Tuesday, November 8, 2011

say it ain’t so, Joe….

Chicken Little was right.  The sky is falling. 

Amid the sex scandal surrounding the Penn State football program, and the apparent cover up by university officials, Joe Paterno finds himself in the middle of something that none of us could have imagined.

That one of his coaches, Jerry Sandusky,  was caught in the middle of a sex act with a young boy in the showers of the Penn State football complex, and the reporting of this act up the managerial ladder, including Paterno, exemplifies the hand washing of everyone involved.

Call the police?  That would be embarrassing.

The stench is palpable.  Much like the Catholic Church cover up, officials at Penn State are lawyering up.  They’re  circling the wagons.  They’re setting up protective layers to cocoon what was once a beacon of integrity.

Too bad the kids couldn’t lawyer up while they were being raped.  Too bad the kids couldn’t speak for fear of reprisals.  Too bad, these kids are scarred for life.

I’m not agruing that Paterno was personally involved, but that he turned his head, that he didn’t do enough, that he allowed this act to continue going forward without going to the authorities when it became apparent his superiors didn’t.

Paterno?  Really, Joe Paterno?  He’s the guy who stood for something, who meant what he said, a man you could trust.  He was different. 

Things seem to be upside down.  It’s as if Mount Rushmore turned out to be Hitler, bin Laden, Stalin, and Pol Pot.  What’s good is bad.   Up is down.  In is out.  Black is white. 

2 comments:

  1. the crazy passion for football (and of course, religion) makes the beneficiaries do $elf-serving acts.

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  2. ...and just like the Catholic Church; once 'the wheels of damage control' is set into motion, all will be forgotten or forgiven over time. One has to wonder where our Society is headed. -Brenda- aka mrsben

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