Because he's from the South!

[cocotel]

After living in North Carolina for more than 20 years this is by far the most pathetic thing I've ever heard.
I've lived in NC, SC, GA and Gulfport, Mississippi and never ran across any of this. Sorry Whoppi, your "view" is not only distorted, it's totally wrong.
Reason # 1,565,929,210 not to watch that show.

[Skibo]

She is not the only one to defend him, I am surprised that she has. I can see the cultural argument thing. I don't agree that it justifies illegal activity. I don't know enough about the history of dog fighting in the south to even know if this is a legitimate excuse. Funny, in all the books I have read on black history, dog fighting was never mentioned. (I have read a lot on the subject, the history of race relations is a subject I enjoy.) Because of the size of the dogs and the time and effort required to get a good dog, I don't believe that the history goes back far. I think it is an activity more related to the rise of the drug trade. People barely had money to feed and clothe themselves back in the good old days, raising any dog required money.

[LIPH]

Just a thought, but maybe by saying it's a "southern" thing or a "cultural" thing she's trying to avoid playing the race card. And I agree with just about everyone else, she is an idiot.

[carolinagirl]

Just a thought, but maybe by saying it's a "southern" thing or a "cultural" thing she's trying to avoid playing the race card. And I agree with just about everyone else, she is an idiot.

Good point, Larry...


Here's the whole clip from the View: http://abc.go.com/daytime/theview/index

Elisabeth says, she has a hard time thinking that Michael Vick didn't have this brought to his attention at some time that this was wrong. Whoopi says, "no I don't think he did, because he was brought up in this culture."

[krusin1]

Just a thought, but maybe by saying it's a "southern" thing or a "cultural" thing she's trying to avoid playing the race card. And I agree with just about everyone else, she is an idiot.

First, IMNSHO, Whoopi is an idiot and has been for some time.


Good point about the race card... got me to thinking...


wonder if Whoopi would have defended Eli Manning if he'd been the one into dogfighting.... he's from the South, right?

[green1]

All of you BN'rs from the deep south. Do you consider Newport News VA to be the deep south? Lived in Savannah for 4 years. That, to me is the deep south, Charleston, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Jackson, Talladega, Macon, Augusta, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Pensacola, Mobile . . . all to me are the deep south. Newport News, not so much.

Cultural vs racial profiling. What is the difference. She is painting the entire southern quarter of the country with a broad brush that is no different from any other racist or sexist bigot. Dogfighting is not solely a black, white, latino, southern perversion. It crosses all races, and geographic boundaries. I would wager any amount of money that in the poorer sections of NYC there are dogfights.

[Lightning Bolt]

I understand her point of view
Don't agree with it, but I do understand it.

It IS a cultural thing, plain and simple.

from here in San Diego, I've worked with Mexican men who fought dogs regularly for sport.
Remember, each Sunday I can travel 5 miles across the border and see bull"fights".

If we were in South Korea or Indonesia, we could very well be DINING on dog.
It's both commonplace and considered fine dining, at that!
Cats, too!

I don't have a taste for ANY of the above cruelties to animals,
but i'm also not gonna get down to some ethnocentric rant of how I'm ABOVE all that.
That's the exact attitude we've taken as a government, and it's any wonder we're received as warmly as our POTUS in Oz ...or for that matter, our forces in the Middle East

Bulllsh*t.

It's not cultural. I lived in the South for a very long time. If you're going with "dogfighting is cultural" in the South are you also going with "lynching is cultural" or "cross burning is cultural" or "slavery is cultural"? Just because these things happen now or happened in the past doesn't make them cultural. They're illegal in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America.

We're not talking about Mexico or Korea. We're talking about Virginia.

Don't pull this BS that Michael Vick should get a pass because people have been having illegal dogfights in rural Virginia for a long time. BS. Vick has a college degree. Presumably that means he can read, and therefore understand the basics of what's right and wrong in Virginia. This isn't some ignorant, illiterate individual. College degree. Virginia Tech. Cultural, my a$$. He knew right from wrong and he broke the law. Shame on Whoopi Goldberg for trying to make excuses based on "culture."

Easy there, Jen read me again
I didn't condone or say Michael Vick shouldn't be fully prosecuted by law. He got exactly what is coming to him (probably less),
..and, for sake of this argument, let's keep it in the context of animals here.
Opening up the southern slavery/lynching "card" may seem relevant, but it is not.

