Fire Dan Snyder's Defense of His Lawsuit

Redskins owner Dan Snyder issued a letter yesterday in which he explained why he is pressing forward with a libel lawsuit against Washington City Paper and reporter Dave McKenna. Snyder still sounds like a child who didn't get what he wanted for Christmas, so his defense attempt should be fired.

In Snyder's world, Dan is spelled "j-e-r-k."

In his letter, Snyder said: "I originally filed [the suit] for one reason: The paper refused to issue an apology and retract false and damaging attacks on my integrity. If it had done so, there would have been no lawsuit." He went on to say that he was most bothered by McKenna's statement that Snyder "got caught forging names as a telemarketer for Snyder Communications.”

McKenna is guilty of sloppy wording on that one, but he is far from way off. In 2001, Snyder Communications Inc, Snyder Direct Services Inc and Snyder Communications LP settled a lawsuit in Florida for $3.1 million. The Florida Attorney General's Office said: "In the case of Snyder Communications, our investigation revealed thousands of instances in which the marketing agent's representatives forged customer's signatures to switch them to GTE (now part of Verizon) long distance." Snyder's company didn't acknowledge any wrongdoing in the settlement, and it's true that Snyder himself probably didn't forge any signatures. Kind of like when a Mob boss orders a hit but doesn't pull the trigger himself, Snyder either knew what was happening or should have known because he was the boss. We'll never know what Snyder knew about this scandal and when he knew it, but he is still responsible for the actions of his company whether he likes it or not.

Snyder also said in his letter that he is "not thin-skinned about personal criticism." This is the same Dan Snyder who says the City Paper's photo illustration that accompanied McKenna's story is "anti-Semitic" because it shows him with devil horns and a beard, yet Snyder refuses to change the logo or name of his team, which might be just a little offensive to Native Americans. This is the same Dan Snyder who said in his letter that he "honor[s] vigorous free expression in the media" yet banned signs from FedEx Field in 2009 if they criticized him and threatened to eject fans who were expressing themselves.

Snyder said McKenna's article has damaged his reputation. Is that even possible? Given all of the nasty things he has done over the years and his epic mismanagement of his team, most Redskins fans already hate Snyder. If Snyder is so worried about his reputation, maybe he should spend some time doing community service instead of suing reporters. Until Snyder learns to wear big-boy pants, he will be fired.