The thing to remember about those who live the politicized life is that for them, the political is the personal. Their outward-directed rages against targets large and small emanate from inward-emanating hurts. A slight against one member of the coalition is a slight against all; that slight leads to emotional pain; and, in order to rectify that emotional pain, the person who inflicted it must be brought to heel, made to suffer for their transgressions. Inflicting pain and scratching that itch named revenge is as much the goal as righting any perceived wrongs.
But what happens when a target is encountered who can't be bullied out of his position? Someone who the politicized have nothing, nothing to threaten him with, nothing to do with all their strength? Someone like, say, Dan Snyder?
It vexes. The Washington Post'sAlyssa Rosenberg published an interesting post last night on one possible endgame regarding the left's fixation on what was until very recently a wholly uncontroversial topic: the name "Redskins." She is troubled by the fact that Snyder has refused to be cowed by Slate and TNR and Harry Reid—but even more troubled that he may, Jiu-Jitsu style, use the very momentum of the righteously angsty against them. Citing a report from one of her colleagues that Snyder would consider trading a name change for a variety of concessions from the D.C. government—the land on which RFK stadium currently sits; a new stadium that dwarfs in size all others in the league; and a Super Bowl hosting gig—Alyssa sighs:
There is something truly audacious about the idea that Snyder might be holding on to the Redskins name not simply as an act of stubbornness but as a business opportunity, a card to trade for the sorts of concessions that he would not be able to extract otherwise. If this is what he really wants, it poses a terrible choice for the region: to cut the sort of financial deal that cities have made and regretted over and over again in exchange for expunging a national embarrassment.
Emphasis mine, because "embarrassment" is an interesting choice of words. I don't have any doubt that Alyssa and those who have decided in the last couple of years that "Redskins" is the worst name evah are, in fact, embarrassed. I just don't understand why. I mean, she has no ties to the team. The nation, writ large, has no ties to the team. It's a privately run enterprise. Polling has consistently shown that the vast, vast majority of people have no issue whatsoever with the team name. This isn't a government policy. It's not like, say, sending smallpox-infected blankets to native Americans. That was an embarrassment. This is a team name, one that actually honors those the left thinks it's slighting, and one most people outside of the Media-Industrial Complex think is totally kosher.
But there is a great depth of emotion to this issue, one that has caused many words to be written and much effort to be undertaken. The anti-Redskins cohort has many feels. There is a wellspring of emotion here they are tapping into.
And this is their great weakness.
Dan Snyder gives approximately zero bothers about all their feels. I assume he gives more bothers about a potential loss of revenue after the Patent and Trademark Office revoked a number of Redskins trademarks, but given the fact that this ridiculous overreach will almost certainly be rejected by the courts, I don't think he's all that worried on that mark either. Even if the PTO's decision is upheld, it's no real biggie. In the parlance of our times, Dan Snyder has "eff you" money. You're not going to strongarm him by cutting off a few measly million in hat sales.
Because Dan Snyder cares literally not at all about the opinions of the politicized, but the politicized care very, very deeply, he knows he has the upper hand. And what does a savvy businessman do when he has the upper hand? He presses his advantage.
Honestly, I think the city of D.C. would be foolish to give Snyder a single thin dime; footing the bill for a massive stadium would be a horrible boondoggle. If I still lived in the city I'd oppose it wholeheartedly. But if Snyder's able to extract huge concessions from the morons who sit on D.C.'s city council based on little more than liberal guilt? My hat's off to him. The man's a goddamn genius and I salute his efforts.