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Outside of a small circle of Penn State football friends

Outside of a small circle of Penn State football friends

The Penn State football scandal is the Kitty Genovese scandal of our time.

Of all the unimaginable things, can you imagine a 28 year old walking in on a child rape in progress and doing nothing to stop it?

I don’t mean to turn this into Phil Ochs Day, but Phil wrote a song about the Genovese case, Outside of a Small Circle of Friends, which applies to Penn State, which seemed not to care about anyone outside of its small circle of football friends:

Look outside the window, there’s a woman being grabbed
They’ve dragged her to the bushes and now she’s being stabbed
Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain
But Monopoly is so much fun, I’d hate to blow the game
And I’m sure it wouldn’t interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.

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Comments

So, is it cowardice that makes a school official ignore the illegal alien in their classroom (but take immediate action when there is an out-of-district child there) ?
School officials have a problem differentiating between a discipline problem and a crime. When in doubt, it’s not a crime. The Educational/Academic Complex has carved out a niche for themselves where they get to make the rules.
Why would anybody expect Penn State to act any differently ?

Incomprehensible how McQueary could live with himself after seeing a child being raped and running away from the scene. I’d bet that Sandusky told that kid afterwards “see, nobody will stop me, nobody will help you.” Sandusky, McQueary, Paterno, they’re all despicable. Now it seems that Penn State may have been run for the benefit of NAMBLA types or may have been run by NAMBLA types.

The trendy phrase “teachable moment” almost makes me gag, but if ever there were a teachable moment, this is one.

The students’ riot after Paterno was fired was as disturbing as the OWS crowd’s madness.

I like to teach my children by example, but one thing I do make a point to talk to them about is always to do the right thing, no matter how unpopular it may make them.

Look at McQueary. He sacrificed a child for fear of what? Losing his future as a coach at Penn State.

Well, now he has lost that anyway … and much, much more. I feel I could not live with myself if I were to accidentally be the cause of great harm or death to someone.

(Hit submit by accident)

But to walk away from stopping evil? How can he live with himself?

What’s happening to the younger generation? It is truly scary.

Zelsdorf Ragshaft III | November 12, 2011 at 3:52 pm

I fail to understand the anger at Paterno. He is the recipient of hearsay evidence a day after the event in which the witness did nothing to stop what he saw, let alone notify authorities. Seems to me Paterno did what he was required to do and since the information he had was second hand, what was he supposed to say? Should he have called the police to tell them someone told him of something they say they saw? Paterno reported what he heard to those who’s job it was to investigate yet somehow he is given a responsiblity he does not own.

    You are accepting as true various facts not yet in evidence. Take your time and analyze what happened accurately. “Hearsay” is not in play because this is not a court trial. It is life. Life where Paterno is the big cheese. And where an eye-witness, [so not hearsay] reports a crime.

    Further: the subordinate reports a potentially heinous crime. [Or what to normal people should be a crime]. Today Joe says he doesn’t remember the “details”. [Just set that memory problem aside for a moment]. Joe waits 24 hours to pass the crime report along to two superiors in his chain of command. He doesn’t have the subordinate do it, nor take him with him to provide details during the report. It is a verbal report in his own words. Here, if it were a trial, would be the “hearsay”. [Again, Joe has vague memory recall].

    Nothing further happens except the alleged perpetrator, who has a history of being one of Joe’s favorite former staff members, remains on the school site access list for several more years. Without Joe apparently having another thought about it.

    If this had happened at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA, and the late Steve Jobs were playing the role of Joe Paterno, Apples board would have been subject to billions and billions of dollars in settlements if they had failed to sack the late Mr. Jobs – if the facts had been the same.

    Ergo, if it’s right for business, it’s right for football. In my view he should have been suspended immediately and removed from campus access, then subject to an internal investigation and sacked if the charges were found true.

    The vague memory problem would only acerbate the charges, in my view.

    Frak the legal BS. What about the MORAL responsibility to make sure this was followed up on?

    Every stinking one of those on the food chain should be fired and charges filed. And howdy doody should be flogged in the shower room with cable access beamed across the entire country.

    Imagine if Paterno were a bishop of the Church of Rome. Would you not DEMAND that he contact the police instead of handling the pedophilia internally? Paterno could have acted by picking up the phone and calling the cops because a CHILD’S LIFE was at stake. Paterno didn’t. For the sake of football. Despicable.

