You forgot hypocrisy of people who eat cow burgers and get all hot and bothered at dog killing. Why is it OK to kill and eat cows and not OK to kill dogs ?

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Though I agree with your concern about racism in the US, the rest of your piece is a bit ridiculous.

I posted a longer response on dagZine.

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This is a stupid, unsubstantiated statement:

"... many of the individuals that work themselves into a lather at the hint of a cross word or look at an animal won't utter a peep in protest to stop the killing and maiming of old men, women, and children in Iraq. They won't send a letter, fax or email to protest the genocide in Darfur and the Congo, or that occurred in Rwanda. They were stone-silent on the hundreds of men that rotted on America's death row for years and came within a hairs breath of having their lives snuffed out but were later exonerated."

Hutchinson doesn't know what he's talking about here, at all--it's an absurd claim. I, for one, am outraged about all these things, and know other people who are outraged about all of these things, and have made that outrage known, repeatedly. He's just venting here, and slandering millions of people in the process.

Instead of a real analysis of this issue, he seems to be on a personal mission to tear down everyone who cares about anything other than--or in addition to--his pet causes. That is a sure-fire way to fail to increase anyone's concern, sympathy, or understanding about what you care about.

My advice: pick better heroes next time, sir. The reason your pet cause is being thrown out like yesterday's garbage is because he deserves it. Sometimes, it's just that simple.

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Yes it was terrible. I remember a few years back when they found a pile of dead grey hounds. No one wants a washed up racing dog. I have always had an issue how America puts so much importance on their pets yet people starve everywhere. For you Christians when judgement comes and God asks you why you were able to feed your pet and not your fellow man I would not want to be near you.

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Michael Vick is one of a handful of hyper inflated sports
industry 'celebs' manufactured and pimped by MSM as a
'mega image',floating above the
fields of schemes of the latter like a humongous bloated dirigible in the Thanksgiving parade to the ooohhhs and awwwws of the fawning adoring masses. In other words he is a (could be) made 'only in america' uber freak paid far beyond all rhyme and reason only because there is no reason to the madness of narcissistic capitalist commodification(s) gone berserk. The fickle ,desultory,unreliable , venomous reaction of many of his former 'fans' and the public at large...this is a surprise??? This is EXACTLY WTF one would expect from masses themselves 'crazy' enough to celebrate tens of millions 'rewarded' to a few sports figures where the average fan can't even afford health insurance if their mate is cancer diagnosed or their child with leukemia or the 'fan' himself needs a critical bypass.A corrupt syndication of nonproductive parasitic , entirely derivative of entertainment/leisure diversion driven concerns , i.e. the american sports/msm infotainment/merchandising industries.
For anyone to feign surprise at the public's reaction to Vick's predicament is silly more than anything else.Your 'best friends'
will, in a New York minute, become your worst enemies, especially if they were never your friends to begin with and were KNOWN to be phony as a 'psychic dog whistle' and bat shit nutty as a generic RP supporter...i.e. the 'fans' :O)
C'mon now..you're looking to the 'fans' for emotional stability and consistency???....Umm Hmmmm. Furthermore the moral shortcomings or character failings of the 'fans', however profound and blatant, simply don't bear any relationship to Vick's culpability for what he did. When mom is getting ready to throw a serious ass beating on ya' for sassin her at the mall and running away from her ...one doesn't offer as defense....
"but mom YOU were drunk last night on the phone and cursed at Aunt Judy and you KNOW she hasn't been feeling good"..
Ummm..wrong strategy... :O) As for the assertion that
Vick had the misfortune[this doesn't even merit comment] of being rich and famous. In years gone by that combination virtually guaranteed celebrity criminals a never go to jail card.If they had enough cash,name ID and publicity, the public, police and prosecutors would step gingerly around them, or even openly cheer themfollowed byThere's simply no evidence to back up the shout from some that they'll hammer a white athlete or celeb as hard when they are guilty of a crime or bad behavior.
Both are just flat out false: [read it ALL carefully!!]
FA.. (Is Mr. Vick ready for his closeup?)
I agree that it is pointless to continue to demonize Vick with hyperbole of rhetoric,as has been the case with some of the posts on this matter. No doubt some of that IS based in white racism..no argument there.As I tried to point out (supra) the entirety of the milieu in which Vick thrived is based on fundamentally misplaced priorities, degenerate/debauched self indulgence and as usual..capitalist exploitative bullshit. Within that essentially flawed universe, he DID take it upon himself to royally fuck up all the more so..again within that admittedly fucked up, to begin with, American Circus Maximus . As stewards of the planet (independent of PETA) we have a clear and absolute obligation to look out for the animals.. yes realistically as animals...but certainly NOT to abuse them. There are NO winners here..game over.

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fetch a newspaper, and we still treat these animals horribly in our current food-supply system. We are definitely hypocrites about that ... look up factory farming on You-Tube, go to farmsactuary.org, and read up about sow gestation crates and current slaughterhouse practices, which are dangerous to the humans who work there (the most dangerous job in the U.S.)--mostly illegal immigrants--and horrendously cruel to the animals that are killed by the thousands upon the hour ... read about pigs that are not even stunned prooperly before being dunked in vats of boiling water ... and then tell me that you don't see the hypocricy of which this article speaks when it comes to how much we supposedly love animals and don't want to see them abused.

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Vick is as much a victim of the ugly passions of the times as for his crimes.

Someone translate what EOH is trying to say for me? Poor Vick has been victimized twice for choosing to break the law?

Eh?

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are ridiculous. I can't stand that method of diffusing blame by criticizing Vick's detractors via the vague (and completely presumptuous and unsupported) generalization regarding whether or not we would "utter a word of protest regarding the genocide in Darfur" and so on. How on earth does Mr. Hutchinson know what we do regarding other social issues? These kinds of pathetic straw man arguments rely on completely fabricated generalizations in an attempt to distract our attention away from the issue being discussed and put us on the defensive because we are apparently not vocal enough in our opposition to other atrocities. This is pure crap, and no person with an atom of debating skill or logical reasoning should fall for it.

Secondly, he's ignoring a key difference between the wars, genocides and similar worldwide horrors he lists and the Vick case. For general discussion, those issues, while obviously just as (and in many cases far more) serious and horrifying than the Vick case, are just too big and multifaceted to elicit the kind of directed anger and criticism that occurs when a crime is allegedly committed by one or a few individuals. Vick is the target of what may seem to be more venomous attacks than the perpetrators of genocide because he has a name and a face that we are familiar with and can recognize, and thus we have a more universally understood point of discussion. Incidentally, I can't help but the find any sentence that claims an individual "had the misfortune of being rich and famous" extremely funny. For an article to first extend a panegyric to the powerless masses and then turn around and call a multimillionaire a "victim" of his wealth is some pretty nimble stuff.

Genocide and wars are obviously among the most despicable legacies of humankind. No one here debates that, and indeed the fact that we are reading this site in the first place implies that we at least make an effort to educate ourselves about these events. But pointing to the most horrible things in the world and then saying that what Michael Vick is accused of pales in comparison is just stupid. You can downplay the importance of ANY crime by doing that, but you've accomplished nothing of substance. You've just demonstrated that you're so bereft of ideas you've been reduced to saying the equivalent of, "Well, it's not as bad as the Holocaust," which is essentially saying that you have no argument of any actual merit.

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I call this the "Joey Down the Street Argument". As in:

Your mother catches you doing something bad and you say "But Joey down the street does it! He does worse things!"

