Oh, for the days when words actually meant things. Specific things. When they had objective definitions.
But as George Orwell foresaw, when government controls education and communications, a culture's language is generally the first thing to suffer the assault; "war is peace," and so on. In a thousand ways, we are now witnessing the cashing-in of this phenomena, right here in America.
Today, we have the grotesque spectacle of Michael Vick, who, to the casual observer, should have been on top of the world --- a mega million dollar NFL career, good looks, and all the material comforts, prosperity and security that America's race hustlers and victim-crats (white, black, red and brown) keep saying are eluding minorities.
But all that wasn't quite enough for Vick.
No, he had to go and commit unspeakable acts of barbarous cruelty to dogs, that amounted to torture*. And when these dogs had no further use for him and his depraved friends, they killed them with their own, bare hands. (*I normally supplement my posts with appropriate pictures, but in this case, I don't have the stomach for it; just Google "Vick dogfighting" and you'll see what I'm talking about; don't do this if you've just eaten, or ever plan to eat again)
As a dog lover and one who works in the legal field, upon hearing stories like this is the past, I have expressed to friends my belief that maniacs who perpetrate this level of barbarity upon creatures as sentient and loving as dogs should be subjected to the exact type of abuse that they dished out. Especially if it is being done for no purpose other than one’s own amusement, or for something as petty as gambling.
(And as one who recently recovered from a near-death situation, I cannot even begin to express my renewed sense of appreciation for my own dog, and how much she has helped me through this, just by her being... her).
We have a “civil” justice system, however, that would not permit such “cruel and unusual punishment.” So in all likelihood, Vick will only have to pay a hefty fine (for the abuse, and the gambling), serve time in a safe, warm prison cell, and then live out the rest of his life in some degree of luxury and security.
But Vick and his sleazeball attorney weren’t quite through perpetrating their outrages. No, they had to go just a bit further, and in a classic case of Clintonian double-speak, claim that he "accepts full responsibility" for this “mistake.” From the Orlando Sentinel:
Vick's lead attorney, William "Billy" Martin, issued a statement on Monday.
"After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick asked that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors regarding the charges pending against him. Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter," the statement said.
(But Vick's attorney wasn't the only one to use this misnomer; so did the LA Times, and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
Let’s be clear: A “mistake” is when one is walking through a park and inadvertently steps in dog squeeze. Or, when one accidentally enters the wrong figure in his checkbook.
A “mistake” is not what happens when one is walking down the street and deliberately punches a person in the face. Or when one betrays the trust and confidence of a friend who'd done her no wrong. Or when a top-level political leader sticks his, ahem, you know, into the mouth of an intern entrusted to his supervision (“Mistakes were made…”).
Or when one deliberately brutalizes, injures, disfigures and then kills dogs. No, that is the trademark sign of a sadistic son of a bitch.
Hey, Michael Vick: I sure hope no “mistakes” happen to you while you’re serving time in the graybar hotel that you’ve now accepted a reservation at.
And I sure hope that when you get out, a bunch of vicious dogs don’t maul you for their own amusement.
(Actually, that's not quite true. I hope that the attempt is made, then stopped --- so that perhaps you will finally grasp the horror and brutality that you and your miscreant friends dished out to dogs that were trusting you to care for them.)
Right back atcha, Michael Vick.
Original content is © Copyright 2007 by Jon Quixote. Email to jonquix@hotmail.com
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