Joe Paterno to be honored this Saturday... really? (1 Viewer)

[Hedon James]

Really? Lots of "I believe", hearsay, "he was too senile to remember", and "someone injected the word "sexual" in his mind"?


And seriously, stop bringing up bountygate. It is not a good look for you, to put it mildly.

Not sure what the problem is with me seeing bountygate parallels. I'm not too worried with how it looks for me. It's all perspective, and you're entitled to yours.

From my seat, it's not a good look to insist that Paterno knew things and willfully took place in a cover-up, when it has been demonstrated time and again, in a court of law, under penalty of perjury (another bountygate parallel) that Paterno did, in fact, report what he knew to the appropriate authorities.

I'm not here to convince you. I thought I might be helpful by correcting mis-information. If it's not helpful to have a factual discussion, I'll stop. We seem to generally agree on other topics in other threads. I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. That's fine too...

 

[Hedon James]

This stuff just keeps popping into my news feed, and I guess it will continue until the news cycle dies out. Not sure if I should leave a dying thread alone, or whether to post this link for anyone who doesn't already know all the facts. I guess I figure "what the heck, these aren't my opinions, and facts are facts." And facts are a good thing, IMO, unless they debunk a pre-determined agenda. I'll leave it to others to decide how informative this is, or isn't:

https://bwi.forums.rivals.com/threads/just-the-facts-about-joe-paterno.147223/

 

[LombardiGras]

Are you familiar with that entire case, or just the sensational media snippets that made for excellent TV reporting?

To be clear, what happened at PSU was horrible. And there's no sugar-coating it. People screwed up...PSU screwed up. But not everyone. Mike McQueary saw something and reported it to Paterno. Sandusky did not work for Paterno, nor PSU, and had "emeritus" status with PSU. Paterno had no power over him. It has been proven that Paterno reported what McQueary witnessed to the Athletic Director Curly.

From that point, it is unclear what happened. Athletic Director Curly, PSU President Graham Spanier, and a third party (campus police/security...can't remember the name) are all pointing their fingers at each other saying they believed someone else "handled" the situation. All 3 have been indicted/charged and are to stand trial, although none have seen the inside of a courtroom yet. (side note: really? Sandusky was tried. How long does it take?!) And all 3 are quite content to allow the dead man to take the blame, even though it has been PROVEN that he properly addressed the issue with his superiors. So it isn't clear (yet?!) who is responsible for the cover up, but it wasn't McQueary and it wasn't Paterno.

Could Paterno have done more? Maybe. He's on record as stating he wished he had done more. While he did all he could LEGALLY do, perhaps he could have pushed his superiors harder. But make no mistake, Paterno covered up nothing. The cover-up is with those 3 jokers who have yet to stand trial. To blame Paterno for the Sandusky situation is akin to blaming Benghazi on the soldiers who died there....you know, for not doing more.

If you want to be angry with PSU for covering up, you have a valid point. But to recite the Paterno-blaming suggests to me you're not familiar with the entire case.

I have a similar feeling about all of this. Paterno is being painted with a brush as if he was a child molester.

 

[Twenty]

If I was working with a known pedo, I think I'd go ahead and skip telling my boss in favor of going to the actual police. And I sure as hell wouldn't be buddy buddy with the dude for the next 2 decades.

Saying Paterno "should have done more" is like saying Hitler "should have killed less people".

 

[WhoDatPhan78]

I have a similar feeling about all of this. Paterno is being painted with a brush as if he was a child molester.

How many children got molested because Paterno choose to not put an end to it?

 

[LombardiGras]

How many children got molested because Paterno choose to not put an end to it?

Not saying he handled it properly but the fact is that man didn't molest any kids, and yet people are acting like he is guilty of it. Its weird to me that someone else's crime can be applied to him so completely. I don't understand why people were supposedly telling Paterno about incidents but not going to the police. How would that possibly be an appropriate way to handle the situation? If you're going to blame others for the crime besides the guy who actually did the molesting, then every one of the people who allegedly reported to Paterno but not the police should all be held accountable as if they are guilty of fondling little boys?