To which our moms, sensible, moral ladies that most of them were, usually replied: "If Joey jumped off a bridge, you would too??"

So, if I can't save all the people I deperately want to save, I should just shut up when I see animal abuse? We can't stop one wrong until every single human being has what they need? Personally, I go on the "I do what I can where I can NOW" principle.

I'm NOT happy about celebs who beat their wives & girlfriends. I care very much about Darfur. I used to be an activist but then I got very sick and today live on disablity. Since I AM sick & disabled, I can't DO much about Darfur or anywhere except send money to relief organizations (among which I have to pick between for my limited money) and write letters (which the government proceeds to ignore). But I CAN do something about somebody abusing an animal.

Dog fighting is just low.

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This isn't just about Vick and dog fighting or animals vs. people. We need to think about some of the far reaching implications of ignoring animal suffering.

Allowing the idea that it's OK to ignore an immediate evil has significant consquences, to our personal characters, to the practical nature of our movement and in the end, to the type of society our movement is able to create. Because as the saying goes, "Means are just ends in the making."

Back in the day, in the early 70s, it was common for leftists, usually doctrinaire Marxists or Maoists, to come around and tell women, gay people, people with disabilitites, environmental activists and (sometimes) people of color, that our issues were not as important as the great, overarching class struggle. Never mind that together we are the vast majority of humanity. We should all just wait until "After The Revolution" and all our problems would be solved. So does it really surprise anyone that many of the places that these folks looked to a models of revoutionary, just societies actually turned out to be pretty bad?

That these were usually white guys of pretty privileged backgrounds shouldn't surprise anyone. The left of the 70's had some real problems with racism, sexism and all the other isms. The result was that the rest of us felt driven out; we left and formed what are now sometimes called "identity politics"...the women's movement, gay liberation, etc. In fact, the left didn't really deal with it's white male elitism until nobody was left to make the coffee or do the scutwork that the Marxist theoreticians felt they were too good for.

In the end, most decent people in the left and in these movements concluded that it's wrong to just walk by suffering. If you see an injustice being done, you have to stop and fight it here and now. If someone is in pain, you help them. Now, not later. I think this was a Good Thing(tm) and we made tremendous reforms and raised a lot of consciousness. But it also led to the decimation of class based politics and a division among social movements that are only now beginning to come together again. Let's try to avoid this again by NOT driving out the people who love animals!

So tell me, Earl. Do the doggies and kitties and those of us who care about them have to wait until After The Revolution? And do we really want to build a movement that accepts the abuse of animals? Can we really build a society that is decent to all human beings if we harden our hearts to the suffering of animals? Once we start accepting that any suffering is OK, it's a short step to not giving a shit about human suffering either. And loving animals is about LOVE. Which seems to me to be a pretty good place for a movement to start from.

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"Vick is as much a victim of the ugly passions of the times as for his crimes. Vick and hysteria for now are horrible synonyms for those passions."
Umm no I don't think so, firstly Vick is not a victim, he is a criminal, he doesn't even have the defense of poverty for his actions. Secondly just what are the ugly passions here if they aren't torturing and murdering animals for sport. Thirdly your assertion that the public reaction to Michael Vick's crimes are hysteria smacks of a disingenuous attempt to mitigate on his behalf. Don't go there Earl and if you're so concerned about the "hysteria" why have you written two articles on this subject the first depicting Michael Vick as "Crucified". As for racism yup right back at you when you state that "There's simply no evidence to back up the shout from some that they'll hammer a white athlete or celeb as hard when they are guilty of a crime or bad behavior" The fact is that there's no evidence to the contrary so you are essentially stating a racist opinion. I have to ask if Michael Vick was white would you have written this article? My personal opinion about this matter is that frankly I abhor racism, animal cruelty and the way the world is run, I much prefer the company of my dogs to the company of humans and you have said nothing that would change that.

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Please, MSM, take this story off the headlines. It is not as if Vick lied the US into attacking another country. If Vick did what he is accused of, his crime should be considered despicable. As for racism, please try not to pull that out as some sort of indictment against protesters. Look at all the MSM press white folks get for their stupid stunts, for example Paris Hilton, Michael Jackson, Anna Nichole Smith. Shit people, let us do something about the insane, vicious crimes OUR government and the puppeteer corporations are committing IN OUR NAME. Why the heck are Bush and Uncle Dick running free and approved of by millions of US citizens?

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the dog and the subject! Hutchinson grinds this into the same ground that will bury Vick!!!

The culture of drugs, gangs and the pro sports is paraded for all to see!! Shaq has a multi million dollar birthday party in place made to look like Scarface's palace. Athlete's competing for how "stooopid" they can look during interviews!!

They yell "HATE ME" at the top of their lungs and Hutchinson is their little MsM cheerleader!!

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Earl Ofari hutchinson doesn't mention how the dogs were tortured and These dogs were tortured in very unusual ways. Mr Hutchinson likes to talk in circles but we soon see his motive and his motive is race. Hutchinson's articles about his support for Tookie Williams and a very long winded article about Louis Farrakhan is Like the Vic article. Hutchinson forgets to mention the bad things. All one has to do is read what happened to those dogs[all of what happened] and Ofari's story falls a part like a house of cards. All one has to do is read the official doctrine of the Nation of Islam and Ofari's story collapses like a souffl'e in a earthquake. Furthermore, it is amazing how Hutchinson does an about face and glosses over the black on white race crimes like the one in Knoxville where a white couple were raped, tortured and murdered. Hutchinson sure does have a knack for leaving out all the nightmarish details.

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Thank you, Hutchinson, for expressing many of my own thoughts and feelings on this matter.

But it's time to go much further. It's time to go on the offensive and to ask how we got to the point where abuse of animals gets a far stronger emotional reaction than abuse of people does, and to stop accepting the lame and specious moralistic arguments of the animal rights movement, which is increasingly sounding like the anti-abortion movement.

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I think the point Mr. Hutchinson is trying to make here is how once again the black man is demonized in the rich white controlled media.

I find it so funny that it’s ok for rich white people to go into other people’s lands (usually people of color) to kill a whole elephant just for their ivory tusks, kill endangered tigers just for their skins, hunt deer just for sport, constantly picking on the great white sharks, using dolphins for military spying, and yet it’s not being broadcasted by the MSM as being inhumane, wasteful or simply mindless. In fact there shows on t.v, and dvds showing how to go about hunting these animals for sport and/or profit! Then you have the white mass murderers such as John Wayne Gacy and Jeffery Dahmer who took pleasure in torturing and killing animals before going on to become mass murderers, went hardly mentioned in the MSM when their crimes came to light.

Sorry Mr. Hutchinson, even though you do have a good point about how America should be outraged about Darfur, Rwanda, and the Congo, it will never happen in this country because like with Hurricane Katrina, police brutality, and the Jena 6, a black human being life is not as sacrosanct as a white persons life here in ameriKKKa, even though we’re all human beings. And to take it a step further, even a woman’s life is valued less than a dog’s. But a dog’s life is far more precious because white people can relate to them better than they can to black people? And you know what dog is spelled backwards.
Let’s see how many people replying to this post get upset about this story:
Housing Pygmies at zoo sparks uproar

How you get white people riled up to react to anything, is to put something or someone affiliated with being an African-African. It’s funny how since Ronald Regan, that the black man is scapegoated close enough to a presidential election to be used in campaigns (particularly by the repug party) to justify white America’s fear and hate of the black man, and why blacks should never be trusted to control anything in this country.

