His mother was a golden retriever and his father a pitbull.

This is a dog that might have been selected for dog fighting had I not adopted him.  I am thankful that he is with me rather than with people like Vick.

Dog fighting is a disgusting, depraved activity that should be dealt with harshly.

In my view, commercial sports, by its emphasis on big bucks and celebrity, is an invitation to corrupton. So it's not surprising that people like  Vick exist.  

that said, as far as the league is concerned, the dog fighting wasn't the primary issue, the gambling is; they don't want an NBA or MLB situation on their hands, where people question the legitimacy of a game's outcome.

Torturing animals for entertainment and money is immoral and illegal. Michael Vick can redeem himself  by devoting his life and resources to compassionate treatment of animals. How about some personal time and resources given to the Humane Society? Everyone can change and find redemption if they seek it enough.

I hadn't really seen the racial aspects to the Vick condemnations in this case, but after watching Bill Maher the other night, and listening to Michel Martin, who appears to be something of a race-woman, I began rethinking my assessment.  And after seeing some of the protesters from around the country, I am forced to accept the fact that a large segment of the US population feels comfortable expressing their conscience and unconscious racial bigotry in situations such as these. The evidence is there for anyone with eyes, white folks who dress up their children and toddlers in clothing expressing hatred for Vick is a prime example, as is calling for Vick's execution and makes use of lynching imagery.  Teaching your children to hate, under the guise of defending animals, is simply not acceptable, and inherently transparent. This incident simply allows a segment of the population who have pent-up racial hatred to vent their repressed racist beliefs.

Viewed in its entirety, this whole incident just serves to demonstrate the continuing ugly and brutish nature of the primate known as man, the naked ape, which prays gleefully not only upon every other species on this planet, but just as readily upon our own kind as well.  I reject my humanity, for it is a sham and a lie, I will not continue to pretend like my kind is somehow inherently superior to other life forms on this planet.  In light of this incident I find myself ashamed and disgusted with all humankind.

Now I'm off to watch the end of the Bengals Falcons football game. So pass me a beer and turn on the HD TV so I can see every expressions of agonizing pain in exquisite detail, and turn up the 6.1 surround sound so I can hear the subtle nuances of snapping bone.

  This is from USA TODAY and the mainstream press has so misrepresented some important details of this case I don't entirely trust it,

 Assuming that is accurate, it would seem certain gambling is OK. (I'd assume legal gambling in casinos, state lotteries, racetracks, OTB, etc.)

  "In a manner that brings discredit" is certainly subject to varying interpretation and application, but I'd say putting up the money to bet on whose dog kills the other's would qualify.

  That said, I don't think all the noise about the  gambling being Vick's biggest problem is even remotely accurate. If Vick was playing in illegal high stakes poker games involving more money than this seems to involve (which is not a lot considering his wealth), he wouldn't be in 1/10th the trouble with the League. It's the puppy killing that is his biggest problem with regard to his future career.

Yes, Vick broke the law; yes, he arrogantly lied and refused to apologize when first caught; and yes, his actions before and after the dog killings indicate he is one stupid, stupid man. But Vick's lawbreaking was relatively minor compared to animal mistreatment that happens continuously, within the law, at nearly all levels of the meat production industry, and with which all but vegetarians are complicit. There is some kind of mass neurosis at work in the rush to denounce Vick, wag fingers and say he deserved even worse. Society wants to scapegoat Vick to avoid contemplating its own routine, systematic killing of animals. We couldn't all become vegetarians tomorrow: that is not practical. But American society is not even attempting to make the handling of meat animals less brutal, let alone working to transition away from a food-production order in which huge numbers of animals are systematically mistreated, then killed in ways that inflict terror and pain. We won't lift a finger to change the way animals die for us. But we will demand Michael Vick serve prison time to atone for our sins.