Michael Vick, you make me sick

Once upon a time, Josh thought Michael Vick was pretty cool. Fast, furious, amazing on the field. He even has a couple Vick replica jerseys. Sometime last season (or even earlier), his love for Vick fizzled; he hasn't worn those jerseys in awhile. I'm not really sure what prompted it, concretely, but somehow Vick had gone from "superathlete" to "thug."

Maybe my husband is psychic. It sure seems that Vick does indeed belong to a select group of ...people... who do horrifying things and yet walk the same earth we do each day without remorse. It is incomprehensible, the things this man is accused of doing, the sort of stuff that turns one's stomach. What makes it even worse is imagining your own hands carrying out those activities he's been accused of. Can you fathom putting a noose around a dog's neck? And when that failed, submerging that dog's head under water, while he or she clearly had to have struggled, until the limp neck in your very hands signaled you that your deed had been accomplished?

I am struck as I write this that human beings do this to each other as well. People have done these terrible things to their own children. Anyone remember the lady who held her seven year-old son under water in the bathtub till his fragile self surrendered?

What is wrong with people?

What kills me is that Vick faces, at worst, about 3 years in prison. That's IF he chooses not to plea bargain, so I hear. You know that guy who is accused of throwing NBA games? The ref, the guy who bet on games he was officiating, who allegedly changed the outcome of some pretty significant matches over the past years.... yeah. He's likely to get twenty-five years in prison.

What is wrong with our criminal justice system?

I had a patient last night who told me that I was bringing a child into a terrible world, a country destined to fall, a place absent of morality. (Gee thanks, Pal.) It was such a dark conversation. Yet in light of the above commentary, I can't say that I disagree.

Sad.

Once in awhile, I dare to wish that my son may be a part of a generation reborn, a new civilization that dreams bigger dreams, finds tougher solutions, solves age-old problems... creates a new world. A place where people love each other and actually care for each other's well-being more than their likelihood of lawsuit.

Tonight I am not strong enough to wish that wish. I am saddened by the weight of the world.