And that’s why I’m upset with Mr. Vick. It’s black folk, particularly, African-American males, tend to forget that while they have not been officially appointed the “role model” of black America, it is their status and having been born black in this racist society that unfortunately had this “burden” placed upon them.

What I want to say to Mr. Vick that probably hasn’t been reiterated to him enough is: despite the greater prospects, opportunities and privileges earned for and by many of us over the decades, the default has remained the same: The power dynamics that exist in this country at any given time may render us niggers. The problems that you are facing may or may not be of your doing, but it is up to you to find a solution.

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I find this immediate need to classify the Vick case as one hinging on race beyond stupid. He is accused of committing a crime of heinous cruelty - a CRIME, which means that anyone doing it would be in trouble. People who whine that he is now the symbol of this crime because he is black are, it seems to me, just looking for another way to play the victim themselves - note how every claim that this is racial discrimination then moves on to a broader indictment of society at large, which allows the individual posting the comment to throw him- or herself in with the oppressed. Let's face it, there's no better way to inflate yourself than by claiming that you are where you are in spite of worldwide opposition. Hence we have every sports team in the world playing the "no one believed in us" game whenever they win a championship so as to inflate the magnitude of their victories all the more, and now we have people looking for ways to feel that this issue is all about them. You're not a dogfighter? Okay, so you can't feel victimized that way. Not a star athlete? Nope, can't share in the victimhood that way either. Well, since Vick's black and blacks have historically (and equally heinously) been discriminated against, let's make it about that!

Please. People are digusted by this story because of the cruelty perpetrated against animals. That's it. They may be further flabbergasted by the fact that a multimillionaire would do something so stupid as to jeopardize his celebrity and wealth by engaging in established illegal activity, but that's no different than the puzzlement we feel when anyone throws away a good thing. Categorizing this incident as some kind of proof of white oppression is beyond moronic - and what's far worse, it's an insult to those who actually HAVE been racially discriminated against. Not every case in which a black man is charged with a crime is one of racial discrimination. No one denies (well, at least I don't deny) that race is still an issue in this country, because people apparently will always be small-minded and insular in their outlook, and it's sad and pathetic that there still is valid reason for us to be worried about African Americans not being treated equally. But this? This has nothing to do with him being black, and everything to do with him being accused of a crime that shocked people because of its graphic and cruel nature. Calling this a matter of race strikes me as another attempt to feel vicariously sorry for ourselves by making the issue big enough to include us as victims.

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Who is Michael Vick and what did he do?

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Man, you missed the entire problem of Sick Vick's sadistic torture of animals! I don't care if he was the color purple or green---he's a symbol of admiration for millions of young people. When I worked with gang leaders they modeled their "coolness" after celebraties and pit bull fights became the anthem of "badness." We must speak out loud against cruelty to animals in any sport: that it is henceforth a taboo in our society! If there is not a heavy penalty, ''aniamls cruelty gambling as a sport" will never be stopped. Vick Do The Time. You only pled guilty because you had too. You couldn't buy your way out of this one. Man, you disappointed all of us in your indecency in this blood-lust sick thrill.

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Here's why. Where he says that the same people who revile Vick don't do anything about the human atrocities in the world... WRONG. WTF?? What a rotten assumption to make.

I am a huge animal-lover-dog-rescue person, but I don't spend nearly as much time doing that as I do blogging, screaming, signing petitions, fretting, not being heard, about the genocide in Darfur, the Iraq war atrocities, etc. And if you're going to blame people for THAT, blame the fucking MSM!!! What do they have BLASTED across TV screens ad nauseum? The Vick thing. The Lohan thing. The Hilton thing. Would there be more outrage about Darfur and Iraq if people actually could SEE it? You bet there would! But our gov't won't allow it, many people don't realize that you can only get real news on the internet, and the MSM presents what the gov't wants us to see.

What Vick did was sickening and maybe he's a victim of our times. Too fucking bad!! The MSM have created it and we all live in it. Sorry, I have ZERO sympathy for someone who had it all and decided to torture and murder dogs for financial gain. In some ways, I see his crime as worse than OJ's. Here's why: OJ killed for passion and jealousy. Vick killed for greed. To me that is somehow more sociopathic. Call me crazy.

When people compare the spousal abuse, etc. to the dog killing, I don't get it. People here love their dogs, Americans treat dogs like a family member - at least many of them do. And no matter how Ofari wants to spin it, people do have MORE of a voice than dogs do. Do the victims of genocide have no voice? No. What can I do about that? NOTHING, but send $$ or sign petitions, or write on my blog. What could I do about Vick killing and torturing dogs? Make damn sure I tell the NFL and his sponsors that I don't condone it. That's what was done here.

The bottom line is that ANYONE who does something as horrid as what Vick and his cohorts did for GREED should be reviled. And I hope he rots in prison, although that probably won't happen because that's not what happens to rich celebrities in this country.

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I agree that this whole episode has been overblown and that the hypocracy has a stench all it's own. When one animal is abused, it's called a crime. When thousands of animals are abused, it's called medical research, or industrial research, or factory farming, or recreational hunting. When caged, defenseless birds are released just so the V.P. and his friends can shoot out their guts at point blank range- just for the sport of it, I guess that's OK. I don't eat animals or wear animals or knowingly use animal products. That's just my thing. But I'd like to see just a bit more consistancy and honesty as to the way animals are treated in our society.

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Earl,

There'snothing hypocritical about caring more about the brutalization of animals than the brutalization of humans (although it's not a "matter of fact" that those who care for animals don't care for humans. My surmise is that many of the anit-Vick people are also anti-war people). It's a perfectly legitimate decision to care more for less intelligent or verbal beings than more intelligent, verbal beings; our society cares more deeply about the abuse of children, sexual and physical and emotional, than the comparable abuse of adults.

It's also possible that the hypocrisy we're discussing is about you than about Vick. But that's another issue. Vick invites so much outrage in part because he is so gifted, so wealthy that the need for $ is clearly not the issue here; it's something about him, his character, his values, his priorities and the callous attitude he shows toward these dogs and how the "losers" are treated. Vick ain't OJ, he's my brother and I'm the lesser for it.

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Is that Vick tortured and killed in incredibly painful manner, a number of dogs who just didnt fight and kill enough other dogs to make him any money. He bought land for the sole purpose to raise dogs to kill or be killed so he and others could get jollies off of it and make some money in illegal gambling. why should his actions be defended or he get any pity at all??

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These players are paid too much money, have too little brains, too much time on their hands, and if they are not killing animals they are beating or rapeing someone's
wife or girlfriend. We adore them, think they are wonderful in spite of what they do, I tell you, no foreign person can take us down we are so stupid as a culture and a people we will do in ourselves.

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Oviously our justice is a joke when anyone, especially high profile individuals get away with beating their wives/sig others, murder etc. However, they get away with it because they can afford high priced lawyers. Our justice system has turned into the market place, justice to the highest bidder. I do not condone the incidents you mention in your article, ie people getting off for worse crimes than dog fighting and abuse of animals. But those you mention are RICH whether they are white or black. What Vick has done is a an abomination to creatures who are helpless, did not ask to be brought into this world to "fight" and having failed their owners to win their owners MONEY are then put to death. Can you not see that this whole system is the result of market place values? Which (dare I speak the word) boils down to capitalism money, money and more money.

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A progressive blog has no reason to defend a heartless, sociopathic beast like Mike Vick. Shame on you!

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Mr. Hutchinson, your begin your article with this: "Countless numbers of pro football players have committed rape, physical assaults and armed robberies."

