Dumbing Down

Michael Vick Buys Place in Florida -- Bankruptcy Coming Next? Michael David Smith sports.aol.com/fanhouse

Look to who benefits most. Who benefits from the fall of the high and mighty poster boy black male? Definitely this society in its racial rainbow of deluded hegemony. To paraphrase the immortal words of Tony Montana, we need someone to point the finger at and say "that's the bad guy." But do we need that? The finger. The guy. The horror. The revulsion. The hate, lies, truth and redemption.

Do we need the distraction? Over what? Dogs?

Pile a high profile human drama along side or on top of a million trivial others for what? So we can ignore real issues like CFCs, the ongoing US genocide against indigenous cultures, and of course how the latest terror threat to the homeland is being dealt with by Jack Bauer.

You love your dog? So what? The thing barks all 10 hours of the day it's neglected, in a language few can take the time to hope to understand. This is not a security measure. That one is a line born and bred, most likely by dogfighters. Because what criminal worth his weight in Iams Original Biscuits is afraid of a dog? Angry dogs are nothing more than ignorant bullies, their teeth sharpened on charging meeker targets their whole life with no built in response for what happens the day something stands its ground with a harsh command, sledge hammer or a piece of poisoned meat.

Subscribing to any other point of view is simply grazing with the herd. Or in this case running with the pack. Who let the dogs out?

When Vick is released, I plan to have a guaranteed and unrestricted contract good for the remainder of his life to act as a new symbol for PETA. We will call him the Black Falcon of Doggie Death and he will be the canine equivalent of the boogeyman; the first face of fear for all dogs and dog owners with animals chained up in bondage and barking at the slightest breeze. We're regulating noise pollution here for one. Keep your dog locked up, muzzled or otherwise sedated or the BFODD will descend from the heavens with a burlap sack full of nooses, bats and shovels. He'll kick in your front door as the children scream and take your gnashing bag of teeth, hair, ticks and fleas straight to doggie hell.

Now that we’ve settled that: Forget about down to earth when you talk about cruelty to animals and the culture of sport. The deified goliaths of gridiron navigate a completely different level. This is a fact that media fed mortals will probably never grasp. But it remains. Why hold them to a higher standard? If anything you should hold them to a lower one. These are your gods. The will of gods is not questioned. You have given them the keys to your stolen kingdom. You and your children emblazon your bodies with their names and worship at the limitless altars made readily available 24 hours a day by your blatant need to believe in something larger than you. You support war, and savagery and the capitalistic acquisition and abuse of land and these, your heroes personify the spoken and unspoken desires of your pagan hearts.

You've given away your right to judge these people. They make you millions. They make you believe. They help you to conform to what passes for culture in what is at its best a borrowed society. Where the only true culture is McDonalds, limitless debt and slavery. And you ask them to lead a dual life.

Yes yes. But to the point already. The benefit lies in the black hearts of white men who count on these cultural tragedies to illustrate how a hundred billion dollar franchise like Las Vegas or online gaming is tame by comparison. Casino owners. The college campus bookie. The sportbook snake oilers and of course networks like ESPN who pimp them out to you the people. The degenerates in their garages hunched over a screen, ignoring the call of collectors. The wife who squandered the college fund on the first three Notre Dame games. The list is endless and filthy and ripe for a natural disaster. Or a reality show. We’ll put them all on an island with nothing but coconuts and machetes and a tribe of Maori nationalists and see who comes out with perspective.

The benefit lies in the plausible deniability of the savagery that fuels the collective hopelessness in the cultureless wasteland. In the end we’re all dumber for participating. For listening. For taking the time to judge. For giving a damn and being distracted by it all. I’m still going to pay Vick that money, not because it’s the right thing to do but because it’s revolutionary. And it’s time to complete the circle