    SoCA Conservative Mom in reply to Zelsdorf Ragshaft III. | November 13, 2011 at 2:51 pm

    Paterno demanded 100% from his players on the field, yet he failed to give 100% in life. Anyone who doesn’t come to the defense of a child (McQ) or continue following up when they know of something sexual occurring between an adult and a child (Paterno) has failed at life.

DINORightMarie | November 12, 2011 at 3:54 pm

Aahhh! That explains the Phil Ochs post earlier……I hadn’t heard of him before. Was he a folk singer during the 60’s? Sounds like he was an anti-hippie type, from these songs.

Interesting. Intriguing.

I am, as are most, appalled by the Penn State tragedy. NAMBLA will hopefully be set back for a LONG time from this! However, I feel that McQueary did what he was supposed to do…….he told his authorities. Back when this all first occurred, he may have been told that they would “take care of everything” – I can only imagine how hard it must have been to continue to work with Sandusky knowing that things hadn’t been “taken care of” by his fellow coaching members.

But, of course, that is his why he is paying now. In spades. This is the type of thing that could lead to someone becoming suicidal, bearing so much guilt. I read that he was drinking “with both fists” so I am pretty sure he is suffering from deep guilt and regret.

Now, I am not excusing him, nor defending his lapse in judgement which led to so many boys suffering unimaginable abuse. But of all the coaching staff, who apparently ALL knew about this and did nothing, I hope McQueary realizes now he didn’t do enough, but can do something now to make some small atonement for his sins. Telling the truth, holding nothing back, and doing what he can in future to aid boys who have been abused would be a start.

Also – what about the prosecuting attorney who didn’t prosecute Sandusky, and has now disappeared – no body, no explanation….why?! That is a mystery that has ominous implications, IMHO. Did he get paid off, then killed off? Who knows…….but it is suspicious at best.

This will get worse, much worse, before all the answers are known. I pray for the victims, their families, and those who are so desperately twisted that they would favor football wins over the safety of innocent children.

    LukeHandCool in reply to DINORightMarie. | November 12, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    Chances are Mr. McQueary is otherwise a nice fellow. But, if what should be painfully obvious as to what to do in a case like this is not, then maybe it should be consciously taught.

    Life isn’t fair. And sometimes a horrible curve ball might be thrown your way. It’s unfortunate that Mr. McQueary, who wasn’t looking for trouble, happened to have that awful, life-changing moment as a witness thrust upon him.

    But if that happens (and I’m talking about the severity of the crime here … I’m not talking about him giving up his assured future as a coach at Penn State because he witnesses a legendary part of the program shoplifting in a supermarket or something … kleptomania is one thing … raping a child quite another) you have to instinctively do what is right.

    We can’t afford to have young people who will walk away from stopping a horrific crime in progress because it might mean they might lose their nice job. I don’t care how big the program is and how towering the figure … we’re talking about the rape of a child.

    I do wish him well and hope he has the ability to find peace through atonement. It’s not fair that he had to be the one to witness this … but if that happens, you have to step up to the plate no matter what the consequences to your career.

    All who knew about this failed miserably. You can not pass the buck on something like this.

    Screw all the PC-do-not-offend-or-judge-anyone BS teaching our kids get in school. It turns our kids into the selfish morons who rioted at the firing of a football coach!!

    Equip kids with the moral teaching of what to do in the case of something like this. You see a kid in the process of being raped, you intervene … you don’t stop to think about your career or the institution’s reputation or how unpopular you might become in the community.

    LukeHandCool (who thinks popularity is the most overrated thing in the world … easy for him maybe, as he’s always been a bit of a loner).

Has anyone considered what the response would have been if the scum had been caught with a 10 year old girl, instead of 10 year old boy?

Haven’t homosexual actions become politicaly exempt from judgement?

Not excusing the lack of immediate action, just wondering if we are not suffering yet another example of political correctness run afoul morals

    DINORightMarie in reply to iowan2. | November 12, 2011 at 4:26 pm

    You mentioned the one taboo word that no MSM or PC type will say: homosexual.

    Just as with the Catholic priests abusing boys, no one pointed out the obvious, that these are homosexual acts against innocent boys. Homosexual child abuse.

