Michael Vick is Guilty

Here's the thing…I don't know if Vick is technically guilty of the felony crimes he's being investigated for – like most humans with a sense of humanity, I didn't know anything about dogfighting until about a few months ago.

What is clear is that, whether he's going to be found guilty by a court or not, Vick is guilty of being a complete an utter douchebag, and someone with a level of contempt for life that makes him, in some way, a sub-human.

Now, I know that idiots like Clinton Portis and Chris Samuels defend Vick, and don't think that dogfighting is anything wrong. It's a sport to them, in the same way others play golf, cards or go to the track. For those who missed that foray into Idiotsville, here is a quote from the ESPN story a while back:

"I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not," Portis said in the interview. "But it's his property; it's his dogs. If that's what he wants to do, do it."

Portis, a native of Laurel, Miss., added: "I know a lot of back roads that got a dog fight if you want to go see it. But they're not bothering those people because those people are not big names. I'm sure there's some police got some dogs that are fighting them, some judges got dogs and everything else."

In the segment, Portis said that Vick would be put "behind bars for no reason" if the Atlanta Falcons quarterback were charged and convicted for dog fighting. Samuels laughed during much of the interview.

Now, that's not Michael Vick speaking, it's Portis and Samuels. (Laughing. What scum.) But if you need to have someone explain to you why this is horrifying, why it shows a level of cruelty and inhumanity that is utterly disgusting, well, it's time to look in the mirror. And let's be clear about this – Vick knew what was going on. This dates back to 2001, Vick's rookie year. That means as soon as he got paid (legally, anyhow), he invested in a dogfighting operation.

Vick and the others are accused of "knowingly sponsoring and exhibiting an animal fighting venture" and conducting a business enterprise involving gambling, as well as buying, transporting and receiving dogs for the purposes of an animal fighting venture.

About eight young dogs were put to death at the Surry County home after they were found not ready to fight in April 2007, the indictment said. They were killed "by hanging, drowning and/or slamming at least one dog's body to the ground."

The details of the case get way worse – putting aside that the whole result of these fights is the death of one animal, there were corpses buried all over his property, and … oh, it makes me angry just thinking about this. And to be clear – I hate pit bulls. But I won't slam them into the ground, electrocute or hang them – because I have A SOUL.

What a scumbag. The thing I keep hearing is, learn from the Duke Lacrosse case and don't judge or indict before there is evidence. I also keep hearing that this is a Southern thing (you'll notice in the ESPN story, it cited where Portis is originally from) -- I expect many Southerns to stand up and say, "Uh, nope. Not MY South." Because you can defend your racist Confederate flag, and all the other legion of issues in the South us Yankees can't understand...but defend dogfighting, and you LOSE. (Just like, ahem, the Civil War.)

To be sure, whether or not Vick broke any law remains to be seen.

But he's clearly guilty of being a terrible human being.