Don't Ever Appear on 'The Daily Show'

In mid-September, some Washington Redskins fans agreed to go on "The Daily Show" to defend the team's name. In the course of negotiating their appearance, the fans asked whether they would be confronted by American Indians on the show. The producers said no, and then surprise! They were ambushed by irate American Indian activists.

Before we go any further, I'm in favor of changing the team's name. I don't want to get into a tired debate; my general position on such matters is that whatever its history, "Redskins" is now viewed as an epithet, and ladies and gentlemen do not use offensive epithets when they can avoid doing so. Moreover, while I understand that the fans love their team, one hopes they are attached to the folks who play the game, not whatever name they happen to go by.