Dog Eat Dog.

Guest host Lawrence O'Donnell on KCRW's Left, Right and Center spoke this week of his puzzlement about our country's protection of dogs against cruelty--a propos of Michael Vick's confession of his involvement in dog fighting.

To Mr. O'Donnell: My God--this man Vick confessed to killing between six and eight dogs by hanging and drowning. If you don't find that disgusting and worthy of jail time, you're really just out of sync with most American's moral intuitions.

Frankly the one year in jail that's being discussed seems to me far too little for such cruelty. It's not the moral worth of the victims that count: it's the sheer gratuitous pointlessness.

It's fine to sympathize with chickens and cows that are bred to be eaten. We can want them to have less painful lives and even deaths (as some among us now kill lobsters differently for reasons of kindness).

But it's quite another thing when animals are bred to fight and die for the amusement of some jaded souls out there, and then those dogs which fail to compete are killed for whatever bemusement that can bring.

Truly in this sport capitalism has created its own most perfect image.

Revel in your indifference, Mr. O'Donnell: you're alone.

--E. R. O'Neill