American Idiots

Yesterday, The Common Man reported back on the idiocy he heard on his various travels to and from the great state of Minnesota. Though prolific in their ridiculousness, none of the comments have been in the same league as some of the responses that The Common Man has heard regarding the Michael Vick case.

As, undoubtedly, you all know by now, Michael Vick is pleading guilty to criminal conspiracy charges in connection to an illegal dog fighting program that he helped run and in which he allegedly murdered several dogs who were not "cutting it" in the ring.

Condemnation of Vick and his actions have, of course, been plentiful. Virtually every media outlet, both sports and otherwise, have graphically documented how Vick would (allegedly) execute the dogs and the obscene amount of money he spent on the fights, and has justifiably excoriated the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback. Indeed, you don't need The Common Man to tell you how reprehensible Vick and his cronies are. On his nicest days, Vick did things to his dogs that The Common Man wouldn't even consider doing to Ralph the Evil Dog, who lives downstairs so that he doesn't eat the cat.

What has surprised The Common Man, however, is the amount of almost-defenses for Vick that have surfaced since the Federal inquiry began. NBC Announcer and Superstar cornerback Deion Sanders, for instance, wrote

"What a dog means to Vick might be a lot different than what he means to you or I. Hold on, don't start shaking your head just yet. Listen to me. Some people kiss their dogs on the mouth. Some people let their dogs eat from their plate. Some people dress their dogs in suits more expensive than mine, if you can believe that.
And some people enjoy proving they have the biggest, toughest dog on the street. You're probably not going to believe this, but I bet Vick loves the dogs that were the biggest and the baddest."

All-Pro running back and resident scholar Clinton Portis argued, "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 business." and revealed that "I know a lot of back roads that have the dog fighting if you want to go see it."

Yesterday, Stephon Marbury of the New York Knicks, contended that dogfighting is no different from hunting, saying "I think, you know, we don't say anything about people who shoot deer or shoot other animals. You know, from what I hear, dogfighting is a sport. It's just behind closed doors." Amazingly, Marbury's line of argument has been supported by the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP, whose president said, according to CNN.com, "he didn't understand the uproar over dogfighting, when hunting deer and other animals is perfectly acceptable." Such statements are ludicrous at their core, considering that most hunting is performed as cleanly and painlessly as realistically possible. No hunter that The Common Man knows (save perhaps for Dick Cheney and Karl Rove) think that dousing a deer with water and electricuting it is appropriate behavior.

These people who trivialize Vick's behavior, frankly, are stupid and should be lampooned. That said, what is most interesting to The Common Man in all the response to the Vick saga is how shocked that the mainstream, white media seems to be that a) anyone would consider defending dog fighting and b) that it is a seemingly popular activity in certain parts of the country, perhaps even close to socially acceptable. The Common Man believes that this shock is evidence that, quite frankly, mainstream America chooses not to know nearly as much about those who live outside of its purview than it should. Instead of looking into and confronting allegations of rampant dog abuse and fighting, until a prominent figure is involved, America turns away. Instead of delving into and solving the reasons behind poverty and high crime in America's urban centers, America turns away. This country and its media focus on soap operas (celebrity girls out of control!) rather than real problems that plague it, and that ought to make it ashamed.

According to the Michigan State Legal and Historical Animal Center,

"The Humane Society of the United States estimates that there are at least 40,000 dogfighters in America, though that number seems to underestimate the epidemic of street fighting in urban areas. In 2003, the city of Chicago alone recorded and responded to 1093 animal fighting complaints. Virtually all children in high crime urban areas are exposed to dogfighting in their own neighborhoods while American hip/hop culture glorifies the blood sport."

The mainstream media and the legal system has turned the other way, not caring that,

"The systematic desensitization of each new generation in high crime inner cities starts early on; there, most children are routinely exposed to dogfighting and are forced to accept the inherent violence as normal. The routine exposure of the children to unfettered animal abuse and neglect is a major contributing factor in their later manifestation of social deviance."

By paying attention, gentle readers readers, the people of this country could solve a lot of problems before they get started.