Alec Baldwin Defends Dick Vick
In an article for the Huffington Post, Alec Baldwin discusses his passion for animal rights and how forgiving Michael Vick would be a step in the right direction.
Here are some HIGHlights:
On rehabilitation:
What Vick did is, obviously, senseless and reprehensible. But I believe Vick, as a wealthy and talented athletic superstar who performs his job out in the open before crowds of amped-up and highly opinionated fans, suffers an unfair disadvantage as compared to, say, the heads of a meatpacking plant or the directors of a medical research lab where animals are suffering the cruelest imaginable abuses behind walls and doors that remove them from our sight and, therefore, judgments. Vick did horrific things and he deserved to be punished. He served his time and now I wonder what good does it do to exile him in shame and not let him show his example of how one can be rehabilitated after that kind of behavior. If Vick returns to his true form as an NFL pro, that platform can mean real progress for the animal rights movement. Or do some people really not want to open that conversation? Vick is one man who, along with his friends, brutally tortured and killed many innocent dogs and called it a sport. Each day in this country, millions upon millions of animals are suffering lives of daily abuse in factory farming, but we turn away because that animal, unlike Vick's dogs, ends up on a grill and then on our plates. Animals that are not raised as pets suffer in ways that you and I don't really want to know.On the real problem:
Vick is easy to target as a villain. But the man who should have been setting an example for his young fans about how to comport oneself off the field can still do so. Donating a healthy figure from his enormous salary to any mixture of animal rights groups seems like a good start to me. I have a list for Vick when he is ready. But to ban Vick, to cast him aside and simply hate him, knowing that someone in his position stands potentially ready (and I do stress potentially) to effectively serve the interests of the very groups and individuals that he most offended, would be a mistake. Especially when there are enterprises operating in this country who will torture and kill more animals than a thousand Michael Vicks ever could, but you can not buy a ticket to watch them perform their job on a Sunday afternoon.On forgiveness:
Vick deserves another chance. One chance. Just like all of us who eat meat, drink milk, attend rodeos, circuses, zoos and horse races and yet find it easier to hand Vick the bill for all of the other, more systemic abuses in our society may find ourselves needing another chance one day. Just like Michael Vick.
Damn, Baldwin is a talker!
We agree with some of what he said though. But we want assurances that Vick's remorse and follow up actions are genuine.
Only time will tell!
[Image via AP Images.]
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damn, that comment was LONG. even i don't feel like reading it. either way, it's cruel to do this to dogs, and it's about the way these dogs are treated. i've never been to a slaughter house, but i doubt that the ppl there are killing with vicious INTENTIONS, where as dog fights are nothing BUT VICIOUS!!!
LOL AT PEOPLE SAYING "HE DIDN'T RAPE OR MURDER A HUMAN"
WHILE DOGS HAVE PROVEN THROUGH HUNDREDS OF YEARS TO BE LOYAL TO HUMANS, ARE PART OF POLICE AND FIRE FIGHTING TEAMS, SAVE LIVES, HELP SOLVE MURDERS AND RAPES WITH THEIR SENSE OF SMELL AND THEIR LOYALTY TO BE TRAINED, CAN BE SEEING EYE DOGS, RUN INTO FIRES TO FIND BODIES.
WHAT HAS MICHAEL VICK DONE FOR YOU LATELY BESIDES THROW A FUCKIN FOOTBALL?
DOGS ARE A LOT MORE NEEDED IN THIS WORLD THAN MICHAEL VICK!
MOTHERFUCK MICHAEL VICK!
Fuck Michael Vick. Don't feed him and throw him in a fucking cage with someone to fight over food. Hes a fucking dumb ass! HE SHOULD STILL BE IN JAIL!
Re: Hollywood Marilyn – i love you! I fucking agree!
Re: YUCK – My BOY!!!
The only thing Vick is sorry about is that he got caught. He probably would still be doing what he did if it weren't for that.
Re: getOffiTalready – omg please shut up already! are you a vegetarian i just have to know because you're talking about dogs but what about the chickens/cows/turkeys that are abused by the slaughter houses? huh? if you're going to stand up for one animal then you need to stand up for all animals…did you even know chickens are fed so much until their legs break because they are so overweight? think cows/chickens/turkeys who are bred for food are treated to fairly? no! and you're talking about people stopping the problem etc then why the fuck are you on perez hiltons site when you can be actually be doing something your damn self since you are so high and mighty don't jump down perez's thoart or anyone else because they don't agree with your opinion you are the type of people that no one can ever take seriously because you obvious have a temper and can't communicate effectively with people in a way where you can help teach them how to make change for this important cause of animal cruelty instead your childish behaviour just makes them think "must be one of those crazy animal lovers" grow up please
Re: getOffiTalready[/re]
and lol at no one else sweetheart because you are the only joke on this site…im not agreeing with vick i think hes an asshole but he has paid for his crimes and i would love if he gave some money to the cause/prevention of animal cruelty…it really bothers me when people abuse animals because there always seem to be some underlying aggression…its been proven that most serial killers have started with animals then moved on to humans and thats what scares me…there def. should be harsher penalties for animal abusers even if they are millionares or the slaughters themselves/zookeepers/angry teen or child/etc. doesn't matter abusing animals by anyone is disturbing to the max.
