Posted on 07/20/2007 7:57:37 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
PETA'S GOT BETTER FRIENDS THAN MICHAEL VICK
Even if Vick wins his legal battle, here's a hint that the PR war will be a bloodbath. In a show of its political clout, PETA sent a letter in conjunction with longtime allies Russell Simmons and Al Sharpton to Falcons owner Arthur Blank, NFL commish Roger Goodell and Vick's corporate sponsors condemning dogfighting. At every turn, people around Vick have anonymously thrown him under the bus. Coincidentally, PETA's friends use their names for the very same reason. Oh yeah, Vick's in bad shape. Really, is there a worse pair of enemies for one man to have than the animal rights lobby and the federal government?
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
Even a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day.
Politics can make for strange bedfellows.
More news here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-vickprotest021907&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
“PETA ready to protest following Vick indictment”
...but I've seen some try, even on this forum.
“Put the bite on Vick now”
July 19, 2007
BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist
You have to understand how serious this is for Michael Vick, how serious for the NFL. I know of people who can watch without blinking as Clint Eastwood wastes a dozen people in five minutes. But a horse walks with a limp, and it’s tears.
Yes, it’s just an indictment for Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, and not a conviction. But the words in that indictment are just too hideous to look past, too sickening to forget.
‘’Dogfighting ring’’ sounds bad enough. But that’s a title, a label. These are the words that will sink Vick: He is accused of having ‘’executed the losing dog by wetting the dog down with water and electrocuting the animal.’’ That’s on Page 12 of the indictment.
He’s accused of having executed eight dogs that didn’t test well by ‘’hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog’s body to the ground.’’
You know what a ‘’rape stand’’ is? I didn’t, either. Thanks to Vick, we’ve learned: Dogs are held in place for forced breeding.
Vick cannot play in the NFL for a while. Maybe ever. I know, just an accusation. But commissioner Roger Goodell has a league image to consider. And Goodell has been championed as the guy trying to clean that image up.
This isn’t the same as Tank Johnson’s case, or Pacman Jones’, or Chris Henry’s. Those guys, all suspended, were repeat offenders.
This is much, much worse than that. Vick is a superstar, an individual in a league of helmet-covered faces. We will not look at Vick the same again.
Will we look at the NFL the same?
If Vick continues to play this year, then PETA’s people will be out protesting at every game.
‘Barbaric form of entertainment’
This statement, signed by PETA director Daphna Nachminovitch, was already on PETA.org on Wednesday: ‘’PETA’s offices, located just over an hour away from Michael Vick’s rural mansion — where we now know dozens if not hundreds of dogs were forced to fight to the death in a pit — has been receiving vague allegations of Vick’s involvement in illegal animal fighting activity for years, sadly without much concrete evidence to back it up ...
‘’The professional sports world is plagued with players who have been accused, charged or convicted of cruelty to animals, abusing pit bulls and dogfighting, and we hope that this indictment sends a loud and clear message to players and the NFL that celebrity is not a sufficient excuse for breaking the law . . .’’
Here’s a release sent to my e-mail box Wednesday, announcing a news conference with two U.S. senators and a Congressman who apparently were responsible for something called the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, passed into law May 3.
‘’Animal fighting is a barbaric form of entertainment that not only is harmful and deadly to animals, but also poses many health and safety risks to communities where it is taking place,’’ said Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, a former veterinarian. ‘’Often, individuals associated with this deplorable practice are involved in narcotics trafficking, gang activity, violence toward people and illegal gambling.’’
See? It’s already started because Vick is a star, a marketing tool.
He’ll be a running ad for the NFL as a thug league, exactly the thing Goodell has been trying to clean up.
Goodell is in a spot here. He has been busting players who have made mistakes over and over. And this is the first real problem from Vick. First-time offender. Indictment, not conviction. But those things aren’t going to wipe away the image of a hanging dog, or an electrocuted one.
There is no specific guideline for these punishments, anyway. Goodell makes them up as he goes. Maybe he can suspend Vick indefinitely but keep his salary in escrow until a conviction or until charges are dropped.
Guilt by association, at least
The league might have to be a little creative here, might have to help pay his salary if it eventually turns out he has no hard connection with this. Whoever pays, though, the league has got to get rid of Vick now.
He certainly can be held accountable for dogfighting taking place on his own property, even if he says he wasn’t involved, didn’t know anything about it.
It’s his friends, his relatives, his property.
How stupid must Vick be to put the rest of his $120 million contract in jeopardy? And whatever his involvement, even if it’s none, he should have run right to the authorities and started explaining.
The last thing he needed, the last thing the NFL needed, was a surprise indictment.
The league didn’t much need to hear from the Washington Redskins’ Clinton Portis a few weeks ago, either, when he told WAVY-TV in Virginia, ‘’I don’t know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it’s his property, it’s his dog.
‘’If that’s what he wants to do, do it. I think people should mind their own business.’’
Portis’ comment is almost as disturbing as Vick’s indictment. These guys are both examples of this thug culture. Well, it’s worse than thug. It’s outrageous that anyone would try to defend this.
It’s morally stomach-turning.
Is it the NFL?
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/couch/474756,CST-SPT-greg19.article
I agree. Vick’s career is ruined.
Where were they when Saddam was injecting puppies with nerve agent and videotaping their deaths....FINALLY this organization is doing something not related to politics.
