Dogging Michael Vick

I’m in the minority, apparently, when it comes to Michael Vick.

I don’t hate him.

In fact, I admire the 31-year-old Philadelphia Eagles quarterback who played for the Atlanta Falcons for six seasons before heading to prison for being part of a dog-fighting ring in 2007.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m a “dog person” – I always have been – who finds Vick’s crimes despicable and almost incomprehensible. I’m as anti-animal abuse as the next guy. I’m glad he served almost two years in prison and agree that maybe his sentence should have been longer.

I’m okay with the fact that he was dumped by the Falcons, lost his obscene NFL salary and lucrative product endorsement deals, and had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008.

But I admire how he’s shouldered on in spite of the hatred and vitriol directed at him by animal lovers, people who resent his million dollar paychecks, racists who frown upon black men being rich and famous and gifted, and those who for some reason want to deny him the same chance at redemption that they give countless others.

Amy Fisher, the “Long Island Lolita,” can shoot her married lover’s wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco, in the head and become a journalist and porn star after prison.

George W. Bush can cause the death of more than a million human beings, sully America’s reputation in the international community and destroy our economy and rack up at least $15 million in speaking fees since leaving office in 2009.

G. Gordon Liddy can be convicted of burglary and conspiracy for his role in Watergate and become a syndicated radio talk show host heard in 160 markets.

Figure-skating champion Tonya Harding can plead guilty to conspiracy for her role in the 1994 assault on a competitor, Nancy Kerrigan, and then become a boxer, television personality and pop culture icon.

Even Michael Jackson – who shared his bed with little boys, changed his race, appeared in court in his pajamas, and danced on top of an SUV parked outside the Santa Barbara County Courthouse – was just a little “eccentric” in the eyes of his international army of fans.

Vick’s now working with the Humane Society of the United States to get Congress and state legislatures to toughen sanctions for dog fighting. (Legislation is being considered in Lansing that would make dog fighting a racketeering crime and allow police to seize property from those who profit from it.) Apparently the new federal law that went into effect in 2007 – the one making interstate dog fighting a felony and mandating prison and large fines – isn’t good enough.

What else does the guy have to do to pay for his crime? Why isn’t he entitled to the same second chance that we give everybody else?

The Humane Society of the United States estimates that 40,000 people in this country are involved in professional dog fighting.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are 307,006,550 people in the United States.

How about a little perspective on the Michael Vick thing, people?



Sources: WKAR News, U.S. Census Bureau.