Who Can Throw Away a Career in One Easy Step?

One sure fire way to lose friends, particularly in the South, is to be mean to a dog. Here are just a few examples of the reverence we have for our four-legged friends:

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Southern dogs in movies:

- Old Yeller

- Skip

- Hubert

Southern dogs in music:

- Big Dog

Southern dogs in literature:

- Old Dan and Little Ann

- Marley

- Hank

Vick is being vilified more than had he done something to an actual person. Even if he's cleared, this will leave more of a stigma than most of the nefarious activities of his contemporaries. People will forgive drug abuse. Steroids? No problem. Even worse, when a superstar beats up the wife it's usually forgotten with a public apology and a little counseling.

But drowning and electrocuting dogs? It's hard to imagine what goes on inside the diseased mind of someone who justifies this. And Vick is not alone. Unfortunately, the next time a public figure does this it will be less shocking. And before long it will barely get our attention. Gun charges and stints in rehab barely make headlines anymore, and I can't even estimate the number of times over the past five years when the words "NFL" and "strip club" have been spoken in the same sentence.

Somewhere Troy Aikman is helping an old lady to cross the street on his way to the grand opening of the Troy Aikman Super Fantastic Center for Disadvantaged Puppies.