Your point about the tax forms is a good one — we should have a sales tax instead. Then there would be no issue of one’s tax documents getting into a neighbors hands.

FOIA does not apply to private citizrens. It applies to government documents.

In your world I should be able to FOIA your taxes, and anything else about you. Know what you are talking about before you talk.

(And taking up on behalf of poor ol’ railroaded Don Imus. You’re such a champion of the downtrodden, Squeak.)

It’s not a matter of trying to have it both ways, it’s a matter of it being a Catch 22. No one in the media assumes that David Duke speaks for all white people.

Why don’t you have this same sense of outrage when folks like Sharpton speak on behalf of an entire race? Why do you not call out Jesse Jackson for speaking for all of “black America”?

Where was your outrage when these folks called for the firing of Don Imus because THEY decided what offended everyone? You were nowhere but now you want to see it as unreasonable to speak for an entire group? Balls.

A chapter speaking for an organization it is a part of makes a hell of a lot more sense than self appointed spokesman for an entire race.

You can’t have it both ways.

Aside from Vick’s “friends” (With friends like that, who needs enemas?) who sold him out for reduced sentences, what evidence do they have that he was involved in killing the dogs?

The statement said that when the kennel’s dogs won, the gambling proceeds were generally shared by Vick’s three co-defendants — Tony Taylor, Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips.

“Vick did not gamble by placing side bets on any of the fights. Vick did not receive any of the proceeds of the purses that were won by Bad Newz Kennels,” the summary said.

According to the statement, Vick also was involved with the others in killing six to eight dogs that did not perform well in testing sessions last April. The dogs were executed by drowning or hanging.

“Vick agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts” of Vick and two of the co-defendants, Phillips and Peace, the statement said.
======

They had search warrants for the property, and found the carcasses of dead dogs. They have not released the other evidence that they had, and now that he has filed a statement acceding in the essential facts, they may not. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any. If I’m Michael Vick and I’m guilty, I want to do ANYTHING to keep the sordid facts from coming out. If I’m Michael Vick and I’m innocent, I want to fight everything all the way.

There were break sticks and a rape stand, along with sunken truck axels in concrete found on Vick’s property (they use axels because it allows the chain to pivot better). Cooperating Witnesses identified Vick as being present at dog fights. The Kennel was operated in his name. The amount of funds used to operate the criminal activity exceeded that which was available to the codefendants if left to their own devices. What do you need, Mouse? Do you need to see a videotape of him holding his government-issued drivers license in one hand and a roll of sweaty benjamins in the other while he cheers on a pitbull?

I’ve met Michael Vick several times and I’m shocked and disappointed, but I can’t ignore the fact that he did it. His friends say he did it. HE says he did it. Let it go.

Why not? What about the Freedom of Information Act?

“So I assume you will always believe that Vick is innocent.”

I will believe he is innocent until he is proven guilty.

Thank you for stating what should have been said and doing it with incredible grace and professionalism.

Like SW, I would NOT have been saying it quite so… politely.

Just… thank you.

AEM – you are never going to see the evidence. Since there will be no trial, it will never be presented. So I assume you will always believe that Vick is innocent.

Whatever.

George Mitchell loves it. It makes BILLIONS!

“Why you and a minority of people think there is no evidence against Vick is beyond me.”

Because we still believe in “innocent until proven guilty,” not “innocent until he agrees, under threat, to plead to a lesser charge.”

I will believe it when I see it. Even thought he has agreed to their deal, I do not believe it. Vick took the path with the best risk-reward ratio. He did the same when he left Tech for the NFL.

If I were innocent of the charges, you bet I’d take my chances in court. Under no circumstances would I plead guilty to a crime I did not commit. And I would urge anyone close to me to do the same.

Why you and a minority of people think there is no evidence against Vick is beyond me. If you don’t believe it now, you never will.

Nike made Kobe Bryant’s rape go away
Nike made Lance Pharmstrong clean of cow blood, insulin, EPO, corticosteroids, spent syringes, IV equipment & steroids
Nike made Marion Jone’s EPO B sample go away after 100 days.
Nike made Baroid Bonds the new MLB home run king.
Nike makes college football cool

Swoosh. LIVE WRONG! Cheat to win.

We do not know whether they have any other evidence of not. What we do know is that the prosecutors are threatening to throw RICO at him (20 years if convicted) if he does not accept their plea deal. The feds made the plea offer. Why? I think it is wrong for the prosecutors to offer any deals whatsoever — it looks like a threat.

If someone close to you were involved in a crime, and the feds threatened YOU with 20(!) years if you did not take their offer because your friends agreed to testify against you for reduced sentences, what would you do? Would you risk the expense of a trial, and the possibility, however remote, that you could be put away for 20 years?

MB: you are right. The headlines all screamed “NAACP” even though it was the Atlanta chapter president that started this.

anon – good point on his co-defendants.

By the way, Vick’s father makes no excuses for his son.

Worth thinking about.

The other part of all of this that I find really disturbing is that Vick’s co-defendants were also black, but you didn’t hear a peep from the NAACP about them. Why do some members and leaders in the NAACP seem to think that they organization should take a different stance on black celebrities versus ordinary blacks?

That statement should have stopped there, too. As I mentioned before, it seems from my WHITE perspective that Vick is being railroaded — not because he is Black, but because he is famous. The only “evidence” I have seen against him is the word of two scumbags who copped a plea in return for testifying against Vick. Having no real evidence against him (if they did, they would take it to trial), they offer him a plea deal. Since Vick could get 20 years if convicted (about than 1/3 of his remaining life expectancy, and no chance at all to return to football), it is simply not worth the risk to him to face the possibility of conviction, even if that possibility is as small as 1:100.

If they have the evidence against him, they should go to trial. If they don’t, they should drop the charges.

(FYI — Vick was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in 2000. They might still take him and let him play on their farm teams.)

I hope people understand that saying what you said here does not mean you are turning away from the NAACP; it simply is an effort to remind the organization what they should stand for. In a lot of ways I feel this way about the GOP. Every time I criticize Bush or some GOPers, some libs pounce on it and say “See, see, I was right” but in reality I am simply trying to point out that we have lost our way. Some may do the same for you. They may read this sort of post and say that it proves that the NAACP and its causes are worthless and racists. The mission is not, but the methods as of late may be.

This, I think, holds true with the NAACP. In principal it is a good organization. The members are good people who simply want the best for America and know that greatness in America can only happen when there is true equality and justice for all, but just as with the GOP, the Dems and NAACP, the leadership has pissed it away for the sake of perceived power and headlines… and those who believe in what is right, like yourself, are left to answer for it.

I like your post. I am glad that you realize that White’s comment MAKE this a racial issue, where it was not before. Sometimes I wonder if the black leadership in America sets a lot of fires simply to be able to put them out and claim victory or being heroes. But please understand, this syndrome of headline grabbing, power hungry showmanship of symbolism over substance is not exclusive to the NAACP… Both political parties, our government and many, many activists are guilty of this. Unless folks like you and I speak up and say something, we are to blame as well for allowing it.