A Favorable First Amendment Slant Should Save the Redskin's Trademark

For several years, there has been a politically correct effort to force the Washington Redskins to change their name.  In fact, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was convinced with withdraw the NFL franchise's trademark protection in 1999 and 2014, citing that "the term redskin" as derogatory and offensive even though the USPTO had approved the mark over 80 years before. Washington Redskin's owner Daniel Synder appealed claiming that case law and the weight of the evidence had been ignored.  A federal district court agreed with the Patent Office's withdrawal of the trademark in July 2015. 

However, a Federal Appeals court handed down a ruling which may well be a game changer.  The Portland Oregon dance rock band "The Slants" won a Federal Appeals Court case which began in 2011 over their provocative moniker.  The Slants are composed of Asian Pacific Island band members and pride themselves as taking on racism presumably by embracing a name which many consider to be ethnic slander. 

The Slants

In a December 22, 2015 decision, the Federal Appeals Court ruled:

“Many of the marks rejected as disparaging convey hurtful speech that harms members of oft-stigmatized communities. But the First Amendment protects even hurtful speech...

The government cannot refuse to register disparaging marks because it disapproves of the expressive messages conveyed by the marks."

That ruling ended The Slant's legal Misery, but also serves as a strong indication that the Redskin's ruling will not stand. The Redskins were stripped of trademark protection because of "hurtful speech".  In addition, the Redskin's case is even stronger as the USPTO had already approved the trademark years before and then sought to yank it away.  However, because the Redskin's appeal is in another circuit, the Slant's ruling is not automatically set a precedent.  And the US Supreme Court could also overturn the Slant's First Amendment trademark protection.

But until then..

Robert Griffin III on Football

Mike Ditka on Political Correctness

Considering ESPN's recent rash of suspending sports commentators and analysts for saying "controversial" things, Iron Mike is testing is metal. 

Jack Kent Cook on the Redskins

Harry Reid on the Redskins

In the wake of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's swift and severe punishment of L.A. Clippers' owner Donald Sterling's racist rant made in private, politicians rushed to jump in on the Politically Correct civic circus. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) used some of his floor time on the US Senate to rail against Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder's intransigence about changing the team name.  

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When Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson (D-Sacramento) crowed about "what sports can do", he gloated that President Obama and Vice President Biden expressed support for doing something to rectify the situation.

What form of polity is a government which nudges businesses to order society to their desired goals?  With the myriad of problems which face the Federal government and the Senate's inability to act, the Majority Leader ought to concentrate on legislating rather than dictating sports team nicknames. 

Sports Salute to Service

Over this Veterans Day weekend, the NCAA and the NFL made major efforts to have a Salute to Service for those men and women who serve to defend our freedom. 

This year the NCAA held the Armed Forces Classic basketball game in at Camp Humphreys Army base in  Pyeogtaek, South Korea where the 19th ranked Oregon Ducks beat the Georgetown Hoyas 82-75 before a crowd of hundreds of soldiers.  


Both teams wore special camouflage uniforms.  In lieu of having their names emblazoned on the back of their jerseys, the Oregon Duck players IDs  read "USA"  and the backs of the Georgetown Hoya jerseys had mottoes like "Courage", "Integrity" and "Respect.    The coaches of both teams wore combat boots and military styled cargo pants.

Oregon (light camo) playing against Georgtown (dark camo) at Camp Humphrey Army Base in Pyeogtaek, South Korea

Many NCAA football teams made efforts to give a Salute to Service.   There is controversy attached to the Northwestern University Wildcat football special uniforms. The Wildcats intend to honor the Wounded Warrior Project during their November 16th game against the Michigan Wolverines by abandoning their regular purple and white garb and donning uniforms flag inspired uniforms. 

 Under Armor tried to further stylize this equipment by having red accents on the patriotic design to give it a rough, worn out look.  After the game, these uniforms will be auctioned for charity. But some are seeing red as the Wounded Warrior Wildcat uniforms have red splotches on the helmet, sock and cleats so these design elements can be interpreted as blood. That is an ugly connotation for something that is intended to honor and support the Wounded Warrior Project. 

