Thursday, November 10, 2011

Perversion At Penn State And The Search For Scapegoats

Gerald Sandusky maybe one of the most dangerous men in America if sexual abuse of young boys charges filed by a Pennsylvania grand jury are even remotely true.
The former Penn State football player and assistant coach has been indicted on 40 counts of sex crimes against young boys (all under 18 years old) over a period of at least 15 years if not more. And almost worst is the fact that Mr. Sandusky started a charity for underprivileged, foster children known as The Second Mile back in 1977.
One can only wonder now if that was but a front for Mr. Sandusky to find young boys to have his way with, sexually.
The indictment here is graphic and NSFW.
Mr. Sandusky's alleged perverion even reached the man he hoped to succeed one day as the Penn State head football coach, Joe Paterno.
But it does not end with Mr. Paterno.
The athletic director, Tim Curley. The director of finance, Gary Schultz. The University president, Graham Spanier.
But a strange turn of events has occurred.
Mr. Paterno and Mr. Spanier were fired last night. Yet Mr. Curley and Mr. Schultz are on administrative leave.
Mr. Paterno and Mr. Spanier are not charged with a crime.
Yet Mr. Curley and Mr. Schultz are charged with failure to report an incident.
So, my question is why is Mr. Paterno and Mr. Spanier taking the fall while those that were told and allegedly did nothing are still employed by the university.
Because there has to be a scapegoat.
Or in this case, two scapegoats.
After all, in reading the indictment, Mr. Paterno did report to his superiors the incident in which the graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, told Mr. Paterno about an incident. The incident in question was Mr. McQueaey allegedly saw Mr. Sandusky engaging in anal intercourse in a shower on campus. In the indictment, Mr. McQueary notified Mr. Paterno and in turn he notified his immediate superior, Mr. Curley.
But when you read the indictment, you realize that Mr. Curley and Mr. Schultz did not do the kind of follow up that they were supposed to do.
Again, those two men are still employed by the university.
Mr. Paterno is sullied for life because he did the right thing.
The real question is did Mr. Paterno do enough?
That is where I would say he should have done some follow up. But, what about the one who told Mr. Paterno, Mr. McQueary? Did he not try to see what was done?
A lot of people really failed these young boys. At some level, yes even someone like Mr. Paterno could have done more.
But again, why is he the one fired?
Because he is the easy scapegoat.
And I suppose that Mr. Spanier is as well. Because after all, he was the university president and should have known better, right?
I certainly do not condone the riots done last night in reaction to the Paterno firing. After all, he decided to retire before the university board of trustees got their first scalp.
But the legal system must do its thing. And two other men need to be fired now. They would be Mr. Curley and Mr. Schultz.
Looking for temporary scapegoats makes things only maybe temporarily better. It does not begin to do justice for those boys forever harmed by this man, Sandusky.
If any of the charges against Mr. Sandusky are true, he is one sick dude.
But the witch hunt and the CYA* is worse than seeking true justice.

*CYA-Covering Your A--.

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