Times certainly have changed. Last week people gathered on the National Mall to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the civil rights march on Washington and Martin Luther King’s "I Have A Dream" speech. Starting tomorrow the NFL is taking over the Mall to conduct a four day marketing blitz for it and something called Pepsi Vanilla. The whole "NFL Experience" will culminate on Thursday with a concert featuring Britany Spears and Areosmith (check your local listings if you’d like to suffer with us).

Aside from the fact that this mess will clog traffic for miles, especially since the concert will start during rush hour, I have one question. Isn’t there something in the law that prohibits the use of national park land for commercial purposes? And let’s face it, there is nothing more commercial than the NFL. At least the city and the Parks Service is soaking the League for the full cost of security and cleanup.