But Russell "Run" Simmons and Al Sharpton? Wow. Don't tell me that the indigenous pipples of Africa and traditional African-American culture was completely vegetarian until big bad whitie came along and forced them to start eating meat.
So when is Sharpton going to endorse Darwin?
Michael and his brother Marcus have certainly earned every bit of bad press they have received.
Vick is probably done. But wouldn’t you love to see Vick and the Falcons play the Browns? The dogpound would be rabid.
You are correct but just be sure you know who ruined it. It wasn't the press. It wasn't the NFL. It wasn't the fans. The person who ruined Vick's career was Vick himself and as far as I am concerned, good riddance to bad rubbish.
But NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THE MONEY NIKE MAKES ON VICK’S PRODUCTS!!!!!!
they still haven[t quit selling them!
I hope PETA’s keeping their dumpsters clean.
Well said and 100% true. Vick was a dumba$$ from the start, and has done nothing to change that perception.
I can hear “Who Let The Dogs Out” ringing now.
Ha! Vick's an amatuer:
What do you call eleven convicted felons standing in a circle?
The Dallas Cowboy's huddle!
What do you call eleven convicted felons standing in a circle?
The Dallas Cowboy’s huddle!
Could also be the Cincinnati Bengals huddle!
Naw, they play the no huddle offense.
PETA gets no credit for this one. Dog fighting has been illegal since long before PETA existed.
actually I doubt that Vick can take the field in any NFL stadium (well, maybe Oakland)....crowd reaction would just be too intense....he’s going to be a pariah for the rest of his life....America loves it’s pets too much for him to ever be anything else....
Sent them one this morning.
It's a case of our crappy US media playing right into their hands.
Why are they even giving these nutcases from PETA the time of day? Because they are far leftists.
PETA believes having a pet should be illegal because it is slavery. They believe a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They would save a drowning german shepherd before a drowning child.
There is an organization of long standing that is dedicated to saving animals from this very type of cruelty and has broad support across society. It's called the ASPCA.
It's the ASPCA that should be interviewed on these media shows and have their soundbites show up in the news reports, not PETA.
The news media is so pathetic it is beyond words.
Re: PETA believes having a pet should be illegal because it is slavery.
Can you post a URL to back this up?
Agree. Pets are part of the American family.
Personally, I cannot imagine any pet lover who was previously a fan of Vick who would be so now. And there are SCORES of them.
Indeed if Vick did the things he did, he should be severely punished, without question.
But is there maybe a greater than zero chance, that perhaps Vick is being “Nifonged.” I see parallels, everyone is calling for Vick’s head, just as they were calling for the Duke players’ heads, long before there was even a hearing.
I never would have even thought about that a year ago, but after the Duke case, I’m not so sure of anything in the legal world anymore.
You are so right. Even while some people are siding with PETA who normally don’t, I still look at them like the Fox who enters the henhouse.
I’ve heard their representatives take this position in interviews in past years. You can find old quotes if you google PETA and slavery.
They got burned by public outrage when they had their public demonstrations equating animals in circuses and zoos to the historic slavery of Africans in the US, so they have played down the pet ownership angle in recent years, as they now understand this position is bad PR for them. But you can be sure they still believe this.
That schmuck Al Davis would pick him up....fit right in the the 'Raider Image'.
There are no parallels to the Duke case, except that both are cases in the criminal justice system, like millions of other cases.
Here we are dealing with the feds, and according to their indictment they have multiple eyewitnesses and physical evidence here.
Nifong had one mentally-deranged, drug and alcohol abusing prostitute with a history of unsubstantiated rape charges who came out with the new “rape” charge only when she realized she was about to be placed into a mental health facility. Her accounts were inconsistent and the physical evidence exonerated, not incriminated the defendants. Even the arresting officer Shelton immediately saw through her B.S.
No comparison between the feds & multiple eyewitness & physical evidence with a corrupt local county prosecutor with no evidence.
Maybe Vick will roll the dice on a trial and hope for a venue where he can get an OJ-type jury that will let him off because he is black. But smart money IMO says that he will eventually plead out.
Having a pet is slavery. My 11 old poodle mutt has me constantly doing things for him.
Name the last player from Oakland that has been arrested or suspended by the league for criminal behavior.
Carolyn
Carolyn
Carolyn
You’re unaware that the organization revels in the bad-boy image? Hell, Davis would probably pay over market for Vick.
Your suggestion that Al Davis would pick up Vick is highly doubtful. Furthermore, the bad-boy image was developed under John Madden when he was coach. It was really a media creation that Madden ultimately embraced because it served the team’s need.
No NFL team wants to employ a team of misfits and troublemakers, the Oakland Raiders included. Cincy could be considered the only current exception to this.
Are you from Cleveland?
Peyton Manning
I say that my house is run by a thirteen pound tyrant. (A stray cat I took in 10 years ago)
No - Cincinnati. I get to see and hear about the Bengals up close and personal — 24/7!
I personally hate dog fighting. I think the appropriate punishment for people who participate in such activities should be having to spend 10 minutes in a ring with a pitbull in a full on fight.
Re: There was a thread somewhere around here that Nike had suspended sales that had anything to do with Vick.
They did not release his new shoe, but are still selling ones already on the market, including shirts and clothing.
Well, I am too... but I don’t get the glee you seem to going thread to thread trashing them. :>)
I have called several numbers for Nike....advertising, sales, product merchandising , etc. ALL DIVISIONS OF NIKE route their calls through one 800 number! ha.
Wow...good to know.
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