We're talking animal cruelty here, and... face it... they are WIDELY diverse attitudes
right here on this board, for example, on WHAT constitutes cruelty.
Vegans would tell you slaughtering cows, etc, for meat would be cruelty.
Moonie will tell you baby harp seal hunting is a crime of the greatest degree.
Up the road from me, Del Mar is finishing its thoroughbred horse racing season and many still protest it each year.
Troy, Wayne, and myself defend "the hunting and killing of innocent animals" each fall. (next month, in fact )

I don't think ANYONE has any high moral ground in this argument, unless you are some Tibetian monk ...

I say, hear her point, debate, and let's move on...

[flyboy55]

I understand her point of view
Don't agree with it, but I do understand it.

It IS a cultural thing, plain and simple.

from here in San Diego, I've worked with Mexican men who fought dogs regularly for sport.
Remember, each Sunday I can travel 5 miles across the border and see bull"fights".

If we were in South Korea or Indonesia, we could very well be DINING on dog.
It's both commonplace and considered fine dining, at that!
Cats, too!

I don't have a taste for ANY of the above cruelties to animals,
but i'm also not gonna get down to some ethnocentric rant of how I'm ABOVE all that.
That's the exact attitude we've taken as a government, and it's any wonder we're received as warmly as our POTUS in Oz ...or for that matter, our forces in the Middle East

WRONG!
I have lived in South Carolina for 33 years. I have heard of dog fighting but have NEVER seen it nor do I know of ANYONE who does it. To lump southerns into

It IS a cultural thing, plain and simple.

is just plain wrong.

You might as well say that Southerns have an IQ of less than 50, drink moonshine, have sex with our kinfolk, and all are redneck. That is if your gonna say

It IS a cultural thing, plain and simple.

I blame Jeff Foxworthy, noted Southerner and redneck comedian.

[Lightning Bolt]

you're right, 55, given that.... I don't know what I was trying to get across?...

[flyboy55]

you're right, 55, given that.... I don't know what I was trying to get across?...

No I think you're right. I think there IS a Southern culture or way of doing things.

[Catch&Release]

Ridiculous statement.

It's understandable because where Vick is from it is acceptable to electrocute dogs, it is acceptable to pick them up and slam them against the wall, it is acceptable to torture dogs to make them as viscious as possible???

No. It's clearly not "understandable" or "acceptable" as an accepted Southern societal norm. Whoopi seems to be claiming that gross animal cruelty is a Southern norm which is ludicrous.

People are astounding. Vick deserves to be kept in a filthy cell similar in scale the kennels used to house the dogs that were abused.

[green1]

No I think you're right. I think there IS a Southern culture or way of doing things.

Of course there is. There is also a CA culture, and a NE culture, and a Texan culture. How couldn't there be. But to say that the torture of animals is restricted to or created within a certain culture is bigoted.

[flyboy55]

No I think you're right. I think there IS a Southern culture or way of doing things.

Of course there is. There is also a CA culture, and a NE culture, and a Texan culture. How couldn't there be. But to say that the torture of animals is restricted to or created within a certain culture is bigoted.

I partly agree. Unfortunately, abuse of animals occurs everywhere.

But as you cross cultural divides, you become aware that "one man's pet is another man's dinner". It's quite normal in many parts of Asia to eat dog which has been raised for that purpose. Horse flesh also has its admirers.

I think what LB was trying to get across is the idea that for people in certain parts of the world dog fighting organized as 'sport' might be mainstream, as obnoxious as that idea may be to us here, where for most of us dogs are beloved pets and family members.

Maybe it is bigoted of us to expect our attitudes and values to apply to folks in other cultures.

I think dog fighting is cruel and inhumane and should be eliminated in this country.

[carolinagirl]

All of you BN'rs from the deep south. Do you consider Newport News VA to be the deep south? Lived in Savannah for 4 years. That, to me is the deep south, Charleston, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Jackson, Talladega, Macon, Augusta, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Pensacola, Mobile . . . all to me are the deep south. Newport News, not so much.

People in Georgia don't consider Virginia to be even the plain old South. My husband is from Va., and he's always being told he's from "Up North." He has to tell people Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy.

