Michael Vick, the Philadelphia Eagles back-up quarterback, won the Ed Block award for courage. But his comments prove he didn't earn it.

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Michael Vick received a standing ovation in Philadelphia. Are the fans interested in a man who is trying to rehabilitate himself and his image, or do they care only about a Super Bowl?

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    In what will surely turn out to be the largest case of CYA in recent memory, the destroyed CIA torture tapes are continuing to make headlines. As each agency proceeds to cover their respective butts, the question of torture will continue to go unanswered. It has become the giant elephant in the room that no one talks about inside the beltway, while outside the beltway it is a heated topic. Here we have another instance of the electorate and the elected being disconnected. But do we really? Are the majority of Americans against torture? I know that on many blogs there is never a shortage of commentators who advocate the use of torture and these are not wing-nut blogs, but so-called progressive sites. There are also mainstream political candidates who have advocated the use of torture. We seem to be a nation torn on this issue and that speaks volumes about who we have become.

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    I wonder if the people living in those fascist countries during WWII knew when they crossed the line. I mean was there a single moment in time that crystallized in their minds, that oh boy we have reached a new level. I wonder if the lines had become so blurred that they could not distinguish when they had crossed the line. As history has shown, once that line was crossed there was no turning back, anything was possible. Well, for those who don't know or are too blurred eye to notice, we have crossed a dangerous line. The Bush Administration has badgered, lied, and coerced the American public and lawmakers to turn a blind eye to torture. Make no mistake about it, we are torturing people.

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I watched the news on TV briefly tonite only to hear Michael Vick apologizing for what he did to dogs and seeking forgiveness. And when asked why he felt he deserved forgiveness (and perhaps an unspoken plea for a return to football someday)he stated that he had "found Jesus".

I remember when Duke Cunningham tearfully admitted his crimes and corruption before being sent to jail that he had also "found Jesus"... which wasn't so uncommon, come to think of it. Going back to Watergate I remember that John Erlichman "found Jesus", as did several others of his contemporaries.

Is the assumption that if any of these guys had "found Jesus" that they wouldn't have done their wrongdoings in the first place? I doubt it.

Karl Rove, who admitted to many friends and former colleagues that he was an agnostic has now, in a dispute with Bill Moyers as outlined by Chris Matthews, has apparently found Jesus, too.

How many lawyers are now offering this strategy to their clients? Does it mean a shorter sentence?

When Karla Faye Tucker on Texas Death Row claimed to have "found Jesus", the born-again death provider, George W. Bush, had her executed anyway. And he made a joke about it, too. I guess finding Jesus only really works if the person you are aiming your strategy at has also found Jesus (but until he is convicted of something, he has no reason to say so.)

Back to Vick. While he admitted his regrets and said he had "found Jesus" he also neglected to apologize to all the dogs who died and who he tormented. Jesus doesn't cover dogs, it seems.
Under The LobsterScope

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