Donte Stallworth killed a dude, Marvin Harrison was implicated on killing a dude! OJ killed a dude and a chick. Ray Lewis won the SuperBowl and watch his boy kill a dude. Leave Mike Vick alone. I guess dogs who have been dead for 2+ years mean more then humans. Eat a dick, I know PH will. Douches!
MICHAEL VICK IS A SICK, INHUMANE PERSON!!! HE DIGUSTS ME!!! WHAT A SORRY EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING!!!! NO ONE SHOULD TREAT DOGS LIKE THAT. WHAT A SICK PIG.
I think he should never be allowed to on an animal of an kind again-EVER.
Ye lets forgive him….
Just before we chop his dick off, make him eat it & burn him alive…
I have to say Alec speaks the truth
Re: erbear3052 – ….. Totally agree with everything you said.Any normal Joe on the street would lose their job but this prick get s to come back like it's nothing. I was a huge Eagles fan,but not anymore. Shame on the Eagles and fuck CONVICK!!!!!!
I AM DISCUSTED! hypocrisy. In no way should he be aloud back. M V's ancestors where discriminated against, enslaved, put in chains, beaten, made to live on the bare minimum while others profited & discarded with no regard for their family or life when they weren't profitable. M V took part in doing this to a species that has been created/domesticated to be a companion animal. He trained them to hate each other & fight to the death so that the d-bag could make $ off of them. I would like 2 C M.V. vs. Baldlose- I mean win. And yes Baldlose, all cruelty is wrong, doesn't mean he should be aloud back to a job where he is in public eye making millions, unless the $ goes to the ASPCA - they need it more than him.
alec baldwin actually won some points from me with this one… and I was expecting the opposite reaction from myself
Oh, please. I have a pit bull mix who is the sweetest creature in the world, and I generally don't read stuff about Michael Vick because it makes me so angry it screws up my day. Yeah he did his time but the fact that the Eagles hired someone who systematically tortured and murdered dogs truly disgusts me. I hope, at the very least, the nuttiest people in PETA protest every single game and give the Eagles management a giant migraine for the entire season! Could go much further in what I hope happens to Vick, but I will refrain…
I partially agree with Alec. He is right. Kinda.
The other part is this: If Vick is given a second chance, then what does it say to all of the other people out there who host dog fights and abuse animals? It tells them that they can go ahead and have their 'fun' abusing animals, and if they get caught, they get let off, like Michael Vick. The more trouble he stays in, the better for Animal Rights Activists. If this one act ruins his life and career, then so be it. What he did is disgusting. Who's going to abuse an animal knowing that their entire career is at stake? Not me.
I agree, Alec is right, Vick served his time, he payed up for his crime time to give him a second chance, everyone deserves that
Re: gemma0505 – LMAO. You are so smart that you go into detail about what they to do these animals calling me out on things I HAVE KNOWN FOR YEARS. A smart person would have asked before assuming and going into detail about something I know. You think that I'm OK about what they do to these animals in farms? Nope that's why I don't eat meat not even seafood. I have the right to be angry and I have the right to think that people who say "oh but he did his time" are morons and laugh at how they just try to defend somebody who abuses animals by devaluing the lives of them. He barely did any time comparing to what the crime was. Just because the LAW says he did his time doesn't mean true justice was served. Just like a person murdered a person and got what..10 years? Yeah they really did their time there. Anyway, I offer my time to help animal shelters so don't tell me I'm sitting there doing nothing and don't call me out on having an argument with a moron on here who was coming at me and name calling me and I snapped on him because I am OUTRAGED at what goes on in the world. I HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY AND FEEL HOW I WANT. So if I think your opinion is ridiculous I will say so. Yeah I'm such a joke lmao you don't know me "sweetie" so hop off.
Re: gemma0505 – also, how about you scroll up..the person that I was ARGUING with was one person so it was directed to that person. Now if you actually read what was going on you would see that person coming at me. The rest of the parts were about dogs, animal cruelty, fuck michael vick and laughing at some of the opinions how people devalue animal life. Do some reading and know whats going on before you come at me.
There are several problems with this. First, Baldwin is assuming that Vick is sincere in his remorse. This is where I agree with Perez. We don't have enough evidence to determine if Vick is guilty or innocent. Also, what Michael Vick did is CLEARLY animal abuse in the eyes of the law. Second, there is no distinction made between killing an animal purely for entertainment and killing an animal for purposes such as meat. The former would most definitely be cruelty, especially given that Vick electrocuted dogs for the sheer hell of it. Comparatively, the latter is done in less gruesome ways and the animal is often treated better in life in the latter situation. Third, does this apply to everyone? Would Baldwin defend DMX if he showed enough remorse?