Justice
Once again my Facebook friends are giving me a reason to think. Thank you all. I had made a comment this morning about Michael Vick and his deal with the football team that gave him a job (that's as much as I know about football). Basically I said he had his day in court. Within 30 minutes I had received 3 emails asking how I could condone what he did. So - right up front, let me tell you I despise his actions and yes I think there is a special place in hell (if hell exists - but that's a whole nuther blog entry) for people who torture animals. Everybody got that? Cool. You may now stop villifying me. Thank you very much.
Now - back to the comment and what it actually, emotionlessly, means. Mr. Vick was arrested for a crime. He plead guilty to that crime. The court accepted his plea and passed sentence. He surrendered to the U.S. Marshalls and served his sentence. Under our law, he has "paid his debt to society". Whether or not the punishment fits the crime is a subjective matter. Look at the whole of the consequences of his actions. He served time in prison. Beyond that, he lost his home and over a hundred million dollars in contracts. For comparison, let's look at another NFL player, Donte Stallworth. Mr. Stallworth spent a night partying in a bar, got behind the wheel of his BMW with his BAC one and a half times the legal limit. Speeding down a Miami street, he struck a man coming home from work, killing him. For killing a human, he received 27 days in jail, a fine, and community service. The NFL susended him for the 2009 season. He'll be back next year. Why is there no uproar about him playing ball?
In reality, there is no such thing as good and bad. Good and bad are labels each of us put on events to describe our feelings about that particular event. Take 9-11. To Americans - Bad - very bad. To the folks in the middle east you saw dancing and cheering about it on CNN - Good, very good. To us it's a bad thing, to them, it's a good thing. But the thing itself - it's just a thing.
I don't think the punishment fits the crime for either of these men. But it does fit our system of law. So I have a choice. I can try to change the law, or I can shut up and live with it. Since I have not lifted a finger to make a change, I don't believe I have any standing to bitch about the outcome.
Now - back to the comment and what it actually, emotionlessly, means. Mr. Vick was arrested for a crime. He plead guilty to that crime. The court accepted his plea and passed sentence. He surrendered to the U.S. Marshalls and served his sentence. Under our law, he has "paid his debt to society". Whether or not the punishment fits the crime is a subjective matter. Look at the whole of the consequences of his actions. He served time in prison. Beyond that, he lost his home and over a hundred million dollars in contracts. For comparison, let's look at another NFL player, Donte Stallworth. Mr. Stallworth spent a night partying in a bar, got behind the wheel of his BMW with his BAC one and a half times the legal limit. Speeding down a Miami street, he struck a man coming home from work, killing him. For killing a human, he received 27 days in jail, a fine, and community service. The NFL susended him for the 2009 season. He'll be back next year. Why is there no uproar about him playing ball?
In reality, there is no such thing as good and bad. Good and bad are labels each of us put on events to describe our feelings about that particular event. Take 9-11. To Americans - Bad - very bad. To the folks in the middle east you saw dancing and cheering about it on CNN - Good, very good. To us it's a bad thing, to them, it's a good thing. But the thing itself - it's just a thing.
I don't think the punishment fits the crime for either of these men. But it does fit our system of law. So I have a choice. I can try to change the law, or I can shut up and live with it. Since I have not lifted a finger to make a change, I don't believe I have any standing to bitch about the outcome.
Well said!
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