The whole Penn State thing. I'm very sad. I'm not a rabid Penn State fan. And Joe Paterno is a football coach. I don't even like football. Nothing about the game excites me. But the scandal that is monopolizing everyone's interest is making me very sad.
Is Sandusky a monster? I don't know, he hasn't had a trial yet. Should the Board of Regents have fired JoePa? I don't know. Because I don't know what they know. But they needed a scapegoat to make themselves look righteous, so I guess they had to. Oh, and Spanier, too. God knows how he fit into the chain. It didn't sound like he had ever been in the loop when the accusation came to light. But, hey, somebody has to take the blame.
Coaches, presidents, athletic directors, out you go. You let Sandusky ply his evil trade and did nothing.
What makes me saddest is the fact that the original witness to this horror is still at work with the football team. And as of Thursday, the new interim head coach intended that this person, this cowardly wimp, would be on the sidelines in his position as one of the coaches. It was only when he received death threats that he was placed on "administrative leave with pay". Yes, I know his name, but I won't say it because it tastes bad in my mouth.
It makes me sad that this man was 28-years-old when he says he witnessed Sandusky sexually assaulting a young child in the locker room. He scurried out like the weasel he is and went home and called his Daddy and asked him what to do. Why, at age 28, would it be necessary to ask anyone what you should do. Do? DO?? You should make your presence known as you dial 9-1-1. The police would have arrived and the legal process could have begun. But no. Our witness slept on the information and then went to Coach Paterno the next day and told him what he saw. He says. We don't know what he told Paterno. But Paterno did what he was supposed to do and reported it to the next-up the chain of command. Now, current wisdom has it that Paterno should have called the police. And told them what? That his grad assistant said he saw a sexual assault taking place. And when was this, asked the friendly officer. Oh, sometime yesterday replies Paterno. And what do you want us to do about this now? You have an allegation that cannot be corroborated because the perpetrator and his victim are gone, and when he is tracked down and questioned, do you think he will admit his crime?
While I cannot answer as to the fairness of the firing of the four people who were sacrificed in order to make the university look good, it certainly seems fair to expect that the witness who suffers from Yellow-stripe-up-the-back syndrome should have been the first one to do the perp walk off the campus.
I guess he saved his own bacon when he testified to the Grand Jury. But he's still being paid by the school. And that makes me sad.
