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Michael Vick and dogfighting.
First of all I am with the majority who find this "sport", if it can even be labeled as such, as dispicable behavior. The act of forcing dogs to fight to the death, or near death is absolutely atrocious, but I was not so passionate about this case until i heard what goes on with the losing dogs after the fight. Rather than have enough respect for your animal to simply inject it with lethal chemicals that would simply put the maimed dog to sleep, they choose to wet the dogs down and electrocute them...to shoot them..and not just a single blow to the head to put it out of it's misery, they were basically used as target practice. If that isn;t brutal enough, how about picking the dog up by its four legs and slamming in on the ground repeatedly, like it was a bag of ice that needed to be crushed to seperate the pieces before it could be opened to get the ice out. Who knows what other unbelievably barbaric means they used to "euthanize" the already worn and beaten dogs. This doesn;t even count the mistreatment in traing the animals for fighting..like hanging them by the neck to strengthen neck muscles so the dog can thrash its head back and forth with greater force once it gets a mouthful of it's opponents flesh....like making them run on adapted treamills for hours on end to increase its endurance...Michael Vick is a top notch athlete in great physical form...think he ever ran more than an hour on a treadmill?? Doubt it..he may even be the first to tell you that running that long would be counterproductive to building strength. When I lived in Florida I worked with a guy who knew people involved in dogfighting and he told me his friends took their pitbulls and threw them in swimming pools and forced them to tread water until they simply began to sink to the bottom of the pool at which time they would get in the pool and pull the dog out, literally bringing it within inches of ending it's life.
Certainly Vick deserves his due process, but the evidence that is already linked to the case is almost enough to make a fair assumption that if he was not directly involved in the operation, he definitely knew enough about the operation to be considered a conspirator in this dog fighting operation. It was his property for god's sake!...I have seen the aerial shots of his house like all of you have...it's kind of hard to miss the large fenced in ring behind the house that was used as a dog fighting pit...He didn;t know that pit was in his yard? He didn;t know it what it was being used for?? Seriously??? I may be some dumb, but I ain't plum dumb. Like I just said..there is a good chunk of evidence that already links him at least on a conspiratorial level, if not a direct involvement.
If he is completely innocent of these charges, then where is his support??...where are the people who know him that can attest to the "fact" that he is not involved?? If you have seen anything from anyone in Michael's camp that has given any testimony as to him not being involved, please give me the source, because I really want to see it...maybe it could help me not seem so biased against him...but as of yet...his supporters are failing to step up in his defense.
I am a firm believer in the constitution, and the rights it gives us as individuals, or groups, so i definitely believe in the notion of being innocent until proven guilty, but that doesn't mean I can not look at the information that is out about the case now and form an opinion...after all..doesn;t the constitution grant me that right as an individual? The notion of innocent until proven guilty resides in the courts not in the public at large. It was set up so that suspected criminals would be given a fair trial, without being judged (in a court of law) before evidence is delivered and hashed out. One could say that we shouldn't, as individuals, pass judgement on others, but passing judgement is not illegal, and also, there is a huge difference in passing judgement and having an opinion. To say that I think Michael Vick is somehow involved in the criminal acts that took place is not a pass of judgement...it is an opinion. To say Michael Vick is guilty of these crimes, and he is an awful person who should burn in hell, is a pass of judgement.
With the notion of innocence until proven guilty having been discussed, I read something today that relates that thought to the case. This is what really drove me to write this blog.
Let me preface first by saying (and anyone reading this probably knows me well enough to know this is true of me, but I just want to make it clear, cuz this could get ugly) that I am a person who values people of all cultural and racial backgrounds. I am one who believes that diversity is the greatest strength of a democracy. diversity is the backbone of progress. If we all looked, thought, and felt alike..we would get nowhere...our differences are what make us strong.
So, with that being said, I read today that already this case is becoming just another high profile court case that is going to divide a nation into black and white again. One step forward...two steps back... = / Do I even need to mention which race is taking which side? Honestly?
So, why is it that every black person protesting outside the courthouse today is pleading Vick's innocence, and every white person is calling for his conviction?