Charleston doesn't consider itself to be the DEEP South, I don't think. I grew up there, and people referred to the deep South as Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.

Not Pensacola or any part of Florida, I don't think.

[PJ]

All of you BN'rs from the deep south. Do you consider Newport News VA to be the deep south? Lived in Savannah for 4 years. That, to me is the deep south, Charleston, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Jackson, Talladega, Macon, Augusta, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Pensacola, Mobile . . . all to me are the deep south. Newport News, not so much.

I've never been to Newport News myself, but I don't think I would call it deep south. I think I would have a hard time calling anyplace in Virginia DEEP South. To me that is reserved for a swath carved out of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, with maybe a bit of Tennessee added in. Even with that, certain areas would have to be excluded - Atlanta these days is in no way deep south - we have become too "sophisticated" for that.

Mobile, Biloxi (pre casinos anyway), Savannah, Charleston those are deep south areas, big old houses, moss in the trees, etc.

[Indiana Jolly Mon]

The View has this posted on their site, it is a buzz around boards such as this one, this is exactly what they wanted. Whoopi is less abrasive than Rosie, but they have her there to say things like this to get ratings. She is 100% playing race card, saying this argument hasnt been said before is stupid, I have heard it many times that in the south and in black commuties this is normal (Portis said it, Marbury said it).
I agree with her, I mean its not like he was a multi-millionaire with attorneys and agents to advise him or that he knew it was illegal and hid the operation for 5+ years.
Let's see if anyone has the balls to stand up to what she said for fear of being called racist.

[Conolulu]

All of you BN'rs from the deep south. Do you consider Newport News VA to be the deep south? Lived in Savannah for 4 years. That, to me is the deep south, Charleston, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Jackson, Talladega, Macon, Augusta, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Pensacola, Mobile . . . all to me are the deep south. Newport News, not so much.

People in Georgia don't consider Virginia to be even the plain old South. My husband is from Va., and he's always being told he's from "Up North." He has to tell people Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy.

Charleston doesn't consider itself to be the DEEP South, I don't think. I grew up there, and people referred to the deep South as Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.

Not Pensacola or any part of Florida, I don't think.

That's what I grew up hearing....but I also heard:

"Charleston: Where the Ashley River and the Cooper River meet , to form the Atlantic Ocean"

[green1]

I partly agree. Unfortunately, abuse of animals occurs everywhere.

But as you cross cultural divides, you become aware that "one man's pet is another man's dinner". It's quite normal in many parts of Asia to eat dog which has been raised for that purpose. Horse flesh also has its admirers.

I think what LB was trying to get across is the idea that for people in certain parts of the world dog fighting organized as 'sport' might be mainstream, as obnoxious as that idea may be to us here, where for most of us dogs are beloved pets and family members.

Maybe it is bigoted of us to expect our attitudes and values to apply to folks in other cultures.

I think dog fighting is cruel and inhumane and should be eliminated in this country.

I understand what you are saying Flyboy, and I agree to an extent. Why should we expect other countries and their cultures to conform to us? We shouldn't and can't.

However we are not talking about other countries. We are talking about the US, and so our national laws and national norms apply here. Whoopi did not say that in Mexico dog fighting is encouraged, or that in parts of Asia people eat dogs. She said that (to paraphrase) because Vick grew up in the South he learned that dogfighting was OK. That is crap, and the implication she makes about southern culture in general is just as bigoted as any racist's twisted views of any particular race.

[green1]

People in Georgia don't consider Virginia to be even the plain old South. My husband is from Va., and he's always being told he's from "Up North." He has to tell people Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy.

Don't forget to remind him that the backbone of the Confederate army was Robert E. Lee's army. The army of Northern Virginia.

And from his front door he could see the building of the capitol rotunda and the base of the Washington monument.

[Conolulu]

People in Georgia don't consider Virginia to be even the plain old South. My husband is from Va., and he's always being told he's from "Up North." He has to tell people Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy.

Don't forget to remind him that the backbone of the Confederate army was Robert E. Lee's army. The army of Northern Virginia.

And from his front door he could see the building of the capitol rotunda and the base of the Washington monument.

My mother taught History at The College of Charleston....

We had to remind her she was teaching US History and NOT South Carolina History ...weekly...