Do I really have to tell you? Two wrongs don't make a right! You can't prove Michael Vick is a swell guy by pointing at the sins and crimes of others. Hitler, Stalin, and Bush are responsible for the deaths of the defenseless. Is it OK then for we too, as soon as we become powerful enough to have the power of life and death over the innocent and defenseless, to cause awful grief and pain upon whoever we please?

.....and are you one of the reported 80% of the population who declare they are Christians? Do you follow the teachings of the Prince of Peace?

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What point is Earl Ofari Hutchinson trying to make? He's grinding an ax, albeit very unsuccessfully, about the supposed hypocrisy of a nation of dog lovers who turn a blind eye to genocide, racism, and the killing of innocent Iraqis. I've worked on various animal rights campaigns and I've yet to meet a person who admonishes dog fighting, while remaining blind to the killing of innocent humans.

Hutchinson's idea that it is somehow indefensible to hold the life of a non-human animal over the lives of the thousands of humans killed in battle reeks of ethical blindness. For example, how might he react, if I was to point out that nearly ten-billion animals were slaughtered in the United States last year and another twenty million were killed in laboratories? Is it not hypocritical to oppose the killing of humans, while ignoring the mass slaughter of animals that provides foundation for much of modern society, on the ground that "their just animals?" Theodor Adorno writes “Auschwitz begins when someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they’re only animals.” It’s time for our society to look at oppression for what it is, rather than prioritizing the suffering of its victims.


Should Michael Vick be exonerated because his victims were dogs? Why doesn't Earl Ofari Hutchinson mention Roy Jones Jr.? Roy Jones is African American, raises "fighting" roosters, and has bankrolled a lucrative cockfighting enterprise for years. He has not been prosecuted for his crimes, although cockfighting is a violation of the law in 48 states. If Hutchison's thesis is correct, why has Roy Jones not been treated like Michael Vick?

It seems that dog fighting generates public upheaval because dogs have become fixtures in human households. Humans have developed bonds with dogs, more so than chickens, and pigs, etc. It seems that the outrage in the Vick case stems more from this familiarity, than racism and cultural blindness.
This is why there are few protests of the killing of animals in industrial food systems and the killing of Iraqis and other marginalized peoples in the globe. For some, this distance precludes a sense of care and ethical responsibility. Is this right, no, but it's our sad reality. If Michael Vick had sponsored cock fights and raised fighting roosters, would he be in our cultural crosshairs?

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I've done what I'm able to do when it comes to the insanity of the Iraq war and will continue to, but why, after Michael Vick pleads guilty (albeit with qualification) defend him? Does the writer of this article believe Vick should get a break? Yeh, there are plenty of ignorant, asleep people in our country and eventually they'll pay the price for their sleep walk through life but when a quy gets to play a game and get paid a fortune I think it's correct to hold him responsible. I mean all of us regular cats wouldn't be able to make bail. Although Charles Barkley made "I'm not a role model" a war cry for every athlete to abdigate any responsibility for their actions, the truth is there are thousands of kids who look up to these guys. I think he should admit to his complicity and deeply apologize by working with animals for a couple years sending the message that it's o.k. to admit your wrong rather than deny everything like a child would with their mother.

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Sorry but your commentary is just so much smoke being blown where the sun don't shine.

Vick is not a victim under any circumstance anyone can imagine. Sure racism exists, but he is not a victim of racism. He was hired to play on a professional football team and was given MILLIONS of dollars to play and endorse products.

So where is the racism? Oh yeah, he's black and therefore if anyone attacks him for runnng a dogfighting compound, for killing dogs in an inhuman manner, or lying about it and somehow HE'S THE VICTIM?

What a load.

The "hysteria" as you claim it to be is nothing more than the fact that now we see a man of wealth and privilege showing himself to be a barbaric insensitive human being with no more morals than the barbarians of a thousand years ago and we now have a face to hate. The outcry would have been no different if he had been white, brown or purple.

AND yes there are MILLIONS of people who are outraged at the killings that are going on in our country's name. Missed all of the protests and news reports, and millions of people voting AGAINST Shrub? Think about this fact, FIFTY SIX MILLION people voted AGAINST the president.

So spare us that BS as well.

Vick isn't getting half of what he deserves and I hope he is ruined for life.

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Whatever evils human beings perform, none justify dog fighting. Vick has just been suspended indefinitely by the NFL. Should all NFL players be suspended because they have not stopped Bush's war in Iraq?

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Plenty of people are defending this guy. Plenty of people, apparently yourself included, hold the suffering of non-human animals in utter contempt.
Just because people are more important than other animals does not mean that only the suffering of people is worth stopping or preventing.
As John Stewart said last night, after showing clips from a sports show that made some big deal about whether or not Vick would ever treat other players unfairly (some technicality specific to football): "Folks, this guy killed dogs with his bare hands!"
This isn't just about dog fighting, horrible as that old "tradition" is; it's about a grown man taking out revenge on dogs who lost, and lost him money, by killing them with his bare hands.
I certainly think more often about the people dying in stupid senseless conflicts around the world, or of starvation, or languishing in prison (I live near a major federal prison), and I do make contributions to organizations concerned with these atrocities, but I still think Vick must be prosecuted, imprisoned, and banned from pro football.

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Vick's Activities are the Acts of a Barbarian - The days of Roman Theater have long passed.

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Michael Vick is famous ... so being naughty gets him lots of attention. I've known dog fighters and they are lower than dirt. Their blood lust doesn't end with dogs. The wealth of their bloodlust is shared with their family and neighbors. Rape, murder, spousal & child abuse are all fed by these orgies of blood and pain. It whips up the appetite for more and more pain and agony. It creates zombie people; incapable of feeling anything unless it involves hideous pain, blood and agony.

Shame on Vick. I don't give a damn what color he is, or how much money he has. Where I'm from, he's due a good bitch-slappin' form his Grandma ... at the very least.

I'm also an old farmer & fisherwoman, who has killed and witnessed her dinner being killed in a swift, caring and sacred way ... as functional societies have been doing for thousands of years.

Eating meat and taking responsibility for where that meat comes from has nothing to do with animal abuse and cruelty; it's ridiculous and shows a lack of awareness and intelligence to make a connection between the two.

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I say hypocritical because many of the individuals that work themselves into a lather at the hint of a cross word or look at an animal won't utter a peep in protest to stop the killing and maiming of old men, women, and children in Iraq.
That is simply not true!
It is very important to look at violent behavior at home... violent actions that are enjoyed create a violent nation... ready to fight for its right to kill.
Shame on these creeps who call themselves human beings.
this should not be an issue. They guy should be arrested and put behind bars.
We do not need to go on and on, pointing to other violent behavior, making this kind of violence less evil than killing people. One leads to the other!
It has to be stopped at the source: here at home.
Obviously many people don't understand that.

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Since when did being wealthy conjure up pity? Poor little Michael Vick, they gave him a bunch of money so of course he had to abuse and murder dogs. These Ofari-Hutchinson pieces are always a bit odd. But where does he get the idea that animal rights advocates must not care about Iraq, or Rwanda, or Darfur. We probably don't care about the miners in Utah or workers in China, either.

