The Road to Abu Ghraib
That is the title of an essay by Alexander Cockburn, about the sensational case of 27 year old Michael Vick and dog fighting. You can find it here, its the second half of the article. Cockburn is an excellent writer who clarifies even the most clouded, hot button issue, such as this. He quotes “the Clarence Thomas of black sports writers,” Jason Whitlock, about how Vick obviously didn’t do it for the money, and that he must’ve done it because hip hop culture promotes it as fun. Hmm, that’s one theory you brilliant sports writer, you! This is where our media fail us daily – by not providing an intelligent context. How does torturing dogs fit into, say, torturing suspected enemies? Cockburn ends the article with a line that really resonates with me, so I’ll end with it too, “You can’t blame it all on rap-music culture, just one little rivulet in the imperial watershed.”
