What Does an Ousted Football Star Have in Common with a Wealthy Socialite? A Lot Apparently

I was compelled to do an addendum piece on the Michael Vick fiasco because his story serves as a living example of a Dave Chappelle skit-when keeping it real goes wrong. I was also able to peruse his dossier on Wikipedia and it affirmed my lower tier suspicions:

Controversy and troubles

Herpes Allegations and Ron Mexico lawsuit
In March 2005 a woman named Sonya Elliott filed a civil lawsuit against Vick alleging she contracted genital herpes from Vick - in Autumn 2002 - and that he failed to inform her that he had the disease.[13] Elliot further alleged that Vick had visited clinics under the alias "Ron Mexico" to get treatments and thus he knew of his condition. This led to a deluge of fans ordering customized #7 Atlanta Falcons jerseys on NFLShop.com with the name "Mexico" on the back.[14] Due to the media interest surrounding the case, the National Football League disallowed the use of the jersey/name combination two days after the lawsuit, and does so to this day. The online stores for the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball also disallow customization of jerseys using the same combination. On April 24, 2006 Vick's attorney, Lawrence Woodward, revealed that the lawsuit had settled out of court with an undisclosed amount.[15]

Video game developer Midway Games has alluded to Vick and his Ron Mexico alter-ego in their 2006 title, Blitz: The League. Due to Midway's loss of the National Football League license (EA Sports now has exclusive NFL licensing), all teams and players in the game are fictitious. However, the "Washington Redhawks"' star quarterback is a mobile, left-handed passer named "Mike Mexico."

And another incident that could have been written by Rod Serling:

Water bottle incident
On January 17, 2007 Vick surrendered a water bottle to security at Miami International Airport. Due to Vick's reluctance to leave the bottle behind, it was later retrieved from a trash receptacle. The bottle was found to have a hidden compartment that contained "a small amount of dark particulate and a pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana," a Miami police report said. "The compartment was hidden by the bottle's label so that it appeared to be a full bottle of water when held upright," police said. On Monday, January 22, 2007, the test results indicated there were no illegal substances in the water bottle and Vick was cleared of any wrongdoing. Vick also was drug tested, and the results were negative.[18]

The security tape from the airport documenting the incident has also been erased because, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Miami-Dade Police Department spokesman Robert Williams wrote in an e-mail: "That information was shown to the State's Attorney's office and it was determined by them that no criminal act was committed and no charges were filed. Therefore, this video was deleted from the flash drive since it was not being used in a criminal case."[19]

The Falcons later released the following statement: "We appreciate the speed at which the Miami authorities concluded their investigation, and we are pleased to learn of the outcome of the investigation. This is another reminder of the high-profile nature of a professional athlete and the close scrutiny players undergo related to their conduct on and off the field. We look forward to putting this matter behind us."[20]

On March 22, 2007, Vick announced that the water bottle was a jewelry stash box, and that the substance in question had been jewelry. Vick indicated that he keeps his jewelry there to prevent theft.[21]

Before the test results indicated there were no illegal substances in the water bottle and Vick was cleared of any wrongdoing, Saturday Night Live went on to do a parody of the incident in which they questioned Vick's actions in a skit called "Really?

When one delves into Vick's history you quickly discover that he was the product of the projects and impoverished. That within itself is nothing to be ashamed of but he was given the opportunity to better himself and made an income that could have produced a certain level of industry in the Black community. Of course, he chose to invest in thuggery and foolishness. But allow me to be even more specific, poverty is no longer an excuse for a lower moral standard or an absence of character. As the Progressive Left are quick to remind us, the African-American history of non-indentured servitude encompassed its fair share of poverty and struggle. But Black folks also possessed a moral compass that was undeterred. Let's go to the other side of the racial and socio-economic spectrum, shall we? Case in point-the DuPont and Astor heirs. Despite the difference in ethnicity and generational wealth, one can still find the glue that hold these stories together-lack of character.
God forbid anyone should grow older-check this out from a recent New York magaine article:

Heir to Du Pont and Frick Fortunes Tries to One-up the Astors
Socialite Emily "Pemmy" du Pont Frick.

Another week, another socialite parental-abuse saga! Today's Post cover blares "DAUGHTER DEAREST," and plugs a story within about Emily "Pemmy" du Pont Frick, an heiress who is accused by relatives of letting her mother live out her old age under poor care. Sound familiar? Didn't we just go through this with Brooke Astor? The Post is clearly trying to gin up another newsstand seller – but is this one really as good? After the jump, our analysis.
The Names: Astor, as far as old-money New York families, go, is pretty hard to beat. But Emily, by marrying both a Frick heir (you know, the museum?) and a Du Pont heir (you know, the second-largest chemical company in the world?) has pretty much scored a debutante double play. More scandalous: Pemmy.
The Drama: Brooke Astor's son Anthony was allegedly using his mother's money to live it up, while Brooke was neglected. In this case, Emily's money comes directly from her late husbands. Her ailing mother, 91-year-old Anne Waterman Troth, had her own unrelated trust fund, but it's apparently run out. More scandalous: Anthony.
The Accommodations: Astor was allegedly confined to her couch, sleeping in a "ratty nightgown." Emily's mother is in a nursing home "not being showered regularly." More scandalous: It's a tie.
The Summer Homes: Both Emily du Pont Frick and Anthony Marshall summered in exclusive Northeast Harbor, where presumably the Rockefellers, Carnegies, and MoMA's also have vacation homes. More scandalous: It's a tie.
The Dialogue: Anthony Marshall denied the allegations, repeating "I love my mother." When caught by Post reporters, Du Pont Frick said "This is what happens when you get old and run out of money." Yikes. More scandalous: Pemmy.

So all tallied up, it looks like the saga of Pemmy and her mother is slightly more salacious than the tale of Brooke Astor and her son. But while Astor was a huge figure in New York, Pemmy's mother, Anne, isn't as recognizable of a name, so we're betting the Post won't get as many pages out of this one. Or, you know, as many headlines with dollar signs instead of "S"s in them.

The moral of these stories are that we have some evil, ignorant and aberrant folks walking amongst us that need to be checked-Afronerd serves to check them if you don't. Penny for your thoughts-you can even put it on the Vick/Astor/Dupont tab.

Oh and lest I forget...we can also throw Leona Helmsley's corpse on the George Foreman grill for unconscionable behavior while were at it. Let's deal with race when it applies. But when it doesn't, let's also hold individuals accountable minus the societal enablers. Nuff said.