The NFL has nearly a half century of working with the USO to support our military men and women in uniform.  During the 2013 season,  the NFL has designed 32 games throughout November as Salute to Service games where the NFL will donate $100 per point scored to each of its three military related charities, the Pat Tillman Foundation, the USO, and the Wounded Warrior Project.  In 2012, the NFL donated nearly $800,000 as a result of the Salute to Service campaign. 

During these games, players use special footballs, gloves, patches, hats, sweatshirts and camouflage towels.  All of these Salute to Service game worn merchandise will be auctioned off, with proceeds going to the aforementioned non-profits.

There are many different Salutes to Service at NFL stadia.  During the Salute to Service games, all of the Field Goal posts had camouflage padding. In Green Bay, Lambeau Field fans used cards to thank those who served with a card stunt during the National Anthem. 

The Packer half time featured all veteran parachute teams landing in the middle of Lambeau Field. Similar sorts of celebrations will occur for the Monday Night Football game in Tampa Bay, which is in the shadows of MacDill Air Force Base and United States Central Command. 

Pat Tillman as Army Ranger

Kevin Blackistone

This sort of patriotic appeal and honoring must drive outspoken ESPN sports commentator Kevin Blackistone crazy, as he has repeatedly chastised sports teams for playing the National Anthem and honoring Pat Tillman (an NFL player who left pro ball to serve as an Army Ranger and died in a friendly fire incident).  While it is unclear how much money will be raised by these fundraising auctions, it is laudable to try to honor and serve those servicemen who sacrifice for us.  However the photo from the Pittsburgh Steeler's Salute to Service shows the poignancy of such tributes. 

A recent book entitled "The War on Football"  points out that many of the traits which are esteemed in football are the same characteristics inculcated in military training. Moreover, sports are an important connection with home for military members and their families.




 So in a society obsessed with celebrity, it is good to see organized efforts to offer a Salute to Service, and honor the virtues of service, teamwork, selflessness and courage.

RGIII is not PC in DC

Since the City Council in the District of Calamity has nothing better to do, Councilman David Grosso (I-At Large DC) has proposed a non-binding resolution to prompt the Washington NFL franchise to change its name from the “Redskins” because Grosso finds it racist and offensive.  The councilman claims that a majority of DC City Council  will support the resolution.

The politically correct clamor from the DC City Council is meant to bolster efforts by aboriginal American groups who are suing to deny the football franchise from keeping trademark protection for their famous Redskins moniker. 

Grosso proffered his solution to change the name of the team to the Redtails.   Grosso observes that : “You can still sing the song and everything...you can still keep the feather.”  How generous! This solicitous solution sounds as weak as changing the Washington Bullets to the Wizards.  


While the Clash sang about Washington Bullets referring to weapons, the Washington Bullets name derived from a shoe manufacturer.  The American Basketball League Baltimore Bullets were named after Bata Bullets athletic shoes named near Baltimore.  Washington kept the name Bullets of the NBA franchise from 1973 when the team moved to DC until 1995 when owner Abe Pollin wanted to change the name after the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzah Rabin.  While there was a contest to narrow the name list and the Wizards moniker was chosen.   But that was the free market working by a capitalist choosing to rebrand to suit himself.

Now it seems that politically correct politicians and attention seeking pressure groups want to dictate how private companies can market themselves.  No wonder why DC can be considered the District of Calamity (sic). 

What is remarkable about this politically correct pogrom is that a prominent community leader took a stand against social tyranny.  Robert Griffin, Jr (a.k.a. RGIII), the first year Washington starting quarterback who lead his team from the wilderness into the NFL playoffs dared to speak his mind and buck the PC powers that be.  RGIII tweeted “In the land of political freedom, we are held hostage by the tyranny of political correctness.”  

