My Girl
I recently heard a talk show host encourage his listeners to forgive Michael Vick for his crimes. Up until now I could count on one hand the number of times I have been moved to write a letter to a public servant, a newspaper, or a talk show host. This is one of those times. As relaxing as it is to watch Kira sleeping after a hard day of playing I knew I could not sleep until I wrote the following.
Clark,
I am a veterinarian who read Jim Gorant's book "The Lost Dogs". I read it not because I wanted to, but because I felt it was my duty.
I would like to share some things from the book with you.
One dog that was hanged did not die. "As that dog lay on the ground fighting for air, Quantis Phillips grabbed it by its front legs and Michael Vick grabbed its hind legs. They swung the dog over their head like a jump rope then slammed it to the ground. The first impact didn't kill it. So Phillips and Vick slammed it again. The two men kept at it, alternating back and forth, pounding the creature against the ground, until at last, the little red dog was dead." (page 93)
On the day Michael Vick turned himself in at the county jail to begin serving his sentence he "….had woken up that morning and bought a $99,000 Mercedes and paid $23,000 to a PR firm…." (page 151)
Go home tonight. Pet your dog and look into her beautiful brown eyes and remember. That's what I do.
Thank you for allowing me to comment.
Dr. Liz Cotton
Fuquay Varina, NC
Posts
Vick makes me sick.
ReplyDeleteNot Clark as in Howard?!?! That would be very disappointing.
ReplyDeleteI love that photo. She looks like an angel. Quite apropos.
I'm looking into my dog's beautiful brown eyes and remembering, right now. And shedding a tear, over your great post, and for those who need remembering.
I've been thinking about forgiveness in general, and Michael Vick in particular, on and off all day. Forgiveness is an issue that comes up frequently in therapy, as so many of my clients have experienced horrendous childhood abuse at the hands of the very people who are supposed to care for and protect them. So I have long since formed a few opinions on that subject.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I see forgiveness as being most appropriate for people who either never meant to do harm in the first place, who perhaps weren't aware at the time that they were in fact doing harm, or who were temporarily derailed morally and ethically by internal or external pressures that were just too much to bear. Second, I think that forgiveness is for people who really, truly get that what they did was wrong, who can articulate why, who can feel anguish for the people they've harmed, and who are genuinely sorry.
These sorts of people deserve forgiveness. Anybody else who gets it, gets it by the grace of the big heart of the person (or deity, if that's the way you roll) offering it.
So when I hear people say Mike Vick deserves a second chance, I want to puke. He did what he did deliberately, knowing full well it was wrong (because he went to great lengths to hide it and to blame it on somebody else when he got caught). And I have seen nothing to indicate guilt or remorse other than the kind of ersatz "apologies" that we get from so many other businesspeople and politicians who get caught.
I think mike vick is sorry and want`s forgivness because he "got caught" NOT because he is truly sorry!! Big difference!!
ReplyDeletePut him in a ring w/ just one angry dog and see how the great vick fairs.
Well stated Liz. What a horrible man.
ReplyDelete