Well, just until December 10th when God will have to turn Vick’s life over to the Virginia Department of Corrections. The Atlanta Falcons former quarterback appeared Monday to apologize publicly for what he calls “a mistake.” I have been reading all sorts of articles surrounding this case as I find it captivating for many reasons. First and foremost, it’s somewhat enthralling to watch another person’s demise. Second, there’s this underground dogfighting business I knew little about– also interesting. And third, there’s an element of racial division surrounding the Michael Vick case– the NAACP rashly defends him while white protesters immoderately called for his castration. But of all the interesting stuff I’ve read, an MSNBC editorial by Michael Ventre especially resonated with me. Ventre discusses how formulaic these apology speeches have become– making sure to mention “Jesus,” “the kids,” and “redemption.” Vick hit all three. All he said about dogfighting is that it’s terrible and that he rejects it. Ventre focuses on the idea of a “mistake,” and how a 5-year dogfighting ring doesn’t qualify as such. As he writes, “This wasn’t a ‘Gee, maybe we shouldn’t be doing this’ situation. This was completely intentional from the start.” I couldn’t agree more. We shouldn’t be as quick to forgive Vick as we would to someone who makes a actual mistake– a momentary, however horrible, lapse of judgment. Here’s the Vick apology video and a link to the editorial.

•MSNBC: Vick Wrong to Gloss Over Dogfighting in Apology

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