Although he did not specifically mention Faleomavaega by
name, it is clear that Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Mike Ditka, now a broadcaster,
was including the American Samoa delegate
among those he had in mind when he dismissed the drive to get the Redskins
owner to change the name of the team.
Faleomavaega has been in the forefront of those in Congress who want to
force the team to adopt a new nickname because, he argues, the current name is
a slur on Native Americans.
This has long been a cause for the delegate who in July, 2013 before his debilitating illness, decked out in his best Indian
string tie (the only kind of tie he has worn for years, now—when he wears a tie
at all), delivered an emotional speech on the Floor of the House on the subject with his voice quivering and cracking
as he spoke. He also cosponsored a bill
that would cancel the team’s federal trademarks but it has gone nowhere.
Faleomavaega was prompted to speak in part to respond to
conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who had said earlier in July that
the team’s name isn’t a government issue. Limbaugh said if fans were offended
by the name, they wouldn’t go to FedEx Field, but because they do, “it
obviously isn’t upsetting too many people.”
When he emerged from seclusion this past March to receive
his first office visitor, the ASG director of Homeland Security, he said that,
while continuing his rehabilitation, he would be concentrating his efforts on American
Samoa issues, like establishment of a National Guard
unit in the territory. Yet, in late May,
making his first appearance on the Floor for a five-minute substantive speech (he appeared briefly in April to acknowledge American Samoa Flag Day), he again
chose the Redskins’ name as his subject, not the National Guard or any other American
Samoa issue.
Now, as the NFL is in the midst of its preseason exhibition game
schedule, the spotlight has returned to this issue and Ditka was asked about it
during a recent interview.
“What’s all the stink . . . ,” asked Ditka? “It’s so much [expletive] it’s incredible . .
. This is so stupid it’s appalling . . . We’re going to let the liberals of the
world run this world . . . “It’s all the political[ly] correct idiots in
America, that’s all it is,” he continued.
“It’s got nothing to do with anything else. We’re going to change
something because we can.” Faleomavaega
was a founding member of the ultra-liberal Congressional Progressive Caucus,
although he since has left the group.
While team owner Dan Snyder says he will never change the
name (and vigorous at age 49, he most likely will outlive the very sick 70-year-old Faleomavaega), there is no question that public sentiment to have him do so has picked
up steam. There is no doubt that were
Congress in session, Faleomavaega once again would have been prompted to take
to the Floor, perhaps even to call upon ESPN to suspend Ditka from his
broadcast duties.
This blog takes no position on the Redskins’ name but, given
his limited strength and energy, wouldn’t Faleomavaega better serve his
constituency by concentrating on American Samoa
issues, as he promised he would? If he
must take to the Floor when Congress returns in September, how about an
emotional speech on the poverty his island may face if President Obama goes
ahead with his plan to create a huge Pacific conservation zone that could force
the underpinning of American Samoa’s economy to collapse?
Redskins’ name, Kazakhstan nuclear waste, Cambodian debt
relief, Korean comfort women, Bahraini protesters, Hawaiian
sovereignty, Easter Island land tenure, West Papua Independence, Armenian
genocide. These are the kinds of issues
that have dominated Faleomavaega’s agenda over the years when he hasn’t been traveling. But, no, Coach Ditka, we wouldn’t describe
Faleomavaega as an idiot. However, we
would be harder pressed to refute those who might dismiss him as a buffoon.
