Thursday, July 09, 2015

Federal Judge Cancels the Washington Redskins Trademark Name

This just in from the Washington Weekly News:
For the first time in a legal battle that has stretched over 20 years, a federal judge on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of the Washington Redskins’ trademark registration, ruling that the team name may be disparaging to Native Americans.

The team had sued in federal court in Alexandria seeking to overturn a ruling last year by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. It argued that the name honors Native Americans and that canceling the trademark infringes on its free-speech rights because it requires the government to judge whether the name is offensive.

In rejecting the team’s free-speech argument, Lee’s 70-page ruling cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month allowing the state of Texas to bar depiction of the Confederate battle flag on specialty license plates sought by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Just as Texas could not be forced to issue license plates depicting a flag considered offensive, Lee said the Patent and Trademark Office cannot be forced to register a trademark that is deemed disparaging.
The censorship continues, and American Fascism advances in its Gramsci-like march through the institutions, thanks to federal courts of law.  I guess "the Washington Confederates" would be totally out of the question.

Here are the characteristics of these federally advanced fascistic censorship drives:
1.  They usually involve non-white ethnicities.  Great priority is given to complaining minorities, and little priority to white people's concerns.
2.  They are highly subjective.  What is or is not "disparaging" or "offensive" is in the eye of the beholder.  This is what gripes me most.  These decisions are not based on polls, or a democratic vote, or a finding of facts -- they are based on the subjective impressions and biases of government bureaucrats, who rule by decree rather than law.
3.  They oppress and suppress the freedoms of those with different opinions.  The current cultural cleansing going on is nothing less than thought control or even thought crimes.  Those who insist on a negative interpretation of symbols, flags and football team names are practicing "viewpoint discrimination."  They are using the force of law to enforce their subjective biases on the population as a whole.  

All of this results in thought control, the politicization of history and viewpoint discrimination.  It is far more divisive than unifying, and stokes far more hatred and resentment than it does peace and harmony.

3 comments:

  1. They are using the force of law to enforce their subjective biases on the population as a whole.

    Zinn-ism!

    I am hearing elements of it spouted from the GOP, neo-cons, etc. What the hell is going on???

    The fruits of Zinn-ism taught in the universities and in the levels before the university level are being borne.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am not familiar with Zinn-ism. I'll have to google it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have a copy of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Worth reading so as to make some connections with Zinn and how we got to this horrendous point in our nation's state of devolution.

    ReplyDelete