Most of us meet folks and know the drill: how-do-you-do,
what-do-you-do, and if what you do is interesting enough, then
how-do-you-do-what-you-do. When you do what I do and you meet
people who know what it is that you do, especially people who
occasionally read what you do, then that part of the opening
conversation takes the form of “When are the Republicans finally
going to…?” Fill in the blank.
At that point, I offer a few vague remarks, somewhat
self-deprecating, that go like this: “Well, I’m hardly the
Republican Party’s campaign manager… well, you don’t see
Republican officeholders calling to offer me high salaries to
advise them… well, as a conservative I represent a set of ideas
rather than a particular party…” If all the weaseling doesn’t
cool the hot seat, then I’ll offer a mumbled half-opinion and run
for the hills before they can roll out the long story about the
brother-in-law who ran for County Clerk and lost by four votes.
But the next time the question ends with “….do something about
getting more of the black vote?” I will be ready with a snappy
comeback. You want to know the kind of move that would move some
people to rethink their preconceived notion that Republicans don’t
care about black people? We all know that promoting qualified
blacks like Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice has
not made a dent. We also know that loudly advocating shorter
sentences for crack salesmen (not the kind that can sell ice in
Alaska, the other kind) is crass and, incidentally, wrong.
What they need to do is to help a black person who is in a tight
spot of his own making, but who also has a history of achievement
in a meritocratic occupation, and who has owned up to his
responsibility in a poignant way. Let me, then, be the first to
initiate the grass-roots appeal to President Bush to pardon Michael
Vick.
Mr. Vick was sentenced this week to nearly two years in Federal
prison because of running dogfights. Is he our idea of a man who
needs to be deprived of two years of freedom? He is a man who has
honed an athletic skill to the level where only about thirty men in
the entire country can compete. Conservatives and Republicans who
promote the rewards of high achievement cannot fail to recognize
the effort and dedication required to reach this plateau. Some
innate physical characteristics contribute to success in athletics,
but no one reaches the pinnacle without grueling commitment to
excellence.
Once a person makes it to the top, with its attendant rewards of
fame and fortune, life becomes a testing ground of character. Will
that individual be haughty, imperious, narcissistic, hubristic,
even abusive? Or will this man who earned the peak of a highly
competitive field turn around and work to enhance the lives of
others? In the case of Michael Vick, he has not been one whose path
has been strewn with people callously discarded, as is the case
with so many others.
Yet he behaved badly with dogs, hurting them for sport. This was
very wrong. When caught, he delivered a statement of public
contrition that far outpaced any disgraced politician of my
recollection. He pled guilty and was sentenced quite severely. Now
what?
If I am President Bush I address this case in a big way. I point
out that a crime has been committed and all Americans are equal in
the eyes of the law. I further point out that Mr. Vick has taken
full responsibility in a clear, no-excuses, kind of way. I point
out that he is a very accomplished athlete, that he has lost one
year of play to suspension, that athletes only have limited years
in which they can ply their skill, and I announce a pardon. The
pardon is based on an understanding that Michael will undertake an
extensive two-year tour of lecturing to students across the country
about staying out of trouble and working hard to accomplish great
things in life.
There will be some law-and-order purists, and some animal-rights
fanatics, who will grumble. But we are not talking about a guy who
will go out on a crime rampage. He is not even a threat to dogs at
this point. Here is an opportunity to give a good guy a chance to
repair his mess without sitting in jail. The message will get out
to many people, more than you might think: conservatives are about
giving everyone a chance, and where it is reasonable, a second
chance as well.
