Democrat Hypocrisy Shows In Their Letter To The NFL

     There are countless reasons to blame either political party when it comes to poor use of their elected powers.  We have many problems that face our country in which one side refuses to work with the other in the spirit of compromise.  However, with the exception of five democrat senators, the 50 who recently signed a letter demanding NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ban the use of the name Redskins demonstrates the hypocrisy that comes when elected leaders try to cash in on a popular movement.  Especially when republican senators were not asked to sign the letter.
     Most groups who are trying to get Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the team's name come from a legitimate perspective.  They truly believe the Redskin name is offensive and want to see it dropped.  However, Snyder does not care about their opinion and claims he will die before changing the long standing team name.  The team was named the Redskins long before he was born and it is the team he purchased and now owns.  No one has the right to make him change the team's name.
     But lets look at the democrat senators and their reasons behind signing the letter.  Simply put, they want votes and money.  The votes come from those who  admire them for taking a stand on the name issue during a time in which we have far more serious issues to solve.  I doubt few, if any of these senators will win their next election because voters used this issue the way some use abortion, the death penalty, or taxes to decide who to vote for.
    However, by taking the popular stand, they do stand to gain by receiving nice campaign contributions from the many tribal groups in our nation who want to see the name dropped.  The funny thing is, many of these senators represent states named after native American groups.  Where is their opposition to states with names like Illinois, Alaska, Missouri, Oklahoma, or Utah?  Has it occurred to anyone that the name Indiana translates to "Land of the Indians" but that they only represent 0.3% of the state's population?  Where did they all go?  They didn't move away by choice and I am sure they did not appreciate their land being taken from them.
     More than half our states are named after native American groups that for the most part, make up the smallest population group in their state and whose treatment by our government has been far more offensive than the name Redskins.  Have we forgotten about the Trail of Tears and the countless massacres of tribal groups all done in the name of Manifest Destiny? 
     The name Redskins may well be considered as offensive to native Americans as the "N" word is to blacks.  However, they should be just as offended by the naming of states after tribal groups that were slaughtered by the very people who coined the states names.
     Now I am not suggesting our elected leaders start renaming the 27states with names associated with native Americans.  That would be ludicrous.  We have real issues to solve that require their willingness to roll up their sleeves and work in cooperation with members of the opposition party behind closed doors.  Meaningless letters aimed at making an owner of an NFL a sacrificial lamb all in the name of gaining political donations is a poor, if not misuse, of power.