So Penn State decided to tear down Joe Paterno's statue and piss on 42 years of legacy because one guy says Joe was a bad guy. Now I understand that this isn't just some guy, it was a former FBI director hired by the university to get to the bottom of the shit that went down at Penn State. And that guy spent eight months producing a 267 page report basically saying that the people that hired him to do the investigation in the first place, along with Joe Paterno, enabled that sick fuck Sandusky to go on violating little boys for over a decade. I get all that. But at the end of the day...it's still just one guy, and his investigation doesn't prove a fucking thing.
There was no trial, and an investigation is far different from a trial. An investigator gets to decide what leads to pursue and what ones to ignore, he can interview whoever the hell he wants and ask them whatever he wants (or not interview whoever he doesn't want to or not ask them whatever he doesn't want to ask). He can dig and dig until he has enough evidence to "prove" what he alleges. Is that what happened here? I don't know, and nobody else knows either. Is Paterno guilty just because this guy says he is? Hell no he isn't. At least not on the basis of one investigation. This is why we have a judicial system in the first place. So both sides can present their cases, however they choose, bringing in whatever evidence they choose to employ in order to argue their side of the case. Then an unbiased judge and/or jury renders a decision based on the arguments of both sides. That's not what happened here.
But here's the most ironic thing. Most of the Paterno bashing out there is about how he placed the football program above everything else (allegedly). And yet, what do you think the decision to tear down Paterno's statue was based on? The victims? Give me a fucking break. It was Penn State doing some symbolic gesture one day ahead of the NCAA's announcement on sanctions against it's football program. I'm not saying they are heartless bastards that don't give a shit about the victims in this case, I'm saying that the victims had absolutely nothing to do with this decision.
So now the statue is gone, and Paterno's name has been dragged further through the mud. Everybody happy now? Are the victims and their families gonna now go on to lead normal, happy productive lives now that this symbol of horror and evil has been eradicated? Yeah, I'm guessing the victims and their families dont give a rat's ass. I'm pretty sure the horror of their experiences hasn't been alleviated one iota because a statue got torn down. In fact, I'm gonna guess that all of the uproar over this has done nothing for the victims except thrust the whole situation back into the public spotlight and re-open any wounds that might have been starting to heal a little bit.
I'm as angry and disgusted by the whole Sandusky thing as anybody could possibly be. It's sick and horrifying and makes my skin crawl. But maybe that's all the more reason to not jump to conclusions about who's guilty of what. Maybe we should let all sides present their case. Maybe we should be damn sure before we throw a legendary coach who has been credited with so many good and noble deeds under the bus. Or maybe it really is just all about the football program...
But here's the most ironic thing. Most of the Paterno bashing out there is about how he placed the football program above everything else (allegedly). And yet, what do you think the decision to tear down Paterno's statue was based on? The victims? Give me a fucking break. It was Penn State doing some symbolic gesture one day ahead of the NCAA's announcement on sanctions against it's football program. I'm not saying they are heartless bastards that don't give a shit about the victims in this case, I'm saying that the victims had absolutely nothing to do with this decision.
So now the statue is gone, and Paterno's name has been dragged further through the mud. Everybody happy now? Are the victims and their families gonna now go on to lead normal, happy productive lives now that this symbol of horror and evil has been eradicated? Yeah, I'm guessing the victims and their families dont give a rat's ass. I'm pretty sure the horror of their experiences hasn't been alleviated one iota because a statue got torn down. In fact, I'm gonna guess that all of the uproar over this has done nothing for the victims except thrust the whole situation back into the public spotlight and re-open any wounds that might have been starting to heal a little bit.
I'm as angry and disgusted by the whole Sandusky thing as anybody could possibly be. It's sick and horrifying and makes my skin crawl. But maybe that's all the more reason to not jump to conclusions about who's guilty of what. Maybe we should let all sides present their case. Maybe we should be damn sure before we throw a legendary coach who has been credited with so many good and noble deeds under the bus. Or maybe it really is just all about the football program...
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