Dear Conservative,
By now you have heard about what the Obama administration has done to the Washington Redskins football team. For those who are not up to speed, here is a synopsis…
For the past few months, Harry Reid and other Congressional Democrats have been leading the charge to force the Washington Redskins to change their name and logo because it is seen as offensive to Native Americans.
The logo (shown above) features a stoic Native American wearing his headdress. There is nothing disparaging about it, nor are the Redskins trying to insult Native Americans with their logo and name.
If anything, the logo is complimentary of Native Americans. It depicts a people who are undaunted by adversity and will stand up against any oppressor. The Redskins’ name is based off of the imagery of a brave Native American ready to go off into battle. Yet, for the Democrats, this isn’t nearly politically correct enough!
So the Obama administration did what it always does. It got the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office to remove trademark protections from the Redskins brand! The board ruled 2-1 that the Redskins’ logo and name were in violation of the Lanham Act of 1946, which prohibited the use of trademarks that “may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, or beliefs.”
While the country is so focused on the tyranny associated with the administration’s wanton destruction of evidence tied to Lois Lerner, few have been focusing on what the Obama administration has been doing to small and large businesses alike!
For an administration to order the cancelling of a BILLION dollar company’s trademarks is ludicrous!
The Redskins are the third most valuable pro-football team according to Forbes Magazine and the eighth most valuable team in all of American pro-sports. The Redskins are currently valued at $1.7 Billion.
For the Obama administration to go in and void the patents to such a valuable company, all because the left doesn’t like the team’s name and logo, is TYRANNICAL!
The Left believes that they can control business. They believe that they can tax and tax and squeeze as much as they can out of American businesses and if there is something they don’t like about the name, the Left will fight to have it changed.
This isn’t just the name of a company… this is the team’s brand. It is a brand that has been built up over the past 82 years. The team sells tens of millions of dollars in merchandise every year. Now, all that can go out the window if the team is forced to spend millions of dollars fighting this sham ruling in court and rebranding the team.
The University of North Dakota had a similar situation when the school was forced to give up its “Fighting Sioux” nickname or face potential sanctions from college sports’ governing body.
The great irony is that while people were crying foul of the school’s “offensive” mascot and team name, the actual Sioux tribes in North Dakota wanted the school to keep the name and logo. Not only did it give them unprecedented exposure, but the school has also been extremely generous with giving Native American youth scholarships and student aid.
In each of the two major Sioux tribes, only a handful of people actually believed that the logo and team name was offensive.
But for the politically correct liberals, that was enough to go after the school and demand that it change its name.
I’m sure you look at this and wonder why it matters. As I said, the Redskins are worth $1.7 Billion and will have no problem paying the costs associated with a name change. Hell, they could probably afford to give up the exclusive rights to their brand. But it isn’t about the money.
The fact that the Democrat party believes that it can control businesses, big and small, is outrageous and dangerous! The fact that the government is now going after the third most-valuable NFL team just goes to show that big government is here to stay.
Who cares if their name offends people?
Somewhere along the line, we as a nation have been conditioned to believe that we have a right to go through life without being offended. Rather than ignoring whatever offends them and allowing the free market to determine whether the Redskins’ name stays or goes, the Democrats choose to physically interfere and try to control this “offensive” business. In reality, if a name is offensive enough to convince patrons to shop elsewhere, the free market will eventually compel a name change on its own.
But the Democrats don’t understand how the free market works… and we wonder why the economy is still in the toilet!
The Redskins have had their patents protected for the better part of a century. And this ruling will not force the team to change its name. The only thing it will do, ironically, is increase the amount of Redskins paraphernalia available because it will be harder to police people creating replica apparel. Because the team won’t be able to control the use of its name and logo, there will actually be more products available to offend the delicate sensibilities of Democrats!
Whether this tyrannical ruling succeeds in forcing the team to change its name/logo remains to be seen. But the fact that the Federal Government would spend all this money going after a storied NFL franchise for an offensive name just proves where government’s priorities are!
The Redskins will have to pay millions of dollars fighting this ruling in court, and it will likely find its way all the way up to the Supreme Court. But it shouldn’t have to even go there.
A company that has been around for almost a century and has had multiple patents issued and renewed over that time, it is tyrannical for a government to selectively enforce a law and to retroactively punish a company for having a previously permissible name!
I don’t have to tell you that the Obama administration doesn’t understand business. That’s just the simple truth. If we could just get the White House to stop tripping over itself and allow the market to fix itself, we would be in a much better position than we are now. But the Obama administration continues to go after the very businesses that are profitable and putting people to work!
This is an NFL team that literally employs hundreds, if not thousands, of people and contracts regularly with local businesses. And the Obama administration is trying to shut them down because Democrats don’t like their name and logo?
This is tyranny defined and it must be stopped! The Democrats believe that they can control businesses and unless Congress intervenes and puts an end to this nonsense, no business will ever be safe!
Sincerely,
Joe Otto
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