President Obama couldn't resist chiming in either, as he never can. "If I were the owner of the team and I knew that there was a name of my team, even if it had a storied history, that was offending a sizable group of people, I'd think about changing it," he declaimed in October.
In this Administration that was a political signal to act, and all the President's patent officers apparently knew to add the Redskins to the target list—at least judging by the majority's legal reasoning. The ruling is nearly word-for-word identical to a 1990s trademark decision that was later overturned by a federal appeals court. This panel, with new plaintiffs, dusted off the same logic and procedural abuses of the narrow rules of patent evidence to please Washington's party in power and the perpetually aggrieved. We trust the Redskins will prevail again on appeal.
The Redskins even invited Mr. Reid to join fans at a hometown game this fall, though certainly less for the company than the politics. This week he refused, replying that he "will not stand idly by while a professional sports team promotes a racial slur as a team name and disparages the American people."
So there you have it: The Obama Democrats now think government should dictate team mascots. As for the American people, an Associated Press poll earlier this year found 83% of the public favors keeping the name.