Can Michael Vick Make a Comeback?

Can Michael Vick Make a Comeback?

The Nation‘s Dave Zirin defends Michael Vick and talks about how his story is not just about sports but also how we treat our nation’s ex-cons.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Nation sports columnist Dave Zirin appears on MSNBC’s Morning
Joe
to talk about Michael Vick’s first interview since
signing with the Philadelphia
Eagles
. Zirin and Philadelphia sports columnist Steven A. Smith
discuss whether Philly fans will embrace Vick, and Zirin notes that
this is more than just a sports story; it’s a story of whether a felon
can be allowed to rehabilitate his image in a country with 2.3 million
people behind bars. The panelists also point out that over and over
again, sports stars are charged with violence against women and then
are accepted back into their chosen sport without the amount of fuss
being kicked up over Vick. Zirin notes that he’s had to face off
against PETA in defense of Vick but that it’s not a question of
whether he supports animal abuse but a question of whether he thinks
people should get a second chance.

Sarah Jaffe

Check out more great Nation videos on our YouTube channel.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x