Shame on Wendy Murphy (Michael Vick related)

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I was watching Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell tonight and was stunned at the comments one of her panel members, Wendy Murphy, made about Michael Vick. Actually, I ended up DVRing it later on so I could go back and listen to her exact words.

In a nutshell--and I'm paraphrasing--Murphy, a former prosecutor, said that what Kobe Bryant did was much, much worse than what Michael Vick did. Oh really?

Okay, first of all, "what Kobe Bryant did" was never proven, never prosecuted, he was not convicted of anything and he didn't go to prison. Besides, although the woman claimed that he raped her, the evidence indicated otherwise. Believe me, I take rape and allegations of rape very seriously, and if there had been any credible proof/evidence that her claims were true, I'd have been first in line pushing for Kobe to be prosecuted and punished. But it just wasn't there. Whether she truly was raped or was simply hoping to cash in on Kobe's fame and fortune, only she knows.

Michael Vick, on the other hand, caused unconscionable pain and suffering to countless dogs. Living, breathing, feeling, innocent dogs. Their pain was real. The viciousness of their daily lives was real. Their barbaric deaths--by electrocution, hanging, drowning, or being slammed into the ground--were real. Their agonizing fights to the death were real. The "rape stands" the female dogs were put in were real. We KNOW all of this happened--Vick himself has admitted it, he was tried, convicted and sent to prison for it.

So what do we have? A woman who might have been raped, although the evidence didn't support that claim, and countless dogs who really were tortured and killed. I don't know about you, but it's pretty clear to me that what Michael Vick did is MANY, MANY times worse than what Kobe Bryant did because, as far as the law is concerned, Kobe didn't do ANYTHING.

There's something else Wendy Murphy said that pissed me off and left me scratching my head. Again I'm paraphrasing: "I'm not jumping on the Peta train until they start caring about women and children!" Excuse me? What does an organization named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have to do with women's and children's issues? Am I missing something?

I can't express strongly enough how appalled I am at Wendy Murphy's take on all of this. I wonder how she'd feel if she were ripped to shreds by dogs...and then, if "lucky" enough to survive, left in pain with no medical care, only to be forced to do it all over again another day. Maybe she thinks dying by being slammed into the ground or hung or electrocuted or drowned are fun ways to go...but I don't.

Oh, just in case anyone thinks I'm a sexist [male] pig for being insensitive to the issue of rape...don't. For one thing, I'm female. For another, I was raped as a teenager. I understand how traumatizing and life-altering rape is. I would never take it lightly. But the facts are what they are--there simply was no proof that Kobe raped that woman, while there's no doubt that Michael Vick tortured and killed those dogs.


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