just exactly what was joe paterno supposed to have done ...

after he had separated from joe paterno's coaching staff, paterno was told by another subordinate that this man was witnessed to have done something with a young man in a shower that was inappropriate.

paterno apparently reported this activity to a supervisor in the penn state university bureaucracy.

now the former subordinate to paterno has been charged in a multiple count indictment/information.  and, joe paterno has been fired by penn state university, just days after the story broke.

and, as you might well imagine in these days of pious hysteria manicured and tended by the media until the ratings fall and another hysteria is moved to, the various talking heads, experts, and authorities are excoriating and condemning paterno not for what he did, but, for what he didn't do.  (i have seen no suggestion, for instance, that paterno went to his bureaucratic superior and said, i have heard this, but, i discount it, and i wouldn't look into it were i you, it's just not worth the bother.)

in short, paterno has been put on the gibbet for doing "nothing."  some of the commentators have even characterized his sins as those of "omission" and not "commission," and then gone on to tar & feather and roast paterno alive for his ethical failures.

none that i have read, or heard, have taken sufficient time to consider just what it was that paterno was to have done.  not one of the pious bastards, ... , actually, "impious bastards" seems more suitable to me, ... , has had sufficient native wit to set down in black in white what it is that they think that paterno might have been able to do to ameliorate the situation, or bring it to the scrutiny of the authorities, or to have right wrongs done.  not one, that i have read.  all they do, is accuse him of "nothing."  and, no pun intended, "nothing" encompasses precisely the scope of his "wrong."  he did, nothing.  he "did" nothing "wrong."

just what in the hell was paterno to have done?

shoot the man?

declared his "sins" in public, without further substantiation?

launched a "criminal investigation" against the offender?

"investigated" the matter on his own?

banned the fellow from appearing upon the penn state campus?  on what authority?  on whose authority?

asked a man who was perpetrating the sexual offenses against youngsters whether or not he was doing such things?  in my 25 years of defending and prosecuting such things, i can tell you just how effective that would have been, if you are credulous enough to enough be curious about how that would have gone.

paterno did what he was supposed to have done, and reported it up the chain of command.  and, i am assuming that he did no more.  this may or may not have been regrettable under the circumstances, but, to my mind it is hardly unethical or immoral.  it may have been mistaken.

joe paterno is not allowed to make errors in judgment?  he is given no allowance for human frailty, or ethical or moral credulity & doubt?

apparently not, ... ,  because he is being hung without so much as a pretense to process, or public decency, in this matter.  it is scandalous, that which is being done to him.  at best it is scapegoating of a cynical degree not seen since, well, what, ... , the bill clinton & monica lowinsky affair?  at worst, as directed towards paterno, it is a joyously conducted public witch hunt, carried on with manic zeal.  it is as though little people who suppressed their jealously and animosity for paterno over the years are springing to action with the zeal that can only be fueled by resentment.  and, envy.  and, without the slightest pretense for the truth of the matter.

and, i will be the first one to publicly put the terd in the soup tureen.  i am just the sort of graceless bastard to do it, so it will be done.--

as i am given to understand the matter, this fellow has been charged with over 40 counts of sexual misconduct involving minor boys, stretching over years.  i do not know how the matter came to the light of day to the police and prosecuting authorities, but, i am assuming that they were told by others with direct knowledge of the events, or perhaps the victims came to the authorities and revealed what happened.

so, turd into the soup tureen, here it goes, my question is this.  why did not the victims of this abuse as carried on by this man not report his abusive behaviors/actions/crimes when they happened?  why did the responsibility for doing this somehow devolve onto joe paterno, when those who were victimized and who may have had direct knowledge of these matter did not feel impelled to report it, or do something about it?

if joe paterno knew, or participated in it, then flail him alive and feed him to the crows.  but, failing such a showing & proof, i find this whole show as relates to his lynching to be most disturbing, troubling, and totalling lacking in any moral or ethical justification.

time to lawyer up mr. paterno, and sue the penn state university for every damned dollar they have.

john jay @ 11.10.2011

update:  i have looked at some posts at espn.  the asst. coach who saw the alleged incident taking place in the shower between the perpetrator and the 10 year old boy is identified.  he will be coaching on the sideline for penn. state this weekend, along with a former asst. who has been promoted as paterno's successor.

the "witness," is as big as a hay stack, quite young, and obviously a former lineman/linebacker type.  he is not a frail old man.

he is retained.

paterno, who did not witness the events so far as i am informed, is fired.  he reported it up the line, as did the assistant coach when he reported it to paterno.

does any of this make sense?  end update.