My question to you is this...If this were Peyton Manning standing trial for dog fighting would the demographic split of opinions remain as divided as it is now? Nope. But why not? Would we still have the black community pleading his innocence, while white people would be calling for his head? nope...Well...Why not? There is a serious social issue here. If it looks as though I am tearing down the black community, I apologize, but I am so sick of any high profile case that involves a black defendant turning into an issue of race. I am tired of the race card being played...this has nothing to do with Michael Vick being black..It has everything to do with 66 dogs(55pit bulls) being found on his property along with mating cages, breaksticks, and other dog fighting tools...I am so sick of people neglecting evidence for the sake of sticking with someone because they share your skin color. Justice is not related to race. I in no way have a right to try to sway people from believing Vick is innocent of these crimes, but what I am getting at is that in a case where nearly everyone agrees that he has at least a minimal involvement it is unnerving to see that people are willing to take his back based on his race...Sure a black person could say, well look across the street the people protesting against him are white...well, its hard to have a diverse group protest against the actions that went on at his property when the african american community is taking his side because they share a common race...and I agree those protesting and calling for his head are out of line..he does deserve his due processs..in actuality I would say the right thing to do is for everyone to go home and just share their opinions with people they associate with..Just as nobody can truly protest his guilt, nobody can truly protest his innocence...I don;t know what the verdict will be, but like I said earlier...there is more evidence rising against him than there is support rising for him...and thats how my opinion is forming...when the case begins and more detailed evidence and testimony is revealed perhaps my stance will change...I can only go by what I read from valid sources at this point. And right now it doesn;t look good for him. If the points I am trying to appear to be racist then take a second, do what I suggested earlier..Apply Peyton Manning in the place of Michael Vick..You would not have a group of white people calling out his innocence...It would be a large unified group agreeing that the evidence is swayed heavily towards his guilt. It is just so sad to see people favor their race over justice in such an inhumane act. especially when the crime wasn't cross-racial crime, it was cross-species. Go back to the OJ case..another racially divided case...that case is long and over, and the majority of the black community that supported OJ now confess that they believe he committed the crime...will this case get the same treatment...take the back of the defendant because you share race, then once it is all said and done, and perchance he is acquitted, years later those who had his back will be saying, oh yeah, I think he did it??? Personally I would take shame in that behavior...supporting a probable criminal until he is acquitted, then changing your stance once you got what you were looking for...forsaking justice for what? Supporting someone you don;t know simply based on the color of their skin.
Enough on that.
First of all I am with the majority who find this "sport", if it can even be labeled as such, as dispicable behavior. The act of forcing dogs to fight to the death, or near death is absolutely atrocious, but I was not so passionate about this case until i heard what goes on with the losing dogs after the fight. Rather than have enough respect for your animal to simply inject it with lethal chemicals that would simply put the maimed dog to sleep, they choose to wet the dogs down and electrocute them...to shoot them..and not just a single blow to the head to put it out of it's misery, they were basically used as target practice. If that isn;t brutal enough, how about picking the dog up by its four legs and slamming in on the ground repeatedly, like it was a bag of ice that needed to be crushed to seperate the pieces before it could be opened to get the ice out. Who knows what other unbelievably barbaric means they used to "euthanize" the already worn and beaten dogs. This doesn;t even count the mistreatment in traing the animals for fighting..like hanging them by the neck to strengthen neck muscles so the dog can thrash its head back and forth with greater force once it gets a mouthful of it's opponents flesh....like making them run on adapted treamills for hours on end to increase its endurance...Michael Vick is a top notch athlete in great physical form...think he ever ran more than an hour on a treadmill?? Doubt it..he may even be the first to tell you that running that long would be counterproductive to building strength. When I lived in Florida I worked with a guy who knew people involved in dogfighting and he told me his friends took their pitbulls and threw them in swimming pools and forced them to tread water until they simply began to sink to the bottom of the pool at which time they would get in the pool and pull the dog out, literally bringing it within inches of ending it's life.
Certainly Vick deserves his due process, but the evidence that is already linked to the case is almost enough to make a fair assumption that if he was not directly involved in the operation, he definitely knew enough about the operation to be considered a conspirator in this dog fighting operation. It was his property for god's sake!...I have seen the aerial shots of his house like all of you have...it's kind of hard to miss the large fenced in ring behind the house that was used as a dog fighting pit...He didn;t know that pit was in his yard? He didn;t know it what it was being used for?? Seriously??? I may be some dumb, but I ain't plum dumb. Like I just said..there is a good chunk of evidence that already links him at least on a conspiratorial level, if not a direct involvement.
If he is completely innocent of these charges, then where is his support??...where are the people who know him that can attest to the "fact" that he is not involved?? If you have seen anything from anyone in Michael's camp that has given any testimony as to him not being involved, please give me the source, because I really want to see it...maybe it could help me not seem so biased against him...but as of yet...his supporters are failing to step up in his defense.
