NFL = No F&cking Limbaugh!

That acronym has been keeping my lips curled up around the edges since yesterday!  I am ecstatic that the NFL has made what I would call a real, American business decision, one that respects the rights of all Americans to have their own opinion.  One where business appreciates the fact that its success is based on the participation of people of all politcal stripes.  It was an Olympic decision, in that it ignores the politcal climate in the name of sport.  Let's put politics aside and just play ball!  Since the arrival of Rove, politics has been injected into every facet of our lives and any decision a person makes has become political.  These decisions, virtually any decision, are seen as evidence of a person being in one party or another, and this revelation is generally made resembling an insult.  Today, the NFL has made a very clear decision to not perpetuate the notion that everything one does will fly the colors of their party and be a political statement, meaning an affront to anyone who disagrees.

When I was young my father advised me that businesses seldom takes political stands.  The owners might, of their own, but their business would usually be free of any partisan inclinations.  This was because a business could only thrive if it was able to reach customers of both parties, and people of no party, or people from a fringe party.  At the end of the day, the business didn't want to change your mind, they wanted your money.  They valued every customer equally.

Non-partisan existence seems to have evaporated because today every decision gets painted by political alarmists.   Today, many businesses are very clear about whom they support.  But we, the people, have lost our voice by continuing to support these entities.  Despite having an opinion opposed to those espoused by a business, we have continued to support those businesses and now, it seems, there are few businesses that stick to commerce.  A prime example of this is CitiBank, whose recent reported losses are also contributing to a smile on my face. 

Citi had the audacity to channel funds from the Bailout to an organization that opposed organized labor.  They took federal money, money originating in people of all political stripes, and made a partisan stand.  What is most agregious about this is that CitiBank has barely any employees that are part of any union!  Being an institution originating in the NorthEast, they most assuredly have union members' money and owe their past success to those comfortable wages negotiated by unions.  But, if one believes they are too big to fail, then it is problematic for a union to call for their members to remove their monies from this politcal assassin.  Or is it?!?  Maybe it is time we put our money into places that, if they are unable to share our values, can at least respect us enough not to take us for granted.

The NFL has taken a bold step in declaring they will not welcome Limbaugh into their ranks if he insists on broadcasting devisive rhetoric.  The NFL has Republicans in its ranks, mostly at the top with the owners, but it also has its Democrats, mostly on the field, and it probably has a good mixture of asses and elephants among the coaches.  Looking through the stands, it is probably a broad mixture of people in the crowds as well, having teams throughout the nation, in Red States and Blue States.   What the NFL acknowledges and respects, is that its revenues come from everyone, and they are all Americans.  It is a thoughtful reminder of what made this nation great.  The NFL is declaring, in a very real way, that "United We Stand", as we all do when they play the national anthem before the games, and "we" means everyone.