What ridiculous statements this author makes! Yes, I am a dog lover. Yes, I was outraged by this story. Vick isn't a guy for whom dog fighting could help him pay the rent. This guy is loaded!! He got OUT of the ghetto, but just wants to cement his place there. There were 66 dogs taken from his home. That doesn't include all the previously killed dogs. This is animal cruelty on a massive scale. He killed dogs WITH HIS BARE HANDS. That is sadistic, sick behavior likely to lead to abuse of people. I think animal rights advocates are probably MORE likely to be involved in other issues, because people usually are very involved or not at all. There is no basis for this assertion that animal rights advocates are hypocrites. And as far as the race card, if you break up a huge dog fighting operation and the owner is a white guy, I'll be just as mad and demand just as much justice for those dogs.

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I hope this event will show people that their idols are not always what they seem to be.
Instead of living up to his responsibility as idol for so many young adults, he has damaged the reputation of the game.

Don't let anyone call him the "poor black victim". He is not a victim... the dogs were his victims.
He is a criminal of the worst kind and the color of his skin has absolutely nothing do do with it.
(Ihave never seen this guy or heard of him before this event.)
There is absolutely no excuse for him.

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There is a BIG difference between forcing animals to fight and killing them horribly if they don't "perform" up to someone's expectations and the deaths of human beings…especially in a war-zone…and trying to compare the two and calling those who are more concerned about Vick's dogs than those "poor, innocent" Iraqis "hypocrites" is an insult…and, as far as I'm concerned, fighting-words! Those dogs never had a choice in the matter. The Iraqis did…and do…but they choose to happily slaughter each other now that the criminal, Bush, has removed a petty dictator who, at least, managed to rule that cesspool of a country with enough of an iron hand that so-called "sectarian violence" was kept under control.

I have the greatest empathy and pity for the majority of non-human life because they are at the complete "mercy" of my specious species of vicious Talking Monkeys…and we sure-as-hell aren't very "merciful" to them are we? After all, we have the biblical injunction to "…take dominion…" over this benighted planet and do whatever-the-hell we want with it to justify our cruelty, greed and destructiveness. Animals are only here for our food or our entertainment…be it so-called "eco-tourism" or movies about cute little talking pigs…or dog and cockfights!

By contrast, I have absolutely no empathy for Iraq or the rest of the Middle East and here's why: two images keep playing through my mind every time the warm-n-cuddly crowd start gnashing their teeth about these "poor" people: Image One: when the "9-11" attacks were announced in Iraq and other parts of the muslim world, those "good people" were overjoyed! Does anyone not remember the footage of those happy citizens dancing in the streets, smiling and laughing, burning the US flag or beating on images of that flag or other US symbols with their shoes (which is an insult in their so-called "culture"!), shooting guns into the air joyously and cheering? I do…and it sickened me! Image Two: when a van carrying US workers hit a mine and all passengers were incinerated in the resulting conflagration, what did the locals do? First…again…they danced in the streets, smiling and laughing while shooting guns in the air by way of celebration. Then, these highly "civilized" scum dragged the smouldering bodies from the van and hung them up from a nearby bridge like so much slaughtered beef. Remember that one, boys-and-girls? Or do you suffer from selective memory recall?

Vick is obviously some kind of sadist. Who but a sadist would beat dogs to death or HANG them because they weren't up to his standards? It would have been kinder and more merciful for him to shoot them in the head…or to take them to animal control and let them put them out of their misery. So, that bastard deserves whatever he gets…and more!

One thing for sure, though: Vick and those "poor" Iraqis have one thing in common. They are, both, scum and beneath contempt…and to hell with them all!

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I'm astounded that the writer says sportswriters and commentators are going after Vick. On the contrary, every one that I've seen, along with the NFL and the Falcons, seems to be bending over backwards to protect him, worrying endlessly about when this multimillion dollar property and generator of considerable NFL and advertising income will be able to come back to the game.

As if that is the only thing that matters. And as if his crimes and cruelty don't matter at all.

Frankly I'm glad that public revulsion has, at least for now, overcome the corporate money-making machine. Just as it did with Don Imus earlier this year. At least it shows that most people have some compassion, somewhere within them -- some basic understanding that the powerful and the cruel who routinely get away with murder, literally, must be held to account.

It is supremely illogical to defend Vick on the basis of worse crimes committed elsewhere or by others. Vick is part of the same vast corporate culture of greed and global crime that drives nearly all of the wars and violence against the defenseless that the writer decries. Too much of that culture operates in the shadows and with layers of wealth and legal and institutional protection so impenetrable that hardly anyone feels they have any chance of changing it or affecting it for the good.

Vick is just one tiny speck in that culture, who just happens to have committed crimes that are readily comprehended in their entirety. Perhaps that is what gives people the sense that in this, at least, their voice can make a difference.

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brought thousands of species of animals to the brink of extinction and has wiped out even more.
Animal advocacy isn't about looking for next black man to hang, but about coming to aid of animals that can't speak for themselves.
Defending a millionaire, insensitive American football player because you think that he's being unduly targeted because he's black is to be in denial of what's really happening to this world.
EOH, the more that I read your "journalism", the more that I find that you like to dabble in sensationlist issues and less on the intellectual ones.

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I am African-American, I eat seafood and poultry and am unashamed of that fact, and I love animals. I totally disagree with the idiotic, arrogant comments of this man. Who does he think he is telling me why I'm furious with an ass like Michael Vick who expresses such savagery toward dogs!!! I know why I'm angry and it has nothing to do with what this jerk is saying. I love dogs, deeply. As far as I'm concerned, Vick should go to prison for a very long time!!

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This article has increased my awareness for our need, no!, our moral duty to support our morally depraved celebrities. Earl is right, we need to subdue our outrage for the kind of cruel depravity exhibited by Vick and his cohort and demonstrate a more consistent indifference towards immoral behavior.

Thanks Earl, by the way…$20 that my dog can take ours on.

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I don't feel bad for him. Hurting animals is pretty low. People should be outraged. They should also be outraged over grey hound racing and how animals are kept at slaughterhouses.

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Are you really suggesting that until everyone is a vegetarian we have no moral grounds to criticize any type of cruelty? Letting dogs tear each other apart for fun does not compare to the culling of cattle for meat.

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First of all, these dogs--Pit Bulls-- are bred to fight. Just like the famed Fighting Bulls of Spain and Mexico. As a puppy lover, you may not like it, but these dogs would just as soon get into the ring as eat. No one ever accused Mike Tyson of kicking, crying and screaming that he really didn't want to fight as he entered the ring. I know it is not politically correct, but it is true. A couple of years ago I contacted the Humane Society of the United States asking them to stop feeding the public lies and misinformation about dog fighting in the USA. I happen to have known a number of dog fighters and felt that they were unfairly being maligned. I challenged and asked to see their orginal documentation as to the amount of dog fighting in the USA. They refused to allow me to corroborate, validate and verify the statistics they were distributing as fact. Contrary to the assertions of the Humane Society, there is actually very little dog fighting conducted in the USA. The reason the Humane Society is so hot on this subject is because it generates such enormous revenues for the organization and their chapters. Millions of little old ladies, hot young chicks and soccer Moms pour tens of millions of dollars every year into the coffers of the Society's war against "Dog Fighting." Federal, State and local governments all flock to hear their tales of lies.
I've contacted numerous police departments over the years--every time I read a national story about dog fighting, and in talking to the police departments in the area where the dog fighting is supposed to be prevalent, it is always the same story; "Well, we've never really had a real professional dog fighting ring in our area, but we know they exist all over the place." When I ask them where, they always say "the next community." I have never been able to document a large viable group of dog fighters. Based on my own research, there cannot be more than 900 hard core bonafied dog fighters in the USA. Now compare that to the millions of dogs and cats that are routinely murdered every year "in the name of love." It makes no difference whether you agree or disagree with dog fighting, but the facts are that in professional events, dogs are required to volunteer to go back into the arena. Even if a dog automatically turns his head away from the center of the arena, the match is automatically scratched by the referee. Now I want it perfectly clear that I am in no way in favor of dog fighting and I don't personally approve of it since I don't see it having any point, however, I would like the discussion to be fair and accurate.
Hutchinson is correct in that Vick is being hung up to swing in the wind. The real problem is these wacko women that get all puffy eyed at the thought of two dominant dogs doing what nature intended them to do--and that is to find out who is the most fit to breed and pass on their genetic material. Historically, even during the heyday of American Dog Fighting, there were really very few dog fighters. It is just too time consuming for someone to breed, condition, house and train dogs to make it a viable business and this adds up to a decided love of dogs. Sure, we have some inner city gang banger wannabees attempting to do this, but for serious dog fighters, there is no difference between a talented boxer or a talented fighting dog--it requires time, attention to detail, a passion for one's work and a commitment to excellence that inner city punks cannot fathom. The bottom line? In the general sceme of things, Hutchinson is right, Vick is being pilloried. What he did is really no big deal. He should be fined for breaking the law, but really this is small potatos. If you feel the need to vent your outrage, look in the mirror and slap yourself around a little--you're the reason factory farms exist and millions upon millions of animals suffer needlessly every year because of your demented ego and cravings.

