A student at Penn stands up to his peers:
Tod Kelley connects the Penn State coverup to the Catholic Church's abuse scandals:
In his book Losing My Religion, William Lobdell writes about his experience covering a local Catholic Church child abuse scandal for the LA Times. One of the most fascinating – and terrifying – parts of his account is the meetings of parishioners once the Church had confirmed that the abuse had happened, that it had been going on for a long time, and that it had been known about by the Church leaders. (In fact, if I recall correctly, the abuser was sent to their church after having been caught abusing children in his previous church.) The outraged parents rose up – but not how you might think. The people they blamed for the travesty were not the leaders of the church, or even the priest that abused their children – who was quite popular. Instead, they blamed the media. Given the choice between crucifying the reporters who were writing about a very serious crime or getting rid of a priest that betrayed their community in the worst way possible, they rallied around the priest.
Jessica Banks, a Penn State alum, agrees with this parallel and takes it one step further:
Most of [the Penn State students] are going to graduate twenty to fifty thousand dollars in debt, much more than they would pay to go to one of the many Commonwealth Campuses across Pennsylvania. Part of what they’re paying for is the experience in State College, and for almost 50 years, that experience depends on having a team to be proud of, and a school that others admire. It’s their reputation, too, that’s been destroyed, without consent or knowledge. Firing Joe Paterno was the only legitimate action that Penn State could take, but to kids and alumni, that’s an admission of guilt that’s on par with having to admit that the Pope is no longer infallible.
Alyssa Rosenberg attempts to understand the backlash:
I cannot possibly imagine a cause so mighty and righteous that it outweighs shrugging aside child abuse and child assault. Certainly not football. College sports may be a business with deeply engaged consumers. But it’s still just a business. And Joe Paterno is just a man, subject to the normal rules of accountability and decency. These are the basic facts of which moral educations are made. Some of us, apparently, need remedial lessons.
I think Alyssa is unfamiliar with the sacred aspect of college football to so many. As one reader noted, if a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry had been found in the showers buggering a ten-year-old, the cops would have been called immediately. But an assistant coach and likely successor to the great Paterno? Immune. Ari Kohen compares Paterno's role to that of Sandusky and others:
Because he’s famous, because we know a lot about him, Paterno gives us someone upon whom we can focus our anger. In no small part, this because he seems to have done the morally wrong thing in this case by not coming forward himself (and thereby enabling the abuser). But that wrong undoubtedly pales in comparison to the moral and legal wrongs committed by university officials and, most of all, by Sandusky. No one’s going to hold a rally or overturn cars on behalf of the ousted university administrators or former assistant coach because those people are unknown to us, because they seem like replaceable parts, and because — of course — they seem to have committed a series of terrible acts.
And they are going to face a trial. Paterno, apparently, isn't. And his comments on his "sadness" were enraging. He's sad that many other children were subjected to this abuse and violence? Sad?? Earlier thoughts here and throughout today's blog so scroll down. To those of you who think I am getting excitable about this, just read the Grand Jury report. Then tell me to calm down.
The Dish 