Depravity

(Editor's Note: Be advised that this post contains an image that is necessary but not appropriate for children.)

First, let us do away with Michael Vick... and I almost mean that literally. Like Zell Miller, I wish we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel.

At the very least I'd love to see him entered in the "Ultimate Fighting Challenge" for a month, and if he survives, banned from the NFL and imprisoned for the six-years maximum. Even the maximum fine that he faces is irrelevant.

This subhuman's crimes against the sanctity of life fill the Internet and the font pages. We'll see in the coming months if our "justice" system and this sorry society still has some semblance of morality... I believe it's 50-50.

Vick and his fellow killers and torturers, are due in court July 26 in Richmond, Va., to face a detailed, 18-page indictment on charges of animal cruelty, and dog-fighting; Vick is charged personally with "executing" eight pit bulls for failure to be aggressive enough in training fights.

The murders were as varied as they were depraved in the pit of horror that was Vick's "Bad Newz Kennels". One animal was doused with water and electrocuted, others were beaten to death, shot, hanged or drowned.

Eight executions only scratches the surface. Authorities recovered 66 dogs on Vick's Virginia property.

An an ESPN story story has quoted an anoymous source who called Vick "a pit bull fighter.  He's one of the ones that they call 'the big boys': that's who bets a large dollar," the source said of Vick who is believe to have had the operation since 2002. 

"And they have the money to bet large money. As I'm talking about large money -- $30,000 to $40,000 -- even higher. He's one of the heavyweights."

The reporter also asked a member of the NFL Football Hall of Fame about Vick's dog-fighting. He does it "for the thrill of it," said the retired player who asked not to be identified. "It's like gambling," he said, dismissing the cruel and brutal crimes.  "No different than when Michael Jordan drops $100,000 on a hole of golf."

See? This sickness is not limited to Vick. I would not be surpised to learn that dozens of NFL players, regularly, attend and gamble on fights in which adog's throat is torn out... many of them at Vick's blood pit.

The arraignment is the same day the Atlanta Falcons open training camp... we'll see if the judge or Vick's cadre of $5,000-suited mouthpieces will be running this court. If the judge is, Vick should miss the first day of camp.

Vick and his co-conspirators also face bond hearings. Vick can made any bond; hopefully the others will soon get orange jumpsuits. Vick, if convicted on all charges, faces six years in prison, $350,000 in fines, as long as his NFL career to date, and perhaps suspension from the NFL.

And right here let's get over the "presumption of innocence" rhetoric; I'm not the judge or jury, just part of amorphous, ever-evolving public opinion. Michael Vick (shown right with a puppy he raised and then later killed) is a soulless product of a corrupt and immoral society, yet still completely responsible for his crimes.

He's as guilty of these killings as O.J. Simpson was of his.

This serial animal murderer, is only the latest "scandal" in the on-going criminal enterprise that is much of professional sport--primarily the NFL and the NBA.

At left is what Vick and his ilk perpetrate; this American Pit Bull Terrier was one of the lucky ones... at least he survived.

Here's what will happen:

This investigation will uncover the tentacles of an enormous organized crime syndicate of which Vick is a minor part. The RICO Act should be employed and applied to Vick.

• In a blood sport where a top killing machine can fetch $30K, and purses for a single, skull-crushing fight can be $26,000, you'll find drugs, prostitution, gun running, child porn and all the rest.
• There is a 100-percent chance there are incriminating photographs and videos.
• One or all of his co-conspirators will roll over on Vick; these hangers-on have nothing to lose and besides, their meal ticket has been canceled.

Nike, Reebok, Starter, et al, are just a bunch of slick white guys making billions off what is known as "street cred".... this means selling children misogyny by portraying all women as prostitutes, speaking in a profane and unintelligible manner, "hanging with" convicted felons, wife beaters, and drug addicts who pose as "rap artists".

The NFL's terse statement is more than I would have predicted, condemned the "(alleged) activities... (as) cruel, degrading and illegal."

But what has been the business fallout so far?

Nike brass, all of them pimps which pay millions to Vick for his endorsements, are saying only that they are "reviewing the information".

Uh-huh.

Sounds familiar; Nike kept a similar $45 million contract with Kobe Bryant despite the fact he was arrested for anally raping a female employee at a Colorado resort. The criminal charges against Bryant later were dropped, but you know he would have been convicted on all counts if his victim had possessed a scintilla of credibility. It was a cake walk for Bryant's mouthpieces.

Yes, there are honkies in the woodpile of the sports-marketing world.

Vick's new, $115 Nike shoe is due in stores in late August.

Here's a surprising bit of silver lining: Yesterday, Nike, along with Falcons CEO Arthur Blank and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, received a joint letter from hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, civil rights leader the "Rev." Al Sharpton and PETA president Ingrid E. Newkirk, condemning Vick and asking all parties involved to distance themselves from Vick.

Regardless of what happens, Blank made a bone head play by signing Vick, a very mediocre NFL quarterback, to a 10-year, $130-million contract in 2004. Blank proclaimed at the time... "Michael will be a Falcon for life."

My, how time flies.

• Last January, Vick was never charged, but was detained when he refused to surrender a suspicious water bottle to airport security in Miami. The bottle had a false bottom which contained marijuana.
• Last November, the Falcons fined him a minuscule $10,000 for making an obscene gesture to the team's fans after a game.
• Earlier last year, Vick, the league's second highest-paid player, settled a civil suit brought by a woman who claimed he had infected her with genital herpes.
• Last year, Vick lead his team to a 7-9 record, including the loss of seven of its last nine games.

Comments

[Pandora Ireland]

I'd actually love to review these boxes on my shopping/lifestyle blog. i wonder if they'd send me a sample box to talk about?

[DontAskMe]

When I first saw this story, I immediately thought of you.

Ugh! What a truly barbaric "sport".

If the allegations prove true, I have no respect for Vick, nor think he should ever see another dime from football or endorsements.

Too many of these spoiled overpaid sports parasites (think O.J.) seem to think the rules - moral and civil - don't apply to them... perhaps because coaches, schools and fans have treated them as special for most of their lives.

Here's my own prediction: someone will find a way to blame this all on President Bush.

Semper Fi