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Of all the things that Hutchinson can point to that are wrong in this situation, some are accurate and some are pathetic BS, not one makes Vick anything like right. Vick put everything he had at risk by engaging in criminal activity and he is going to pay a price. He has left it up to others to decide what that price will be. There's no way to rationalize this away and you can't project it on anybody else.

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This is possibly the most disturbing article I've ever seen posted on AlterNet. How can you justify giving a forum to someone who equates the brutal torture and murder of animals as "the the hint of a cross word or look at an animal"? then villifies those who are outraged by this monster's barbarism with accusations that we "wont utter a peep" over wars and atrocities perpetrated on human populations, and caps it all off with the thinly veiled accusation of racism?
This is beneath AlterNet, please leave this kind of thing to the mainstream press.

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I don't condone any kind of violence against humans--spousal abuse, child abuse, whatever. But, where Mr. Vick is concerned, those dogs had no choice no say in the matter. AlterNet has lost me on this one. There is NO hysteria where Michael Vick is concerned. In fact, it took all kinds of "news" media (AlterNet included) to even take the story seriously. Dog fighting is a blood "sport", a despicable cruelty to animals. Anybody and everybody who participates willingly in such decadence would probably be as cruel to their spouses, children, whatever. That AlterNet would even try to make this into a "racial argument" shows how absurd that "argument" is. Michael Vick is simply a cruel, heartless man and the people who surround him are the same. What they to do their dogs, they surely would do to anyone else. Get a grip, AlterNet! After that, get lost!

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I blame the Democrats, at this point, for carrying out the wishes of this "president." It is the Democrats who refuse to stop passage of war funding bills and who refuse to impeach. With this article, it is Alter Net whom I question. Why would such an article be printed in this magazine?

This article is divisive, separating blacks from whites. It makes the assumption that protestors for animal rights dislike blacks. It has incited writers in this group towards anger.

I was the youngest, a girl, in a pro-football family. The two big males took their physical aggression out on the smallest; me. That is what I know of football, violence. For days after reading about this animal torture, I felt furious at Michael Vick, whom I had never heard of, and grief for the dogs. I heard from PETA, whom I love, and I heard from the Human Society. I wrote letters and made phone calls. His behavior was consistant with what I have experienced from being around football and I felt livid that defenseless, small, sweet spirits had been murdered and victimized.

I had a picture of an angry young man, who took his feelings out on helpless smaller beings. I pictured what I knew and that was a big built blond caucasion male. When I saw that he was black, I paused, because I have always felt what I have read, and that is that living in the U.S.A. can be tough for a black male. The statistics on those who get stopped by the police when doing nothing wrong, etc. are not good. I paused and I was, quite frankly, surprised. My mental picture came from my own memories and this was not consistant.

I remained furious. I am still furious, I don't give a damn what color the perpetrator is. You abuse animals, you need to pay. I have some theories on these huge bullies who find victims who cannot stand up to them.

But, my point is.......I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHO YOU ARE....IF YOU ABUSE, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS. Why this writer wants to make this a race issue, I do not know. These sports stars, white or black, from childhood, are treated like little kings. My brother was in the newspaper all the time. He got out of classes and he got breaks with grades. He had ONE teacher who stood up to him. She was an English teacher and he did not know if he was going to pass high school until the last minute. Until then, I had never seen anyone who didn't make a big deal over him. He was a legend in our household and he ruled our roost.

So, he went to college and it was worse. He told horrible stories of things that he did to other students, he and his fellow players. Girls clung to him and the big joke in our family was how badly he treated them. Brut and braun were the things that were honored in his circle and he is now a Republican all for the war and cutting Social Security off to those in need. Brut and braun and Jesus.

Instead of considering his audience, this writer has a bias, and that is that people who work for peace and justice do not care when it comes to black people.

As to the animals which he finds so inconsequential, I wonder if he took a look at the victims of Michael Vick. Did he see any pictures? Did he read about the daily torture of the good dogs who were fighters? The hitting and beating that they received in order that they be good, fighting dogs? Did he read about the hangings and the starvation? Did it pass by him that some dogs were electrcuted for fighting poorly?

I don't like being told what I was feeling. I made phone calls, wrote letters, and wept over these dogs, when I thought that the man was white. Kindly do not insult me by saying that I am racist when you do not know me. Kindly consider that the audience to whom you are speaking is making an attempt to live moral, peaceful lives.

Why did Alter Net allow this article?

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It's sad that we have come to this. Everyone lighting up their torches as soon as the next media monster appears. Who will it be next? Not Cheney for shooting an attorney. Not Bush for sending people in harms way for exploitation.

No we have to convict whomever we can while they are still in the public eye. We must hurry because years from now no one will care. Or they will just be a mention in a larger story for the next public conviction.

Are we going after those people who left those miners alive in the ground at Utah? No. Why? Because we made an effort and it failed. Better to put a man on the moon or send a shuttle up to the space station to waste our time about how great we are and when we abandon our station and shuttle in 2010 we can remiss about those great times and all the people we convicted without even a trial.

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It seems that almost anytime a black celebrity is subject to the court of public opinion, black commentators start labeling it racism. First of all, I don't think there's been that much public hysteria on Vick - I read Yahoo! News, the NYTimes online and the SF Chronicle, and I had to look to find news on this case at times. If you are focused only on sports, and watch ESPN for your news, then its probably a different case.

As for Hiutchinson's comments that Americans are hypocritical, as they will defend animals but not speak up on Iraq, Darfur, death row inmates, this is pure hyseterical vitriol. Hutchinson doesn't know what he is talking about - he is blinded by his own racism, a racism that demands more tolerance and accomodation, more sensitivity that Hutchinson can muster, as he blithely and implicitly accuses some segment of the public - sometimes PETA , sometimes white America, but always un-named, so he doesn't have to take responsibility for what he has written - of being racisist. I don't think that criticising black celebs in public is inherently racist. Judge by the content, not the act itself - I haven't read articles that are inherently racist, though I would suspect that there are some out there.

