Paul Zeise
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Paul Zeise is a beat writer for Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Until recently, Paul appeared on "Sports Showdown," a TV show on KDKA-TV, a CBS affiliate.[1] He was suspended from appearing on the show following his comments in connection with the indictment of Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback. Commenting on a suggestion by a fellow panelist that Michael Vick should be suspended for an entire year, Mr. Zeise responded that it would have been better for Vick to have raped a woman, since the likely suspension for rape would have only been about four games.[1] His quote is,
It's really a sad day in this country when somehow ... Michael Vick would have been better off raping a woman if you look at the outcry of what happened. Had he done that, he probably would have been suspended for four games and he'd be back on the field. But because this has become a political issue, all of a sudden the commissioner has lost his stomach for it.
In short, Mr. Zeise was making an argument that political correctness had played a role in the treatment of Michael Vick, and that we care more for animals than we do about the rape of women. On Monday, July 30, 2007, Mr. Zeise apologized, stating "I regret the poor choice of analogies I used to characterize a professional athlete's legal situation."[1]
