CRUELTY - A REFRESHER COURSE

It's great to look into the flatscreen monitor on my desk and not think of politics. I never intended to write about politics in the first place. It just happened. For today, there's actually something bothering me much more.

A few weeks ago I ended one of my articles asking; "Who are we?" I wasn't trying to pose a philosophical question. I was asking because, as a society, particularly here in the United States of America, we're obviously off course. Naturally, events take place and decisions are made that we can only react to. Then there are others that we simply enable due to our apathy or our misunderstanding. Some of these events or decisions won't affect our lives very much but they do go a long way to underscore our values.

On July 27th, 2009 Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, conditionally reinstated Michael Vick who had been suspended since 2007 and had served 18 months in prison for running an interstate dogfighting ring. And on August 13th the Philadelphia Eagles signed him. He'll get $1.6 million this season and an option for $5 million next year.

I don't want to downplay Mr. Vick's talent on the field. I'm not a big football fan. But the guy is an amazing athlete.

However, Vick ran a well organized interstate dogfighting ring for six years known as "Bad Newz Kennels". This wasn't a moment of bad judgement or a night of drunken excess. This was a systematic, well planned, carefully executed series of crimes over a long period of time.

According to the Summary of Facts filed by the United States Attorney with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Michael Vick took part in training the dogs, transporting them to fights in neighboring states and was aware that his associates were killing the underperforming dogs as far back as 2002. Over the six year period Vick "rolled" (tested) dogs by having them fight one another to see which ones were good fighters. Some time around April 2007 Vick took part in the killing of between 6 and 8 dogs (he apparently couldn't remember the exact number) that did not perform well. The dogs were killed by hanging, drowning and other unspecified methods. At the time he was finally arrested "Bad Newz Kennels" had 54 pit bull terriers on the property that were scarred and injured from fighting.

Vick, a multimillionaire star athlete with endorsement deals including Nike, Coca Cola, Kraft and Powerade was hit with a mere $250,000 fine and negotiated an allocution as part of his plea agreement. At the time, his annual income was approximately $25.4 million.

Naturally, he gave conflicting statements at different times regarding his involvement in the training, testing and killing of the dogs much to the protest of both state and federal prosecutors. According to reporters who spoke to the prosecuting judge after the sentencing hearing, Vick's behavior, particularly during an FBI polygraph administered in October 2007, showed that he was being deceptive when asked direct questions about killing dogs. Finally he was sentenced to serve 23 months and assigned to Leavenworth Federal Prison in Kansas.

In late November 2008 Vick was brought back to Virginia to face the state charges. After submitting a guilty plea to a single Virginia felony charge for dog fighting, he received a 3 year prison sentence, which was suspended upon condition of good behavior, and a ridiculous $2500 fine. In return for the plea agreement, the other charges were dropped.

Astounding.

I can virtually guarantee you that if I had done what Michael Vick did, I'd be in jail for many years and I'd be paying fines that far exceeded my annual income. Furthermore, when I got out of jail I sure wouldn't get my old job back, if any decent job.

I'm not an activist. I'm not a vegetarian and I'm not a member of PETA. But just how is it that a guy who takes part in such cruelty over the period of six years for the purpose of some sick entertainment can be permitted to go back to being an NFL star?

Where are our values as a society that we allow this? They're in the toilet, that's where.

Last night, a friend said to me: "Well, they let Stallworth back in..." Donte Stallworth, who had too much to drink one night back in March in Miami Beach, accidentally killed a crane operator who had stepped into the street. There is no comparison there.

Michael Vick is an arch criminal and a vicious offender. His apologies are empty. His recent involvement with the Humane Society is a joke at best and his words mean nothing. He is one excellent example of what is wrong with our culture. While his original team, the Atlanta Falcons, refused to take him back, the NFL is letting him play and he has been picked up by another team. Why? MONEY. He's good so he can help them win and winning means more people at the games, more merchandise sold, more concessions sold, more television rights and so on.

That's what we're about; the money. And sadly, football fans of all ages will see this piece of trash on the field, doing what he loves, making millions after sadistically and systematically torturing and killing animals for fleeting entertainment. Try explaining this to a kid who likes football.

The NFL has allowed Michael Vick to play because we have allowed Michael Vick to play.

We have become a society without standards and we will suffer because of it.