Vick is being harrangued because of the uniquely horrible nature of his crime(s) - he has pleaded guilty, so we can assume the charges are true. I don't recall other celebs commiting such crimes - Hutchinson mentions that other celebs don't recieve such harsh public treatment. Well, for all of their faults, Lohan and Paris merely just like to get drunk. A lot. Jackson was suspected of having improper relations with children. Vick is accused of killing animals - for fun, for his pleasure and the pleasure of his friends, and gambling on it in the process. If Hutchinson can't tell the difference between the morality behind getting drunk or killing animals for gambling, then he should re-examine his morals and objectivity.

A lot of black athletes are getted hounded in the press because they commit crimes. So where are the white athletes committing crimes? Show us them, Hutch, then we can talk about racism. If the only cases are black athletes, then perhaps your columns should dwell on the reasons that this is the case.

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...with your hysteria. This is the first time I read one of your pieces - and it will be the last. You, Sir, are no Leonard Pitts. In fact, I see no hope you will ever be fit to carry his laptop - you are no journalist. You seem to have studied at the Rush Limbaugh Cal Thomas School of Fact Invention. You assume to attribute outrageous attitudes, comments and positions to those you disagree with (without substantiation) then provide your responses, knocking your strawmen out of the ballpark. Easy work for a college freshman, but it won't get you my attention again.

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This has NOTHING to do with racism If Vick was white, I don't think you would find anyone defending him. I believe in equality. However this constant whining that everything is racism is what turns off a lot of conservatives. The idea that anyone would defend Michael Vick after what he did is appalling.

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Earl Ofari Hutchinson, many of the points in your article about that LOSER football player, Michael Vick, are invalid. A quick read-though of a sample of posts in response to your article back this up with passion, wit, and facts. I believe that you would have NEVER defended Vick if he were white. Your knee-jerk reaction to defend him is narrow-minded and it is rediculous that you would chastise animal-rights defenders for acting the same way. Sir, YOU are a misguided hypocrite who needs to work out your own issue in therapy (or by getting laid) rather than tourturing the good readers of AlterNet.

Let us use the publicity of this disgusting sport to educate the public to the reality of animal cruelty not only by famous football stars, but by barbaric factory farming practices used by money-hungry corporations.

Sincerely,
Charles Roland

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the point here?

Vick most certainly is a victim, though race has nothing to do with it. It most certainly is possible to be victimized in spite of being black.

It doesn't seem to occur to anyone posting here that the point isn't that dog fighting is cruel and abusive. The point is that Vick has been denied due process, and that should alarm ALL of you.

Vick has been convicted by the accusations of extremist animal rights activist groups happily and irresponsibly backed by the media. No one knows if he is or is not guilty, nor will ever find out.

What we know here is that dogs have been abused, and H$U$ and PeTA have exploited those abused dogs to raise money which will be used NOT to support these dogs, which were never in their custody, but to further their own extremist agenda, which is basically to outlaw human use of animals.

Sounds extremist, doesn't it? That's because it IS extremist, and their expoitaton of abused animals and the sincerity of animal lovers all over the world to finance their mission should outrage you at least as much as the fact that these animals undoubtedly HAVE been abused, and their abusers will likely not be punished because they have chosen a useful scapegoat.

If Vick's cousin and the cousin's cohorts had been indicted on their own for this, it would have been pretty much a ho-hum business. But since Vick could be involved, it was possible for the Animal Rights zealots to make a media circus out of it, and capitalize on it.

I don't know what, if any, his involvement was. But his conviction without trial is very disturbing to me, because if they can do it to him, they can do it to me.

You should bear in mind, while you are supporting the Animal Rights' faction's raving about animal cruelty and their love of animals that they demanded the death of these dogs even before Vick had pleaded.

These groups do not love animals, are not interested in animals, and do not care to know any more about animals than they need to to exploit the feelings of true animal lovers for their own ends.

If you value your constitutional rights, as well as the right to love animals, check out this site and this one.

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Only an ass would defend Vick. Animals are totally under the power of those who own them and unlike any humans of any age are true innocents.
I would hope that justice would be done in any case of violence and cruelty against any living creature.
Anyone who would treat an innocent and defenseless animal like this for fun will also treat humans in sick sadistic fashion.
Vick is a prick and if he EVER plays for the NFL again I will give up football completely...and i love me some football.
The NFL can and will do what is in the best interest of its business and that means getting rid of vick.
If you love Vick you can always invite him to stay at your house...maybe he can watch the dogs and kids.

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So when the National Geograpic Channel shows a Lion bringing down a Gazelle....I should hurry and change the channel?
Please..
The crime here isn't that dogs wish to kill one another....it's that pets are in houses and people are living in the wild not of their own accord.
This whole pet issue is on my last freaking nerve. Sure who doesn't want a living creature to worship its every move. To rely upon it for its very sustenance, to be praised for doing "tricks", to be lorded over and forced to capitualte for its next meal....
Well not I. Animals belong outside. People in.
Pet food scares? Animal cruelty? I'm not an advocate of harming anything but this is over the top. Puppy mills abound, worse things than dog fighting are happening.
So how's this....5,000 bucks if you want a pet license...
2,000,000 if you want to breed them and flood the market with twitching overbred skitty permutations of what an animal ought to have remained.
As to Vick....Come on now...praise, worship and adoration is often confused with "I'm so damn special" Anyone see the connection? But just who are the NFL pet owners? The people who furnish their absurd salaries or the morons who sit slaved to their TVs for never ending gladiators...

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I think all of the violent, inhumane acts by athletes should be treated as swiftly as Vick's dog fighting. What is totally missing from all the media & blog discussion is the indisputable link between animal abuse & domestic violence. Cock fighting, dog fighting, all of the so-called animal blood sports are reprehensible. Research has shown that serial killers have first abused animals as children. What Vick was involved in is NOT sport. It is personality disorder, virtually impossible to treat and has nothing but a legacy of harm.

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No, they didn't "go after" Vick because of his race--Vick brought that on himself because of making dumb-butt choices; however, it was the way the situation was handled BEFORE the man even had his day in court that was a highly racist form of lynching as compared to other acts of the exact same nature committed by whites.

For example, none of the racist and derogatory comments lodged against Vick have been lodged against Floyd Boudreaux of New Orleans, the noted "Kingpin" and "don" of the underground dogfighting world who controls at least 80-85% of the dogfighting gambling commerce across the nation. As a matter of fact, no one in this country is even talking about Boudreaux and his son Guy, period.

It's the same with gangs--why the heck are Italian mobsters glorified to almost heroic cult status while black gangbangers demonized when it's obvious where the "looters" (instead of the "survivors") get that filth culture from? They didn't make it up-they adapted it, and Vick is certainly not the Poster Child for dogfighting, as OJ Simpson was not the Poster Child for accused or admitted murders who "got away with it."

Not only that, but PETA is nothing more than a bunch of vicious hypocrites jealous of a black man who had more money than they will ever see in their lives. If they eat chicken, fish, pork, beef, or deer meat--why do they discriminate against any animal that isn't a dog, cat, rabbit or horse? It's hypocritical as H377 and I think we all know it.

Besides, who's talking about Bush's Pit Bulls over in Iraq, or the nation that locks down the law when it comes to destroying and taking the lives of unborn babies while their hearts still beat in their mother's wombs and calls that anything BUT capital punishment and a death sentence carried out against a baby who didn't ask it's parents to be in bed with each other in the first place? And if it's a matter of "choice" by humans, lest we forget, we black people were America's "dogs" not more than 150 years ago (and still are, in some respects). And if animals have "feelings" and "rights," why do we neuter and spay them without their permission when God told them, as well as us, to "be fruitful and multiply"? Isn't neutering and spaying the practice of animal eugenics?

