Bow Ties & Eagles

"I'm a Christian, I've made mistakes myself, I believe fervently in second chances," Carlson said on the show. "But Michael Vick killed dogs, and he did [it] in a heartless and cruel way. And I think, personally, he should've been executed for that. He wasn't, but the idea that the president of the United States would be getting behind someone who murdered dogs?" - Tucker Carlson, Fox News

Now, I'm not even going to get into the hypocritical nature of the first sentence with respect to what follows.  First and foremost what Vick did was awful, disgusting, and well, just grab a Thesaurus and keep the list going, but.... in a time were celebrities get what is essentially a free pass (how many times has Lohan gone to "rehab" when you or I would be in jail", Vick went to prison.  Fort Leavenworth prison.  He did real time in a real jail.  He was not in jail for 4 hours and released because of "crowding" he was in prison for 2 years.  To put this in some additional context... Donte Stallworth a WR in the NFL drove drunk in Florida, and killed a pedestrian and his sentence was 30 days in jail of which is plea agreement said he need only serve 24 days.  I'm not going to get into the debate about which crime is worse or if a human life is worth more than an animals I mean God knows I love my dogs and often times treat them like my kids, the example is merely to provide some context of two recent and high profile NFL crimes.

I think Vick is a good story, and I truly hope that he remains on the right path and truly fixes his life.  Right or wrong Vick doesn't appear to have many skills outside of his God given football talents.  So the NFL, in my opinion, did the right thing.  I think keeping him out of the NFL would have exponentially increased the possibility of him turning back to a life of criminal or at a minimum morally questionable activity.  A lot of people say that prison is to keep those who are to dangerous for society away from society and to rehabilitate those who need a nudge back onto the right path.  If that is true people need to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop on Vick.  You don't have to support him.  But one really should realize that he served his time and is trying now to pick up the pieces.

The thing that probably bugs me the most about Tucker Carlson is I would bet Mr Carlson his bow ties against my video games that before Obama was involved in this equation he had absolutely no opinion whatsoever on Vick.  Or at a minimum his opinion was inline with most sports fans; his resurgence on the field this year has been amazing to watch, what he did 2-3 years ago was appalling, and hopefully he truly has turned the corner in his life for the better.  Or something along those lines.  But with Obama involved, well, that changed everything and the ante needed to be raised.  What he said was said for shock value and meant to further stir the pot of  discontent for the current administration.  Carlson later retracted, saying in the heat of the moment he over spoke, or whatever nonsense word he used to describe it.  I think he knew exactly what he was doing the shock value of the statement got him in the news for a few days and served as an arrow in the quiver to, I dunno draw the conclusion that the President hates puppies, who knows.   He should, if he hasn't already, apologize to Vick.  Because from where I sit Vick is at least making an effort to improve, unlike some celebrities.