    The scandal is focused on child abuse, not that this man is a homosexual with a fetish for young boys. Sick.

    PC is a dangerous strangulation of free speech, and moral foundations.

    To answer your first question, I don’t know. I would most certainly hope so. And the answer to the second question is most definitely yes; horrifyingly yes.

    But the sacrosanct “h” word won’t be mentioned. Just watch.

      Juba Doobai! in reply to DINORightMarie. | November 13, 2011 at 4:32 am

      It won’t be mentioned cuz the current trend is to split hairs and use only pedophilia. They hope we won’t remember that NAMBLA is part of the homosexual movement: “sex before eight, or else it’s too late,” and that homosexuals generally are quite supportive of NAMBLA. After all, when you’re not a breeder, you have to get your toys from someplace, eh, and that’s what NAMBLA is for: to make sure that there are sufficient subjects for anonymous bath-house sex.

    Excellent, excellent point. How many persons out there would be reluctant to report this because they could be accused of “homophobia”? Our society is reaping what “political correctness” has sown.

I can’t even imagine a 28 year old walking in on a child rape in progress. Let alone doing nothing to stop it.

Well, as long as it’s not “rape-rape”, and the civil case is settled equitably, there should be no long term ramifications for the child, and surely not for society. So, if the individual has made a valuable contribution to some industry of choice, then they should be defended and released without suffering further punishment.

This is one deviant… No, this is two behaviors we should probably not normalize.

    ThomasD in reply to n.n. | November 13, 2011 at 2:02 pm

    I have the same issue, it is just inconceivable that you could just walk away. Unless…

    Unless you were, in some way, already mentally prepared for the possibility of encountering something involving Sandusky.

    I think, by that point, it was common knowledge among at least some of the coaching staff at PSU that there was an issue, ongoing and purposefully being avoided. Maybe McQueary didn’t know the full extent of it, but upon being confronted with the explicit truth, he knew he was in a bind.

    That’s why he fled the scene and called his dad – he recognized the conflict – either do what his conscience called for, or what he thought the Program wanted. He tired passing the buck – hoping that his dad would tell him to do the right thing. Then he’s not making the decision to bring it all crashing down, he’s just being a good son doing the right thing.

    Instead, his dad read the situation wrong. He thought the voice on the phone was his son in danger from the Program, and he told his son to protect himself.

    Just why was McQueary there at that specific time? What was it that led him near the showers at that moment? I seriously doubt Sandusky was so bold as to be doing at a time when he knew there would be much traffic in the area. Was it truly a totally accidental coincidence, or was McQueery in reality trying to allay his own concerns?

    This is also tells you why Joe Paterno didn’t want to know the explicit details in his first conversation with McQueery – that tells you Joe already knew everything.

Science fiction writer John Scalzi’s post is well worth reading. The story he refers to is worth searching out.

In the end, a 28 year old literally doing nothing in this case is not as reason-defying as the two policemen who returned 14 year old Konerak Sinthasomphone to the custody of Jeffery Dahmer because they thought the two were engaged in a “loving, homosexual relationship.”

It appears America has been fundamentally changed over the last generation…

In the early morning hours of May 27, 1991, 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone (by coincidence, the younger brother of the boy whom Dahmer had molested) was discovered on the street, wandering naked, heavily under the influence of drugs and bleeding from his rectum. Two young women from the neighborhood found the dazed boy and called 911. Dahmer chased his victim down and tried to take him away, but the women stopped him. Dahmer told police that Sinthasomphone was his 19-year-old boyfriend, and that they had an argument while drinking. Against the protests of the two women who had called 911, police turned him over to Dahmer. They later reported smelling a strange scent while inside Dahmer’s apartment, but did not investigate it. The smell was the body of Tony Hughes, Dahmer’s previous victim, decomposing in the bedroom. The two policemen did not make any attempt to verify Sinthasomphone’s age and failed to run a background check that would have revealed Dahmer was a convicted child molester still under probation. Later that night, Dahmer killed and dismembered Sinthasomphone, keeping his skull as a souvenir.

