August 14, 2009

Dogs Go to Heaven, Vick Goes to Eagles

Photo by Flickr user y-its-mom under Creative Commons

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Bwahh?! Michael Vick, star football quarterback and notorious dog fighter, has reportedly agreed to sign a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, worth as much as $10 million. This is surprising for a few reasons. First, $10 million seems like a lot for a QB who is only getting older and has been shunned by much of the football world. Also, Eagles head coach Andy Reid has been known for his loyalty to another aging Eagles QB, Donovan McNabb, who will now have to fight with Vick for the top spot.

As a former Philadelphia resident, I was disappointed that the Eagles decided to sign Vick. For the past few years, the Eagles have been a scrappy team that never succeeded as much as it deserved to. The public can get behind this kind of team. But signing Vick undermines that underdog status. Now they’re just another middle-of-the-pack team hoping to capitalize on an aging star…who also happens to be a dog killer.

Unsurprisingly, many animal rights groups are outraged. In a statement on its website today, PETA wrote that Vick has given little indication that he regrets his actions. “At this point, all Eagles fans can do is cross their fingers and hope that they won’t ever have to explain to their sons and daughters what a ‘rape rack’ is and why their favorite player was using one, as Falcons fans once had to,” it said.

But others take a more… uh… sportsmanlike approach. Citing Vick’s recent volunteer work with the Humane Society, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a HUGE football fan, said “I also believe strongly in the tenets of rehabilitation and redemption. I believe Michael Vick has paid a strong and just penalty for his horrific acts, but he has endured that penalty with dignity and grace. He seems to be genuinely remorseful for what he has done.”

Who knows? Maybe Vick will become a leading advocate against the torture and murder of animals. I can see it now: “I don’t torture dogs anymore and neither should you.” Thanks for the heartwarming PSA, Mike.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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