I am a firm believer in the constitution, and the rights it gives us as individuals, or groups, so i definitely believe in the notion of being innocent until proven guilty, but that doesn't mean I can not look at the information that is out about the case now and form an opinion...after all..doesn;t the constitution grant me that right as an individual? The notion of innocent until proven guilty resides in the courts not in the public at large. It was set up so that suspected criminals would be given a fair trial, without being judged (in a court of law) before evidence is delivered and hashed out. One could say that we shouldn't, as individuals, pass judgement on others, but passing judgement is not illegal, and also, there is a huge difference in passing judgement and having an opinion. To say that I think Michael Vick is somehow involved in the criminal acts that took place is not a pass of judgement...it is an opinion. To say Michael Vick is guilty of these crimes, and he is an awful person who should burn in hell, is a pass of judgement.
With the notion of innocence until proven guilty having been discussed, I read something today that relates that thought to the case. This is what really drove me to write this blog.
Let me preface first by saying (and anyone reading this probably knows me well enough to know this is true of me, but I just want to make it clear, cuz this could get ugly) that I am a person who values people of all cultural and racial backgrounds. I am one who believes that diversity is the greatest strength of a democracy. diversity is the backbone of progress. If we all looked, thought, and felt alike..we would get nowhere...our differences are what make us strong.
So, with that being said, I read today that already this case is becoming just another high profile court case that is going to divide a nation into black and white again. One step forward...two steps back... = / Do I even need to mention which race is taking which side? Honestly?
So, why is it that every black person protesting outside the courthouse today is pleading Vick's innocence, and every white person is calling for his conviction?
My question to you is this...If this were Peyton Manning standing trial for dog fighting would the demographic split of opinions remain as divided as it is now? Nope. But why not? Would we still have the black community pleading his innocence, while white people would be calling for his head? nope...Well...Why not? There is a serious social issue here. If it looks as though I am tearing down the black community, I apologize, but I am so sick of any high profile case that involves a black defendant turning into an issue of race. I am tired of the race card being played...this has nothing to do with Michael Vick being black..It has everything to do with 66 dogs(55pit bulls) being found on his property along with mating cages, breaksticks, and other dog fighting tools...I am so sick of people neglecting evidence for the sake of sticking with someone because they share your skin color. Justice is not related to race. I in no way have a right to try to sway people from believing Vick is innocent of these crimes, but what I am getting at is that in a case where nearly everyone agrees that he has at least a minimal involvement it is unnerving to see that people are willing to take his back based on his race...Sure a black person could say, well look across the street the people protesting against him are white...well, its hard to have a diverse group protest against the actions that went on at his property when the african american community is taking his side because they share a common race...and I agree those protesting and calling for his head are out of line..he does deserve his due processs..in actuality I would say the right thing to do is for everyone to go home and just share their opinions with people they associate with..Just as nobody can truly protest his guilt, nobody can truly protest his innocence...I don;t know what the verdict will be, but like I said earlier...there is more evidence rising against him than there is support rising for him...and thats how my opinion is forming...when the case begins and more detailed evidence and testimony is revealed perhaps my stance will change...I can only go by what I read from valid sources at this point. And right now it doesn;t look good for him. If the points I am trying to appear to be racist then take a second, do what I suggested earlier..Apply Peyton Manning in the place of Michael Vick..You would not have a group of white people calling out his innocence...It would be a large unified group agreeing that the evidence is swayed heavily towards his guilt. It is just so sad to see people favor their race over justice in such an inhumane act. especially when the crime wasn't cross-racial crime, it was cross-species. Go back to the OJ case..another racially divided case...that case is long and over, and the majority of the black community that supported OJ now confess that they believe he committed the crime...will this case get the same treatment...take the back of the defendant because you share race, then once it is all said and done, and perchance he is acquitted, years later those who had his back will be saying, oh yeah, I think he did it??? Personally I would take shame in that behavior...supporting a probable criminal until he is acquitted, then changing your stance once you got what you were looking for...forsaking justice for what? Supporting someone you don;t know simply based on the color of their skin.
Enough on that.
Dude, if you had a CLUE how much money these athletes made and throw away to there familys you would be sickened.
Until then why should you make this a race issue or even pick apart these College educated athletes,”with degrees,” and judge them as criminals? Don’t get me wrong, I hate every team but the hometown and could careless, but the fact is, these individuals are helping there family members out and are getting blamed for what goes on in these houses. How would you feel if your cousin needed a place to live, and you decide to help them out like the good lord tells us to and are going down because of there mistakes? We are talking about an individual who cant do anything with the ball but run the damn thing, so why don’t we give crappie Michael Vick a brake and look at the cards, we are destined to be the Super Bowl champs this year so relax and give it up. Peace to the believers, and God bless those who are a mile above the rest.
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