What amazes me with all the talk about what people say they would do when faced with this or a similar situation is how “heroic” everyone thinks they would be. It may not seem heroic to stop a crime in progress, but I suspect it’s much harder to act and do the right thing, esp. when one’s economic interest is on the line. Heroic behavior is so extraordinary because it is so rare.
I have never been to Penn State. Folks seem to assume JoePa as some all present, all knowing micromanager of all things Penn State. Maybe so, but I sort of doubt it. Sure he had power and influence there, but what was the basis of that power? Secret files on everyone? Again, unlikely. His power and influence is based on the accomplishments of his teams, year after year, and the $$$ that those teams have brought to the University.

Every large organization has its areas of reponsibilities, and why this fell down so badly at Penn State is the biggest mystery/tragedy. JoePa reported what was reported to him; he had every expectation that those folks would do their job. Was Sandusky such a big deal that he could not have been safely tossed under the bus? Why was the investigation so pathetic? I have to think some of Iowan2 argument has merit here, sad to say.

Almost unrelated, tho maybe not really, I sense an undercurrent of glee in some in seeing JoePa taken down. If you didn’t pay close attention you would think he was the molester.

    Thoughts along these lines have been crossing my mind, but you expressed them much better than I would have.

    My impression is that many people are feeling pent-up frustration and rage, and they seize the opportunity to release them when a pretext presents itself. I don’t claim immunity from this.

    bob aka either orr in reply to TheChemist. | November 13, 2011 at 2:15 am

    You make some good points, my friend. (See my post below for a major rant).
    Addressing your points: Paterno’s “power” came from the loyal base of support he has had from alumni and students for (1) producing very good and sometimes great football teams; (2) setting the behavioral and academic standards high for the athletes in his charge; and (3) his energy and personal financial commitment to other aspects of the university. How many football coaches make a seven-figure seed money commitment for a library expansion? BTW, Paterno probably never made more than $1.5 million in a year, including salary, broadcast deals, etc. That’s cheap for a highly successful big-revenue coach.
    I don’t know as Iowan2’s arguments are really in play here that much. Child sexual abuse is child sexual abuse… period. Male, female, it doesn’t really matter… it’s still sick, sick, sick.
    There are a bunch of $64,000 questions out there in this case. The biggies: Why did the AD and VP wait 10 days to talk to the grad assistant after Paterno told the AD? And why did they recommend only that they ban the pederast from bringing boys to the campus… a ban that the AD admitted under oath was unenforcable?
    Figure those two out and you get a lot closer to the truth here. I have my thoughts… and they’re so sickening that I don’t even want to discuss them.

bob aka either orr | November 13, 2011 at 1:56 am

This is going to run long, folks. Bear with me.

I’m part of a Penn State family. I have a wife with a degree (elementary/special education), and two kids working toward their degrees there (one in logistics management, one in recreation management). They have gotten and are in the process of getting a damned good education… which, after all, is what post-secondary schooling is supposed to be about.

Now they’re all cretins and worse because of a pedarast run amok and a couple of dozen drunken louts?

If you get the idea that I’m hissed off, you’re right.

I’m hissed off that a bunch of kids were turned into a pederast’s playtoys.

I’m hissed off that Jerry Sandusky is allowed to walk the streets and still collect a fat PSU pension.

I’m hissed off that the only person who publicly expressed any contrition about this nightmare on College Avenue is the only person forcibly severed from his employment — Paterno. University president Spanier is allowed to submit his resignation (forced to do it, sure, but he was allowed to do it); Curley, the AD who is charged with lying to the grand jury, is on administrative leave (with full pay!); Schultz, the VP who supervised the campus police, is allowed to retire.

The Chemist said it well. The way it’s being reported, you’d think Paterno himself was the molester.

I’m hissed off that the actions of about three dozen drunked-up bozos is being characterized as the actions of an entire community, while little is said about the 10,000 or so PSU students who showed up for a vigil Friday night. Probably most of you outside of a couple of Pa. markets didn’t see anything about that. You can go here: http://wearecentralpa.com/wtaj-news-fulltext/?nxd_id=322037

Yes, that is my daughter in this clip and I’m damned proud of her for doing the right thing.

I’m hissed off that due process has been thrown out the window. Yeah, this is appalling. I want to string Sandusky up myself and hang him from a light post on College Avenue. And don’t give me crap about “what about the victims?”

I want — no, I demand — that those victims get justice… done the right way. We all should. Those who did wrong should pay the price.

But performing another injustice in a frantic stampede to judgment in an attempt to correct a grave injustice does no justice at all. For anyone.

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