update: please read the comment below, and the link about this that indicates the pennsylvania prosecutor who initially in charge of the case against the alleged perpetrator did not file charges in 1998 because he felt he could not sustain the case, even after investigating with the mother of a victim who was wired.  end update.

update:  please read the comment below, and the link which reports on the grand jury's return.  i direct your attention to the chapter, "victim no. 2, pages 6-13."  the "witness" discussed below reported the incident he saw to paterno.  he also talked to paterno's superior in the administrative chain of command.  paterno reported the incident.  he also talked to his administrative superior, and reported the perpetrator's conduct as inappropriate and presumably of a sexual nature.

i stand by my comments in the above post.   paterno acted as he should have.  period.  he did nothing wrong, and he engaged in no cover up.  he did not aid or abet or encourage the perpetrator in his illegal conduct.  

until i see something in all of this that would change this factual circumstance, i stand by my remarks.  this is a witch hunt, paterno is the whipping boy, and the whole thing as regards paterno strikes me as chickenshit.  period.   end update.

Comments

[Jimmy Pop]

http://media.nbcphiladelphia.com/documents/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf

[Jimmy Pop]

Hi John, here's a link to the web page with the Sandusky Grand Jury pdf file. The other link I posted is a direct download.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/DA-Who-Never-Charged-Sandusky-Has-Been-Missing-Since-2005-133615093.html

[john jay]

jimmy pop:

thank you very much for your comments. and, thank you very much for the links.

readers are directed to "... sandusky-grand-jury-presentment.pdf ... " and specifically to paragraph "second victim," pages 6 through 13 which describes his actions after being informed of sandusky's behavior.

paterno engaged in no cover up, and he did not protect sandusky. and, as far as doing anything else, such as going to the police, paterno witnessed none of this, and would only have been relating "hearsay."

i stand by my remarks in the post.

and, thank you, very much for these links.

messers curly, spanier and shultz did not, however, fulfill their responsibilities to the public, the university and the victims. they did have responsibilities under pennsylvania law to report these matters, and their dismissals are justified.

john jay

[Ralph W. Anderson]

This is a day of great sadness and pain for all of us who love college sports in general, and football in particular. When a great man or woman falls, and make no mistake that Joe Paterno wore the mantle of greatness, it is a tragedy. The Greeks based many of their plays on the fall of the hero, and were aware of the tragedy that carries with it.
I would have gladly sent any son of mine to have played for Joe Paterno. He was as much a hero to me as is Don James, the greatest UW Husky coach. Both won unapologetically, but did not compromise their principles to win. They were teachers of life as well as coaches of football. The young men who played under their tutelage were better in all ways for the experience, with very few exceptions. So what do we do with Joe Paterno before the Nittany Lions take the field in State College to play Nebraska? The school's Board of Directors took the cowardly and disloyal act of sacrificing Joe for systemic things that went far deeper than the head coach.
The young coach who reported the alleged anal rape did the right thing by all accounts. Was he dissuaded from going to the police, or otherwise reporting the crime? I don't know, do you? As a defense attorney who has handled high profile cases for many years, I am fundamentally aware of the hysteria and animosity that such matters engender. As tough cases make bad law, bad situations like this tends to bring out the torches and pitchforks in a crowd looking for easy blame and swift action, due process or fundamental fairness be damned.
I despise Sandusky and his filthy acts done upon young men incapable of knowing consent. While to say the victim's lives were severly damaged is likely very true. To say their lives are ruined is at best speculative and at worst simply untrue. It is bad enough that this despicable coach took advantage of his position of trust to impose himself on pre teen boys. he should spend the rest of his God forsaken life in prison, if the facts support it.
If you swim in the toilet, you probably get covered with shit. Joe did what I understand the law to require. We will know more some day, I hope.
For me, an honorable man was ill treated in the cowardly effort to sweep away a decade of misconduct by one perverted child raper.
Joe deserved better. Much better. Don't our colleges try to teach honor and integrity ahead of expediency and cowardly avoidance of responsibility?
I guess not, at least today, and in this tragic case.
I pray for the welfare of the victims of Sandusky, one of whom is his boss, Joe Paterno.

[john jay]

ralph:

thank you very much for these very well considered comments.

all i can say in reply is "amen, brother."

it is clear that hysteria covered with a bit of expediency ruled the day w/ the p.s.u. trustees.

they knew how the public would respond in support of "joe pa," and they got rid of him because they knew the presence of one who acted correctly would be in bitter contrast to the expediency of the college administration.

thank you very much for this very well thought out letter.

john jay

p.s. good luck to the dawgs this weekend, and may they prevail in what is likely to be a hard fought contest.