 

[Twenty]

Not saying he handled it properly but the fact is that man didn't molest any kids, and yet people are acting like he is guilty of it. Its weird to me that someone else's crime can be applied to him so completely. I don't understand why people were supposedly telling Paterno about incidents but not going to the police. How would that possibly be an appropriate way to handle the situation? If you're going to blame others for the crime besides the guy who actually did the molesting, then every one of the people who allegedly reported to Paterno but not the police should all be held accountable as if they are guilty of fondling little boys?

Yes. Absolutely.

They all knew Sandusky was doing it and they didn't do enough to stop it. Instead, Sandusky continued his vile acts for the better part of 2 decades.

Should we just give those people a pat on the back and a "You Tried" sticker? Everyone involved should be thrown in prison and Paterno should be vilified.

 

[LombardiGras]

If I was working with a known pedo, I think I'd go ahead and skip telling my boss in favor of going to the actual police. And I sure as hell wouldn't be buddy buddy with the dude for the next 2 decades.

Saying Paterno "should have done more" is like saying Hitler "should have killed less people".

Here is a different analogy that I think fits better.

It's like holding Switzerland accountable for genocide because they didn't act to stop Hitler.

 

[Twenty]

Here is a different analogy that I think fits better.

It's like holding Switzerland accountable for genocide because they didn't act to stop Hitler.

It's like letting an accomplice to murder go free because he just helped dispose of the body and didn't pull the trigger.

 

[LombardiGras]

It's like letting an accomplice to murder go free because he just helped dispose of the body and didn't pull the trigger.

I haven't been following the case closely because I have no vested interest in it, so maybe this is a correct analogy if Paterno was actively helping Sandusky cover up crimes as opposed to just turning a blind eye. Yes Paterno should have reported the allegations, absolutely. Still, in my opinion there is an enormous difference between someone who didn't report a possible crime vs someone who actually committed the crime. I can't imagine ever treating someone like a murder just because he did not contact the police after hearing allegations of someone else committing a murder. And that is the conflation that I see happening in this instance.

 

[Twenty]

I haven't been following the case closely because I have no vested interest in it, so maybe this is a correct analogy if Paterno was actively helping Sandusky cover up crimes as opposed to just turning a blind eye. Yes Paterno should have reported the allegations, absolutely. Still, in my opinion there is an enormous difference between someone who didn't report a possible crime vs someone who actually committed the crime. I can't imagine ever treating someone like a murder just because he did not contact the police after hearing allegations of someone else committing a murder. And that is the conflation that I see happening in this instance.

What if you owned a company and all the janitors were dying and you heard from multiple people that one of your employees was the culprit. Would you go to the cops or would you just continue letting janitors die for 10 years?

 

[LombardiGras]

What if you owned a company and all the janitors were dying and you heard from multiple people that one of your employees was the culprit. Would you go to the cops or would you just continue letting janitors die for 10 years?

I've already agreed that Paterno should have gone to the cops, so what's the point of this question? What you should be asking is if it's correct to treat the owner of that company like a serial killer because one of his employees was a serial killer.

 

[Hedon James]

Based on the comments being posted, it's pretty obvious no one is reading anything, but simply reciting all the media facts they're already familiar with. Since when does "media facts" trump court records and police reports?

I get that not everyone will interpret facts the same way. What I don't get is how facts can be outright ignored. I guess you can't force people to research a topic before they comment. My bad...I should've just let this thread die.

 

[Twenty]

I've already agreed that Paterno should have gone to the cops, so what's the point of this question? What you should be asking is if it's correct to treat the owner of that company like a serial killer because one of his employees was a serial killer.

And I answered that question already.

Yes. Absolutely yes.

 

[LombardiGras]

And I answered that question already.

Yes. Absolutely yes.

Well at least you are consistent. Not just, but consistent.