RE: Breaking News From CNN......Mike Vick gets 23
"Sorry to inform you Turtle, but dog fighting IS NOT widely accepted in the South.......Your sadly mistaken!!!!
Unfortunately it's true that it happens in the south, but it is definitely NOT accepted..........I have no clue where you came up with that one!!!!!!!"
I was born in the south, grew up mostly in the north (Cincinnati), and I now live back down in the south, I have relatives in the south. The definition of "widely accepted" is a subjective one, I agree, but the prevalence of dog fighting in the south is much larger than people realize. In my town there's one guy with 23 pit bull terriers. No one for even a minute thinks they are all pets. And he's not the only one around with a pack of dogs that are perfectly suited to fighting. It's all over the south, man, take a look. And it not too long ago where a couple in an upscale suburban Cincinnati neighborhood was arrested on dog fighting charges for breeding and fighting their Rottweilers.
From the early 1600's up until the early part of the 20th century, dog fighting in the US was not only legal, but heavily promoted and attended. In the south in particular, dog fighting was a hugely popular pastime for slave owners, who have their slaves breed and train the dogs. It's all mostly underground now, but the cultural trend is still alive and well, both with whites and blacks.
Incidentally, while dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states, it's a felony in 48 of them, and only a misdemeanor in Idaho and Wyoming. Dog fighting is down south, up north, out west, in big cities and out behind Bubba's double-wide. It's everywhere.
"I think instead of locking him up for 23 months (whoopi), they should give him a taste of his own medicine........Forcefully put him in the ring with Mike Tyson for 5 or 6 rounds. If he performs badly, take him to the locker room, give him some severe electric shock therapy then take him back to the ring to finish the fight........."
And what would your thoughts be when that was put on PPV and people by the millions paid to see it? Or worse, what if he doesn't perform badly? Do we set up another PPV event the following week?
Look, I'm not defending Michael Vick. Far from it. Like I said, I think dog fighting is disgusting. I'm a dog person. But dog fighting is not the OMG! heinous crime against society that calls for life in prison. Sorry. It's not like he had people penned up back there.
Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop