A MESSAGE TO THOSE OUTRAGED BY MICHAEL VICK

Tackle Cruelty = Kick Vick

It's not that I don't understand all the indignation over Michael Vick's alleged crimes against dogs.

I oppose pointless animal cruelty and find the story altogether disturbing.

But to you incensed protesters and inflamed radio show callers who can't stop barking about how Michael Vick should be mercilessly punished: where were you after the news of Abu Ghraib broke?

What is it that allows you to become so impassioned over the torture of several dogs but totally apathetic, at best, when it comes to our federal government torturing other human beings?

I find both the act of drowning dogs and drowning humans disgusting.

But drowning dogs is illegal.

Drowning humans, on the other hand, in the form of water boarding, can be permitted at the directive of the President of the United States. (Several news outlets have reported that the White House has explicitly approved water boarding as an interrogation technique.)

Don't get me wrong. I feel sorry for the dogs. But our head of state has not incorporated animal torture into his foreign policy. Our elected leaders are not attempting to block Amnesty International or the United Nations from observing alleged acts of canine torture.

Which is to say, so long as our tax dollars fund the torture of human beings, how can anybody possibly spend any energy protesting the alleged crimes of Michael Vick?

Get your priorities straight.

--Junichi