Washington Redskins

Nation Writer: Trump Candidacy, ‘Redskins’ Name Offer ‘A Howl of Anger at a Slowly Evolving World’
By Tom Johnson | September 9, 2015 | 9:56 PM EDT

Donald Trump has been likened to (among others) Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, George Wallace, Morton Downey Jr., and Nickelback, the band. “Nickelback” is also a football term, which brings us to yet another Trump comparison: Dave Zirin believes that the Washington Redskins franchise “is becoming the sports equivalent of the Donald Trump presidential run, a dead-ender operation with nothing to offer but a howl of anger at a slowly evolving world.”

As you probably surmised, Zirin thinks Redskins owner Dan Snyder should dump the team’s “Jim Crow era moniker,” but acknowledged in a Wednesday post that “Snyder clings even more tightly to the name, molding a new constituency of newfound ‘fans’ who want the team to be a symbol of the fight against ‘political correctness’…Now this billion-dollar brand stands disgracefully alongside Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, and everyone attempting to turn a carnival barker’s buck on white anxiety.”

Alex Wagner Amazed Not Everyone Finds Redskins Logo Controversial
By Mark Finkelstein | July 9, 2015 | 8:45 AM EDT

What does MSNBC's Alex Wagner have against stately Indian warriors? On today's Morning Joe, Wagner said it was "amazing" that anyone could look at the Washington Redskins logo and name and not find them controversial.

This NewsBuster can understand the debate over the "Redskins" name. But the logo? Has Alex actually had a look at it?  Could Wagner be confusing it with the Cleveland Indians'  Chief Yahoo?  Seriously, what could be more stately, grave and dignified than the Redskins logo?  

Matthew McConaughey Wusses Out on Gun Rights and Redskins Name
By Geoffrey Dickens | October 21, 2014 | 12:50 PM EDT

In a November issue interview with GQ magazine Academy Award winning actor Matthew McConaughey managed to cave-in on two hottbutton issues (gun rights and the Redskins name change) all at once.

Poll: Only 14 Percent Support Liberal Crusade to Change Washington Redskins' Name
By Randy Hall | October 20, 2014 | 6:21 PM EDT

During the past few years, the efforts to change the name of the National Football League team in Washington, D.C., have led several liberals to denounce any use of the word “Redskins.”

Nevertheless, a poll recently conducted for the Associated Press found that only 14 percent of respondents agreed with broadcasters who refuse to use “the R-word” and the NBC Sports story that claimed the presence of six protesters was a sign that the controversy is “not going away.”

NPR All But Bans the Term 'Redskins' From Its Broadcasts; Ombudsman Hails 'Morality' of Decision
By Ken Shepherd | October 16, 2014 | 5:16 PM EDT

Last Friday, National Public Radio standards editor Mark Memmott handed down an edict all but banning the term "Redskins" from the left-leaning taxpayer-financed network. On Tuesday, NPR's ombudsman gave his hearty approval of the move, waxing about the need for editors and management to not "shirk" their "responsibility" to "[define] morality."

 

WashPost Columnist Blusters That Obama's FCC Might Ban Word 'Redskins' on TV
By Tim Graham | September 25, 2014 | 7:39 AM EDT

Under Obama, the Federal Communications Commission has done pretty much nothing on broadcast obscenity. So it’s utterly baffling why Washington Post metro columnist (and former Metro section editor) Robert McCartney would try to pretend it’s any kind of a threat that the FCC will punish broadcasters for using that alleged obscenity....”Redskins.”

“Professor's FCC filing should worry Snyder” was McCartney’s headline. The professor threatening Redskins owner Daniel Snyder  is liberal John Banzhaf III, best known for anti-tobacco crusading many years ago.

Bozell & Graham Column: Cancel the Unethical 'Daily Show'
By Brent Bozell | and By Tim Graham | September 23, 2014 | 10:25 PM EDT

The liberal legend of Jon Stewart began with his October 15, 2004 appearance on CNN’s “Crossfire,” where he rhetorically sentenced the show to death. He proclaimed, “It’s hurting America. Here is what I wanted to tell you guys: Stop... You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.”

CNN announced it was canceling the show two months later, as network president president Jon Klein told the New York Times "I agree wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart's overall premise."

WashPost Exposes 'Daily Show' Lying Ambush on Redskins Fans With Leftist Indian Activists
By Tim Graham | September 20, 2014 | 8:14 AM EDT

The Washington Post's Metro section on Saturday carried the headline "Redskins fans say 'Daily Show' misled them: Showdown with Native Americans Was a Surprise." Fans were set up for an ambush to be accused of racism, or loving a racist mascot.

In other words, once again, Jon Stewart's Comedy Central crew lied their faces off to an interview subject they wanted to mock. But this time, the liberal media didn't let it slide. Reporter Ian Shapira laid out just how much Team Stewart lied, and then said "No comment" when they were exposed.

NBC Sports: Six Protesters Prove Redskins Controversy 'Not Going Away'
By Ken Shepherd | September 7, 2014 | 11:22 PM EDT

"This [Redskins name] controversy is not going away," insisted NBCSports.com writer Michael David Smith in a story filed this afternoon. His proof: a handful of protesters in Houston complaining about the visiting Washington NFL team's mascot and logo.

Losing WashPost Tries Lame 'Majority Is Shrinking' Bias As Vast Majority Support 'Redskins'
By Tim Graham | September 3, 2014 | 8:36 AM EDT

A football game that ends up with a score of 71 to 23 would be considered a wipeout. But when a poll shows that’s the margin of support for keeping the name “Washington Redskins,” the pro-censorship Washington Post tries to find a silver lining. On the day the NFL season begins, the headline on the front page of the Sports section was “Support for name still mostly strong: ‘Redskins’ still heavily favored, but majority continues to shrink.”

As a pile of sensitive sports journalists boycott the name on print or on television, Post reporter Scott Clement tried to sell this puny 23 percent as encouraging progress:

Ed Show Guest: Former NFL Coach Mike Ditka Was a 'Segregation-Era' Player' Who Dictated 'His Will' to 'Black Players'
By Curtis Houck | August 28, 2014 | 10:40 PM EDT

To close out his MSNBC show on Thursday, Ed Schultz invited on a Native American social activist to discuss the push by liberals and sympathetic members of the sports media to force the NFL’s Washington Redskins to change their name. 

In discussing recent supporters of the name in Sarah Palin and former NFL coach and player Mike Ditka, author and Native American activist Gyasi Ross smeared Ditka for being a “segregation-era football player who became, appropriately, a coach of – of a team – a team – an NFL team that was comprised largely of black players that he could dictate his will to.” [MP3 audio here; Video below]

WashPost Editorial Board Will Ban The Word 'Redskins' -- To Fix Two Occasions a Year
By Tim Graham | August 22, 2014 | 2:22 PM EDT

The Washington Post editorial board (the group that writes every day’s unsigned editorials) announced with fanfare that they would no longer use the word “Redskins” as they continue to agitate for a change in the team name. So “while we wait for the National Football League to catch up with thoughtful opinion and common decency, we have decided that, except when it is essential for clarity or effect, we will no longer use the slur ourselves.”

“What we are discussing here is a change only for editorials. Unlike our colleagues who cover sports and other news, we on the editorial board have the luxury of writing about the world as we would like it to be,” they wrote in their best Robert F. Kennedy impression.