One thing is certain, black man or no on Vick's part - this country has its priorities ALL screwed up. Period. From the small perch on which I sit, anyone who puts a picture of Vick on a dog and states "Who's the B*tch Now" is just as guilty of inhumanity and insanity as Vick was when he oversaw that dogfighting ring. It makes them worse than he--because we do not prefer animals over humans under any circumstances.

That has not been the law before now, why is it being changed (as legal precedent goes) especially for Vick? I don't say he shouldn't be punished, I say he should receive the same punishment as those whites who have gone before him. If it was a misdemeanor then, why does it change to a felony that has been outstanding in court for years until eight days after he was indicted? And even where it was carried out as a felony charge, the masterminds still got slapped on the hand, fined and sent home. No one's life or livelihood was taken away over it ever in the history of this nation, not even the "dogfighting don of Louisiana," whose case, eerily enough, I can't find a final disposition on though he was arrested more than two years ago.

Who is blind and can't see the racism and irony in this?

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Those who have problems with Michael Vick, I want you to watch the following video VERY CAREFULLY...

Link to Video

We have not heard so much as a stench of outcry from the American public. Not a friggin’ word.

It was not so very long ago (less than 150 years) that "we" in this nation were America's "dogs" and still are to some degree. What you got to say about this, people?

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The difference between the outrage against domestic animal cruelty and violent acts against a wife or girlfriend stems from the difference in cognition, facility for logical thinking and action, and access to social and legal recourse between a wife/girlfriend and a dog !!

The girlfriend SHOULD have the mental capacity to tell when her man is a dickwad and get the heck outta Dodge. If she stays around she has, in part, contributed to the eventual outcome if she gets beat up/raped/killed by the lowlife.

A dog does not have the CHOICE to leave his abuser. Or the cognition to even realize that he should. The dog is at the complete mercy of the degenerate asswipe who gets his jollies drowning or electrocuting defenseless creatures.

That's why Vick's crime is so heinous.

It is comparable to him having raped a baby or a child, which I'm sure would garner a level of outrage similar to the dog abuse charges.

This makes me think of those "canned" hunting events - what a bunch of PUSSY's are those that hunt fenced in animals raised to be too dumb to even run away.

IMO, hunting isn't "hunting", and you're not the "great white hunter", unless your hunting is accomplished with you NAKED in the woods with a buckknife. When you chase a deer or a boar or a BEAR, ON FOOT, NAKED, with a knife and kill it, then you have claim to the title "great and manly hunter".

Factory farming is similarly horrendous. For the same reason: the defenseless helplessness of the animal thus exploited. If you wanna eat 'em, fine. The cycle of life, unavoidably, includes one species living off others and there's probably no way around it for several more centuries. At least don't raise them in torturous conditions and kill them in agony.

Be a "man" (or woman), not a pussy !

Michael Vick should be called what he is, a degenerate, dog torturing, animal murdering pussy.

And if he ever goes back to professional ball anyone who goes to watch him play is no better themselves.

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while reading this article and the subsequent comments is a book I read some years ago, which I will paraphrase to the best of my ability.

Two men, one older in his seventies and a younger one in his thirties, are chatting about life and the natural order of the world around them. The younger man remarks that he can't stand insects and goes out of his way to clear them from his apartment or any place he happens to be at the time. The older man turns to him and says:

"You're just like any other man, squashing the fly on his newspaper without taking the time to wonder at the marvel of the fly being alive at all, or to imagine just what he is feeling and perceiving before your great oafish hand comes smashing down on his body. You never stop to think that there are forces out there, much greater than you are, who will smash your life under their fist in the blink of an eye some day, and your body will feed the children of other flies."

The problem with people like Vick and those defending him is that they don't have a proper respect for life in general. And yes, I include ALL life in that assessment. I've yet to hear a convincing argument as to why one human life is more important than all the plants and animals and insects of this world. All things are equal, and should be treated as such. We all have to kill other living beings to survive. Someone who respects life would stop at that, instead of condoning cruel and inhuman torture for fun or sport.

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The reason Hutchison's (sp?) article is confusing is because, as do others who don't have a love for animals, he doesn't offer an alternative to caring about them. He's also SO WRONG about animal-lovers not caring about what's going on in Iraq and Darfur. So many of the people i know that have empathy for animals, have it for humans that are in hopeless, unjust situations.
Is he saying there should there be no outcry against dog-fighting? I'm part of a womens' rights groups & very much against domestice abuse. Does that mean i can't care about & for my dog?
I'm sure there are people who care more about defenseless animals than people, but your column generalizes so much that, as an animal-lover + humanist, I take offense to it and wish you'd put a little (a lot) more thought into your accusations. It doesn't pay to put a different 'spin' on an issue when it turns out to be a false one.

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The answer to why people are outraged at Vic's participation on dogfighting and not rape and crimes against women? Simple, there are very strong organizations that are already in place that watch for animal cruelty. There is no justifiable excuse for abuse or torture to an animal.

Unfortunately, there are no strong organizations that can galvanize that quickly and get masses of people to respond when women are abused, raped or killed. Our society still has a double-standard when it comes to abuse...."perhaps she deserved it" and all the rest of the junk that women get blamed for - and men get a pass.

Sports figures are the "gods" of our society because of the huge money and profits involved - they also can "do no wrong"......except this one time......hurt an animal...no one can think up an excuse why this is okay.

GOOD...! It's about time someone sees some of these sports' celebrities for what they are.....brutal, arrogant overpaid ignoramuses that populate the sports world. We need to wake up to what is acceptable and quit worshipping them.

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I detect, as I read Hutchinson's article, a certain defensiveness. As the author himself mentions, he'd written a previous editorial about the "crucifixion" of Vick the dog KILLER. Since that article appeared, Vick, in the face of overwhelming EVIDENCE, has pled GUILTY. Not, by the way, to animal abuse, but to the torturing and murder of defenseless dogs. The fifty or so dogs rescued from this despicable sadist's house will likely be euthanized; too psychologically damaged to ever be safely placed in adoptive homes. A spokesperson for the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP had characterized Vick's indictment as a "crime." Now that individual, perhaps a bit embarrassed that Vick brought down his righteous argument by admitting his GUILT, is attempting to "broaden" the issue to that of unequal justice applied on the basis of race. No question that there is justification for a debate on that issue, but that isn't what's at issue here. Vick committed many craven, cruel acts against innocent, defenseless animals and he committed a federal CRIME. Now he's going to pay. I would hope, though I don't expect it to happen, that the judge gives this turd the maximum allowable sentence.

Not to worry, though. Vick apologized to the "world" yesterday. The world. The ego of this punk! He also apparently wants the judge to know that he's found Jesus. I read somewhere that Jesus had a pit bull when he was a kid and boy is he pissed at Vick! Better look for another saviour, Mike.

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You've decided that if activists can't be activists for human rights then their activism for animal rights is invalidated. Well...for one, we are all different and we are moved by different causes. For two, how much time and focus do you think people can have? In reality, people focus on one cause, the cause that means the most to them. If someone cares about animal welfare, but you don't, live and let live. Stop criticising. Thankfully we all have different passions and interests in this world, because there's a lot to do - environmentalism, human rights, poverty, clean water, micro credit, cultural expression, education, political prisoners, to name a few. Can you imagine if everyone in the world only focused on one type of activism, as you are suggesting? What activism do you do? (I won't fault you for it...I'll applaud you for making a contribution.)

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