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The Spectacle Blog
Radley Balko writes that Tucker Carlson “is absolutely out of his mind” for saying Michael Vick “should have been executed” for killing dogs in heinously cruel ways. What really amazes Radley is that
not only hasn’t he walked the comment back, but The Daily Caller is promoting the clip on its front page. Which is to say that The Daily Caller is trumpeting the idea that its founder believes the government should kill a man because he was cruel to his animals.
Now, if Tucker is actually proposing death penalty legislation for dog-killers, then yes, that’s totally nuts. But I suspect his comment was more in the spirit of Bill Bennett’s infamous remark that it would be “morally plausible,” albeit difficult as a matter of law, to execute drug dealers. I have a very low opinion of the position that Bennett staked out there, because I think it was premised on a misunderstanding of what drugs do to the average user. (There was a myth in the 80s — which to a large extent still persists despite the best efforts of libertarian reformers — that one hit of crack would instantly turn an otherwise upstanding citizen into a hopeless addict with no free will.) But applying that sort of sentiment to what Vick did doesn’t strike me as completely insane; torturing dogs to death really does shock the conscience in a profound way that provokes a draconian instinct in many of us. Jonah Goldberg did a good job of explaining the philosophical underpinnings of that instinct in this 2007 column on Vick.
But I suspect the reason that the clip of Tucker’s comment is featured so prominently at the Daily Caller is not so much to underline a legal or moral point as to attract traffic and grab attention for a charitable cause that Tucker cares about. Notice that below the clip, the Caller features an ad for the Washington Animal Rescue League starring Tucker and Ana Marie Cox as the bipartisan odd couple for animal adoption. I visited WARL for the first time a few weeks ago when Tucker and Ana held a small reception there. A very nicely-furnished shelter that brings in animals — many of them mistreated — and gives them a new lease on life by training them to be suitable pets, it’s an institution that is very worthy of animal-lovers’ support. If Tucker is staking out a somewhat crazy position mainly to draw attention to WARL, he’s being (speaking of canids) crazy like a fox.
View all comments (21) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by John Tabin
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/12/29/tucker-carlsons-crazy-about-do
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Michael| 12.29.10 @ 11:49PM
Only a foll would propose something so insane as exicuting Mike Vick for dog fighting. I don't respect this because of so many crimes perpitrated agianst my people (yes black folk) over the span of hundreds of years and are still to this day. You have a Bart police officer who murdered (yeah MURDERED) a unarmed black man caught on tape and who will endup spending less time in prison I heard no outcry from this Dog Lover at this mans trial. This is only one instance there are so many others, so M********F******* like this can kiss my A** and for the record anyone else who places more value on a animals life than a humans can also kiss my A**. Make no mistake I love animals but I kniow that human life should have more value so when I hear a sorry son of a B***** make a quote like this I want to let them know that from a sorry position that they set themselves in when they tell me you want to put a man to death for a dog man F*** You!!!!!!!!!!!!
PK| 12.29.10 @ 11:55PM
Tucker, What a dumbass you are. I would love to see you get in a cage with Michael Vick so you could tean Michael a lesson. He would shove that bowtie where it deserves to be pushed. Oh yes I almost forget you dropped the bowtie to appear more normal. You are a total idiot. Michael Vick is some crepy rich overpaid football player. You are a moron who only got a shot because of your dad. What a dickhead you are. You are the biggest moron on TV.
Jon| 12.29.10 @ 11:58PM
@ Michael: A rather sad attempt to "make like" a black man. Get a life and out of your Mom's basement. Oh yeah.
James| 12.30.10 @ 6:18AM
Alice, Susan, Rowling:
Please take your ads someplace else. They do not belong in this or any other dialog not about your products. I don't know about others, but I will never buy your products because of your sleazy advertising.
To the point: If Carlson didn't have the public position he has as a media personality, he would just be one a long line of
Have you considered| 12.30.10 @ 6:23AM
James, Agree and Agree.
LSinAZ| 12.30.10 @ 6:20AM
OK, I guess I must admit I'm a "foll" because I would gladly see M.Vick tortured in kind, or executed, for torturing animals. I have a visceral hate for persons who torture anything, human or animal, and I can't even watch the Sopranos because of the breaking of knee caps. Torture rises to this level in my mind by being an intended and sustained action against someone or thing that can not defend themselves, which brings pleasure to the perpetrator. Also note that many wanton killers, like Jeffery Dhamer, start by torturing animals.
I would note that obviously this country agrees with you, and not me, about executing animal torturers, so take heart.
