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New York, 8:04 AM
Thu Nov 26
45 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/17/09
But to let a guy who used a cattle prod on a dog's testicles because it wouldn't rip the face off of another dog quickly enough to suit his tastes to saunter back on the football field, all's-forgiven smirks, is wrong.
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08/17/09
That'd be a start...Yeah, sure Michael Vick served his time, but A) I still don't have to like the sumbitch, and I don't, and B) he is an entertainment figure, and therefore subject like all entertainment figures to the perfectly unreasonable judgemental whims of the public (ie. "That Tom Cruise is a Scientologist, and that freaks me out. Plus he's just too damned short." or "There's just something about Clare Danes that chafes my ass."). If he wanted job security, he should've become a CPA.
08/17/09
I absolutely believe in second chances for convicted felons. But I think it's bullshit to say I don't have "empathy" because I rankle at the idea that said second chance involves a multi-million dollar football contract received almost immediately after he finishes his sentence. There is middle ground between those who want him to become destitute and suffer the rest of his life and those who want him to be an insta-millionaire. And I think that middle ground involves plenty of empathy. I could support the guy more if he perhaps he spent a year doing charity work before rejoining the NFL or donated a majority of his first-year salary to charity.
08/17/09
08/17/09
A lot of people have been comparing Vick to Stallworth. Beyond the football connection, I'm not seeing it. Stallworth killed a man and got a short prison sentence. Abominable. But here's the difference. What Stallworth did was the screwup of a lifetime. What Vick did was continuous evil.
I've always been big on second chances and I'd like to give Vick one but so far I haven't been able to get past his years of abusing creatures that couldn't defend themselves. He should count his blessings that I'm not on the Eagles O-line.
08/17/09
What the heck do my politics have to do with this situation?
08/17/09
I have 4 dogs who are my life. I treat them like my kids. Would I let Vick watch them for the weekend? No. Would I let most people I know watch them for the weekend? No.
Do I think vick should be thrown to a leper colony for the rest of his life - no, that is ridiculous.
The dude screwed up. He royally fucked up. He paid for it, in a forum much more public than most people.
Whats sick to me is OJ gets off the hook in a case that is pretty much a lock, and people cheer for him. Vick participates in a dog ring and people want him crucified. Thats some jacked up priorities.
08/17/09
08/18/09
The problem arises when one person does something wrong and gets away with it, but thats ok by many people. Another person does something wrong and pays for it, and yet thats not good enough. In one case justice was ignored and in another it was served, yet the public response is reversed... wtf?
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08/17/09
He hung the dogs, he electrocuted them...what do you mean it´s not like he killed babies. Helpless things----animals and babies.
Go online and check out how the rehabilitation is going for the few VICKS dogs that were saved. Animals have trauma, too.
08/17/09
excuse me, but animals are not helpless. and the animals that are helpless deserve to die according to survival of the fittest. humans, being at the top of the chain are playing god by protecting dogs, in the wild they would be subjected to the same laws as any other animal.
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08/17/09
and yes this chain of reasoning is brilliant. darwin was brilliant.
look a human is at the top of the chain. and thus he or she is protected by other humans. just like a mother wolf/bear/dog/horse/insect/squirrel/bird etc. protects her young. a dog has been treated like an anomaly of the chain because human chose to protect them. and because of this protection they are subjected to all sorts of exceptions.
i'll say it again, had vick been running a cockfighting ring he wouldn't have gotten nearly as much shit as the dog fighting.
i don't think mentallty or physically disabled deserve to die (i'm a psychiatrist) nor do i think babies or children. they are protected by their kin. in the wild dogs are protected the same way.
morallity and civilization affords us the ability to protect our kin and our kind. I think it's horrible what people do to inferior people. and i don't agree that vick was right or anything like that. but the mere fact that he has paid for his crimes warrants him the right to have any second chance someone is willing to give him.
oh, and I live in manhattan and I hate camping.
08/17/09
By saying "animals that are helpless deserve to die," you're basically saying what Vick did was just fine, because those dogs should have fought back, god damn it!
Go back to your community college homework. I'm sure that paper on Ayn Rand will be a hit!
08/17/09
nowhere in my post (and never will you hear me say) that those dogs deserved to die. and I didn't know my "mantra" was unconvincing, I got it from a pretty reputable book: the origin of species.
I'm not agreeing with vick and I wish that those dogs weren't needlessly slaughtered. but i think you failed to get my underlying point. Vick did something horrible. true. but the reason why this is getting so much more media attention then your run of the mill murder is because everyone reading this is petting their dog sitting by their side and wondering "gosh, that could have been you fluffy!"
I like dogs, i think they're great but the fact of the matter is that we protect dogs unlike any other animal in the world and us being at the top of the food chain (we are the fittest) we are creating this anomoly within the natural tendency of life.
but people calling dogs helpless is just pulling on our heartstrings, touching yes. but irrelevent to vick.
Tank, Pac-Man, Donte Stallworth these are just a few of the criminals in the NFL who got hardly any media recognition (outside of the sports world)
are you also one of those who thinks vick's crime is worse than stallworth's?
as for your ludicrous ayn rand comment, you could say vick was practicing his own objectivism, but then again that would patronize him no? (you should look it up maybe you'll understand what i'm saying)
and as for community college, I never went but i know plenty of brilliant physicians who got their start there and are probably doing much more than you could ever dream of doing. so let's leave the personal insults out of it. ok chief?
08/17/09
Un-break his heart
08/17/09
08/17/09
It's funny how we, as a society, are selective in our reasoning. We would never allow a known child molester back on the field, but someone that was responsible for continuous, horrific crimes to animals (sentient beings) gets that chance.
I'm not sure where I stand on this. I believe big time in rehabilitation and second chances, but going to prison doesn't mean that he truly has changed. I'm also not sure where his remorse truly lies - with getting caught or with understanding and remorse for the pain and suffering these animals went through. Regardless, I hope he really makes a difference for and becomes a champion for these dogs. Only then will he truly redeem himself, in my mind.
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