The Green Quote: Alec Baldwin Weighs In On Michael Vick Drama

by Michael Parrish DuDell August 19, 2009
Categories: Animals
Tags: alec baldwin.

600-alec “What Vick did is, obviously, senseless and reprehensible. But I believe Vick, as a wealthy and talented athletic superstar who performs his job out in the open before crowds of amped-up and highly opinionated fans, suffers an unfair disadvantage as compared to, say, the heads of a meatpacking plant or the directors of a medical research lab where animals are suffering the cruelest imaginable abuses behind walls and doors that remove them from our sight and, therefore, judgments.”

- Alec Baldwin expressing his views on the Michael Vick case on the Huffington Post. Do you agree with Baldwin? Chime in and share your thoughts!

Stephanie

I agree! It’s hypocritical to think Vick is a bad person but still eat meat, eggs, and dairy- products that were created from animal exploitation, abuse, suffering, and death. I’m a vegan though and I don’t think that means Vick is forgiven. Maybe if he become a vegan and an animal rights activists, then I will forgive him.
Jenni13

You can’t be serious. Eating eggs is a helluva lot different than anally electrocuting, beating, hanging, drowning and setting dogs on fire. And, I disagree with Alec Baldwin. It is a privilege to be a role model and make millions of dollars in the NFL. Yes, Vick should be allowed to work — maybe making license plates or cleaning up crap at the zoo — but he should have NEVER been granted the privilege to return to the NFL. He routinely tortured and murdered dogs for fun. That is unforgiveable.
Rachelle

Alec makes a good point.
http://output.hardcoder.net troy

is vick a bad person, or a person who did a bad thing? people can learn, adapt, change and grow. yes, dog fighting is totally reprehensible, but would we not want vick to be someone who can move onwards and upwards, particularly with support and encouragement?
http://www.myspace.com/erinfortheanimals Erin

I agree with him. I have taken a lot of crap from my animal rescue peers (who almost all eat meat) over this. One rescue even told me that I should be ashamed to call myself a vegan (again, they eat meat) and that they didn’t want to be friends with me because they only want to interact with people who care about animals. I posted a blog about my support of Michael Vick on my myspace page detailing the hypocrisy of it all. Most people didn’t eve read it before telling me in email that I’m wrong. I think Alec has an excellent point and people need to put the cause ahead of the revenge. Anger causes wars. Logic causes solutions.
Nathan

Jenni13: What do you think happens to animals in the factory farming process? It’s a far cry from the “Happy Cows” existence. Animals slaughtered for food or clothing are tortured, anally electrocuted, skinned alive, scalded to death and a litany of other violent, cruel deaths. Don’t kid yourself. I do not support Michael Vicks reinstatement, but I do agree that society tends to focus on the sensational topics and give “passes” the normalized violence that occurs everyday.
Bill J

AB has a good point. There are many animal abuses out there–fur, cosmetic testing, etc– and all are reprehensible– but what separates MV from the crowd is that he admittedly committed these crimes for profit and his own self-gratification.
That is just pure evil.
It’s absolutely obscene that kids will be exposed to this killer on TV and on the football field.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9FD18926170ED901&search_query=earthlings Whoever…

He does have a point there…

I’m sure that many of the people who condemn him eat meat, wear leather, use cosmetics tested on animals and support tests on animals when it comes to medicine.

It’s always the same thing, love certain animals and eat others!

I still consider mr. Vick an evil person – the ‘being numb during all his life’ excuse just doesn’t convince me; any sensitive person (no matter where they grew up) would stop torturing an animal the moment(s)he’d start ‘crying’ and ‘screaming’ in agony as a result of the pain inflicted upon him/her (by the way I don’t use ‘IT’ to refer myself to animals).

However, people evolve and if he truly is sorry and wants to make amends he should be more active in exposing dogfighting and not wait for HSUS to tell him what to do!

For starters, he should donate a large part of his salary to the rescue and rehabilitation of animals used in dogfighting. He should also help promote the adoption of animals from local shelters.

He’s taking all this heat because he’s a public figure but hey, being famous doesn’t mean there are only advantages. Celebrities must also be willing to take public responsibility for their actions.
http://www.birdsbrains.com Inga Ambrosia

I think a person can be rehabilitated. If he really is sorry then I forgive him.

I saw the interview and he seemed very hurt by what he’s done. Some people say it’s only because of the money he lost. Trust me, if any of you lost 100 million dollars you’d be sorry about everything you’d ever done. Give the guy a chance to prove that he’s changed. Until then, speculation is unfair and pointless. BTW I’m a vegan and no one has given me hell about my views on this. I guess because I don’t associate with small-minded folks. Thanks.
Nathan

Inga: if speculation is unfair and pointless, would you be willing to let a sex-offender watch your kids (if you have kids?) I am not arguing that rehabilitation shouldn’t be an option, but Vicks should not be given an opportunity to be a superstar again. How would one go about proving that he had changed after committing such a crime? Perhaps now he’ll be satisfied torturing small animals, who knows? BTW, just because no one has expressed an opposing view to you likely has less to do with their mindset and more to do with the fact that you clearly can’t handle being challenged without getting personal (i.e. I don’t associate with small-minded folks. Thanks) Which, in an ironic twist, makes you small-minded; and no, thank YOU.