Vick Hysteria

Well said buddy. Animals, contrary to popular mythology, are NOT people, too.

Still if he did what they accuse him of, it boggles the mind. The guy has it all: money, fame, a future. Kind of hard to imagine anyone would risk all that for something so stupid.

as much as I love animals, and as affectionate and endearing as they can be, they are still just animals. Not that justifies mistreating them, after all there's a saying I know that goes he who doesn't like animals doesn't like people.

And aren't we just dating ourselves with our silly, romantic attachment to such quaint ideas as the rule of law and the presumption of innocence? Frankly, I'm starting to wonder if I'm not fast becoming a living anachronism.

We've spoken of this many times over the past few months and you know my position. Well said.

Scottie, realize that if Vick is indeed guilty, he
risked it all simply because he thought he could get away with it. Consequences rarely cross our minds we we prepare ourselves to do dumb things.

Maybe we are dating ourselves in trying to make sure that the accused are given a fair shake. You know how it is these days, if it's on the news or the governmnet says you did it, then you did it. There's no need for anything as time consuming as a trial, and God forfend that Mike Vick actually does anything other than beg for forgiveness of the PETA people and the all powerful media! Yes, that would make it all better---just saying you're sorry makes it all okay.

And Nolan, you said it! People who "have it all" will often do things because thet think they're 10 feet tall and bulletproof. When you have that mentality, you will do anything, try anything because nothing bad can happen to you. At least that's the thinking.

Gallagher's post today on this subject, which you may want to have a look at yourself.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MikeGallagher/2007/08/03/two_tales_of_justice_vick_and_kobe?page=full&comments=true#abfc58dc-1c11-4544-8515-1665d9fe8c3f

I meant the exact opposite. I would argue that he wouldn't risk so much for so little and perhaps he could very well be innocent. That said, if he did it because he felt invincible, that is truly unbelievable...and stupid.

My point is that there is a presumption of innocence here that is being ignored. Mike Vick may very well plead guilty to some of the charges this week, and my point was never that he didn't do it. My point is that this situation is being blown totally out of proportion to the crimes being alleged. Like I said above, people are screaming that Vick be given the maximum amount of prison time and that he be banned from the NFL for life---before any evidence has been presented. Meanwhile, Ray Lewis, Kobe Bryant, and Leonard Little go on about their business as though nothing they did matters. These people harmed other PEOPLE, yet society is more than willing to forgive and forget, while Mike Vick is treated as though he shot the Pope or something.

And the situation with Vick, Jewell, and the Duke 3 is more similar than dissimilar, IMO. Just because Vick did not run to any bank of mic's to proclaim his innocence does not mean that he was automatically guilty. The similarities come from the incessant media coverage, the insistence that he be viewed as guilty in lieu of any evidence as proof, and a willingness of the public at large to convict them before trial. Also, there is the fact that law enforcement and prosecutors leaked damning "evidence" to the media to bolster their PR cases which turned the public against the defendants.

I don't expect everyone to agree; a good part of the fun is the debate! As for the pictures, those have been a bunch of file photos that have been running; the pictures of the dogs that were actually seized from the residence showed dogs that were in fairly good shape. The indictment is horrible, but it's just an indictment---a list of allegations, not actual proof. But, in all fairness, it does look pretty bad for Vick on this one.

As for Joey Heisman, I want to see him get a real chance to succeed as well. I'm a ND fan, but I was always impressed by his play at Oregon and I wanted so badly for him to succeed in Detroit; the Lions just never put a team around him that was any good. And they expected a team with no veteran leadership to be led to glory by a rookie QB, a bunch of young recievers, and not one person on the field that had ever won anything in the NFL---and don't get me started on Matt Millen. Great linebacker, terrible GM---he must have some serious dirt on the Ford family to be able to keep his job! I just wish that this wasn't the way Joey had to get another shot at starting in the NFL.

How in the world does that work? That'd be like me going to Carolina and then going to He---I mean Duke! I gues the Civil War must be pretty darn civil after all, and not much of a war at all!

And yes, I remember well the drubbing my Irish got, and unfortunately that has been the norm of late. But I am hoping that Charlie Weis will be able to get the defense turned around soon; maybe the switch to an aggressive 3-4 like the Patriots used while he was there will help; G*d knows that the 4-3 wasn't working!

As for Vick, I never said that he didn't do it, just that I think that his crime is not nearly as heinous as some others that the media and sports fans have glossed over in years past. Hey, he obviously did the crime, now he's gonna do the time!