It did not take long for RGIII’s Twitter statement of independence to draw fire from those who would otherwise champion diversity (as long it conforms to their mores).

It seems that the ‘Skin’s star quarterback is not only agile and inspirational but also courageous.  But now the ire of liberal sports writers will be waiting to heckle him.  RGIII may be treated slightly better than dog killer Michael Vick before he was convicted.  However, if RGIII stumbles in his comeback from season ending knee surgery, he might be considered like a PC sports pariah ala Tim Tebow.   


h/t: The Blaze
      WAMU . 

[The article originally appeared on DistrictofCalamity.com]

The Pre-Game Plan for DC-Jockularity

Some might wonder why a denizen of the District of Calamity (sic) whose favorite contact sport is politics would create a Sports quote site.

The title of the site is a tongue in cheek portmanteu of the District of Calamity and a neologism of “Jock” and “ularity”, which should bring to mind a facetious feeling spelled differently.  The mast features a cheerleader surrounded by a variety of sports paraphernalia.  The cheerleader is the 43rd President in prep school rally mode.

While I enjoy watching some sports matches live or on a large screen high definition television, I’ll admit to being a sports agnostic aside from rooting for the alma mater during March Madness or paying attention during the Stanley Cup playoffs.  My interest tends to be in the business of sports, like sports stadia construction, rights for broadcasting, conference reconfiguration etc.  However, unlike the antipathy of a Manhattan intellectual in Annie Hall (1977) who put down basketball players as “a group of pituitary cases trying to stuff a ball through a hoop”, I appreciate the virtues of sport even if I do not always share in the fanaticism.



But I also see sports as a means to draw more wisdom from the world.

I have collected pithy pearls of wisdom for years and found that a decent number of them came from sports personages. Much to the chagrin of Charles Barkley, people do look up to sports stars and take note of what they say.  John Harbaugh, the coach of the Baltimore Ravens, used the example of Mohammad Ali winning ugly to inspire his football team to win Superbowl XLVII.

Sometimes their aphorisms have applicability off the field of play. But many articles containing sports quotes simply bundle them in a top ten list.  That is like reading a quote boxscore, which gives you the outcome but seemingly does not captivate  fans.  DC-Jockularity hopes to have posts which convey a narrative cognitively and visually which resonates long after the final score.

Anyone who has outlasted one Administration living between the beltways should well appreciate how sports can unite disparate groups in Washingon, DC.  The District of Calamity may be mired by partisan bickering and the townies not socializing with the governmental "gownies".  But the area unites around the Redskins, to some extent the Nationals and in some degree the Capitals.

Another reason for DC-Jockularity is recognizing the synergy between sports, entertainment and public policy. Richard Nixon used “Ping Pong diplomacy” to engage with the Peoples’ Republic of China during the Cold War.  Dennis Rodman was the unlikely unofficial American Ambassador to North Korea’s hereditary Dictator Kim Yung Un.

Politicians use sports as a means to humanize themselves and relate to the common man.  Barack Obama poses as a big basketball player. George W. Bush was a maven on a mountain bike. Bill Clinton liked to wear short shorts and jog.  John F. Kerry was wont to windsurf, yacht and ride expensive racing bikes.

 OK, not all pols are that savvy, despite the smart haircuts.

Nowadays, politics is creeping into sports.  Congress holds hearings on sports figures using steroids. Sports announcers like Keith Olbermann and Bob Costas interject progressive politics into their sports commentary. Politically Correct special interest groups try to change team names so as not to offend.   Superbowl ads from Obama Auto Bailout companies looked like gauzy campaign ads. Then the  NFL was being enlisted to promote Obamacare and the Baltimore Ravens bit at that bitter fruit.

So the pre-game plan for DC-Jocularity is to offer an unconventional collection of sports quotes which score big in the District of Calamity.  These aphorisms may be inspirational, philosophical or whimsical.  But pre-game plans almost always change.  So don't be surprised if some commentary on the intersection of sports, politics and history is also included at DC-Jockularlity.