Washington Redskins’ owner Daniel Sny- der says neither fans nor Native Ameri- cans want the team’s name changed.

Boehner held prisoner by Tea Party;
Is Ted Cruz running for president?
Reid uses ‘rope-a-dope’ strategy

The last politician to give a direct answer
 
By David Maril
 
While wondering how many people outside of the Land of Pleasant Living realize the Edgar Allen Poe Baltimore connection with the Ravens’ team name, it’s interesting to note the following:

  It’s hard to feel a lot of sympathy for Washington, D.C. football fans if their team eventually does lose its “Redskins” name. Pressure is being put on the team and the NFL to change the name because it is considered by some people to be offensive to Native Americans.

What would be the big deal if the team does come up with another name? Fans will adjust.

Look at Baltimore. Fans here lost not only their team but the much loved franchise name of “Colts” to Indianapolis. Although it was 12 years before they regained a team with a new name, the diehard Baltimore pro-football fans adjusted and survived.

No matter what happens in the nation’s capital, Washington fans will keep their team. And as far as the warnings of economic damage to the team that could come with a name switch, consider all the marketing money that will be made selling new team regalia with a different logo.

A name change might even divert attention from the fact that the team has been a flop (1-3 so far this year) on the playing field. Perhaps Dan Snyder, the team’s billionaire owner, should be more adamant about building a winner than keeping the team’s name.

However, in an emotional letter to fans, sent to season-ticket holders Wednesday, Snyder noted that four Native Americans were on the inaugural Redskins team in 1932 with the name “Boston Braves” and that neither name was ever “a label.

“It was, and continues to be, a badge of honor,” he argued.

President Obama is greeted by House Speaker John Boehner at 2011 State of the Union Address. The two were not nearly so friendly when they met this past week.

  The only two things holding John Boehner from becoming a great Speaker of the House are the absence of courage and vision. Instead of being held prisoner by the one-issue fanatics of the Tea Party, he should remember he’s Speaker of the entire House and not just the Republican Congressmen.

Is it better to cling to his Speaker post and go down as an overmatched, weak-kneed lackey who kept his job or be remembered as a significant historical figure who put his title on the line to do what’s best for the country?

  If you don’t believe Sen. Ted Cruz was running for president when he wasted 21-hours on the floor of the Senate filibustering against Obamacare, consider that while he was showcasing his intolerance and lack of class, a $2,500-a-plate fundraiser was taking place for him in Washington. Could the rumor be true that the freshman senator’s photo is next to the word egomaniac in Webster’s Dictionary?

  Hard to believe Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was once a boxer. You’d have to believe any success he achieved in the ring was based on the best rope-a-dope strategy used since Muhammad Ali defeated George Foreman in 1974.

  I don’t know how you feel, but doesn’t it seem as if many of the spokespeople President Barack Obama sends out on the Sunday TV news/talk shows to promote his point of view drive more viewers to the other side? Some of them, like Treasury Chief Jack Lew, come off as much too smug and condescending.

  However, Obama did make a sensible choice in selecting Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve chair. In contrast to the abrasive Lawrence Summers, who had been the President’s first choice, Yellen brings stability to the position and will have a soothing impact on the business world.

Does anyone remember who was the last politician to give a direct answer to a question on a Sunday morning news/talk program? — or anywhere else, for that matter? Probably not, so goes the joke — it was waaayyyy too long ago.

  Speaking of the Sunday news interview programs, here’s a trivia question: Who was the last politician to give a direct answer to a question?

The answer is, it happened so long ago nobody remembers.

  While the self-serving world of politics seems to have hit rock- bottom in both parties, there has been positive news coming out of New York.

The fact that Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer, both driven from their offices — of congressman, and governor, respectively — by scandal, are failing in their attempts to resurrect their careers, shows even voter tolerance has its limits.

Weiner was running for mayor of the city and Spitzer had his eyes on the city comptroller’s job. Both lost.

  The one sad part of the organized international response to the 1,400 people killed in Syria by chemical weapons is the fact that more than 100,000 who have died in the civil war by conventional arms, such as bombs and guns, are forgotten.

  If the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service seeks to raise the price of a first class stamp from 46 to 49 cents, why not add another penny and make it 50 cents? From the standpoint of change and ease, a round number makes more sense. And we all know it will only be a matter of time before another increase will be needed anyway.

  Her death may have gone unnoticed in some areas, but jazz pianist Marian McPartland, who died recently at the age of 95, was a giant in the field. She began recording her weekly National Public Radio hour-long interview and jazz-piano performance show in 1978 and continued up to two years ago. The program ran on over 200 NPR stations and her guests included some of the biggest names in American music.

  As the clamor grows for the Orioles to add more pitching — from frustrated fans watching post-season baseball action without their team participating — Chris Tillman’s terrific year shouldn’t be forgotten.

The 25-year-old right-hander, 16-7, could have easily won 20 games with better run support. He definitely is a pitcher who deserves recognition as the solid ace of the staff.
 
davidmaril@hermanmaril.com
 
“Inside Pitch” is a weekly opinion column written for Voice of Baltimore by David Maril.

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