stat counnnter

Monday, December 10, 2007

Free Michael Vick

Via Breitbart.com (h/t Drudge) comes an AP story that Michael Vick has been sentenced to 23 months in jail for running a dogfighting ring. This is an egregious miscarriage of justice. Vick needs to appeal this judgement right away. He violated no one's rights and should not be in jail.

It is morally wrong to be cruel to animals. It demonstrates a profound lack of respect for life in general. Those who do it deserve every bit of private and public moral condemnation they get. His football team has every right to drop him and ditto his commercial sponsors. What Michael Vick is going through now sans the prison sentence, is in fact a form of social ostricism and its a good and proper thing for a morally just society to do.

But it is politically wrong to give rights to animals. Rights pertain to the freedom of choices that present themselves to volitional beings which animals are not. The only rights that belong to an animal are those of its owner. If someone should abuse or kill an animal without that owner's permission, then he can and should go to jail for violating the owner's property rights. If there are now laws making such cruelty illegal, they should be removed. I am even willing to compromise and say that at the very least, for now, the law should be reduced to a misdemeanor without prison time.

This issue is a good test of one's loyalty to principles. It is often very difficult to defend on principle someone whose actions are morally repulsive. Like defending the free speech rights of the printers of sleaze and pornography. If you're loyal to the principle of free speech, you will do it in opposition to those who would outlaw sleaze thus bringing censorship to this country, free speech being a value held higher than censorship which if adopted, would lead to the destruction of free speech.

Giving political rights to animals would mark the destruction of all rights for humans. Once adopted, this non-objective principle would spread to everything and the next thing you know, humans have no rights and must be sacrificed to everything and anything that does. How would you justify cutting down the tree in your yard because its roots are cracking your foundation, or sidewalk, or plugging your sewer drain, or you want to build a garage there, when that tree has the same right to life you do? If a dog bites a human the government has the right to use retaliatory force to remove that dog from society. But, having rights, how would you put that dog on trial? And what would a jury of his peers look like? Sound stupid? Of course. But no more stupid than giving political rights to animals.

Free Michael Vick now.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was listening to ESPN radio Allnight with Jason Smith and boy was he off he rocker. I sent the following email to him. I thought you would like it:

Hi Jason:

I listen to your show every morning as my husband and I drive to work and normally I would agree with you on a lot of issues. However, I think your personal dislike and/or professional dislike of Michael Vick has caused you to spew some pretty lame comments. I do not now nor have I ever condone what he has done but to rip someone for supporting him publicly is ludicrous. To say that someone is not worthy of support is as stupid of comment I have heard you say in a long time. Who made you God? Who are you to say who is worthy of support or not? Is he beyond redemption? So he is not what the league and everyone thought he was? So what he made a stupid mistake that he is paying for in more ways than one? Hey did he murder anyone? Did he rape anyone? Did he sell drugs to kids? Did he abuse his significant other or beat his kids? No, yet you are putting him in the same category. I would love for the government to prosecute other folks with the same zeal as they did him. Still haven't found Osama Bin Laden. Still haven't found weapons of mass destruction. Still haven't found a way to get healthcare for many uninsured children but we sure as hell can get Michael Vick for dogfighting. Hell, yall couldn't even get OJ...Let me ask you a question, there is a lady in Dallas, TX that was just sentenced to 2 years for the wrongful death of a child. A child. Is a dog worth the same? What is the value of a human life versus a dog's? I guess in your eyes there is no difference and that my friend is inexcusable.

Myrhaf said...

I'll bet your traffic is way up because of this post. I'm surprised at all the hits I am getting from people who google "free michael vick" and find their way to my post of the same name.

The google connection is the main reason I stay with blogger.

Michael Neibel said...

S-fly:
Thanks, you make a lot of good points. These people need to be challenged.

Myhraf:
Yes my visits are up because of the post and I agree that I like blogger for that same reason.

Anonymous said...

Cruelty to animals is more than just what it appears to be on the surface. It is an indicator of what lies beneath. If you can look in the eyes of an innocent dog and torture it, you are a sick person. Vick shouldn't have gotten 23 months, he should get 23 years.
What right does Vick have to be this alleged roll model and then do these vile things to animals.
I'm not a fringe PETA supporter and this isn't about the animals. It is about Vick and the kind of person he is and what anyone that can do what he did can do a lot more and probably to people as well.
I'm glad he got what he got, I just wish it would be a lot more jail time. He was more than someone that kicked a dog. He supported it, financed it, and profited from it and it is all illegal. If there is nothing wrong with what he did maybe he should jump in the ring with one of those fighting dogs and see if he likes that.

Anonymous said...

mike vick should not be in jail for this and anyone who believes he should is stupid when you eat beef do you know what cows go thru they get abused and killed just like those dogs and the only reason hes in jail is because dogs are cute Its like drinkers who think people who smoke weed should go to jail Ive been drunk and high and drinking is much worse even though its legal oj is playing golf in south beach right now and this guy is washing dishs for 10 cents and hour in federal prison at best he should have got 60 days in county jail and 1 year probation