America's Wildly Overblown Vick Hysteria

Alternet puts the Michael Vick story in perspective.

Countless numbers of pro football players have committed rape, physical assaults and armed robberies. They have been inveterate spouse and girlfriend abusers, and have even been accused of a double murder (no not O.J., more on him later). Yet none of them have ever had an airplane fly over their training camp with a banner that read abuser, killer, robber, assailant or thug. None have ever been taunted, jeered and harangued by packs of sign-waving demonstrators screaming for their blood when they showed up at the courthouse. None of them have ever brought the wrath of the entire sports world -- sportswriters, fans, league officials, advertisers, sports talk jocks and bloggers down on their heads. None have ever had senators, congresspersons and packs of advocacy groups publicly demand that they be drummed out of their profession.