It is indeed all that needs to be said about the Penn State football scandal and the firing of legendary coach Joe Paterno and the University President, written by sci-fi writer John Scalzi.(warning, some NSFW language)
I would only add to what Scalzi says that it's worth remembering that then-graduate assistant and now assistant coach Mike McQueary, the guy who originally saw the child rapist in action and did nothing to stop it not only still has his job but has apparently been promoted with Paterno's firing.
Sad and disgraceful beyond measure.
A gracious h/t to my pal Greg over at Rhymes With Right for sending this my way.
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4 comments:
i posted this elsewhere and i think i cleaned it up for J/P.
full disclosure, i pride myself on always being in the minority, and i am a practicing catholic.
first off, i think the whiny ass kids at PSU pretty much show what this next generation of america is going to produce. they are gonna need hussein in the white house, because this next generation is not only gonna need somebody to tell them how, but when, to wipe their ass. they don’t have a clue.
back in 1999, i put in a gas processing plant, southeast of pittsburg, pa. consolidated natural gas had it’s headquarters in wheeling, WV. my counter part, the project manager for CNG, was a big PSU guy. he told me back then, there was a big movement to get rid of paterno.
i don’t know the timeline of this event, but from what i gather, the shower/locker room incident occured back in 2002. if the G/A saw what he claims, he should have called the police. the G/A shouldn’t go over to coach’s house with daddy and tell him. call the police. if the G/A does tell coach first, then coach should call the police and report the G/A for failing to report a crime. anything less is unacceptable.
there are going to be those that say the athletic dept. and by extension, the university are family, and we should handle this internally.
there are also those in the catholic church who claim the same sentiment. how’s it working for them? if the bishop hears something bad, pick up the phone and call the police.
although i dont’ care for espn talking heads, chris fowler made what for me were some of the best comments. he said he thought paterno was deluded with his authority. well why not be? i mean if paterno can go before the cameras, and defend his players for committing rape a couple of years ago, then why not go all in.
and those whiny ass kids had better complete their educations and get good union jobs with inflated salaries. they can send that money to their alma matre to pay the civil lawsuits that will be coming in for years to come.
of course, if the G/A did in fact see what he says he saw, he could have just beat the living shit out of sandusky and not told anyone. that is, of course, unless the G/A is a coward. yeah, i know, violence is never the answer. but it comes mighty close in this case.
Sometimes violence is.
The point is, if you see some walking garbage hurting a kid, you do what it takes to stop it.
BTW, I wouldn't make any cracks about next generation of Americans. Yeah some of them are whiny little children at places like Penn State, but they're a minority. Others of them are in Iraq, AfPak and elsewhere doing the heavy lifting and you're going to see more of that.
I note the similarities to the Catholic Church's pedophile scandal, and I think the problem is institutional.They wanted this covered up to preserve the 'institution's good name', and instead wound up besmirching it.
Regards,
Rob
I had pretty much the same thoughts on this. Mr. Paterno did not report this to law enforcement as is reqquired by law. For this he has been fired and should have been. Why does Mr. McQueary still have a job with the university?
So far we have alot of "he said, he said" accusations that go back a long way. There is definitely alot of "smoke" here. As such, there is a high degree of probabilty that there is a "fire" but shouldn't we do the proper investigations before we presume guilt? It seems the accused have already been tried and convicted in the media. Am I missing something? I rhink I am but I'm not sure what yet. Perhaps someone can explain? I think I'm humble enough to learn.
"They wanted this covered up to preserve the institution's good name but instead wound up besmirching it." I think this is spot on. In times past, say 20, 30, or even 40 years ago they would have been able to keep something this covered up, however, with a ubiqutous media things like this can't be covered up. That is unless osmeone is willing to physically assault news media personnel (Islamists any one). With the Penn State case there is no possibilty of this happening. Given the ubiqutos media presence and the desire among these types to "make a name" I think the coverage can cause things to be seen as worse than they really are and can lead to a conviction in the media making it difficult to get a fair trial for the accused. A prominent business man once pointed to the court room after being aquited of a crime he was accused of and said "here is where you go to get justice. Where do I go to get my reputation back?"
The accusations ave VERY serious and there appears to be substantial evidence to substantiat them. When Mr. Paterno became aware of this he did not go to law enforcement. For this, he has been fired as he should be. Mr. McQueary also should have been fired but hasn't been. What's up with that?
So far, Mr. Sandusky maintains his innonce. The investigations should be completed before we assume he is guilty. In a criminal court, it has to be proven that one is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil court, not so. Un this case, a preponderounce of evidene is all that is needed.
30 to 40 years ago settlements would have likely been reached with the alleged victims that would make them very wealthy to make it all go away. With the current media environment that's not going to be feasible now and it shouldn't be. Merely defending themselves from the civil lawsuits will likely bankrupt the univeristy and the accused. Given the coverage, almost makes on ehope they are guilty. Truly a sad state of affairs. If guilty, the acused should never taste freedom again in this life.
At the very least, Mr. Sandusky, Mr. Paterno, Mr. McQueary and the univeristy are guilty of extreme bad judgement. I think I've got this right. Mr. Sandusky was caught showering with young boys who are not his own using univerit;y facilties. He was told by university officals not to do this aqain. Where upon he was observed doing this again!! VERY BAD move!! This does NOT look good.
To prevent things like this, big organizations typically have policies that govern about how employees and other representatives of the organization deal with young children who interact with their organization. As a retired coach, Mr. Sandusky would defititely fall into the cassification as a "representative" of Penn State. In fact, this position was used to advance the cause of his charity.
A sane policy would be something linke this. "Individuals who are under 18 are not allowed to use univeristy facilites unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian unless they are on staff of the univeristy or a member of an athletic team of the university." Top nothc legal talent will no doubt want to refine a policy such as this but I think the idea is plain. Every large organization I've been a part of has some type of policy like this. I'm amzed Penn State did not have such a policy or they did not enforce it. Violation of the organization;s policies are grounds for dismissal or being barred from the organization's facilities. At the very least, top HR officals of large organizations around the country are going to be reviewing teir policies,
"...others of them are in Iraq, Afpak, and elsewhere doing the heavy lifting and you are going to see more of that..." I agree. I hope we see more of them deployed along our borders where they are sorely needed. Furthermore I'm hoping some military commanders will have the integrity to point out to the powers that be that continuing Afpak, Iraq, and operations elsewhere are depleting our forces to the point that basic defense is now problematic and if we wish for our country to survive these forces need to redeployed to defensible postions along our border forthwith. Unfortunately some people may be wishing to presrve the careers as generals and other important positions and are not speaking out.
Come to think of it the powers that be at Penn State may have faced a similar problem to what America's military commanders face. Its far easier to keep quiet and try to preseve one's reputation and promote career advancement thatn it is to do what is right. In the case of our military, this is far more serious than the issues at Penn State. They need to find their integrity soon or our country may not survive. The sooner these brave warriors are redeployed the better. This way we will have a fighting chance to defend our country. Also, upgrades to the nuclear arsenal and tthe delivery systems for these ewapons are seriously needed but I'm getting off topic.
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