LSinAZ| 12.30.10 @ 6:27AM
I forgot to say that my aunt in Philly, who is a retired doctor, and who volunteers her time at a low cost vet, bought a chew toy for her dog, which was a rubber mini of Michael Vick. Take that!!
James| 12.30.10 @ 6:37AM
Oops... sorrry about that....
...he would be one in a long line of white men looking for an excuse to lynch a black man. (The KKK and their kind didn't bother with the "niceties" of excuses.) that would be bad enough, but with his position also comes responsibilty which he apparently doesn't care about.
Vick's position as a sports star also came with responsibilities, which he obviously violated, but he paid for that. And if the point of penitentries is to have the violater repent (get it? That's where the name cones from), then Vick should have his second chance to be a good citizen.
On the other hand, maybe Tucker needs a little time to repent.
Alaskan Harry| 12.30.10 @ 6:46AM
Absolutely right.
Mick Lee| 12.30.10 @ 8:16AM
It is said (I don't know if it is true these days) that a child molester had no chance in prison--even the most violent and creepy had only digust for someone who harmed a child. Would that something of the same were reserved for those who torture and kill dogs.
I must disagree with James--although to be fair, I am disageeing with most. I don't think anyone who has spent time in prison has "paid for that" , "paid their debt to society", or whatever phrase you choose to suggest that a crime has been avenged. No. They were punished. No one should even suggest that prison does anything to blot out the crime. All criminals are guilty until the day they die. All prison does is perform the valuable function of keeping of keeping the criminal out of circulation.
Do people repent? Yes. Do people turn themselves around? Yes. But only time tells. Don't tell me you're an "ex-smoker" until you haven't had a cigarette for five-six years. Don't tell me you're a reformed man until it has been thirty years on.
As for Michael Vick, the NFL didn't give him a second chance. The only reason the NFL let him back in was because Vick throws a damn ball well. That doesn't disguise the truth that Vick is a cruel man.
Clint| 12.30.10 @ 8:21AM
Ahhh ! But did Vick kill Black Dogs ?
JohnD| 12.30.10 @ 10:02AM
There is no more telling sign of our society having lost its way than for people to scream for Vick's head for killing dogs, while staying silent about the legal murder of millions of infants, created in God's image.
If we are going to criticize Vick, let's also criticize any NFL player who may have given his girlfriend money to terminate her pregnancy.
Let's save the humans first, and worry about the dogs later.
Eric Damon| 12.30.10 @ 12:14PM
I wholeheartedly agree! Even when all of this was happening I was making the argument that people had misplaced their priorities when they wanted Vick locked away and banned from the NFL for killing dogs, when they will simultaneously cheer for people who have beaten women (Corey Dillon); sold drugs (Jamal Lewis); or killed actual people (Leonard Little).
I grew up on a farm in North Carolina and we always had dogs, some of which I really loved. But even as a kid I knew that dogs were not equal to people, but it seems that too many adults can't grasp that simple concept. So let me explain once more: making dogs the equal of humanity does not advance the stature of dogs, it devalues the stature of humans. All life is not equal, because if it were then the environmentalists would be right in denying us the opportunities to build new power plants, etc. in defense of the lives of "protected" species of plants and animals!
george senda | 12.30.10 @ 12:11PM
Talking about abortion and tennis rackets is soooo off topic.
Vick did a heinous thing. But should he have been executed. No. I would never have hired him for any job because I wouldn't hire someone who committed such a repugnant crime, but then I wouldn't hire a child molester or a rapist either.
Vick served his time, but I wouldn't cross the street to say hello to him.
If anyone were to be executed for their crimes, it would be child molesters. For to me, they are the lowest of the low and they get out and keep molesting.
Shawn| 12.30.10 @ 12:20PM
It's sad that our society has sunk to the level it has. It's sad that Michael Vick is not permitted to have dogs because he was cruel to them, but yet those who have abortions are permitted to have children.
Sokratez| 12.30.10 @ 4:35PM
Tucker is the flyweightiest of political commentators. Calling him a nitwit is almost complimentary, in that bit concedes him some wit. In parts of Florida you can be imprisoned for years if convicted of animal neglect resulting in the death of a CAT. Human beings are permanently disfigured and/or incapacitated by assailants who receive counselling and probation. Yes, those who equate human life with animal life are moral imbeciles, but laws are made and interpreted by them.
petra| 12.30.10 @ 7:58PM
Tucker Carlson in a struggling journalist period
handbags | 12.30.10 @ 9:45PM
thanks your share!