Michael Vick and The White House

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick has certainly vindicated the decision of the NFL team to allow the convicted dog abuser a second chance to make a living as a professional football player, at the highest level of the sport.  Vick has had an outstanding season this year. But for the even better season turned in by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Vick would probably earn the league's Most Valuable Player award.  He should certainly win the league's Comeback Player of the Year award, and a place in the Pro Bowl.  Maybe Vick and the Eagles will play well enough in the playoffs to make an appearance in the Super Bowl--even win it. 

More importantly, though, Michael Vick has stayed out of trouble, and conducted himself with an earnestness and humility befitting someone who has learned from his previous mistakes, and appreciates the opportunity granted him by the Eagles, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.  Vick's success speaks to the larger issue of the systemic exclusion of millions of former offenders in our country from the social and economic mainstream because of their criminal past.  Yes, Michael Vick has become the latest poster boy for successful prisoner reentry.

Two recent posts at The Huffington Post, however, demonstrate the good and the bad of the current conversation concerning Mr. Vick.  The first post, two days after Christmas, reported that President Obama, in a phone conversation with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, complimented Lurie for allowing Vick the opportunity to resume his football career in Philidelphia.  The second post, later the same day, reported the statement of a White House spokesman downplaying the significance of the president's reported comments to Lurie.  The writer of that second post suggested that the White House wanted to dispel the notion that President Obama "was willing to forgive" Vick's crimes. 

While I applaud the president's support for second chances, I lament the political squeamishness over the issue.