Sometimes it almost feels as though President Obama wants to throw us a bone. Last week, the sports press began barking about an alleged phone call from the Big Dog at the White House to Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who fetched the phone to hear a “good boy” from Obama for giving Michael Vick a chance to get out of the doghouse. The White House confirmed that Obama gave Lurie a treat, and left the rest of us wondering why Obama dug up this old issue:
The White House confirms that President Obama called Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie – and that on call the two discussed the comeback of quarterback Michael Vick.
“He of course condemns the crimes that Michael Vick was convicted of but, as he’s said previously, he does think that individuals who have paid for their crimes should have an opportunity to contribute to society again,” White House deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told ABC News.
The President reportedly told Lurie that he supports the second chance Vick has gotten, after the quarterback spent time in jail for running in a dog fighting ring.
I’m not opposed to Vick’s contract with the Eagles; he paid his debt to society, at least as far as the judge saw it, and he has as much “right” to ply his trade as anyone else that a football team might hire. The Eagles can certainly be criticized (or praised) for offering Vick a contract, but let’s not pretend that Lurie is paying him to play QB because of Lurie’s commitment to fund rehabilitation. Lurie figured Vick could help him win a championship, and if Vick didn’t have that talent or skill set, Vick would be flipping burgers now.
The puzzler is why Obama even bothered to get involved in the controversy at all. Isn’t his “singular focus” supposed to be on the economy? I’d say that Obama screwed the pooch on optics in this case.
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