Penn State Scandal: It Gets Worse

Yesterday I blogged about the many things wrong with Penn State and the way the child molestation scandal was handled. Little did I know that it would get much worse.

The Penn State Board of Trustees finally appeared to do the right thing by firing coach Joe Paterno. But according to an article in USA Today, they did it in the best interests of the school. Here’s a quote from the vice-president of the board [italics mine]: "The current situation we are in at the moment is not in the university's best interest. We believe a change is necessary to allow us to continue going forward without further damage to the university. Great difficulties have engulfed our university.” Damage to the university? Great difficulties engulfed the university? What about the children?

Speaking of children, what is going on with the students at Penn State? I realize we aren’t talking about high intellect over at Happy Valley, but the moral compass and sense of priorties seem to be missing. Someone is wasting a lot of money on tuition. Check out these quotes from some of the rioters on campus via the New York Times.

“I think the point people are trying to make is the media is responsible for JoePa going down,” said a freshman, Mike Clark. Yes, the media did it. I guess if this hadn’t been exposed by the media, everything would be just fine at PSU.

“We got rowdy, and we got maced,” Jeff Heim, 19, said rubbing his red, teary eyes. “But make no mistake, the board started this riot by firing our coach. They tarnished a legend.” Oh, the board tarnished a legend. I see.

“It’s not fair,” Mr. [Justin] Muir said hurling a white ribbon. “The board is an embarrassment to our school and a disservice to the student population.” No, the students are an embarrassment to their school.

“Of course we’re going to riot,” he [Paul Howard] said. “What do they expect when they tell us at 10 o’clock that they fired our football coach?” Of course. There’s a big game this Saturday against Nebraska. How could they fire Joe now?

“This definitely looks bad for our school,” he [Greg Becker] said sprinting away from a cloud of pepper spray. At least this guy is on to something. It does look bad for the school.

The article said, “Mixed in the crowd were a few dissenting opinions.” But it seems the vast majority of the rioters were protesting the firing of their football coach.

Meanwhile, what about the children who were the victims? Where's the outrage for them?

Penn State Scandal. Can Someone Dial 911?

This is away from my usual subject matter but I am so disgusted and appalled by the Penn State scandal that I must comment. The mainstream media do not seem to be asking the right questions or pointing out the obvious.

A former defensive coordinator for the Penn State football team named Jerry Sandusky was just indicted on 40 counts of child molestation spanning some 15 years. The athletic director and the head of the campus policy are facing perjury charges.

Warnings were sounded as far back as the mid-1990s and nothing was done. In 2002, then graduate assistant Mike McQueary, who is now an assistant coach there, told coach Joe Paterno that he saw Sandusky sodomizing a child in the football team’s shower. Paterno’s response was to tell his boss, the athletic director, and no law enforcement or social agency was ever contacted. The president of the school was apparently informed. Penn State’s sole action consisted of barring Sandusky from the campus, which was not enforced.

Meanwhile, Sandusky continued to run a program for at-risk [they certainly were] children, which gave him continued access to victims.

1. When he saw what was going on why didn’t McQueary simply grab Sandusky and beat the crap out of him?

2. Why didn’t the McQueary go to the authorities when it became obvious that the school was doing nothing?

3. Until a few minutes ago, the school had the audacity to tell the media that Paterno would not answer questions about the scandal during his weekly pregame press conference. They just announced that the press conference was canceled.

4. When did “We did nothing illegal” supersede “We did the right thing”?

5. Everyone involved with this [McQueary, Paterno, athletic director, campus police head, school president] is as big a scumbag as Sandusky himself. If they have not committed a crime, at least they all must lose their jobs. [Note: the head of the campus police has "retired."]

Post Script: Sandusky’s biography is entitled “Touched.” You can't make this stuff up.