ARCHIVE #4

8-27-2007

Michael Vick, that piece of crap testosterone dominated gladiator athlete who invested his success in the torture of dogs . . . apologized to his fan base and his employers and axed for forgiveness and promised to make himself a better person in his press statement. Yeah, that's what really matters here . . . Michael Vick becoming a better person.

Some people are still claiming he has been demonized as a successful black athlete who is being unfairly persecuted. This is a ridiculous argument because it is his very success which makes his choice for dog torture for fun and profit so incomprehensible. What could have been his motive? Just getting more fun and more acclaim from people he was enabled to support from his success.

Further . . . the worst thing . . . he has never yet mentioned THE DOGS. He claims rehabilitation. What about the DOGS THAT CANNOT BE REHABILITATED AND WILL BE DESTROYED? Did he offer to pay Cesar Millan to rehabilitate and find homes for those dogs whose disposition he helped to create FOR FUN AND EGO STROKES AMONG HIS SADISTIC FRIENDS?!

HE NEVER MENTIONED THE INHUMANE TREATMENT OF THE DOGS - THE SPECIFIC, INDIVIDUAL DOGS.

Saying "dogfighting is bad" doesn't cover the meaning of this issue. He talks about his immaturity but leaves out the choice of sadism. He left out WHAT HE DID. THIS IS NOT REMORSE.

No, I don't think his public apology has any value and I believe it was made as a public relations ploy to cut his losses and help save his post-prison career.

This is what comes from paying people obscene amounts of money for skills, however marvellous they may be and however many "thrills" they supply to the public. They may be ignorant, sadistic, egomaniacs who would torture to death a fellow creature . . . but if they keep us entertained, and ax for forgiveness, what the heck, we can forgive them anything if they pretend to feel badly.

Oh yeah . . . and he has found Jesus. What would Jesus have said ABOUT THE DOGS? What happened to THE DOGS? Individuals, every one of them. He left them out of his pathetic plea. I can't believe that, after finding Jesus, Jesus wouldn't have told him that remorse is tied to genuine empathy, and the empathy belongs to the creatures he tortured. HE LEFT OUT HIS EMPATHY FOR THE DOGS WHOSE TORTURE HE SPONSORED. Therefore there IS no remorse and axing for forgiveness means little to me. LET'S SEE SOME EMPATHY FOR THE CREATURES HE HARMED FIRST. It's missing because he still doesn't believe he hurt anybody important, other than his fan base. Being sorry for his wealthy employers and his fan base hardly qualifies here.

And what can you expect from a professional gladiator?

8-25-2007

Dogs respond to Michael Vick . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxP1_VF5K60

This is a cute video. But if you go to Youtube.com, you can see videos of the despicable sport of dogfighting, what it's really like. I couldn't watch it, so I can't post a link in my blog. But let me say it again: what a travesty of justice it is to make a plea to save his multimillion dollar career, as though he deserves it. It's really only about preserving income for the business of football where he is a star.

The NAACP: Oh he's being persecuted so unfairly.

Look at these pieces of crap "football stars" saying that if Michael Vick wants to fight dogs, that's his business and what goes on behind closed doors is private business:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o77coI3O9ps

Poor Michael Vick. Poor millionaire football players, having their gaming fun spoiled. And they are such "role models". How in the hell these people qualify as role models, I cannot fathom.

There are not enough words in the English language to express my contempt for these people who defend the illegal and inhuman activity of dogfighting.

8-23-2007

I have scant empathy for Michael Vick. This is not just a "mistake" he made . . . deriving fun and profit from the ghastly suffering of dogs. This is not the kind of activity someone does as an "accidental" or "mistaken" impulsive choice. This is characterological behavior: betting on dogfights is not just a little slip up. It was an activity pursued over a long period of time which reveals deep attitudes which are unlikely to be easily changed. Vick did not need the money he derived from these cruel, inhumane, and violent activities. He was doing it for the fun of the gaming. He clearly, undeniably, considers it a reasonable way to have "fun" and to provide "fun" for other people and to provide a "fun" way for other men to gamble on pain. A short stay in jail and some fines to a multimillionaire are not going to change his idea of what is justifiable "fun".

