HumaneWatch

I have absolutely had it up to here (*hand motion at my forehead*) with the Humane Society of the United States promoting Michael Vick.

What is it with these people? Why is HSUS Chief Operating Officer Michael Markarian escorting him to an NFL awards dinner on Tuesday night?

HSUS spends tens of millions of dollars every year making the case that animals deserve the exact same level of legal and conscientious protection as people. Now imagine if a child-services advocate tried to arrange a death-row video hookup so that Richard Allen Davis (remember Polly Klaas?) could make a series of remorseful "don't do what I did" speeches. I think you get the picture. It's the hypocrisy that gets to me.

While I'm on the subject, why did the NFL allow Michael Vick to win a "courage" award in the first place? And why is BET giving him a reality show?

I have the distinct feeling that if HSUS hadn't made the Faustian bargain to get out in front of this sick publicity tour, Wayne Pacelle would be putting rhetorical body-slams on any other animal rights group that chose to take the lead.

My heartfelt apologies to Philadelphia Eagles fans, but when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, that was something to be proud of. Michael Vick isn't. Rather, it's what Advertising Age called "a comprehensive public-relations scheme to rehabilitate his image." And HSUS is at the center of it.