NFL to Democrats: Thanks for the letter, but the Redskins are keeping their name

It's encouraging as far as it goes that the NFL did not immediately wilt under pressure from Democrat senators to change the name of the Redskins. They could have pulled an Adam Silver and immediately leapt in reverence of their politically correct masters, and they didn't do that. One cheer, I guess, for the NFL:

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has opposed the name change, and his team has launched its own public relations campaign issuing comments by Native Americans that continue to support the name. The NFL has stood behind Snyder and issued its own response Thursday to the news of the senators' letter. "We have not received the letter, but the NFL has long demonstrated a commitment to progressive leadership on issues of diversity and inclusion, both on and off the field," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement. "The intent of the team's name has always been to present a strong, positive and respectful image. The team name is not used by the team or the NFL in any other context, though we respect those that view it differently."

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How confident are you, though, that the NFL is resolved to stand firm? Myself? Not very. The weasel language about "a commitment to progressive leadership on issues of diversity and inclusion" practically begs the left to come back and say, "Oh yeah? Prove it!" It's not enough that they're going to let Oprah turn the Rams' training camp into a reality show starring Michael Sam. The NFL doesn't understand how this works. Once you start appeasing the perpetrators of political correctness, there is no such thing as satisfying them, ever, until you've got the Minnesota Transgenders playing the Chicago Gay Marauders in a game in which points are redistributed by the government and taxed to help pay for the ObamaCare health insurance bailout, while the halftime show consists of all players and coaches making public declarations of tolerance that take the form of denunciations of Christianity and the announcement that the rest of the game will be played using high-efficiency LED lighting to stop global warming. Oh, and that holding penalty you just called? Stop judging me because of who I want to hold! The Democrats think they have an opening here to bully the NFL because of Donald Sterling. Sterling revealed himself to be a racist, so needed to be banned immediately. The Redskins are already convicted of racism by virtue of the consensus of the left saying so. Ergo, Sterling's banishment must mean the Redskins' name has to go. Immediately. The one thing that might thwart them is the Snyder truly seems like the kind of guy who doesn't listen to what anyone else thinks. That doesn't tend to make him a very good owner in terms of building a winner on the field, as the long parade of coaching and quarterback failures under him demonstrates. But it just might be the only thing that saves the Redskins' name, until Roger Goodell goes Adam Silver on him and turns him into the Donald Sterling of the NFL. Which, of course, is what Harry Reid and company are trying to pressure them into doing right now.