But the defense of this behavior I have seen on TV (as from the NAACP and many funloving football fans - "oh, don't ruin his football career") is almost as bad as the original behavior. Several spokespeople have claimed that football fans should not be deprived of the thrills that Michael Vick has provided them on the field, where they watch men slam their bodies together to produce a constant source of painful injuries which will be with them for the rest of their lives. Yes, that's the result of playing football for years: irreparable injuries, a shortened lifespan, and constant pain. It's not that far from dogfighting in my book. I'm married to a man who played football in highschool and college and I've read many statements by pro football players and is a fact that these men get money and prestige for damaging their own bodies for the "thrills" they can provide to fans . . .and the riches that are generated by college and pro football businessmen. This sport simply generates a whole lot of money. I don't care how attractive and fun football looks, its reality is that it is just our ultimate gladiatorial display of testosterone aggressivity and resistance to pain. It's not that different than dogfighting, but these "dogs" don't have fur. It's certainly a way for a lot of men to make a lot of money by sacrificing their health and well being and accepting pain in order to demonstrate physical toughness and power.

But at least football players volunteer and are rewarded and not tortured to death against their wills. Instead, they are paid a whole lot of money for their aggressive skills and talent . . . which someone like Michael Vick can then invest in torturing dogs.

I spit on the "thrill" Michael Vick has provided to his fans. What a piece of crap argument it is that his career should be spared because of all the thrilling moments he has provided to his fans. What a stupid illogical argument it is that he has been vilified more than a wife abuser would be. These arguments do not compute to me at all. These arguments come from men who don't want their fucking fun spoiled.

Imagine that this man has million of dollars and this is what he invests it in and how he derived ego strokes and fun: torturing dogs emotionally and physically. And imagine that we should not torture him in return by taking away his million dollar meal ticket, which he used to invest in dog torture for fun.

That's what it is, folks. Plain and simple. People defend Michael Vick largely with the argument that we should not take away his ability to supply us with thrills by ruining his football career.

If we do not stand up against animal abuse in such flagrant, shameless forms - including a public acknowledgment that perpetrators do not deserve to receive obscene amounts of money in order to indulge in it freely - then I will truly feel despair for the Roman Empire state of my country.

How's this: if there are men who find dogfighting fun, why don't they spend their money on a ticket to Baghdad, where some real bloodsports are going on? They don't need to torture dogs in safety, while drinking bear and shouting and revelling in their "sport" - they can go watch some honest to God torture and put their own lives at risk. What shitty cowards these men are, what nasty little boys. And that denigration goes for any woman who knowlingly shares a life with any man who would do such a thing. Shame on the lot of them. They don't deserve the same torture they inflicted on those dogs . . . but they deserve to be relieved of their public acclaim and obscene monetary rewards.

Sure humans can always be redeemed. But I have neither seen or heard Michael Vick say anything that indicates a second of empathy for the despair and pain of the dogs who were tortured and killed . . . and those still living, whose lives are now forfeit. He's a poor excuse for a man who is sorry for being persecuted for a little thing like dog torture. I have not heard a single word yet that shows that he could put himself in the place of those dogs or that he values their lives.

No, a short prison stay is NOT ENOUGH TO REPUDIATE THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR. TAKE AWAY THE MONEY AND THE ACCLAIM ON WHICH IT WAS BUILT. This is the only long term solution to change attitudes and behavior: take away the rewards on which this arrogant, aggressive, shameful license to hurt was founded. And make that publically clear as the standard response to reprehensible inhuman practices.

I don't give a damn how many thrilling moments this nasty rich goodlooking gladiator who is dedicated to the worst kind of thrillseeking has provided to his fans. I don't care about the fans either. But I do make a connection between thrillseeking and grossly inhumane behavior. I piss on people who think their thrills are so valuable that they must save people like Michael Vick from a deep and lasting lesson. And the only thing that will really last is the end of his gravy train . . . which he invested in DOG TORTURE.

Every one of the dogs involved was more valuable than Michael Vick and his "thrilling" moments on the football field.

But worst of all . . .this kind of behavior is symptomatic of a culture which thinks that suffering IS a thrill to observe.

1-4-2007

I was truly inspired by Nancy Pelosi yesterday. I almost felt hopeful about politics, watching her being installed as the first woman Speaker of the House. Not to mention the fact that the Dems are now in a tiny majority. Even if the Republicans are whining now about procedures and Shrub is dithering while bodies pile up in Iraq . . .taking his time to think things through. As though he could think. As though the world should sit here holding our breath waiting for a single decision from this single man. The colossal insanity of power.