I wish I'd never heard of Michael Vick.
Apparently, he's decided to plead guilty to charges relating to dog-fighting. The Federal indictment runs to 18 pages. The maximum sentence is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. And he might get less.
An Atlanta journalist describes Vick as "one of the most exciting and polarizing figures in the NFL" -- and as far as I'm concerned, this is as "disturbing" as the "disturbing actions" to which Vick has admitted. Exciting? I can think of lots of adjectives to describe the revolting, so-called "sport" of dog-fighting and what I consider to be the sociopaths who indulge in it, but "exciting" isn't one of them. And polarizing? Is there anyone who will actually admit they approve of dog-fighting? Or that they think Vick should get off?
Besides, there's not a whole lot they can do to Michael Vick. Anybody who finds enjoyment in forcing helpless animals to tear each other apart isn't going to mind prison very much. All that delicious sadism and violence and cruelty. And what's a $250,000 fine to someone who's got a $130 milllion contract to play football for the Falcons? A mere slap on the wrist.
I think they should give him 500 lashes with a cat-o-nine-tails. Or put him in a cage with half a dozen hungry lions and let nature take its course. But we're civilized, aren't we? We don't do such things. We're human beings and we don't condone the inflicting unnecessary, gratuitous pain on sentient creatures.
Unlike Michael Vick.