it boggles my mind that anybody can defend Paterno, and saying that his firing and enabling are immature and weak do you have any morality left?
Enabling? Really. I'm under the impression that he knew of one allegation and only one allegation until this all recently unfolded. I'm just as disgusted as anyone else that his happened. But you guys are acting like Paterno was standing there witnessing/participating in the felony crimes.
No, I am a cold, heartless, cynical bastard. It is horrible what was done but I don't see a reason to vilify him based on what has been reported. I see this as a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. I think that if he had went around his superiors and went to LE then there would have been a shit storm for not following school policies. Just like there is a shit storm for following school policies and not going to LE directly.
No, i'm standing here acting like he knew something and didn't do everything in his power to make it right. And if you're defense is he only knew of one allegation - that's still one too many. and what really, really fucking pisses me off is that he knew of this one allegation long before many of the other allegations came out. He could've helped to prevent future attacks on children. End of story.
I agree. I don't think it really would have mattered either way cause the upper people would have done the same thing....paid off someone and swept the rug.
disagree 100%. Paterno was Penn State. He had the reputation and the ability to DO THE RIGHT THING. Are you trying to tell me that they would fire the winningest coach in Div1 history because he reported to the authorities that children were being raped? Seriously? edit - allegedly being raped
There's not 100% proof that he knew about it after the first time. My morals are not in question here. You can't just state someone is guilty without 100% proof, which there is none. Again, you're jumping to conclusions without proof. According to documents, he did everything he was obligated to do.
No Paterno didn't. The AD and the higher ups did. Paterno got caught in the middle and is taking the blame.
If he had reported it to both his superiors and LE(like you say he should have), there would have been hell to pay. It might not have been public, but he would have paid for it somehow. The people who are now being outed as hiding it would have had his head and he would have "retired" years ago.
one more http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/sandusky-investigator-center-mystery/story?id=14905668#.Trv1nHLqLbw All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
I didn't say that. He reported it to people he trusted when they said it was being handled and taken care of. He would have probably lost his job no matter what he did.
he may have been fired or forced into retirement, but he could have potentially prevented future rapings. Maybe it's just me, but that's worth my job. That's worth just about anything I can give / do. Give me hell to pay, at least I go to sleep with a clean conscience at night. Are you all telling me you'd sleep sound at night if you knew anything about this and didn't do everything in your power to stop it?
I think he should be charged as an accessory to child rape. I bet it would stick, too. Ok, when I see some guy raping one of you on the street, I'll be sure to tell my land lord. He'll tell me it's "Taken care of" problem solved, and case closed!
Sandusky was associated with the Penn State program in some form or fashion for 15 years after the first KNOWN incident. Don't give me this bullshit that he reported it and handled it and did everything he was supposed to.
It's kind of like dang what do I do....I'm not sure what to do. Hey Dad what do I do. *Dad* this isn't right...son I'll handle it. Well I'm gonna trust my Dad to handle it because well....he's my Dad. Poor example but I'm sure Paterno had a similar trust in the freaking AD of Penn St.
I'm not stating he's guilty of child rape. I'm stating he's guilty of knowing something about and allowing the perpetrator to still walk the streets every day. Whether that's criminally negligent or not, it's a very high form of moral negligence. I hope he nightmares of whatever scene he knows about for the rest of his life.
That's what confuses me about cool's argument: He just stated "if he took further action it could've prevented more". If he took an action, nothing else would have happened to the victims. He didn't take an action, more happened to the victims. This is the whole basis for negligence, "a reasonable person would have acted in a way". You state yourself that you would have done more
It is deplorable what the guy did. It is deplorable that the administration of the school did nothing to stop it. Paterno was fucked the second it was reported to him that someone saw it. If I trusted the people that told me that it was being handled, I would not lose sleep. If their investigation came up with nothing(legit or not), it is hard to fire/prosecute the perpetrator. I personally care about the why. Why did they cover it up? Why did they let the guy stay? What about him made them do this?
mutliple allegations, multiple witnesses... the guy was still affiliated with the program 15 years later. There's no defending that.
Something to remember is that as long as the AD and higher ups were covering it up, LE would have had a hard to impossible time actually making anything stick or finding the truth. The real blame should go to those that covered it up and not the guy who just didn't report it to LE as well as the AD.
I personally think that the entire football staff should get the axe as well as the AD and president of the school and anyone else that would have known something. I would have let Paterno stay till after this season was done and let him retire though.
The AD, president and vice president of football operations stepped down this past weekend. The president of the school was fired with Paterno. I think anybody that was associated with this in any form or fashion should be fired. Not down the road, now. By letting them finish out the year you're essentially telling them it's okay to hide child rapists, just make sure you have a back up plan come next year.
oh, also, incase you didn't know, Sandusky isn't behind bars right now...he's still walking the streets as a free man at this very moment.
Very well. I don't think he hid anything. He did report it. He just didn't report it to everyone that people think he should have reported it to. A mistake? Probably so in hindsight, but not one to vilify him over.
Do they have enough proof and witnesses and victims to do that? If they have victims and eye witnesses, why is he not in prison and why are they vilifying Paterno?
not vilifying Paterno, though I think he should've retired years ago, he was still a pinnacle coach in college football. I just want him held accountable. He paid his $75k bond, turned over his passport, along with all of the higher ups at Penn State.
Not true. Just because you report something doesn't mean action will be taken. I know this for a FACT.
And if you know that the appropriate action was not taken, its up to you morally, ethically, and professionally to go higher and make sure the correct actions are taken Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk
govt scandals and cover ups? sure. You're talking about a university that commits tens of thousands of kids each year. To know that the same university is harboring people who molest kids? Yeah, action should've been taken. They thought they could hide it and get away with it. They thought they could cover it up. Period.
Now you want to get up in arms about something, why do people who commit violent crimes get bond and bail to get out of prison? I don't think that is right. He now has been held accountable for not reporting to more than the AD. He lost his job. The media will continue to make him out to be more responsible than he was in the whole mess. As far as I can tell, people are pissed that he didn't go to the police directly. I don't see an issue with this as he was told by people he trusted that it would be looked into and dealt with. I just think it is wrong that he is being treated the way he is in the media. In hindsight he realizes that he should have not trusted the AD to do what the AD said he was going to do and took care of things himself. That is also the great advantage of hindsight and I am sure he regrets it. If Paterno reported it and was told it would be investigated and then told the investigation found nothing, what is he supposed to do?
I say this because my wife works in DSS. You have no idea the types of reports they have to deal with daily. And how many of those reports are JUST like Paterno's situation. But with no proof and no evidence nothing happens. Nothing CAN happen. It's the downfall of evil vs good or should I say our system. Point to be made.....the Tot Mom scandal. She walked. I believe she guilty. But they couldn't PROVE a dang thing with what they were presented. I can't fault the jury at their decision.
If the AD and others were willing to lie to Paterno, do you really think they would have told the truth to LE? That is one hell of an assumption to make. Just because LE is involved does not mean that those people would all of a sudden be honest.