vs. these two assholes:
But this Penn State matter is very divisive. But let's be very clear. Brought and I are 100 percent right* and Gap and Stupid Fox are 100 percent wrong.
* - to be clear this post is my opinion, not Brought's, he can speak for himself
/takes off scumbag hat and puts on serious cap
Let me be clear. I have no idea whether Joe Paterno did something thaat justifies his firing. I can outline numerous scenarios in which he deserves serious consequences, including being immediately fired or criminally charged. I can also outline numerous scenarios where he doesn't. There is too much we don't know. What was he told? What did he understand? What did he believe? After he passed the information to his superiors, what did they tell him then and what did they tell him after. Did he follow up? What did they tell him when he followed up? What did he know about Sandusky before the incident and for the last ten years? Why was Sandusky fired? Why was he allowed to continue to have access to Penn State facilities? Who made that decision? Who knew this? Why did prosecutors look at Sandusky two different times and decline to charge him with anything? The answers to these questions and many more will dictate what should happen to Paterno. And that is why the actions of the Trustees should be condemned: they didn't know the answers to these questions and rather then do even the most summery of investigations they fired the man.
Joe Paterno literally built that university into what it was. Not just the football porogram. Penn State would be academically irrelevant without the support of that football program. He gave his life for 60 years to make that school what it was. If he covered up a horrible crime or ignored it, he deserved to be fired immediately, regardless of what he had done for that school. But for his 60 years of service, he at least deserved for someone to find out whether he did something that merited being fired before they fired him.
The Trustees did no investigation. They relied on a grand jury report, which has very little to do with Paterno and really has no weight anyway. I am a lawyer. A grand jury report has zero weight. New York State chief judge Sol Wachtler famously said that a grand jury would 'indict a ham sandwich,' if that's what you wanted. Grand jury proceedings are a joke. It is just a prosecutor presenting enough of a case so he can get an indictment (i.e. bring charges). The other side doesn't get to present anything. It is in the subsequent trial when the facts come out. So based on what amounts to ma meaningless report with no evidentiary weight that wasn't even about Paterno, the Trustees fired him. They didn't even ask him what happened before they did.
And let's look at the Trustees. They are the ones ultimately responsible. They are in charge. They appoint the administration. They set policies. Yet I didn't see all of them resign. No, they fired Paterno for one reason: not because it was the right thing to do, not because they knew he shared in the blame, but because they are trying to save their own ass. It was a PR move to appease the national media. And you don't end a legend's 60 year old career, one of the most respected men in all sports and in the state, on a PR whim. Maybe when all the facts come out, it will turn out Paterno deserved to be fired. But hat doesn't exonerate the Trustee's actions. That is like saying if I walk outside and shoot a random stranger in the face that I am exonerated if it turns out that guy was a serial killer. People deserve due process before they are punished. Sandusky will get due process. Paterno did not.
The victims, those accused, the Penn State community, and the public at large deserve a full investigation. Only then can we have a full understanding of what happened, make sure the Right people face consequences, and make sure it never happens again. The Trustee's actions only made that harder. Why should Paterno cooperate with them now? He shouldn't. The only reason he had to cooperate with them was to salvage his job and leave with dignity. They took that and so why should he expose himself to potential civil and criminal liability to help them?
The ONLY argument I have heard in support of him being fired is that if he was on the sidelines this Saturday that it would send a horrible message to to the victims. Except that isn't true. Says the actual victims. Let me quote from their lawyer who is a lawyer and member of an organization dedicated to counseling child sex abuse victims:
The board of trustees got it wrong. They should have consulted the victims before making a decision on Mr. Paterno," Ben Andreozzi said. "They should have considered these victims watch TV and are aware of the students' reaction and may not want to be associated with the downfall of Mr. Paterno. The school instead elected to do what it felt was in its own best interest at the time. Isn’t that what put the school in this position in the first place? "The way the Board reached its decision raises more concerns than the decision itself. There is no indication the Board considered the impact of the decision on the abuse victims," Andreozzi continued. "The school let the victims down once, and I think they owed it to the victims to at least gauge how the immediate termination decision would impact them as opposed to Mr. Paterno's resignation at the end of the year. These victims do not live in a bubble.
So, let's be clear. The Trustees not only didn't speak to Paterno they didn't even consult with the victims. The Trustees didn't act in the interest of the victims, they acted in their own self- interest. As the victims' lawyer said, that is exactly what caused this mess in the first place.
I really hope those victims get justice and I hope the persons responsible are punished. But the firing of Paterno right now only harmed that goal, it didn't help it. We shouldn't be condemning Paterno, at least not yet. We should be condemning the University however, who unquestionably is responsible and who now is more concerned about saving their own asses even if it means throwing a possibly innocent man under the bus.
Also, I never read that book.
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