RIP Joe Paterno

[Wyo Buff]

In my mind, Every. Last. Bit. of good he did during his time on this planet was wiped out a thousand-fold by the evil he, insofar as I can tell from the evidence put forward, knowingly allowed to occur during his watch. No matter how many young men he helped and molded, he completely and utterly failed as a man, as a human being, to simply protect the younger, far more innocent (prior to their involvement) and far more HELPLESS young men so irreversibly altered by their unfortunate involvement in this horrific and sordid affair.

If you had time to read that one story Wyo posted, then please, read this one, from a victims perspective (not one of the victims of the monster Sandusky)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/22/1057341/-F

Nothing excuses what Sandusky did and nothing should ever minimize the horror of it to the victims. They deserve nothing but our hearfelt sympathy and shared horror over what this guy did. That said, he fooled a lot of people for a lot of years. He was a master manipulator in many ways. My point regarding Joe is that he is not the one who committed the crime. In fact, it appears that he really did not have any concept of what had occurred or what was continuing to occur. Did he take the easy way out and pass the ball? Probably. Did he know that he was enabling and facilitating a monster? Doubtful. It's easy to condemn Joe in hindsight. It's equally obvious that Paterno had no clue that Sandusky was doing this at this level or that it continued. Especially after nothing was done initially. A rational, although morally lazy and questionable, response to the lack of action against Sandusky after the McQueery-witnessed incident would be that officials had investigated and determined that no action was necessary. I'm not defending it, I just think that Paterno's guilt in this matter, although present, has been overstated.

 

[somebody]

The moral obligation is to go overboard to protect young kids. As soon as JoePa heard of Sandusky in the shower with a 10 year old, he should have done everything in his power to discover the truth. I have no doubt that the stress of this situation adversely affected his condition, and it does not sadden me.

 

[MtnBuff]

Nothing excuses what Sandusky did and nothing should ever minimize the horror of it to the victims. They deserve nothing but our hearfelt sympathy and shared horror over what this guy did. That said, he fooled a lot of people for a lot of years. He was a master manipulator in many ways. My point regarding Joe is that he is not the one who committed the crime. In fact, it appears that he really did not have any concept of what had occurred or what was continuing to occur. Did he take the easy way out and pass the ball? Probably. Did he know that he was enabling and facilitating a monster? Doubtful. It's easy to condemn Joe in hindsight. It's equally obvious that Paterno had no clue that Sandusky was doing this at this level or that it continued. Especially after nothing was done initially. A rational, although morally lazy and questionable, response to the lack of action against Sandusky after the McQueery-witnessed incident would be that officials had investigated and determined that no action was necessary. I'm not defending it, I just think that Paterno's guilt in this matter, although present, has been overstated.

It wasn't just McQueery, there were a number of other things mentioned in the grand jury report that JoePa would have had to work hard to avoid including the issues with the janitors. Sandusky was constantly around with young boys. JoePa may not have had a context to put this all into but in his position it was his job to figure it out. If you are going to take the level of control and responsibility he had then you take the consequences that go with that, otherwise you give that control and responsibility to someone who is prepared to handle whatever situation may come up.

 

[Buffsoldier]

My point regarding Joe is that he is not the one who committed the crime.

No question there.

In fact, it appears that he really did not have any concept of what had occurred or what was continuing to occur.

I VEHEMENTLY disagree there. From what I've seen, it was blatantly obvious that he knew there was something REALLY wrong going on, and he did the bare minimum, legally, that he was required to. He did FAR less than the bare minimum, morally, than he was required to.

Did he know that he was enabling and facilitating a monster? Doubtful.

I call BS on that. You don't get to be in that position of power, and let's be honest, while his position was below that of others at the university, his power was absolute in Happy Valley, by being stupid and ignorant of what's going on around you.

It's equally obvious that Paterno had no clue that Sandusky was doing this at this level or that it continued. Especially after nothing was done initially.

No way on this one too. See above, you don't get to be in that position of power by being stupid and clueless. If he had no clue, then it's because he WILLINGLY turned a blind eye to what was going on. The reason behind it? There's a more cloudy situation. The BEST answer would be moral cowardice. The far more sinister answer is sacrificing boys to a pederast in the interests of protecting your legacy and win total. I hope to God it's the former, which is still un-damn-excusable.

A rational, although morally lazy and questionable, response to the lack of action against Sandusky after the McQueery-witnessed incident would be that officials had investigated and determined that no action was necessary.

And this is where his responsibility, as a man, as a human being, REALLY kicks in. When you have someone (McQueery, and I believe there were others. If memory serves, there was a janitor who has passed on 3 or 4 years ago who witnessed another incident in 99. The fact that he didn't report it to the authorities both at penn st. and to the Happy Valley PD, etc, makes him a failure as well) telling you something of this nature, and your bosses don't do anything about it, you have a moral obligation to report it to the authorities. If PSU PD doesn't do anything about it, and from what's available, it certainly seems that Schultz didn't even direct the PSU PD whom he controlled to initiate an investigation, you report it to Happy Valley PD. Joe Paterno utterly and willingly failed his responsibility as a man. And young boys suffered because of it.

I just think that Paterno's guilt in this matter, although present, has been overstated.

Again, completely disagree. If anything, in order to protect his precious legacy and win total (presumably), it's been GROSSLY understated particularly in the media.

 

[Wyo Buff]

No question there.



I VEHEMENTLY disagree there. From what I've seen, it was blatantly obvious that he knew there was something REALLY wrong going on, and he did the bare minimum, legally, that he was required to. He did FAR less than the bare minimum, morally, than he was required to.




I call BS on that. You don't get to be in that position of power, and let's be honest, while his position was below that of others at the university, his power was absolute in Happy Valley, by being stupid and ignorant of what's going on around you.



No way on this one too. See above, you don't get to be in that position of power by being stupid and clueless. If he had no clue, then it's because he WILLINGLY turned a blind eye to what was going on. The reason behind it? There's a more cloudy situation. The BEST answer would be moral cowardice. The far more sinister answer is sacrificing boys to a pederast in the interests of protecting your legacy and win total. I hope to God it's the former, which is still un-damn-excusable.



And this is where his responsibility, as a man, as a human being, REALLY kicks in. When you have someone (McQueery, and I believe there were others. If memory serves, there was a janitor who has passed on 3 or 4 years ago who witnessed another incident in 99. The fact that he didn't report it to the authorities both at penn st. and to the Happy Valley PD, etc, makes him a failure as well) telling you something of this nature, and your bosses don't do anything about it, you have a moral obligation to report it to the authorities. If PSU PD doesn't do anything about it, and from what's available, it certainly seems that Schultz didn't even direct the PSU PD whom he controlled to initiate an investigation, you report it to Happy Valley PD. Joe Paterno utterly and willingly failed his responsibility as a man. And young boys suffered because of it.



Again, completely disagree. If anything, in order to protect his precious legacy and win total (presumably), it's been GROSSLY understated particularly in the media.

Soldier: You are definitely entitled to your opinion and I could not say your take isn't rational. That said, your opinon is based just as much on subjective speculation as mine is. Probably the only one who really knows is being buried today in Happy Valley. It is just difficult for me to believe Joe Paterno would do nothing if he had know the gravity or extent due to his demonstrable history as a coach and person who: (1) ran a model, clean program in the cesspool that is college football; (2) whose players over the last 50 years have uniformly supported him and showered him and his family with love and respect; and (3) who took players into his home, cooked them meals and went the extra step to try to nurture them as human beings. That just does not fit the profile of the monster you describe above. It certainly describes Sandusky. That's my opinion and I respect yours.