Saturday Night Live - Weekend Update: Really!?! - Video - http://www.nbc.com
It links directly to NBC so you have to wait through a brief ad but your computer won't be infected with a virus. So anyway, "Really?!?" was the only thing I could think when I heard about students RIOTING at Penn State to protest the firing of Joe Paterno. In case my blog is your only link the to the real world (in which case you are seriously in trouble), Joe Paterno was the head coach of Penn State's football team for roughly 834 years. Nine years ago graduate assistant Mike McQueary witnessed then-defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky engaging in anal-sex with a TEN-YEAR-OLD BOY. Oops, I'm sorry, "allegedly." I'm not going to sugarcoat it or use any euphemisms for what McQueary witnessed. I'm not going to say "assault" or "inappropriateness." In my opinion doing so minimizes the horrible, vicious, disgusting and depraved thing that happened to that child.
McQueary witnessed this and then, instead of intervening or even notifying the police, called his father and then told his boss, Joe Paterno. Apparently within the letter of the law Paterno notified school administrators and that was the end of the story. Well, not the end of the story as far as the young boys who continued to be raped were concerned, but as far as Joe Paterno was concerned.
I got some of my facts from an article written by Gene Wojciechowski entitled The tragedy of Joe Paterno. Really?!? The tragedy of Joe Paterno? I see nothing tragic for him in this story. I see a man who showed massive, massive misjudgement and perhaps a large heaping of egocentrism. I see a man who put the needs of his organization above the need to protect children from a predator. In all that I certainly do not see tragedy for Joe Paterno. Oh, and one more thing Mr. Wojciechowski. "Alleged misconduct"? (Emphasis added.) Really?!? Let's try, "alleged rape" or at least "alleged sexual assault." But good job choosing language that completely belittles the seriousness of what "allegedly" happened.
As far as those students who are rioting: really?!? Are you stupid? Are you completely mentally deficient? Joe Paterno deserves to be fired for his shameful inaction. McQueary deserves to at least be fired and hopefully not get another decent night's sleep until the day he dies. What they did is wrong, and I don't care that neither of them broke the law by not notifying police. If you care more about your college team than doing what is right then you have your priorities 100% out-of-line. This line came from another source but is completely appropriate for these circumstances:
"Blaming individuals for their unacceptable, unprofessional behavior is an excellent solution. We even have a special word for that solution. The word is "accountability." ...Professionals...should be held personally accountable for their failings."Ladies and gentleman, Joe Paterno failed. The Penn State administrators failed. (For the record, Graham Spanier, Penn State's President was also fired, but I don't think the protesters are up in arms about that.) Paterno has been held him accountable whether you like it or not. To those who are protesting, take a long hard look at the ugly truth, the secrets and lies, within Penn State's football team. And decide where responsibility begins and ends if it was your child being raped in that shower.
3 comments:
I'm going to apologize for my language in advance...
This whole Penn Staters sticking up for anyone or anything involved in this whole thing makes me fucking sick. I hate the majority of this fucking planet right now.
I have a girlfriend (a former Penn Stater) that re-posted a note from another former Penn Stater on FB talking about how they understand that this whole mess is fucked up and blah blah blah, but how they still have pride in their school and will rebuild and ARE PENN STATE blah blah blah fucking blah. I considered unfriending her for a moment, because seriously, who the fuck cares what former Penn Staters think about what's going on when they're not even really fucking talking about WHAT FUCKING HAPPENED?!
NO ONE FUCKING CARES ABOUT YOUR FUCKING SCHOOL! All us sane people care about is that children were RAPED and that their RAPIST was protected by the most fucked up people on the fucking planet. NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU!
Ugh, forgive me while I have a coronary and start clearing out my friends list. This should never have been allowed to happened. I wish everyone involved in any way, shape or form, was able to be brought to trial and then sent to jail where THEY were hopefully raped for the remainder of their lives just so they could feel a tiny bit of the amount of pain and trauma these YOUNG BOYS felt.
I was totally thinking the same thing this morning. The news had an interview with some girl from Penn State saying, "Oh we'll get through this, we'll rebuild." My blood pressure went up and I snapped at the TV, "This isn't about *you* or anyone else at your school." And then Kent had to talk me down from the ledge and get me lotion for my stress rash.
But hey, it is people like you and the many, many others who are disgusted by the events at Penn that drive the conscience of this world. You just don't make the "news". I refuse to believe that most real people in this country don't want to see true justice for the poor children who thought they could trust Penn State only to experience something to horrifying! It is my hope and prayer that all of us work everyday to not only stop this HORRIBLE reality but build a better justice system to serve the good people of this world.
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