumseh Sherman's parents chose his middle name to saddle him with a slur on a great Indian warrior or rather out of a sign of respect?
You're an idiot..improve your knowledge of both history and heraldry..
Wow the real story is Obama's fed govt has now gone and done something so eqregious that many commenters are outraged enough to stand up for the rights of a billionaire!
PS to Brando/
As a former fighter pilot I can tell you with no uncertainty that we do not choose squadron patches/emblems that we may wear to our death in combat out of disrespect for the subject. Why would we do that? Same for sports teams..
MadasHell said: "Redskins" cancelled by rouge agents. Colorfully written, MAH!
Humperdink,
"Reparations? Need to tap Obama's stash, oh Crackerific."
I read yesterday that Michelle is a direct descendent of slaves, so they'll get some.
This is incredibly important stuff!
Expect this issue to anchor the next Democrat platform along with denying the existence of Israel, God and Benghazi.
Push comes to shove; the NFL forces Dan Snyder to sell franchise for refusing to renounce his racist name for his team-
Daniel Snyder sells team to Donald Sterling.
The Cleveland Indians are next. Not so much for the name but for the mascot that looks like a grinning buffoon.
One more example of Obama setting the dog whistle tone and all his fellow travelers in the institutions following the unconstitutional agenda he is pursuing.
hombre,
"Benghazi."
Man, you guys are losers,...
So by un-trademarking the name because the thought police have deemed it disparaging, we can expect its use to become more prolific by anyone who chooses.
Well played.
Virgil, if you can't see the difference between naming something after a specific tribe you once fought against and a racial epithet then you're willfully obtuse. Naming a ship the "Zulu" is more akin to naming a football team the "Sioux" or a car the "Cherokee". Naming a team the "Redskins" would be like if the British named their ships "HMS Blackskin" and claiming it was somehow honoring the Zulu warriors they fought.
But I can sense from your needlessly nasty response that your mind is made up, so there's no point in discussing this further with you.
Equal protection opens the field of disparagement to all who read Urban Dictionary, listen to Reverend Wright, follow SPLC, etc. For those who know the depths of diversity, it is a veritable legal and political goldmine. An opportunistic pot of gold at the end of a faded rainbow.
...a Constitution so small you could walk around with it in your sock and barely notice.
Sandy Berger size.
"The original owner of the Redskins, George Marshall, was a stone cold racist. His bedfellows were the American Nazi Party and the KKK, who rallied at the stadium in support of Marshall, who refused to sign black players. The first black player was signed a full 15 years later after the league integrated.
This is what people want to rally around?"
Absolutely. Just because I can't stand racists, like Crack or the KKK, I still believe they ought to be able to live, work and speak their minds in this country.
If Crack wanted to start his very own Racist television station, or sports franchise, and he was able to do that with his own money and time, go for it!
Now, if the government starts to act in a racist way, then I have a problem.
But if individuals want to, this is the price we pay for freedom. If Garage wants to open his own racist restaurant, he ought to be able to do that.
Doesn't mean I have to eat there.
The First Amendment does not have a "disparagement" exception. In fact, if the First Amendment means anything it means that you can name your football team anything you want and the government won't take punitive action against you, such as remove your trademarks because a small minority of political activists claim the name is offensive (even though no one ever has been harmed by the name of a football team ever.)
Crack: "I read yesterday that Michelle is a direct descendent of slaves."
You have already stated flatly that you do not care about black girls being kidnapped, raped and enslaved.
PPS to Brando/
One area where the President DOES have total influence is the armed services. Currently the 2nd "Indianhead" Inf Div stands guard on active duty in Korea with an Indian Chief and his warbonnet on their shoulder patch. Wonder why Obama doesn't immediately order this storied Division (1917 to present) to rip off their shoulder patches and change their name if he feels so strongly about it? He certainly has the authority to do so...gee, I wonder why?
And why aren't American Indians protesting that the 2nd Divisions' patch is an insult to native Americans if they feel so strongly about it? Where is Harry Reid denouncing the 2nd Division on the floor of the Senate? Need I go on......?
eric said...
But if individuals want to, this is the price we pay for freedom. If Garage wants to open his own racist restaurant, he ought to be able to do that.
Doesn't mean I have to eat there.
6/18/14, 2:24 PM
Amen brother!
Too many people forgot that and believe that they have the right not be ever be offended. Just an't so and thank God for it! It is a shame that too many in the Government have forgotten that too.
rid,
"Now, if the government starts to act in a racist way, then I have a problem."
Not one whites will ever do anything about - see the reparations argument - but "a problem".
That's so effective.
Now every Tom, Dick and Tonto can spread the insulting logo across the world.
Well we know that Reds as a team name is not disparaging, since no one seems upset about Cincinnati. but if they shortened their name to just Skins, would it still be disparaging?
Heck with it, just change the name to the D.C. Douches.
Just so the vegetarians don't come for the Packers.
Washington Tomatoes
Green Bay Asparagus
Pittsburgh Patty Pan Squash.
The St. Petersburg Yarrows.
rid,
"Now, if the government starts to act in a racist way, then I have a problem."
That reminded me of what this Mormon cat told me:
"If anybody snatches you up, and makes you a slave, you figure out a way to call me because I'm going to be pretty mad!"
White people - they can make your head spin.
TRIGGER WARNING: CRACKPOST
Drago said, in re Crack:
You have already stated flatly that you do not care about black girls being kidnapped, raped and enslaved.
Not quite. He doesn't care about black girls getting kidnapped, raped and enslaved as long as it is by black men.
He doesn't care about the 100mm blacks enslaved in the 1,000 years ending 1900 by other blacks
He doesn't care about blacks getting killed every year by other blacks. More blacks are killed every year by other blacks than all the lynchings of blacks that ever took place in the US.
But Crack doesn't care about that. It's the White man's fault that blacks kill blacks.
If we look at the past 100 or so years, probably further back, we will find that 5-10 black women were raped by blacks for every 1 raped by a white man.
But Crack don't care because it is the white man's fault.
And he wants more money from us white folk?
It is to laugh.
John Henry
While we are at it, can we change the name of the state of Oklahoma*?
*Oklahoma is version of the Choctaw phase okla humma, which means Red People.
The Washington Equality. The logo would be a thumb on a scale.
"And that reparations thing?
Never gonna make it, I tell ya,..."
That's a self-refuting statement.
"So everyone can make money selling Redskins gear?"
No. Not according to Mark Levin.
"Levin argues that despite the Obama administration ruling, the Redskins still own their name and logo and still own the use of their name and logo because of Common Law. And if you try and use their name and logo, Levin says the Redskins will sue you and will win because there is not a court in the land that won’t uphold Common Law."
http://therightscoop.com/mark-levin-the-redskins-still-own-their-name-logo-and-will-sue-you-and-win-if-you-try-to-use-it/
What say you, Althouse?
There is something nonsensical about this ruling.
Wouldn't a patent give you less of something? It means only the Redskins can sell Redskins stuff.
But if the name is so disparaging, then wouldn't it be better to restrict it? If you open it up to anyone, and you expect people will take advantage, does that mean we're all a bunch of disparaging racists?
Of course, the answer is obvious. The ruling doesn't have to make sense. It's all about PC.
Michelle might be a descendant of slaves but ol' Barry is a descendant of slave owners.
But if the name is so disparaging, then wouldn't it be better to restrict it?
No. It isn't the governments business to decide social convention. That's societies job. Censorship is wrong.
Now, if the government starts to act in a racist way, then I have a problem.
Is there a problem with the government giving a special anti-trust exemption to the racist organization? How about special laws which says the racist organization doesn't have to pay any taxes on its multi-million-a-year profits? And add in that the US military regularly lends promotional support, free of charge, to the racist organization?
Is it a problem now?
Drago said: You have already stated flatly that you do not care about black girls being kidnapped, raped and enslaved
You've made it clear that the only concern you have about those girls is to score political points.
You're a sick fuck, no matter what name you post under.
As the only person here who is Native and has lived and worked on a reservation, let me tell all you we don't give a damn about the name of an NFL franchise. It's not on our respective radars. What Daniel Snyder does, or whether the previous owners were racist occupies none of our respective thoughts.
But I suspect everybody commenting here knows that already. I suppose you lot care not at all how the people who are "supposed" to be offended actually feel. It's ok. We're used to the majority not giving much thought to us.
Unlike Crack, we don't spend all day worrying about you either. Live and let live.
The fact that the Lefties feel compelled to defend government action -- regardless of the legal or moral foundations for the actions -- tells everybody exactly what to expect if the SHTF. The Lefties on here are prepared to go Full Fascist. And they'll do so with relish.
If Michelle is a direct descendant of slaves she should go after the first ones to enslave her ancestors- the Africans.
Post a Comment